“I can’t.” My voice shook. Those two simple words were hard to release from my mouth.
“Listen to me. I’m not bit. Look.” He leaned the shotgun up against the wall and slowly turned around, holding his hands up, trusting that I wouldn’t strike. He lifted up his shirt for me to see his clean cut body that was deliciously trim. Oh, god, he was so beautiful.
He did have some blood and gore splattered on his clothes, but I didn’t see anything that looked like an injury.
Relief overwhelmed me. I dropped the axe and jumped into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him so tight that I could have crushed him. He hugged me back just as tight. I was so scared, but his strong arms made me feel safe. I had to learn to trust this new Henry. I just had to. What other option did I have?
He continued to hold me tight. It was so comforting and healing to be in his arms. I heard the door slam. I looked over at Claire and she was standing there, trying hard not to cry. I felt guilty for showing my love for Henry in front of her.
She had lost her longtime beau. I was losing my best friend right before my eyes. I didn’t know if my family was safe. Grief and regret filled me. I pulled back from his embrace. “Henry, we have to go back.”
“Back where?” he asked.
I looked at him like he had two heads. I knew he couldn’t possibly be that dumb, could he? “The church! We need to go back to the church. Now!”
He shook his head. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Yes,” I said.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “No. It’s far too dangerous. I don’t want anything to happen to you. To either one of you.” He looked at me for a while, then looked at Claire. She was standing by the door with her head hanging. “Claire, I’m sorry. We can’t go.”
“My family is there, Henry!” I started to feel more anger coming on. “We need to go get them to safety! I love them…” My voice trailed off.
“I realize that. I love them, too, but we cannot go back there. It’s too dangerous.”
“I need to go back and see if any of them are alive. Or go to their homes and see if they are there.”
His sigh was heavy and he stood silent for a minute with his hands on his hips. He jammed his hand through his hair a few times. After pacing around and mumbling to himself, he reached into his pocket. He cursed to himself. “Here.” He handed me his cellphone. “Start calling everyone you know that was there before something happens to the signal.” I realized my bag was still at the church, along with my wallet and my phone. My family may have been trying to call me. What if they thought that I was hurt or dead, or undead -- whatever the fuck you call it!
I started with my mom’s phone…nothing. My dad’s...nothing. Nick’s...nothing. I was panicking. I tried my mom’s again, and then someone answered. Someone who wasn’t my mother. “Hello? Hello? Help me. Help me, please!”
The voice was a high-pitched male voice. I didn’t recognize it and I couldn’t say anything. “Please help! I’m stuck in the flower shop across from the Heritage Family Worship Church. There are people eating people. Oh, my god! Please!” His words came out rapidly.
Henry grabbed the phone from me. “Hello?”
“Please help me…” The voice trailed off.
“Sir, where did you get that phone?”
“I found it in the street and picked it up. I was coordinating a wedding at Heritage. The Daniels’ wedding. Do you know them? Please send help! I called the police station, but they aren’t even answering. I can’t get through to 911. There are people covered in blood trying to get into the shop. I’m so scared!”
Henry covered the phone with his hand and leaned over to me and whispered, “It’s Nate, the wedding coordinator.” Nate was this tiny flamboyant man, who thought everything he touched turned fabulous. He had an ego bigger than anyone I had ever met. There was never a hair out of place and he was always in an expensive suit.
Nate didn’t recognize Henry’s real voice. He was yelling when Henry put the phone back to his ear. “Sir! Sir! You have to calm down. I need your help.”
“No, you don’t understand! There are people eating people! I need your help! I’m trapped!”
“Sir, I understand what you are saying. Can you tell me what you see? Do you recognize anyone? Anybody from the wedding party?”
“Uh, oh, god. There are so many lying on the ground. Some eating others. Others are roaming around mindlessly.” Nate went quiet for a moment. “Wait! I think I see a normal someone.”
“Okay. Can you tell me where you see them? What do they look like?” Henry was so calm and collected. My heart was trying to leap out of my chest, and I was clawing at his arms, trying to pull the phone down to my ear so I could hear what Nate was saying, as well.