“I know. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing.” Then the older man with the wrench continued smashing Sophie’s truck. We heard a whistle, and the man with the gun looked around.
Henry saw his opportunity and jumped him, putting him in a headlock. Then he wrestled the gun out of his hands, tossing it behind him, and pulled out a knife. He pressed the knife to his throat. He struggled, but Henry was far too strong for him.
“Now. Let’s renegotiate, shall we?” He glared at the older man.
“Let him go, or I’ll fuck you up.” The older man seemed a little nervous, even though he spoke as if he wasn’t. I assumed the one in the headlock was his son. After all, they both seemed to have a similar mangy look about them.
“We can’t let him do this!” I grabbed Claire before she ran out.
“What happened to ‘he knows what he’s doing, and we have to trust him’, Claire?”
“We can’t go around killing people!” she yelled.
“Lower your voice! He hasn’t killed anyone yet.” I focused back on outside.
“With what? Your plumber’s tool?” Henry chuckled. He stopped in a snap and focused on the father. “You have fucked with the wrong people. I have a highly-trained band of individuals in the house that, with one signal, will come out in full force. I have a sniper up top, and one in each window. If you try anything, it will be your last day in this cruel world. Do you understand? Or do I need to speak slower?”
The one that Henry had in a headlock was on the brink of unconsciousness. He stopped struggling.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Oh, fuck.” I saw it coming before it happened. I closed my eyes. Claire struggled against me, while I held her.
“Shoulder!” Henry yelled. We heard a single gunshot, and the father fell to the ground, writhing in pain. “Now, I suggest you get your ass away from my people and our belongings, or you will have a leg injury, as well.”
Henry let go of the son and pushed him away. He bent over, coughing, and rubbed his throat, checking for blood. He grabbed his father, who was on the ground bleeding like a stuck pig, and they ran off. Henry turned around, grabbed the gun that the man dropped, and stormed back inside, slamming the door.
“Henry!” When I got to him, I saw his eyes were graying before my eyes. “Henry?”
“I need a fix. The blood he poured out is making me have a craving.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll have Claire hook me up.” I pulled out the box that had the draw supplies and found what I needed to fill a bag. Nick and Thomas rushed downstairs.
“Nice work, Nick.” Henry smirked.
“It was Thomas’ idea to whistle. I was just going to pick them both off.” Thomas shifted uncomfortably. He probably wasn’t used to getting compliments.
Henry patted him on the shoulder. “Brilliant. No sense in killing the stupid. They’ll end up killing themselves before long,” Henry said, seemingly amused by his own statement.
“Henry, Nick. Stop. They’re just scared. After all, they said it was their neighborhood.” Claire jammed the needle into my arm.
“OW! What the fuck, Claire!” I yelled.
“Sorry,” she whispered to me. Then she finished her thought, “They’re just protecting what they feel is rightfully theirs.” Claire lectured on. “We can’t behave like animals. We need to try to act proper.”
“Proper?” Henry and Nick said in unison.
“Yes. Proper. We have to treat people like we would like to be treated.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “We can’t just rush into a neighborhood and think that no one will be upset with us.”
She turned and stood in front of both Henry and Nick, hands on her hips. Thomas, as always, stayed silent and watched from a far.
“Alright, Claire.” I became nervous about what may come out of Henry’s mouth. He was craving and cranky. “If you think you can handle these situations better, then the next time someone comes knocking on the door with a gun, wanting to kill your boyfriend for stealing what was supposedly their gas, then…have…at…it!”
Henry pulled off his hoodie and vest. He picked up the gun that he took from the moron. After he removed the magazine, he laughed.
“What?” Nick said. He tossed the gun at Nick.
“Empty.”
“See! You have to control yourself a little more. Maybe we should have given them some supplies, or their gas back. Now that guy could bleed to death or get a nasty infection because you shot him!”
Henry sighed in disbelief. Maybe she missed it, but he had tried giving them back their gas. They weren’t in the negotiating mood. He gave up and sat down, drumming his fingers on his knee, waiting patiently for his half of the bag.
Then Nick took the stage. “You seem to have forgotten they shot at us first!” Nick was angry. She decided not to say anything else. She seemed a little upset that Nick yelled at her. I figured it was probably because he was craving, too.
***
After our lovely, rather uneventful morning, we readied ourselves to continue our journey. Henry was standing in front of the grimy window, contemplating something.
“Hey,” I murmured, and rubbed my hand up and down his muscular back. He sighed. I saw his brilliant, emerald eyes filled with agony. “Is it Sophie’s truck?”
He nodded. “What do you think we should do with it?” I was surprised he asked for my opinion. He was more of a “his way or the highway” kind of guy. I was hesitant to answer, but he needed help with this decision.
“I think we should leave it. It’s not safe with the side window smashed out.”
He nodded again. “I think you’re right.” He turned and looked at me. “Can you help me clean it out? I want to make sure everything of hers is out of there.”
“Of course.” When he smiled at me, it was so sad. I could see he was fighting the sorrow that was near the surface. “Claire?” I yelled.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to go help Henry clean out the truck. Thomas, can you stand guard? And Nick, help Claire consolidate our supplies even more than we already have. We’ll all be riding in Henry’s truck.”
I put on my big girl panties, and stepped up to the plate. Henry needed help, and I was going to be his rock for a change. Thomas grabbed a gun, and the three of us headed outside.
***
Nick stood, looking at Claire. “Little bossy, isn’t she?”
She looked at him. She was still a little upset that he yelled at her. Then she sighed. “Well…someone has to fulfill the role of Sophie. I guess, naturally, it would be Elaina. Besides, Henry needs some extra support right now. He still loved Sophie. It was obvious.”
“I hate to even think that. Does that make him not fully committed to Elaina?”
“No. I don’t think so. I think his love for Sophie was, more or less, situational. They developed a bond because they understood each other’s issues. He’s very much in love with Elaina. I don’t doubt that.” Claire was talking and reorganizing, while Nick admired his newfound love.
“If he breaks her heart…,” Nick growled.
Claire looked up at him. “He has broken her heart many times during this insanity. And I’m sure it won’t be the last time, either.” She stood up and walked over to him. “We all have had our hearts broken in one way or another.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” He pulled Claire close and kissed her. “But sometimes they can be mended.” Claire smiled at his effort, but pulled away. “What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s just hard. I still have feelings for Marc, and I know you still have feelings for Jenna.” Nick looked down. “It’s true. You know that.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “But, like we discussed before, they would want us to move forward. I know it’s quick, but I can’t help the way I feel. Don’t question us.”
“Can I be completely honest?” Claire was nervous.
“Yeah. I would hope you would be.”
“How do I know that you aren’t just sweet-t
alking me and looking for sex?” Nick put his hand over his heart and rubbed for a moment with a grimace on his face. “This was always your M.O. You always moved on quickly, and I don’t even want to guess how many women you have hooked up with.” She was embarrassed to even say that, but she felt it had to be brought up at some point.
“Claire…” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes. “I understand why you would feel that way, but it’s different with you. I feel like it’s supposed to be. You are amazing, and this should have happened ages ago. Hence why I never settled down. Don’t you see? We are supposed to be. The first time we were together, I knew in my heart that you were what was missing in my life. I knew you were the only woman I wanted to ever be with again. It’s you, and that’s it. I can’t imagine feeling that magic with anyone else.” Claire thought about every word Nick said. “What brought this on?”
“I don’t know. It’s just something I feel that is hanging over us.”
“Well, you put away those fears. As long as I’m alive, and you’ll have me, I will be here and only here.”
“I needed to hear that,” she whispered. Nick pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “We should work on this mess. I have no idea how we are going to fit all of this in Henry’s truck.” Nick grumbled because he had other things in mind besides reorganizing.
“We may have to leave some stuff behind.” Nick stood looking at the mountain of supplies, pushing his hands through his hair.
“I have no idea what we could do without. The good thing is we’ll only have to worry about gas for one truck.” Nick and Claire sat down on the floor, elbow deep in supplies.
***
Henry stood just outside of the doorway, staring at Sophie’s truck. “I don’t know why I look at this truck as an extension of Sophie. It’s a company-supplied vehicle. It’s not like it was actually hers.” I didn’t say anything.
He walked to the vehicle while watching the surroundings. Thomas leaned against the house, covering us. Henry opened the driver’s side door, and immediately stepped back. I stood strong next to him.
“I can do this if you want.”
“It’s just hard. I feel like she’s just going to come around the corner, you know?” He continued to stare at the driver’s seat.
I reached in and began checking every compartment and place that she could have possibly hidden things. Henry walked around to the back and opened the liftgate.
There wasn’t much in the truck, just a few needles and a couple rogue bullets. Both would be useful. We didn’t find any personal effects. I think Henry was hoping to find something he could hold on to besides the one piece of luggage with her clothes, and her pack. Something that would always make him think of, and feel, Sophie.
“I’m sorry we didn’t find what you were looking for.” He didn’t say anything, but got in the driver’s seat and started the truck, checking the gas gauge.
I watched him work diligently. He shut every emotion out. Every move he made was methodical. It was sad to see that he was still so programmed. I don’t think he would ever be able to just relax and let his guard down.
Once he finished, he put both sets of keys in his pocket. Henry then grabbed my hand and we went back inside. I opened the door, and found Claire and Nick on the floor organizing supplies.
Claire looked up and frowned. “Elaina, I have no idea how we’ll fit all of this in one truck. It’s nearly impossible. We need to decide what to weed out.”
We all sat down and went through everything until we had our supplies paired down enough to fit in the truck. I was surprised when Henry said we should leave Sophie’s clothes behind.
Once we were satisfied that we could fit the supplies that we wanted to take with us, we loaded up and got the hell out of there. I didn’t want to spend another minute in that townhouse. It was just one more place with bad memories.
With a deep breath and a calming silence that filled the inside of the truck, Henry safely navigated back to the highway. We continued forward to our destination, where I presumed we would make more bad memories.
Chapter 33
-December 2014-
I
t had taken us well over a month to get to Virginia. There were a few times when I didn’t think we were going to make it between coming close to running out of gas, the undeads, congested roads, and other survivors trying to take our supplies. Henry got into a few fist fights with other survivors. The last fight, I had to have Nick pull him off of the douchebag before he killed him.
We spent about half of our ammunition. Henry was worried that we wouldn’t have enough to get us to Gunther. The meeting point was supposed to be at one of the ports in North Carolina.
I was almost hoping that Gunther wouldn’t be there. I didn’t think I could handle another Kellan situation. I had already seen Henry and Gunther duke it out once, and it wasn’t pretty. Gunther was bigger. Henry’s speed did give him a run for his money, though. I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized Henry was pulling the truck over to the shoulder of the highway.
“Nature calls. Nick? Thomas?” They both decided to go with him. I looked back at Claire, who looked worried.
“Don’t worry. They’ll be back in a minute.” I was trying my best to be comforting. I wasn’t very good at it, but I had to keep trying.
“Oh. Yeah.” She fiddled with her fingers. I could see there was something really wrong.
“Claire, what’s going on? Did you and Nick have a fight?” She shook her head. “Tell me. I can see you’re upset.” There was a long silence.
Just when I thought I was going to die from curiosity, she said, “I think I might be pregnant.” Her voice was so quiet that I thought I misheard her.
“Pregnant?”
She nodded. “Even through all this bullshit, I’ve been on time. I was supposed to get it two weeks ago.” I didn’t say anything. Frankly, I didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know what to do, Elaina.”
“You have to tell him.”
“I know, but we can’t bring a baby into this crazy, fucked up world! We’re barely surviving ourselves.” The tears flowed down her cheeks. She put her face in her hands, and I reached back and rubbed her knee.
The three men came back, relief written all over their faces. Nick opened the door and saw Claire crying.
“Claire? Hey. Hey. What’s wrong?” He pulled her close, and she pushed her face into his chest. “Claire…?” He looked at me with his eyebrows raised, asking me what was going on.
“She’s just worried.” I turned around and faced the front. I took a deep breath, hoping Nick wouldn’t ask me anything.
“Claire…tell me what’s going on. Please. You’re scaring me.” I knew he had to be truly worried because he would never admit to being scared. She shook her head. Nick opened the door. “Let’s go outside, and you can talk to me in private.” He guided her out of the truck and walked her to the back.
***
“We’re alone. Sort of.” Nick grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. “Whatever it is, I want to help you. I love you. Now, please, talk to me.” Claire leaned up against the bumper of the truck. She looked at Nick with such sadness, tears still running down her face.
“I think…” She had to take a deep breath. “I think I might be pregnant.” She stood in silence, wiping her tears on her sleeve. Initially Nick was stunned, but began pacing moments later.
“Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not one hundred percent sure. But I’m two weeks late, and I’ve been feeling sick to my stomach for the past couple days.”
“Shit…” He stopped in front of Claire and put his hands together in front his mouth. After a couple of deep breaths, he stepped closer to her and pulled her into him. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this.”
“The baby will be a burden on the group,” she cried.
“They will just have to accept it.”
“I’m sorry. We
should’ve been more careful.”
“Well, we can’t turn back time so we just have to move forward. Okay?” He pulled her chin up and wiped her tears off her face. He smiled. “You are an amazing woman, Claire. I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”
“It’s going to be tremendously difficult. I don’t know how we’ll clothe, or diaper, or even feed the baby. I can’t imagine I would produce enough milk with the lack of nutrients I’m getting.” She was breaking his heart. Claire always wanted to be a mom, but not under those current circumstances.
“I know. We’ll take it day by day, one step at a time.” He rubbed her shoulders. They heard the truck door open, and Henry rounded the back.
“Ahh… Sorry. I hate to break this up, but we need to get moving. It’ll be dark soon, and we need to find a place to stay.” He was trying not to intrude. Claire wondered if Elaina said something to him.
“Yeah. Sorry. Come on, babe.” Nick gingerly guided her back to the truck.
***
“Are we all set?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Nick held Claire, who was still sniffling, close to him. Thomas and Henry had both decided to just be quiet and not ask any questions about what was going on.
“You know, we’re close to a military base. I heard rumors before all this mess began that there is a massive cache of weapons at this particular one.” Henry waited for someone to respond. It didn’t look like that was going to happen. “Fantastic,” he quipped. He was really catching on to my sarcastic ways.
“Yes…fantastic, Henry,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I don’t think it’s a great idea. It’s military.”
“Correct,” he replied in a rather cheerful tone. “That means they have bigger guns and bigger ammo.” He grinned. I had no idea why the thought of weapons made him so giddy. It was kind of creepy.
“I don’t know, Henry. It just seems too risky. What if they are still in operation and we try to steal from them? We’d all be undead food. Besides, the military has to still be in operation with the bombings up north.”
Broken Dreams Page 53
