Free Jessica Meigs - The Becoming by Brothers in Arms Page A

elevator finally arrived, the cool steel doors sliding open. Gray flung himself inside and punched the third-floor button. His heart raced painfully, and he squeezed his eyes closed and sagged against the wall as the elevator made its ascent. He prayed that Theo would get there soon, that he’d make it to the apartment before Gray collapsed. He was sure there were no more inhalers in his apartment; Theo wouldn’t have filled his prescription if there had been. He mentally ran through the different home remedies his mom had used when he was a kid and had been fighting near-constant minor asthma attacks that would hit him without warning. Coffee, black coffee, he remembered. Two cups. And something about hot water too. And breathing out heavily through his mouth to try to push out carbon dioxide. He wasn’t sure if that part was true, but he vaguely remembered reading it somewhere. Regardless of its validity, he started trying to breathe, taking in short breaths and letting out long, heavy ones as the elevator slowly dragged to a stop with a squeak and groan of the cables. The doors slid open noisily.
    Before Gray could step out of the elevator, a man darted inside. He pushed Gray against the back of the elevator with enough force to drive what little breath he had left in his lungs right out of them. He put his hands out defensively as the man grabbed at his throat. Gray let out a weak cry of alarm and shoved hard; he managed to get enough precious space between them to work his leg up and put his knee into the man’s gut. The impact sent the man stumbling wildly backward, to the edge of the elevator. Gray took another fast step forward and kicked him again. He caught the man’s head in his hands and drove his knee into the man’s face as hard as he could. The sound of cartilage and bone snapping met his ears, and sharp pain darted through Gray’s knee. The man collapsed onto the floor, and Gray started stomping, slamming the heel of his shoe as hard as he could directly onto the man’s face. When the man had completely stopped moving, Gray pushed past the ache in his knee and stepped over the man, heading for his apartment door. It took him only seconds to recover the spare key taped to the top edge of the doorframe—he’d never worried about break-ins, as he didn’t own anything worth stealing, not even a television—and then he was inside, slamming the door closed and throwing the locks home.
    Gray slumped against the closed door for only a moment before he forced himself forward. He leaned heavily on the wall and pushed himself along it as he made for the bathroom, hoping that a spare inhaler would be in the medicine cabinet. But as his world began to spin sickeningly around him, he knew he wasn’t going to make it that far. He managed a few more steps before he sank to his knees, panic invading his mind as he struggled desperately to breathe.

Chapter 10
     
    Theo was shaking with overexertion when he finally reached Gray’s apartment building, his nerves getting the better of him as the fears that had accumulated during his race to his brother’s side spiraled out of control. It had thankfully not been too hard of a journey for him to get from the ambulance to the apartment; he had spent most of his time practicing the simple avoidance of everyone and everything he’d seen—animals included. He didn’t know if whatever was causing people to act insane was affecting animals too, and so he’d decided to play it safe and take no chances.
    The lobby was devoid of life when he stepped inside, his shoulders and back aching from the weight of the trauma bags. He stood in the doorway of the main entrance, examining every visible nook and cranny and dark-shaded corner in sight, making sure nothing lurked, waiting for him to pass. Then he cast a glance at the ceiling. The lights were still on. For some reason, Theo had expected the electricity to be out; he figured that if the chaos outside escalated, it would