Claire did as instructed. She was scared of what would happen if she didn’t comply with the orders. She also wanted to find out who Samuel was, but she dared not cross anyone at that point. The air was thick with frustration and anger.
Henry finished stitching Elaina’s head. He rummaged through the supply box in his truck and pulled out a t-shirt to put on. He helped Nick position her so he could pull down the liftgate. After that, Henry walked up to Claire and Thomas.
“She should be fine. Nick’s tending to her now that the bleeding has ceased. She’s just passed out right now. She may end up with a concussion, though.” Claire nodded with relief. Henry cleared his throat, focusing on the scrawny kid that tied him up. “Now, Thomas…is that your name?” The frightened boy nodded. “Look, we aren’t going to hurt you. We aren’t like them.” Henry pointed across the way, toward the small strip mall. There were two undeads aimlessly wandering near the storefront. “I realize what you witnessed earlier but, I assure you, I will do my best to keep my composure.” Henry put his hands on his hips and looked around for a minute. “I’m going to make you an offer. I need an answer right away, though. We’re on a mission, and I would like to continue it before it gets dark. Understand?”
“Ye…yes, sir.” Thomas’s voice was shaking.
“I can either leave you here with those supplies, or we can take you with us.”
“Oh, hell no,” Sophie grumbled. “We are not taking that prepubescent little shit with us!”
Henry looked over at her with a snarl. “We are not monsters!” Henry barked. “He has zero chance out here!”
Sophie bit back at Henry right away. “Have you forgotten so quickly? He tried to kill you!”
“With just cause, Sophie!” Henry shouted back at her. “If I were in his shoes, I would have probably done the same. He is scared! Let’s take him with us. We can always use another pair of eyes.”
“He could go rogue on us!”
“Have you met us? We are rogue, darling!”
Sophie’s fists were clenched at her sides. “Rogue from the program!” she growled.
“He won’t hurt us.” Henry flashed his million dollar smile. “Will you, Thomas? Or we will tap him for ourselves.” It was a small yet sadistic, psychological move on Henry’s part.
Thomas’s face went from scared to pasty white and horrified. Then he waved his waif arms in front of his gaunt body. “You have my word. I ain’t gonna hurt any of you.”
Surprisingly, he was able to get the sentence out without a stammer. Sophie was pissed. Henry yanked her aside and got about two inches from her face. “How dare you undermine me?!” He was furious. Sophie jumped when Henry began to yell. Tears were welling up in her eyes again. “I am in charge of this group! You knew that from the moment you were instructed to bring me home! He’s going to decide his own fate. He should have that choice, unlike us!”
Sophie looked at Henry as if he had two heads. “What about Nick?! What about his fate?! You decided that for him!” Sound the alarm. “Angry Henry” was about to make another appearance.
“I could not help that! You know and understand what it’s like!” Henry growled, turned away from Sophie, and stalked off to his truck. He cursed out a string of obscenities and kicked the back tire. His main focus was to get Elaina somewhere safe so he could tend to her medically.
“She ain’t gonna eat me when your back is turned, is she?”
Henry stopped in his tracks. “No, she will not touch you unless I say so. If you decide to go with us, then you will be responsible for helping the group. You will not undermine me at all!” He looked directly at Thomas. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes…yes, sir. I think I would like to go with you.”
“Alright. Claire, you ride with me and keep an eye on Elaina. Nick and Thomas, ride with Sophie.” Not a sound came out of Sophie’s mouth. There was only an icy glare directed right at Henry. “Nick, keep an eye on the kid. Make sure he doesn’t try anything. If he does, enjoy.”
“Understood.” Nick grabbed Thomas by the arm and dragged him to Sophie’s truck. “Here, eat a couple of these, you scrawny bastard, and drink some water.” Nick handed him a couple packets of snacks, along with a bottle of water that Claire pulled out.
Within minutes, they were piled in the trucks and began their journey to Elaina and Nick’s parents’ house. The two trucks moved with purpose as they drove at a slow speed down the road. There were several vehicles, their doors and trunks open, pulled off to the side of the road. It gave Henry the impression that someone must had already looted through there.