“Sure, no problem.” He was leery of the attitude in the front of the truck. Claire pulled out the needle and vial, tied off her arm and began a draw on herself.
In less than a minute, Claire was tossing a vial at Sophie. It was as silent in the truck as it was outside on the streets. She pulled the truck over and threw it into park. After she tossed back the vial, she laid her head back on the headrest, closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and let the mini high whisk her away for just a moment.
“We had better get moving. It’s going to be dark soon.” Sophie’s eyes popped open and looked over at Claire. Her eyes were shiny and bright again. Claire thought of Nick when she saw them.
“Right. So much for that high,” she drawled. Sophie thought that if they didn’t sleep so long, they could have completed the travel that day. “I’m not too keen on driving through the night again.”
“We need to get back. I don’t want them to worry so much that they leave to try to find us.”
“Claire, I’m not driving through the night. Period.” Claire was ready to throttle her.
“Okay, Queen Sophie. Where are we going to camp out then?”
“I don’t know!”
“Well, maybe your royal bitchyness should fucking decide!” Claire really wanted to get back to Nick. She wanted to feel his cool arms around her body, wanted him to whisper in her ear that everything would be okay, even though she knew it was a lie.
“Really, Claire? Are we going to get snippy?” Thomas was looking between Sophie and Claire.
“Yes! Yes, I will get snippy if I damn well want to! Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I don’t want to do this anymore?”
Sophie laughed, then grabbed Claire by the collar. “Has it ever occurred to you that you have a choice, and I don’t?! This is my life! So shut the fuck up before I kick you out on the curb!” Sophie let go of her shirt, shoving Claire back into the seat.
“I can’t believe that you think I have a choice.” Claire crossed her arms.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way.” Sophie slammed the truck into drive and roared down the street. She was easily going sixty miles an hour through the city. Thomas was cringing in the back. Sophie swerved around herds of undeads, hitting a few in the process.
“You know, you have a blatant disregard for these people!” yelled Claire. Sophie didn’t respond verbally but, instead, accelerated. When Claire looked at the speedometer, it was hovering over eighty. “Will you slow down?! You’re going to kill us all, you crazy bitch!”
Sophie laughed. “Kill us all,” Sophie said to herself. “I’m already half-dead!”
“I’m not, and neither is Thomas. And we don’t intend to be any time soon!” Sophie stood on the brakes. The truck screeched to a stop. She threw it in park, opened the door, walked angrily to Claire’s door, yanked it open, and wrestled her out of the truck.
“You are a goddamned maniac, Sophie!”
“Drive!” Claire stood there glaring at her. “I said drive!” Sophie bellowed. Claire turned and strolled to the driver’s side. Sophie jumped in the passenger side and buckled up. Thomas was barely breathing in the back. He was seriously thinking about walking back to the house.
Claire quietly got in, put on the seat belt, adjusted her mirrors, and casually put the truck in drive.
“Alright then. You decide. It’s your choice and you lead the way, princess,” Sophie snapped. She slowly accelerated, acting oblivious to Sophie’s demand that she was now the leader. Anger was rolling out of every pore in Sophie’s body. Claire continued to drive casually, which made Sophie even angrier. Claire smiled. It was something Elaina would have done.
“Just fucking drive!” Sophie bellowed.
“Aye, aye, captain,” Claire said. She jammed down the accelerator, and they took off.
As the night rolled in, so did a thick, heavy fog. Claire was having difficulty seeing what was in front of the truck, forcing her to drive about twenty miles per hour. Sophie had calmed down for the time being. She and Thomas were leaning out the windows as two extra sets of eyes for Claire.
She held on tight to the steering wheel, and her arms were shaking. Finally, she said, “Should we pull over?”
“I think that might be a good idea. We can’t keep fighting through this fog just to risk crashing.” Sophie did her best not to say “I told you so”. “We’re close to the on-ramp. Let’s pull over near it and wait for the fog to lift some.” Claire nodded and carefully pulled the truck over, even though she was unable to see the side of the road. She was trying to hold it together. Not knowing what could be five feet or less in front of them terrified her.