The six of them had made it to the sixth floor and fought their way through the straggling infected without much problem. They’d gone almost halfway across the lobby, heading for the walkway connecting the hotel to AmericasMart, when the pain in Ethan’s joints and the ache in his head became too much to bear. He stumbled and staggered sideways to one of the marble support columns littering the lobby, sagging heavily against it as he struggled to draw enough air into lungs that suddenly felt horribly compressed.
Just ahead of him, Remy slowed and turned, her eyes full of concern as she realized he wasn’t following the rest of them. “Eth? Are you okay?” she asked nervously, taking a step toward him.
Ethan felt like he couldn’t breathe. His chest grew tight, and his heart hammered wildly against his ribs. Despite this, despite the horrible ache settling into his joints, Ethan nodded and leaned forward to rest his hands against his knees. “Yeah,” he choked out. His voice sounded thick and heavy even to his own ears, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. He licked his lips and tried to generate enough saliva to moisten them, then looked at the others. “Anybody got any water?”
Brandt set Shae down beside Sasha and moved forward, freeing a bottle from his pack and twisting the cap off. He shoved the bottle into the other man’s hands, and Ethan drank so deeply that the sides of the bottle caved in. When he lowered the bottle, his hands were trembling, and he nearly dropped it.
“What’s wrong?” Cade asked worriedly, moving beside Ethan and resting a hand against his shoulder.
“I just need a minute,” Ethan replied hoarsely. He cleared his throat and resumed the position he’d previously held, his hands gripping his knees as he bowed his head. The ache in his muscles was becoming more pronounced, more insistently painful. If he closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else, all he could feel was the pounding in his head. He groaned and slid down the column to kneel on the floor, pressing the heels of his hands against his temples and clenching his teeth.
“Ethan?” Remy’s voice said to his right. She sounded stricken, shocked and afraid. He only shook his head at her and swallowed back the bile threatening at the back of his throat.
“Ethan, now is not the time to be playing around,” Brandt said above him. Ethan found it in him to flash a raised middle finger in Brandt’s general direction. No one else seemed to find it amusing.
“Come on, Eth, he’s right,” Cade said. She squeezed his shoulder again. “We’ve got to get going. We’ve got to get the girls out of here.”
“No, you do,” Ethan managed. He was nearly panting as he spoke, and he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. It was becoming harder and harder to draw in a breath, and his chest felt even tighter as he slunk down the rest of the way to the floor, dropping his head back against the column. “You need to get out of here. Now. No time to argue. Just go.”
There was a sensation creeping up underneath the pain and the panic starting to envelop his mind. It was a sensation that he knew would have frightening consequences if his friends remained.
“But Ethan—” Cade started to protest.
“Go!” Ethan yelled, even as he felt the sensation wrap fully around his mind, even as he felt his breath slowing, his heart slowing, his mind slowing. He groaned faintly and shook his head, fighting it desperately, trying to give his friends the chance to get out of there.
He couldn’t be responsible for their deaths. He just couldn’t.
Despite his pleas for them to leave, no one made a move in that direction. He clenched his teeth and pushed back against the anger beginning to hammer at his brain, even as he started to feel himself fade. Remy was speaking, the low hum of her voice tickling at his brain, and Cade and Brandt’s voices joined hers. But he couldn’t make out what they were saying. The words were all a blur, all a humming drone at the back of his brain.
Ethan dropped his head back against the column again, closing his eyes as he drew in another slow breath.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Ethan Bennett.