Broken Dreams

by Rissa Blakeley

  I wanted to run to her. I wanted to hold her and console her, but I was so angry with her. I wanted to wake up from the nightmare that we were experiencing. I wanted all of the madness to end, but it wasn’t going to end. It would only get worse.

  Far worse.

  Claire wiped her face on her shirtsleeve, then she got up and walked over to me. She put her arm around my shoulders. “I’m so sorry I did that to you. I know it is hard for you, as well. That wasn’t fair for me to say.” I accepted her apology, even though it was unnecessary. I gave her a tight hug and we walked away from Marc. “This is just unreal.” She bent over and grabbed the gun she had dropped.

  Henry waved us to him and we headed over as we held hands. “Listen, I know this is all very overwhelming, but you have to try to stay focused out here. Once we get back to our flat, you can get your emotions out.” He was speaking like he had no emotion, like a machine.

  “Henry, please. We just had to do the unthinkable. We need a minute.”

  “I realize that. I have been there, but there’s no time.” I cocked my head a bit, questioning in my mind what he meant by “been there”.

  I have been there…His words kept running through my head. I felt that was the first real piece of information that I had gotten about him.

  Realizing the gears were turning in my head, he said, “We’ll talk about that at some other point. Right now, we need to focus. We need to get to the people that Nate saw, then go to the flower shop to pick him up.”

  Henry opened the back passenger door and grabbed his pack. I opened the lift gate, got a couple bottles of water, and jammed them into the side pockets of his pack. We reloaded our guns. He set the alarm and pocketed his keys.

  “So we can hear if anyone tries to break in.” I nodded. The last thing we needed was for someone to steal our cache of weapons, and what little supplies we had in there. Or, worse yet, the truck.

  We walked slowly down the street. Claire and I were next to one another, guns ready. Henry was behind us, covering. We walked past my true dead family. I tried not to look at my father. My eyes filled with tears again, but I held my breath and kept my head up as we pressed on. I couldn’t look at him or I would have been right there on the ground next to him.

  Henry was stopping and nudging everybody to make sure they were true dead. The closer we got to the church, the worse the streets and buildings looked. I was blown away by how fast it had progressed. Total annihilation. The surrounding area was so eerily quiet, but I could hear music playing from the clothing store.

  “Henry, do you want to check the stores for people who are alive?” I asked him. I have to admit, I was crossing my fingers that he would say no.

  “No. Let’s just keep going. Go slow, though.” I acknowledged his request and felt relief. We looked like vigilantes: calculated movements, heads high, armed to the hilt. The church was a short distance ahead.

  I could hear a banging sound, like someone knocking. I looked around to find it. The banging was coming from the flower shop on our right. It was our wedding coordinator, Nate, pounding on the front windows. He was pointing across the way. I could see that he was yelling, but I couldn’t make out what it was through all the gore on the window. I looked toward the church, where he was pointing. I could vaguely see two people behind the gates to the lot.

  It looked like my brother, Nick, but I wasn’t sure. He seemed to be fighting off an undead. I started over there to see if it was him when Henry yelled, “Wait!” He came up to us. “Let me go check them out. I want to see if they have any bites or wounds. Cover me.” I was trying to stay calm. I didn’t think I could bear seeing another member of my family slaughtered.

  Claire and I stood back-to-back in the middle of the street, holding our guns, watching for undeads. I almost felt like we were having a Charlie’s Angels moment. I kept looking back and forth between Nate and at Henry. Nate was pressed up against the window, still pounding on it. He looked terrified.

  There was blood all over the windows of the shops and doors. It had to have been from people who were trying to escape the madness of the street. Henry stopped a few feet short of the gate with his gun pointed toward the scuffle.

  “Elaina!” he called out to me.

  “Yeah?” I was watching Nate carefully, while trying to respond to Henry.

  “It’s Nick and Jenna!”

  I whipped around. “Oh, my god.”

  I ran over to him. He turned around and held his hand up. “No. Stand down!” He bit out the words.

  “Why?”

  “Jenna is undead and Nick is trying to hold her off.” Jenna was my brother’s girlfriend of about two months. He always had a new flame who he claimed was “the one”, but they never lasted more than six months. I swear he had more girlfriends than Hugh Hefner.

  I admit that I did like Jenna, even though I only knew her for a very short period of time. She was level-headed and had a great job at a marketing firm in the city. She was beautiful and, to be frank, she did seem like marriage material. Nick’s scream snapped me back to reality.

  “Did she bite him? Nick! Are you bit?!” I shook all over at the thought of possibly having to shoot my brother, as well.

  “No! Help me, please!” Nick was pleading for his life.

  “Henry, let me come over.” Henry was looking back and forth between Nick and me.

  “Alright, but Jenna needs true death.”

  “I know,” I said, just above a whisper. The anxiety set in. “I will take care of it.” I needed to help him. I needed to save my family, even if it was just one person. That was why I wanted to go with Henry.

  Henry walked back toward me and I headed toward him. He stopped me. He put his hand on my face to make me look into his eyes. Those brilliant green eyes began to look a bit faded.

  “Look him over carefully. If he’s bit...”

  “I know.” He kissed my forehead, and I walked to my brother, trying to stay as calm as possible.

  “Elaina!” Nick started to cry. “Please, you have got to help me!”

  “Nick, I have to shoot Jenna.” It was a bit blunt and business-like, but there was no time to beat around the bush.

  “No. No, please…don’t. She’s the love of my life,” he pleaded.

  “I understand that, Nick, but she is gravely sick and she will not get any better.”

  “What is happening? I don’t know what’s going on.” He was talking between tears and holding Jenna back with a piece of metal handrail from the church.

  “I don’t know all the details, but we can explain some of this later. Now, step back.”

  “No, please don’t. Please…don’t!” he pleaded with me, while still trying to hold Jenna off. “I love her.”

  “I have to or she will hurt you or someone else.” I raised my gun and aimed at Jenna’s head. “Back away, Nick.”

  “No, Elaina, please…” I pulled the trigger and down she went. I was stunned by my accuracy and, in my mind’s eye, I saw Jenna drop over and over again. The sound of Nick dropping the rail brought me back to the present. He stood there, silent for a moment, until he looked over at me. He had Jenna’s blood and matter all over him.

  “Why? Why the hell did you do that?” I stepped closer to the gate. “Stay back!” He was full of aggression and pointed at me. “You are no longer my sister!”

  “Nick, please. You don’t understand.” It was my turn to plead.

  “I understand perfectly. You shot Jenna! My love, the woman I was going to marry.”

  I felt bad for what I had done, but I had to do it. I tried to explain. “Nick, please listen.” I moved closer to the gate, trying to examine his physical state while trying to stay calm. “Stay back!” I yelled when he started leaning down to Jenna. “Nick, have you been bit?”

  “Why?!” He was yelling. “Are you going to shoot me, too?!”

  “She may have to, mate.” The sound of Henry’s voice startled me.

  Nick wrinkled his brows together. “
Henry? What the fuck? This is no time for games! What’s with the British accent? Quit fucking around, you asshole! Do you not see what’s happening here?!”

  “Nick, I know what is happening. I have a lot of explaining to do, to both of you. So, please, tell us if you are injured in any way so we can get you out of there.”

  Nick paused and contemplated a response. You could see that he was having trouble putting words together. His anger and despair were taking over. He was looking at Jenna and crying.

  “Nick, I’m only going to ask you once more, and you need to be completely honest. If you have an injury due to an undead, then you need to tell us.”

  “Undead?”

  “Henry will explain more in a bit, Nick.” I tried to be soft and mellow, much like the way mom always was with him. He was a momma’s boy. I was hoping it would calm him down. The thought of my mom made my heart ache. I still hadn’t spotted her anywhere.

  “No, I think I’m fine.” He looked down and all over his arms.

  “Shrug off your jacket so we can be sure.” Henry wasn’t as calm and soothing as I was trying to be. He was demanding and growing impatient. Nick glared at him, seeming to question him. He shrugged off his jacket and turned three hundred and sixty degrees. He looked fine. I was so relieved.

  Henry walked up to the gate and grabbed something out of his pocket. In a split second, he had picked the lock. I walked closer to Nick as he knelt down to Jenna.

  “Don’t touch her.” Nick stood up, nodded, and walked backward, holding in the rest of his tears.

  “I loved her, Elaina. I loved her so fucking much.” He walked over and hugged me.

  “I know. I know. I’m sorry for what I had to do.” I was looking for the courage to tell him that I also shot our father, but I couldn’t form the words yet.

  “Elaina, what’s going on? Where did you get the gun? Where did you learn how to shoot like that? You were always afraid of guns.” His emotions were all over the charts…a bit like mine and Claire’s.

  “There’s a quick-spreading virus that makes people undead, but we’ll get into it more later on. We don’t have time to talk about this right now.”

  “Wait. Undead?”

  “Yes, undead. Like a zombie.”

  Nick shook his head. “That’s so cliché. And seriously? I thought that was just movie or TV shit.”

  “I know, but look at what Jenna was like. And the rest of these people, our family and our friends. I felt the same way just a few hours ago. One minute I was about to walk down the aisle to marry Henry, and the next minute…Liam arrived.”

  “Liam?” He looked at me with bewilderment.

  “Yes, Liam. Liam is Henry. Henry is Liam.” Nick looked as confused as I was. “We will get into that later. Right now, we have to go across the way and get Nate.”

  Nick began to look around the street. “Holy shit. Look at all those dead people.” He began to realize some of the dead people were our family.

  “True dead.” Again, he looked at me. I could see the confusion and sadness in his eyes.

  “True dead? Wait, like that show with vampires?” It was not the time to make comparisons between real life and a television show.

  “Yeah, sort of, I guess. But there are no such things as vampires. At least, I hope not,” I mumbled. I felt like I was experiencing déjà vu.

  “Who’s Nate?”

  “The wedding coordinator. Have you seen Mom?”

  “No, but I saw Dad.” Nick was distraught. “He looked…he looked like Jenna before he bit her. She went to help him,” he said in a soft tone. “That bastard,” he mumbled under his breath.

  “I need to tell you something.” Nick turned and looked at me. My heart was beating out of my chest. I felt guilty. I was chewing my cheek, trying to find the appropriate way to tell him while trying to swallow past the lump in my throat. I think he knew what I was going to say so I blurted it out. “I gave Dad a true death.” More tears poured down my cheeks.

  He shook his head, turned, and walked toward Claire. They embraced. I wasn’t sure if he was pissed at me, or pissed about everything. I knew I did the right thing for our father. It was the only way I could help him.

  “It had to be done, Nick.” She tried to comfort him as best she could. With all the sadness and pain she was dealing with, I appreciated what she was doing.

  We crossed over to the flower shop, but Nate was no longer pounding on the window. I looked over at Henry, and he raised his gun. “Elaina, slowly open the door and call for him, but stay outside. Claire, you stand guard with Nick.” I nodded.

  Nick marched over and got in Henry’s face. “I don’t think so! You are not putting my sister in harm’s way!” Apparently, I was his sister again. It must have been a one-sided on again/off again relationship.

  “Back off, Nick.” Henry spoke through clenched teeth. He wasn’t happy with this turn of events.

  “Make me, asshole.” Nick stood inches from his face.

  I grabbed him by his shoulder. There was no time for macho behavior. “Nick, please. Don’t. We’ve all been through enough today as it is. Please don’t act like this.”

  “He’s trying to kill you! Who is he, anyway? He surely doesn’t sound, or act, like the Henry we know!” Nick still stood in his face like a brick wall that wasn’t falling any time soon. I was getting nervous that something was going to happen. After what I had seen Henry do, I knew he could take Nick out in a moment’s notice.

  “He’s not trying to kill me! He knows what he is doing.”

  “How do you know?” Neither one of them was backing down.

  “Because I have seen him react to this in a much better fashion than the rest of us would! He seems to be highly trained.”

  “Be quiet, Elaina. Step back, Nick.” Be quiet, my ass. Henry was very calm, but I could see the anger raging in his fading eyes.

  “Don’t talk to her that way!” Nick put his finger in Henry’s face. I grabbed Nick, trying to yank him out of the way. Henry growled. They had been nose-to-nose over me a few times before. I didn’t want it to happen again.

  “Get your fucking finger out of my face before I make you eat it. Remember when I choked you? That was a walk in the park, mate.”

  I got in front of Nick so he could see me. I couldn’t let them fight it out. Henry would kill him. “It’s fine. Really. Just let us find Nate and, once we get back to Henry’s apartment, we’ll explain the best we can. I promise.” Nick pursed his lips together, then backed up.

  He started to walk away, but turned around and said, “You, my friend, are fucking mental. Take notice that if one hair gets harmed on her head, I will fucking kill you.” Henry smirked, and continued to walk to the flower shop. “I mean it, asshole!” I think Henry may have taken that as a compliment. Nick looked at me, shook his head, and went to Claire.

  “Ready, Elaina? On three.”

  “On three, like ‘one, two, three’? Or what you did back at the truck?” Welcome back, Elaina. Henry wasn’t amused. He rolled his eyes.

  “Just open the bloody door and stand back.” I touched the handle hesitantly. I didn’t see Nate anywhere in the front of the shop. Slowly, I opened the door and bell chimes went off. I stepped back, and Henry pushed through in a lame attempt to block the doorway, but there were large potted plants in the entry.

  “Nate?” I called out. Henry waved me behind him.

  “Nate, it’s Elaina Cooper and Henry Daniels. Are you still in here?” No answer. Silence. “Shit.” Henry put his finger to his lips. He walked past the floral coolers and started toward the back room.

  “Nate! Answer if you are in here.” We heard a rustling coming from behind the counter to the right and Henry pointed at it. He raised his gun, then we stepped around the counter.

  “No! Don’t shoot. Please no…no, don’t.” Nate was squatting and he fell back against the wall. I would imagine seeing a gun pointed in his face would have been just as scary to him as missing a sale at Barney’s. Altho
ugh, in his book, missing a sale at Barney’s may have been worse.

  “Are you bit?” I was trying to be calm, but my adrenaline was pumping. It didn’t come out calm, like when I was trying to get through to Nick.

  “Bit?”

  “Yes, bit! Are you motherfucking bit?” I barely gave him a second before I yelled, “Answer me!”

  “Ahh…no, no, I don’t think so.” Don’t think so? I would think he would know. Henry still had his gun pointed at him. “Please, don’t shoot me. I’m not ready to go yet.” He choked on the words.

  “Oh, for the love of god. Nate, just stand up so we can see your physical condition.”

  “Is he going to shoot me?” Nate was trembling all over while I was trying to look at his miniature body. His voice was shaky, like he was on the verge of bursting into tears.

  “Depends. Get up and show us.” With his hands raised, Nate rose from behind the counter.

  “Step around.” Henry directed with the business end of his gun. Nate shook his head. “Step around now, or I will put a bullet in your head!” Henry was spitting mad. This isn’t what I signed up for. I didn’t want to shoot people out of anger.

  “Whoa, Henry. Calm down. Let’s not shoot anyone who is normal.”

  “He’s pissing me off.” Again, he was talking through the teeth.

  “Well, we can’t just go around shooting people just because they piss you off!” I snapped. I think I would be on the top of the “Pissing Henry Off” list. Nate stood there, looking back and forth between us. It looked like he was watching a tennis match. Henry grumbled something to himself.

  “Nate, please, just come around the counter slow so we can check you out.” Henry backed away a little to give Nate room. He stepped out slowly, still trembling. “Remove your jacket, please.” Without protest, he shrugged it off. “Turn all the way around.” We both looked at him, then looked at one another. Henry nodded and lowered his gun. “Okay, come on out. You look clean.” Nate looked somewhat relieved. He put his jacket back on.

  “What’s going on?” he said, looking around.