“Toss me the keys!” Sophie threw them at Henry. They all hopped in just in time to avoid an undead staggering right for them.
Henry stared at the cracked windshield for a moment, then looked at Sophie. She shrugged and he shook his head at her.
“Everyone, please save your ammo. We may need it.” He started the truck and slammed it into drive, pushing the pedal to the floor. The tires roared on the wet streets.
Henry weaved left and right, avoiding cars and true deads. He stopped at the end of the street. “Give me an idea of where any of you think she might have gone.”
“Clueless,” Sophie said.
“Obviously.” Claire rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe her apartment?”
“No,” Nick said. “Our parents’ house. I bet she’s trying to head there.”
“Shit! She can’t go that way! It’s blocked. Cars are clogging the on-ramp!” Henry gunned it. It was raining heavier by the minute, and there was constant thunder and lightning.
“Watch the gas. It was about a quarter tank when Nick and I came back.” Henry looked at the gauge. Sure enough, it was just a hair below a quarter tank.
“I have a siphon… Shit! She has my pack. I have a siphon in there!”
“Relax, Captain Anxiety. Take your finger off the panic button for a moment. Remember, I have one, as well. The trick is finding a car we haven’t siphoned off already.” Sophie dug through her pack, looking for her siphon.
“Sorry. I’m just worried sick about her. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her.”
“I know. Just calm down.” Henry nodded. She reached up and tenderly rubbed his ear with her thumb and forefinger. “Deep breath. She needs you to focus right now. We will find her.” He closed his eyes, while inhaling and exhaling.
***
I looked for tissues all over the front of Henry’s truck. Yet again, I was on another crying jag, and was without precious tissues. I needed to start carrying something if I was going to be fucking crying all the damn time. I pulled up my shirt and wiped my nose on it. I kept thinking I was crazy for trying to go to my mother’s house.
The lightning was striking all around me, and the thunder was vibrating the truck. I just wanted to get to my mother. I turned the truck off so as not to waste gas. I pounded my fists on the steering wheel a few more times just for good measure, only to accidentally hit the horn.
I screamed until my throat burned. It made me feel alive for a brief moment. It was raining so hard, I couldn’t even hear myself. I felt a thud on the left side of the truck. I didn’t want to look, but I had to.
“Oh, my god!” I screamed. There was an undead throwing himself into the driver’s side of the truck. I turned on the ignition again, and hit the lock button.
“Fuck!” I yelled. He was clawing at the window, leaving nasty bits of rotting flesh on it. I screamed again. I felt more thuds. I looked around the truck. There were four more climbing over one another, trying to get at me.
I froze. I wasn’t sure if I should throw the truck in drive and try to do a U-turn, or if I should throw it into reverse and blindly floor it in hopes that I didn’t hit anything substantial.
“Think, Elaina, think!” I was scared out of my mind. I decided my little adventure ranked as the number one dumbest thing I had ever done. I felt like giving up again, and I thought maybe I should just open the door. Henry would move on.
No, he wouldn’t. He would die alone, and I couldn’t do that to him.
Everything was falling apart. Henry wasn’t my Henry anymore, some hooker-looking ex of his was trying to intimidate me, my best friend was lost emotionally, my brother was no longer himself, and the rest of my family was probably all true dead. Let’s not even get into what state the country is in.
The undeads continued to beat themselves against the truck, as I wallowed in my depression. I saw a bright light come up behind me. At first, I thought it was lightning. The thunder was so loud right then that I barely heard the gunshots. I looked around me and there was rotting undead goo all over the driver’s side.
I wasn’t sure who was shooting back there. No one knew I had left so it couldn’t have been Henry. I wasn’t going to open the door, just in case it was some sort of freak.
My head was spinning, dizzy with thoughts and fear. There was a banging on the passenger side window. I screamed again, as I looked over. “Henry!”
I couldn’t believe it. I had never been so glad to see him. He was waving at me to come out the passenger side. I scooted over and, as soon as I unlocked the door, he whipped it open and pulled me out of the truck. He held me tightly, spinning me around in the pouring rain. I wrapped my legs around his waist. For a moment, I forgot what was happening right before us.