Free The Becoming by Jessica Meigs

flickered over the couch and coffee table. The drinks Andrew had made for himself and Cade still sat on the table, the ice long melted. Cade nearly expected to see Andrew come downstairs with a smile and an offer to make dinner.
    The heavy weight of the black rifle case in Cade’s hand was enough to bring her back to reality. Andrew wasn’t going to come down the stairs. There would be no more dinner in this house. There would be no more quiet evenings of drinks and bad movies on television. Everything was gone.
    Cade understood this instinctively as she glanced at the flickering television screen. She didn’t need news reporters to tell her anything. She just knew.
    A slight movement fluttered in the corner of Cade’s eye. She turned quickly on her heel and lifted her handgun automatically. But the motion had just been a curtain stirred into life by a cold breeze coming in from the opened front door.
    “We should get out of here,” Ethan suggested. Cade tore her attention away from the billowing curtain. Ethan moved to stand beside her and touched her arm gently to get her to look at him. “Come on, Cade. We should get some supplies out of my house and take the Jeep, pick up Anna, and head to my mom’s.”
    An hour later, Cade followed Ethan to his SUV, her rifle case still in her hand and her duffel bag on her shoulder. She had changed into a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, a black leather jacket that had once belonged to her father, and a pair of knee-high, sturdy black boots to protect her feet and calves. Cade thanked whatever deity happened to be listening that Ethan had had the forethought to grab her duffel bag from her bed. She and Anna were close to the same size, but Anna’s clothes were a bit snugger than Cade normally liked hers, and they made for some uncomfortable wearing.
    Wariness bubbled into Cade’s gut at the idea of being outside, especially in the dark and especially after what she’d experienced in her own home. She glanced at the building as she swung herself into the passenger seat of Ethan’s Jeep. It was still dark inside the house, though Cade could make out the shine of a lamp somewhere upstairs and the flicker of the television in the otherwise darkened living room. Cade thought of Josie again, and tears filled her eyes. She shook them off and turned her attention to Ethan, seeking a distraction from her grief.
    “What the hell is going on?” Cade asked. She pushed her hair away from her face again. “What happened in there … it’s something more than just a riot, isn’t it?”
    Ethan started the engine and reached to turn on the police scanner he’d installed on the dash. It sprang to life, filled with static and voices yelling urgently into radios. “If I had to guess, I’d say yeah,” he replied. He paused to listen to the voices on the crackling line before he added, “Something isn’t right about this.”
    Cade remained silent and listened to the voices on the scanner. If she remembered her ten-codes correctly, several fires burned across the city, and the numbers of fights and shootings and lootings had exploded. She shuddered and looked at her house again as Ethan pushed the Jeep into gear and pressed the gas pedal. She closed her eyes for a moment as the tears threatened to spill again, and then turned her gaze once more to Ethan. His expression was the definition of determined; he gripped the steering wheel with both hands as he stared out the windshield.
    “They mentioned road blocks,” Cade said. She motioned to the scanner as she studied Ethan’s profile. “How are we going to get past them if we come across one?”
    Without a word, Ethan leaned forward and set his badge and gun on the dashboard. Cade swallowed hard.
    Cade stayed silent for the rest of the drive to the hospital, her nails scratching the black plastic case that held her rifle. As the Jeep approached the city block occupied by the hospital, though, Cade sat forward in her seat and squinted