The Becoming (Book 4): Under Siege Read Free

“You heard what Derek
said,” he continued. “We’ve got to be careful. There aren’t exactly
any hospitals to take you to if there are complications during your
pregnancy or during the birth. I want you to stay healthy. And
safe.”
    Cade smiled at Brandt, and its appearance
hit him in the chest like a punch. It felt like it had been forever
since he’d seen her smile— really smile, not any of the
faked, patient smiles she gave other people in Woodside—and he
couldn’t help but give her one in return.
    “So what do you say we head to the rec
center and get dinner started?” she suggested. “We can stop by the
house and drop the bag off while we’re at it. Joseph and his guys
should be back soon, and I want to see what they haul in with them.
Hopefully, they found more shells for me to work with.”
    “Maybe they’ll have found some condoms,”
Brandt added. He draped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her
closer as they walked. The barrel of her sniper rifle, strapped to
her back again, dug into his arm, but he ignored it. “I’ve had four people this week alone ask me if I have any. Like I
would. My wife is pregnant. We have no use for them.”
    “We will eventually,” Cade pointed out,
dropping her head to rest against his shoulder. Her hip bumped
against his, and he stepped into the movement reflexively.
    “Yeah, well, ‘eventually’ isn’t ‘today.’ And
thank God for that.”
    Cade snorted out a laugh and, as they came
into view of the rest of the community, emerging from the shadier
backyard to the front of the house and the street beyond it, she
stepped away from him, letting go as if she were holding onto
something that was burning her. Brandt frowned but, having grown
used to her idiosyncrasies, didn’t say anything, merely shoved his
hands into his pockets with as much casualness as he could muster.
As they emerged into the bright sunlight, he paused on the sidewalk
and scanned the community laid out before them.
    The Woodside community was sixteen blocks
square of a formerly upper middle class enclave, completely closed
and gated in by brick and wrought-iron fencing. They’d spent long,
arduous hours boarding up and building up to conceal the
community’s interior, creating a thirty-foot wall that loomed over
everything, even blocking out the sun in the outlying homes. Near
the center of the community was a square courtyard with trees and
park benches, and running alongside the far end of the courtyard
was the rec center, where they fed everyone decent meals three
times a day.
    It wasn’t a totally comfortable set up, but
it was better than any of them had had in a long time. At least in
Woodside, people had the opportunity to go out and enjoy the
sunshine without having to worry about getting eaten by a crowd of
infected crawling out of the woodwork.
    Brandt watched as a group of children played
tag in the center of the courtyard, dodging among the benches and
trees and shrubbery as they chased after each other. The vehicles
were parked around three sides of the courtyard’s perimeter,
offering additional protection to the few children in the community
against the infected. A smile quirked at the corner of his lips as
he watched two of the boys tackle each other and wrestle in the
dirt and grass. Nearby, two little girls—Shae and Sasha, the same
girls he and his friends had rescued from the Westin months
before—were playing with dolls that Justin’s crew had salvaged from
somewhere.
    Tearing his eyes away from the children,
Brandt turned to look at Cade. She had left him behind, heading for
the two-story house they stayed in with Kimberly and Isaac, which
had become known throughout the community as the “main” house.
Beside it was the house that held Woodside’s medical facilities. At
that moment, only Ethan, Remy, and Dr. Derek Rivers were in
residence.
    Cade was disappearing into the main house.
Brandt huffed out a sigh and sped up, determined to catch up to