Broken Dreams

by Rissa Blakeley

  “I can’t say anything about it. I promised him. If anything gets out, we could all be in danger.”

  “Ha! Open your eyes, Elaina! Have you missed what’s happened?”

  “My eyes are wide open. I am trying to protect everybody.”

  “You cannot hide stuff from us right now!”

  “He gave you the gist of everything. Some things he told me are too personal to share.” I paced around, feverishly. I let out a growl and then said, “He was abused. He would be humiliated if I told you everything. I can’t do that to him after I heard everything he has endured.”

  Claire stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Elaina.”

  I was doing my best to hold myself and everyone else together. I think people were forgetting that I had suffered losses, as well.

  “They beat him near death on several occasions! He was broken, hurt, angry, and scared! He has nightmares and terrors all the fucking time! He was humiliated time and time again. Is that what you want to hear? I can tell you what I can tell you. If you don’t like that, then I don’t know what to do about it. I made a promise to him.” I stepped out from in front of her and walked to the window.

  “Elaina, we need to know what’s going on. You cannot be keeping secrets from the group. If we are going to work together as a team, then we all need to be honest with one another. We can’t trust each other if we aren’t upfront.”

  “Here’s the scoop. There’s a virus that somehow got out, people became infected and started eating each other, and now we have to make those with the virus true dead. There you have it. The big fucking secret is out, Claire! I cannot tell you anything else. I don’t even know everything myself.” My whispers were louder than I intended.

  “You can be such an obstinate bitch sometimes,” Claire muttered. I shook my head and continued to look out the window. The sun was starting to rise. I saw headlights coming toward the building. I didn’t think too much about it, until I saw that it looked like Henry’s truck when it pulled up. A chick stepped out.

  “Oh, my god…,” I muttered and had to pick my jaw up off the floor.

  “What? What do you see? More undeads?”

  “I think that might be Sophie.”

  Claire came over to the window. “Wow. Could she look any more like a hooker?”

  “I have to go wake up Henry.” I stormed out of the room and left Claire in my wake.

  Chapter 5

  H

  enry! Get up.” He moaned. “Henry! She’s here.”

  He jumped up, forgetting he was naked. “Okay, I’m up. Wait, who’s here?” Who the hell did he think I was talking about? Mother Theresa? He was rubbing his eyes.

  “Uh…Sophie.”

  “Shit. Yes!” He pulled his pants on, grabbed his vest that had weapons in it, and then his shirt. It dawned on me that he must have had that on when we rescued Nick and Nate from “Undead Alley” because he had reached up under his shirt to grab another gun for Nick.

  He made a mad dash for the living room. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him moving that fast before, but I kept pace behind him.

  “You could have told me she looked like a fucking hooker.” He whipped around before he reached the door, and glared at me. It could have frozen hell over.

  “She is not a hooker!” Wow. He took that a little too personally.

  “Well, she sure looks like one,” I mumbled. Henry stood at the door, waiting for Sophie. It felt like an eternity, as he listened and watched through the peephole. He opened the door, and there stood Sophie in hooker fashion.

  “Liam!” I was taken aback. Liam? What the hell? I thought nobody was to call him that, but she could?

  “Not funny, Sophie. Come on in, my darling.” Henry waved her in. She jumped at him and hugged him so tight I thought he was going to pop. Then she kissed him on the lips. I felt an old-fashioned prison shanking was coming on. I was practically snarling. She better get her claws off my man, or I would put her hooker ass back on the street corner.

  Her leather pants were painted on, she had on a skin-tight bright pink tee and tight black leather vest. Her makeup looked Playboy picture-perfect, even in the early dawn. Let’s not forget the six inch spiked heels. I looked down at my attire and cringed, but what could I do? Henry wouldn’t let me go and get any of my stuff. Not that my Old Navy and Gap clearance attire was anything fantastic, but it was mine and it fit.

  Nick and Nate started stirring, and I could hear Claire take a deep breath behind me.

  “Oh, how I’ve missed my bestie!” She kept kissing him on his cheeks. I pretty much wanted to throat punch her.

  I just stood there, glaring. Finally, I let out a fake cough. She stopped slobbering all over my man, and looked at Claire. “You must be Elaina. Pleasure to meet you.” She smiled a huge, perfect, toothy grin, like the Cheshire Cat.

  “Ah, no. That’s Claire, her best friend.” Henry gestured toward me. “This is my beautiful Elaina.” Sophie looked me up and down with a critical eye. I felt violated, and a bit dirty.

  Her eyes were the same color as Henry’s. It was odd to me because I had never seen that color to begin with, and the hooker shows up with the same color eyes? I parked that in the back of my brain for the moment. I knew I would be asking about that at another point in time.

  “Ah, okay. Well…hello, Elaina.” She stuck her hand out to me.

  I got the feeling that she didn’t think I was good enough for Henry, or Liam, or Luke, or whatever the fuck his name was. I just looked at her hand, and she finally put it back at her side.

  “And whose are these?” She pointed toward Nick and Nate, like they were belongings.

  “Umm, that’s Nick.” Nick lifted his hand and looked at me with a raised brow. I think he understood that I was less than pleased about Sophie’s arrival, and I’m pretty sure he felt the same. “And that’s Nate.” Nate gave her a half smile, while looking her up and down.

  “Relations?”

  “Nick is Elaina’s brother, and Nate is…I mean, was our wedding coordinator. Christ.” Henry looked down for a second. I knew he started thinking about the previous day’s events.

  “Very good then. Well, hello, everybody. I’m Sophie Jackson.” She nodded and smiled. I didn’t like her. She rubbed me the wrong way. “Henry, darling, I need some assistance with my trunk and bags.”

  “Alright. Nick, will you cover us?”

  “Yeah, sure.” He got up, put on his shirt, and picked up the Sig Henry issued him. He walked over to me, gave me a pat on the back, and followed behind. I turned around and looked at Claire.

  “Wow.” Claire didn’t seem too amused, either. “Did you see what she was wearing? Totally inappropriate for undead killing.”

  “I think her ‘ladies’ were about to burst out of that top.” Nate chuckled at my statement. I admit it, I was jealous. She was beautiful, and looked like a Barbie. “Would it be bad to throat punch her? I really wanted to, after her hooker ass was slobbering all over my man,” I growled.

  “No offense, but I’m thinking she could take you out in a second, especially if she’s trained like Henry.” Claire was always the voice of reason.

  “Probably,” I sighed. Then we heard gunshots coming from just outside the apartment. “Shit!” I ran over to the window. There was a small herd of undeads coming at Henry, Nick, and the hooker. “Should we go out there?!”

  “I don’t know,” Claire and Nate said in unison. Then I saw Sophie start laughing. That bitch was mental to the maximum. She grabbed something small out of her trunk and tossed it at the undeads.

  “I think that’s a --.” The explosion was intense. The window cracked and some of the pieces of glass fell to the ground. The concussion pushed the three of us back and to the floor. It rattled me to the core. Bits and pieces of undeads splattered on what was left of the window.

  “Holy fuck!” My stomach decided to revolt again. I almost didn’t make it to the sink before I lost
what little food was left in me.

  I heard Claire yell, “Check the door!” I worked hard to gather myself and stumbled out of the kitchen.

  “What happened?” I slurred my words a bit as I stumbled passed Nate.

  “You tossed your cookies,” Nate said.

  “Thank you. I figured that one out myself.” He didn’t appreciate my attitude. “Grab your weapon. Claire, let’s do this.” I forced myself to focus.

  “Got it.”

  “And what do you want me to do?” Nate was even more annoyed.

  “Stand there and look pretty?”

  “I don’t need to stand to look pretty, honey.” Too bad Nate wasn’t facing me so he couldn’t see me roll my eyes from there to Seattle. The handle on the door jiggled. Claire readied herself to open it.

  “Are you bit?!” I yelled.

  “What if I am?” Great. It was the hooker.

  “I’ll paint the wall behind you with your blood and brains!” My stomach churned, but I was serious. She cackled. Really? She really was mental. “Are you bit?!” I yelled again.

  “Elaina, open the door!” Nick yelled.

  “Where is Henry?”

  “Open the fucking door now!” I nodded at Claire. I had the axe, Nate covered me with his Sig. Claire opened the door, and I dropped the axe when I saw Nick carrying Henry over his shoulder. He looked to be unconscious. I couldn’t speak. I looked at Claire.

  “What happened to him?” She was my voice in the moment because, apparently, I had lost mine. Claire grabbed my hand as she spoke. Nick was walking him back to the bedroom with quick, long strides.

  “He flew backward from the explosion, and I think he hit his head. He’s knocked out.” Nick laid Henry down on the bed. In shock, I stood in the doorway and watched Claire check his pulse and breathing.

  “He seems to sound okay. Elaina, go get a wet cloth. Like Nick said, I think he’s just knocked out.” I turned around and went into the master bathroom.

  Claire’s father was a doctor and she assisted him in his practice many times. She had aspired to be a doctor but, sadly, after both of her parents died in a car accident a few years prior to the outbreak, she gave up her aspirations and changed her major to study early childhood education.

  Claire still had never spoken about it. I don’t think she wanted to believe that it had happened. She visited their home on a regular basis: watering flowers, tidying up the yard. She never went inside of the house, though.

  When I came back, the hooker was sitting next to him on the bed, stroking his hair. I handed Claire the cloth. The next thing I did wasn’t exactly the best decision in my life, but I jumped up on the bed and grabbed the hooker by her vest, which tore. Oops.

  “You bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you? You could have killed him!” I had her pinned down, my knees on her shoulders and my hand around her throat. “And you laugh at the door, instead of telling us it was urgent?”

  I was choking her. I felt like a rabid animal. Nick jumped on me and pulled me off of her. “Let go of me!” I flailed around, trying to get free. “She could have fucking killed him!”

  “Elaina, calm down. Please. You have to calm down.” Nick held me until I gave up. I started crying, then the hooker got in my face.

  “Listen, you little piece of shit. Do that again, and you will be undead food. Got it?” She tried to adjust her vest so it stayed together.

  “Leave her alone, Sophie.” When Henry spoke, he was a bit raspy.

  “Henry!” I yelled. Nick let me go and I ran to him. “Henry, are you okay?”

  “My head hurts a bit, but I think I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse head injuries.” He smirked. I latched onto him.

  “I thought you were dead.” I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, just to be sure. He was cool to the touch, like usual. I kept repeating myself. Henry rubbed my back while I held onto him.

  “It’s okay, love. I’m fine.” He consoled me while I broke down.

  “I thought I lost you…”

  “You could never get rid of me that easily. You’re stuck with me forever.” He looked down and smiled at me.

  I realized at that moment that it didn’t matter if he was Henry, Liam, or Luke. I still loved him. I was hopelessly lost in the world, and he was the only one who could keep me from running in circles.

  “Henry, I want to get married.”

  “I know, love. As do I. I promise you, hell or high water, we will get married.” I nodded at him while the tears ran down my face. I was a little embarrassed that everyone saw me in such a weak state. Claire sensed my discomfort.

  “Come on. Let’s leave the two love birds alone for a bit.” Claire ushered everyone out and she closed the door behind them. I could hear them talking, while Henry and I lay there quietly holding each other. I don’t think I have ever loved him more before that moment. He played with my hair, like he always did. It was such a soothing feeling for me.

  “I love you, Luke…Liam…Henry…whatever the fuck your name is,” I whispered to him.

  “I love you, too, soon to be Mrs. Richards-Daniels.” We both let out some quiet chuckles. I nuzzled his nose and gave him a peck on the lips. He groaned a little from the pain.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “Hmmm...how about some water? And some aspirin. My head is pounding.”

  “I will be right back.” Thankfully, the sun was almost fully up, and I didn’t kill myself tripping over stuff.

  I got out to the kitchen, and the others were sitting at the breakfast bar, making plans. “I don’t think you should be making plans without Henry.”

  The hooker sighed. “I’m in charge while Henry is down.”

  “The hell you are.” My hands curled into fists. I had a desire to punch the Barbie right off of her face. “You nearly killed him, you crazy fucking bitch!”

  “He’s alive, isn’t he?” She sounded bothered by that. If there wasn’t a bar between us, I would have jumped on her again. Claire, seeing that the situation was getting heated, got up and walked around to me.

  “Hey, Elaina. Let’s cool down some. Okay, hon?” I nodded while I glared. “I understand why you’re upset, but we all have to get along and trust each other.”

  “I thought I lost him,” I said through a clenched jaw, mostly because if I said it with an unclenched jaw, I would have broken down again.

  “I know. We were trying to decide what we were going to do for food today. Since the power is out, we were thinking about raiding the fridge and freezer. Henry has a grill on his deck. Maybe we could use it?” Claire pointed out the sliding doors just off of the kitchen that led to a cute little deck I hadn’t really noticed before. She rubbed my arm. She was looking for my permission.

  “Let me go ask him what he wants to do.”

  “We aren’t going anywhere.” She flashed me her warm, loving smile. I grabbed Henry some water, and rummaged until I found the aspirin. Then I headed back to the bedroom.

  ***

  “You two need to cool it.” Claire was looking right at Sophie.

  “Pffft. She has her knickers in a twist. She just can’t get over my relationship with Henry. I mean, really, look at me and then look at her.” She chuckled.

  “Get over your relationship? What is there to get over?”

  “Henry and I!” Then she winked at Claire.

  “How dare you? I would spit in your face if I didn’t have manners,” Claire growled. Sophie cackled. “What is your malfunction?”

  “She is obviously jealous.”

  “I don’t think she’s jealous.”

  “Threatened then. I mean, I can’t help it if Henry and I had a thing,” she put up air quotes, “before he came to the States.”

  Claire’s jaw dropped. “Wait. You and Henry had a thing and you aren’t just besties?” Claire air quoted two times, mocking Sophie. “I’m willing to bet she has no idea about your thing. And I’m pretty sure he has better taste than that.”

 
; “He was an amazing lay. He really knew exactly what buttons to push to make me scream. Mmm...” It was obvious that Sophie was thinking about an intimate moment. Claire made a face like she had eaten a teaspoon of bitter. “Anyway, he was my protector at the complex.” She leaned back on the stool, like she was reminiscing about the good old days. “I just hope she’s good enough for him. He loved to please me, if you know what I mean.” Sophie winked at Claire again, and she shuddered.

  “Ugh. Grow up.” Nate and Nick just stood there, watching the exchange. Claire looked over at the two of them. “Nobody mention this to her. Got it?”

  “Ha!” Sophie laughed again.

  “Yup,” Nick said and Nate chimed in right after.

  ***

  “Hey, lover. How are you feeling?” I walked back in the bedroom, trying to put my best smile on and not let on about my interaction with the hooker.

  “I’d be better if you got along with Sophie.” I looked down. He must have heard us.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I helped him sit up, and handed him the water and aspirin. He took a couple sips and lay back again. “Are you hungry? They are trying to figure out food. Since the power is out, they want to use the grill.”

  “I don’t want anyone lingering outside for a lengthy period of time. Let them know they can have whatever they want, just stay inside.”

  “Do you want anything?”

  “Surprise me.” He smiled.

  I left for the kitchen, feeling a weight pressing down on me. Everyone stopped and watched me open the fridge. I pulled out everything that would spoil, mostly fresh fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Henry ate healthy, for the most part, although he had a pretty bad sweet tooth. He loved sweets of all sorts, especially candy and baked goods. He was always right there with me, gorging on sweets during my times of need.

  “Eat up, but don’t use the grill. He doesn’t want anyone outside for an extended period of time.” The hooker sighed. I did my damnedest to ignore her, but I turned around and smiled. I cocked my head to the left a bit.