Broken Dreams(110)

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Henry walked gingerly behind Sophie. I caught a glimpse of him, and he looked to be in a considerable amount of pain. Each step causing him more and more distress. I didn’t want to care so I didn’t show him I was concerned. I was just so angry.

It was pretty quiet outside. I looked over at Claire, knowing that she was probably disgusted with me for choosing to ride with Henry. Quite frankly, I was disgusted with myself. It set us back further than before. The black hole in my chest seemed to be getting larger by the second.

Stupid fucking love. It was going to kill me.

I looked down as I felt Claire wrap her warm, slight hand around mine. Maybe she forgave my momentary lapse of stupidity. I hadn’t forgiven myself yet, though. I shouldn’t have ridden with Henry because our relationship was hopeless. We weren’t ever going to see eye-to-eye on this whole thing. I was going to be lost watching him for the rest of our lives, unless he decided to leave me. He and his girl, Sophie, would probably run off into the sunset together.

“Alright, clan,” Sophie said. “We’re going to check out this store before we take off again. Two of us will stand guard outside and the rest of us will go in. Then, we’ll head to your mum’s.” She looked at both Nick and me. “Volunteers?”

“I’ll go in.” I was still pissed at Henry so I knew that I could take my anger out on an undead if there were any inside.

“In,” Nick said curtly, as he looked at me and nodded.

“Claire and I will stand guard.” Claire nodded at Sophie. I looked over at Henry, and he was leaning against the push bar on his truck, rubbing his temples. Okay, fine, I did care. It killed me to see him in so much pain. I was such a damn softie.

“Henry’s not feeling well.” He looked up at me. “Maybe he should stay in the truck, and let us handle this.” The tension in the air was thick. Sophie looked between the both of us.

Henry shook his head. “Sorry, love. I won’t let that happen.” I sighed. Always trying to be the hero. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to prove his manliness, or if he was just barking mad. I decided to go with the latter.

“Whatever. I was just trying to help you out. You are obviously in no shape to fight.” I rolled my eyes. They would end up in a permanent roll if I kept it up.

“I understand that, and appreciate your efforts.” His words were short and precise. He spoke more to be polite than anything else. The entire group was looking back and forth between us, like they were waiting for the train wreck to obliterate one another.

Sophie clapped her hands together. “So it’s settled. Henry, Elaina, and Nick inside. Claire and I’ll be outside. Let’s do this, bitches.”

Even though I was still upset with Henry, we used our usual entering routine. He counted to three, I pulled open the door, and he entered first. We went up and down the aisles separately, and I found nothing.

Nadda. Zero. Fucking zilch.

Absolutely nothing. Literally. All of the store’s stock looked to have been cleared out. There were random empty boxes lying around. There wasn’t even a single stick of gum left. Of course, since I didn’t see any gum, I was now craving it.

I began to salivate while I was daydreaming of that minty fresh flavor in my mouth. I closed my eyes, and I could almost feel myself chewing it.

“Elaina!” I heard Nick yell. I jumped, and my eyes popped open.

“What?!”

“Nine o’clock! Nine o’clock!” I whipped my head around to my left, and there was an undead woman about five feet from me. How the hell did I miss that? I panicked. I didn’t even have my Sig out and ready.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I looked to my right and, lucky for me, I was in the aisle that ended at the wall. I screamed like the sissy girl that I was, and ran down toward the wall. Thinking fast, I pulled the shelving unit over and it crashed to the floor, taking the undead woman down with it.

I could hear her still growling and struggling, trying to get out from underneath the twisted pile of metal. I looked around, and saw the side door was open. She must have wandered in from there. I heard another moan, and then I saw Nick lying on the floor.

“Oh, my god! Nick!” I screamed as I ran toward him. He was reaching up for me when I got to him. I could see the life fading from his eyes. I collapsed down next to him, trying to figure out what had happened. Then I saw it. He had a nasty bite wound on his arm. Blood was oozing out, and forming a small pool on the grimy floor.

“Nick, no! No! Please…stay with me.” I looked for something to cover his arm with. He reached his bloody hands to my face, brushing his knuckle against my cheek.