Free The Becoming: Revelations by Jessica Meigs

only things moving, flitting back and forth between Brandt and Remy. Brandt tried to dredge up something to say to her, maybe asking her opinion on this situation. But before he could speak, Gray piped up.
    “ So, how ‘bout that Crimson Tide, huh?” he said, attempting to break the tension in the room. Remy seemed to take that as her cue to protest again.
    “I just don’t see why—”
    A surge of anger welled up inside Brandt. He slammed both fists against the tabletop. Dishes rattled, and all three of his companions startled. “Damn it, Remy!” he snapped. “Because I fucking said so, that’s why!”
    There was a pause as Cade, Gray, and Remy exchanged glances that Brandt couldn’t read. They seemed to be having a silent conversation among themselves, which only served to irritate him further. Then Gray said cautiously, “Brandt, don’t you think maybe you’re being a little, ah, paranoid?”
    Brandt stiffened and squared his shoulders. “Paranoid?” he repeated. “ Paranoid? So I’m fucking paranoid for wanting to keep the three of you alive longer than I managed for Nikola and Theo and Ethan? If that’s paranoid, then I’m fucking happy to be paranoid.”
    “I just think we shouldn’t lose sight of our mission—” Remy started. Brandt interrupted.
    “Our mission is to stay alive. Everything else after that’s just fucking fluff,” Brandt bit out. “There’s too much shit going on out there, and there are dangers from things other than the infected. Do I have to remind you that Avi wasn’t killed by the infected? That she got shot by an uninfected person specifically targeting us?” He shook his head again. “I can’t risk it, okay? There are too many people out there who’d love to get a piece of me, and—”
    It was Cade’s turn to interrupt. “Why would anyone out there want a piece of you?” she asked quietly.
    An uncomfortable silence descended over them. Brandt had let his anger get the better of him, and he’d tipped his hand far earlier than he’d intended to. He pressed his lips together and mentally scrambled to come up with an answer to Cade’s question.
    He finally settled on, “Because I know a lot more about what happened in Atlanta than most people do, that’s all. Now that’s enough. We’re going to fucking eat, and then Gray and I are going to get our shit together, because we don’t have time for this kind of garbage.”

Chapter 11
     
    It had only been forty-eight hours since Alicia had left with her group of four men on their mission, and Ethan was already going stir-crazy. He’d had to deal with one problem after the other, everything from fights to food ration distribution to a sick child—and he was still struggling to learn people’s names so he could communicate with them properly. He’d spent most of his time on the fourth floor, which seemed to have been established as a base of operations for all of the hotel’s day-to-day activities. And there were a lot of day-to-day activities.
    And that fourth floor was where he found himself, sitting with his head in his hands, listening to an older black woman tell him exactly what she thought of him—none of it flattering. He struggled to maintain his cool, inches away from going off on the woman and giving her a piece of his mind, as she continued listing every insult she could muster. He let the woman go on for a moment longer before he lifted his head, put his hands up, and interrupted her.
    “Miss Washington,” he began.
    “ Missus, ” the old woman corrected. “I wasn’t married for forty years to start getting called miss again just because the mister got eaten.”
    Ethan blinked but quickly got his mind back on track. “ Mrs. Washington,” he started again with emphasis. “The fact of the matter is we can’t increase your food rations. Believe me, I would if I could, but there just isn’t enough to go around increasing everyone’s. The sick and the young get priority, and everyone else