They began dating and, a few years later, she stood up at the front of the church for Elaina and Henry’s wedding…daydreaming. She was hoping that Marc would ask her soon. Then Pastor Jones staggered out and tore Marc’s throat open, taking all of her hopes and dreams with him. Claire let out an ear piercing scream.
“What! What is it?!” Sophie yelled, while shaking her shoulder. Claire realized she had been in her own world, reliving one of her worst days. She was crying and shaking all over. “Claire! What’s wrong?”
“Marc… I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Who is Marc?” Thomas asked.
“Claire’s boyfriend…well… Christ. He’s true dead now,” Sophie mumbled. They sat in the truck in silence for a moment. Thomas decided he wasn’t about to ask any more questions. “Claire, you have nothing for which to be sorry.”
“I do!” she shouted with excessive emotion.
“No. No, you don’t. You did what you had to do.” Claire wondered what Sophie knew. She wondered if she knew everything. She was sure that Henry must have mentioned what happened to Marc. How could he not?
“You don’t understand,” Claire muttered.
“Me? I don’t understand? You do realize what I am, right?”
Claire nodded, but then said through her river of tears, “I betrayed Marc’s memory.” She put her face in her hands.
“What could you have possibly done to betray his memory?” Sophie was trying hard to be kind and understanding, which wasn’t exactly her usual M.O.
Claire looked at Sophie, trying to relay the answer without having to say it out loud. If she said it, then it would true. It was like her parent’s death. If she doesn’t acknowledge it, it never happened.
“Ohhhh, right. I understand.” Sophie took a deep breath.
“Please don’t say anything to anyone.”
Sophie nodded. “You can trust me.” She touched Claire’s cheek with her icy hand. Claire never imagined she would bond with Sophie. “Now, come on. Wipe those tears away. We need to get up to Henry’s flat.”
“How do you do it?” Claire whispered.
“Do what?” She wasn’t sure what Claire was talking about.
“Watch Henry and Elaina.”
“Ah, yes. That. Quite frankly, it is rather difficult. I loved him, and I still carry a torch for him. That’s obvious. But I have to step aside. I originally thought that once we reunited, he would forget about Elaina and he would be mine again. Henry is amazing, and we were great together. I know there’s a picture of him next to the definition of insane in the dictionary, but there have been some extenuating circumstances. Now I have to wonder if maybe we had just fallen together because of our situation. We could relate to one another. Convenience, yeah?” Sophie took another deep breath. “Anyway, enough about that. We should go.”
They all got out of the truck, scanning their surroundings. Since Sophie had the only fully loaded gun, she went first. Claire and Thomas followed closely behind.
They made their way up to the third floor, not a single undead in their path. Sophie scanned the floor through the little window before opening the door. She put the key in the lock and, before she turned it, took a deep breath, readying herself for anything that could be waiting for them. Then she opened the door to Henry’s apartment. She quickly scanned the front of the apartment and everything looked the same as when they left.
They all breathed a sigh of relief. Sophie stalked off and cleared the rest of the apartment. She came back and met both Claire and Thomas in the living room.
“Look, I’m tired. I’m going to get some rest. When daylight hits in a couple hours, we will pack up.” Sophie walked back toward the bedrooms, leaving Claire and Thomas in her wake to fend for themselves.
“Well, where should I sleep? Here?” He pointed at the couch. Claire nodded, and he grabbed the blanket that was thrown haphazardly on the floor. She headed back to Henry’s bedroom, ready for a few hours of sleep herself. She was exhausted.
Claire lay down and snuggled up under the bedding, wishing she could snuggle up to Nick. Sophie was right. She had to move forward. When she and Nick talked about Jenna and Marc, they both thought they would have wanted them to move forward. They could understand what the other was going through so maybe they could learn to cope with it together.
It was chilly in the apartment. She took a mental note to grab some of Henry’s winter clothing. Oddly enough, she hoped they could head south shortly after they got back to the house. Staying in the north would just make matters worse. The snow would arrive soon, and they were ill-prepared for it. Heading south just made sense.