“No, you need that,” Sophie insisted.
“Listen, you might run into some serious shit out there. Nick and I have got it covered here. We have a wide variety of cutlery to work with.” He grinned.
“Not funny.”
“I’m not trying to be funny. I’m just saying.” He smirked again, tipping back his mug to get every last drop. I shuddered again.
“I will have you know that when Thomas and I went to the medical facility, we did a pretty good job taking off some undead’s heads with the handle of a shotgun. We didn't use a single bullet.” Claire stood with her hands on her hips, proud of herself.
“Yes, quite impressive for a proper girl such as yourself.”
“Feisty this morning, aren’t you, Henry?” I said with a smile. We all laughed.
It died down when Sophie, the buzz kill, said, “Anyway, once we get back to the apartment, we will load up as much as we can. Depending on when we get there, we may spend the night.”
Henry said, “Well, I want you to make sure you take some proper provisions with you. Food, blankets, water, et cetera.”
I began to feel even more nervous than I was before. I didn’t want to think about the danger they could be facing the moment they walked out that door.
“What’s the time limit before we go and look for them?” Everyone looked at me. “What?” I shrugged. “I’m just concerned, that’s all.”
“You have such little faith in me, do you?” Sophie stood before me with her hands on her hips, waiting for a response.
I sighed. “No, Sophie, it’s not that. I just want to make sure we have a plan in place, just in case.”
“Right…” It was long and drawn out. “Give us five days.”
“Alright,” Henry said, easily agreeing.
“Fantastic. Let’s load up, shall we?” On Sophie’s cue, everyone hustled around the house, gathering items we all felt were necessary for the trip back to the apartment. The supplies we were collecting may have been a little excessive. There was no way they needed so many blankets for just the three of them.
The closer it got to the time for them to take off, the more my stomach was doing flip flops.
Once the truck was loaded up, Henry had a last few details for Sophie. “You know those vehicles that were pushed off on the side of the road on the main road here?” She nodded. “Check to see if you can siphon from them, and see if they have any extra supplies.” He handed her all the tracking devices. “Leave these somewhere.”
“Okay,” Sophie said. They stood and looked at one another for a few minutes. Henry grabbed her hands. I couldn’t help but feel a small spark of jealousy when I saw the way they looked at each other.
“Listen, I just want to say thank you for everything you have done for us…for me. I promise that we’ll find your kids and get them away from that fucker.” Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “Take care of yourself. I know you’ve got this.” She nodded. Henry pulled her close and hugged her.
“Thank you.” She smiled back at him.
“Oh, grab my iPod off of the counter. I have the car charger in my truck already. It would be nice to ride with some music, instead of the quiet.”
“Can do.” She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek.
A little more than a flicker of jealous rage ran through my body, but I was trying to remind myself of her words to me: He loves you so much, Elaina. Do not take him for granted. He never loved me the way he does you. They had a tight bond because of their history together, not because they were once lovers.
I tapped Henry on the shoulder, as if we were at a dance. “May I cut in?” Henry turned around and smiled. Sophie had a frightened look on her face. “Umm…shit.” I wrapped my arms around her. She was surprised by my action. We hugged for a minute, and then I pulled away. “As we have already established numerous times, we started off on the wrong foot. So, umm…I just want to say thank you.”
She gave me that grin that I hated so much at one time. “That means a lot to me.” She leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Take good care of him.”
“I will. I promise.” We pulled away from one another. I turned around, only to see that Henry was thrilled that I had finally accepted Sophie. I walked past him and went to Thomas.
“Thomas, you scrawny little pissant.” I winked at him. He smiled and looked down. “Take care of yourself. I’m glad we met. The circumstances were a little on the shady side, but you saved my Henry when you shot that fucker. For me, that made up for holding Henry hostage.”