I continued sipping on the whiskey. Henry stood, rubbing his temples and neck. He seemed to be still hurting from Sophie’s idiotic grenade toss. Then he said, “We need to rethink our plans.”
“We aren’t leaving the area now, are we?” Claire was visibly concerned.
“No. I’m thinking that we should split up.” Immediately, everyone protested. It was like a bunch of angry monkeys pouncing.
“Wait! Please. Shut it, would you?” Henry held up his hands. “This is what we are doing. Three of us will go out and hunt and collect supplies. The other three will stay here in the flat.”
Nick didn’t look pleased. “I don’t like this idea,” he mumbled.
“I don’t care if you like it! This is what we are going to do. We will rotate groups. While one group is out, the other will rest.” Henry turned and went back down to the hallway closet. We all looked at each other in bewilderment. He was rummaging around and grumbling to himself.
When he walked back, he had a pair of walkie talkies. “We’ll use these to communicate. Hopefully, we will be able to get reception. They’re military issue so we should.” He handed one to Sophie and tossed the other back and forth in his hands.
Everyone sat in silence. I continued to sip my whiskey, and Nick continued to refill my glass. I wasn’t going to argue. Henry grabbed the bottle from Nick, and took a long pull from it.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to drink after your accident, Henry.”
He glared at Nick. “Since when is my welfare any of your bloody concern?” Nick looked back and forth, like he didn’t know if he should leave or stay. Obviously, his sharp words made him uncomfortable. Henry took another drink. “Can I have some time alone with Elaina before we go back out?” With hesitation, the rest of the group headed back down the hall. Henry shut the door right behind them.
“Hey, love.” He headed back to the bed.
“Hey.” His eyes weren’t gleaming any more. I missed the warmth that I used to feel when I would look into his eyes. I wrapped my arms around his cool body, and he held me for what felt like hours, stroking my hair and kissing my forehead.
“Listen.” His voice was a little raspy. “I know this is hard on you, but I need you to be that tough girl that I know.” I pulled away from him a little so I could see his eyes.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“I have faith in you, love. I do. I think it will help the group to see you as yourself.”
“Henry,” I whispered and wrapped my arms around him. We held one another. He tried to make me feel whole, even though my heart was shattering. I wasn’t sure if I could lie.
“Love, I’m sorry all of this is happening.” He pulled back and held my face. He was so sincere. I truly felt I could trust him. “We will get through this. I promise you.”
“Please, don’t make promises that you can’t keep.”
“I know we’ll get through this. Then we will get married, go on our honeymoon, and have some delicious nights to ourselves. Maybe we could even make a baby.”
My mind traveled to the undead boy two floors up, and my breath hitched. The thought of a baby in this fucked up chaotic world scared me to no end. “I don’t know if I want to bring a child into this world. I have so many concerns.”
“I can understand why you would feel like that. I just want to make you happy.”
“What if Roger’s assholes get you? Then…”
“Shhh, love. Don’t worry about them. They have nothing on me. I have much more to throw at them than they could imagine.” I wasn’t convinced, but I wanted to be.
He said he was beaten to near death a few times. He had to be scared, and he had to be lying to me. He had to be just trying to make me feel better. “What do you mean? Wouldn’t they be trained like you?”
“Well, yes, but…” He paused. “Most of the time they beat the shit out of me, I was zip tied to a metal chair. I was blindfolded and gagged. I beat every recruit blindfolded and untied from the chair on more than one occasion when we trained in that way. Besides…” He stopped. He was trying to think of the correct way to say what he wanted to say. He was definitely hiding something.
“What are you hiding from me?”
He flinched. My words stung him a little. He was aggravated and shook his head. “In due time, I’ll share with you.” He was scaring me, but he wanted me to be strong so I needed to fight the tears. He was right. I needed to be strong. I didn’t like that crying girl that kept coming to the surface.