***
“Well, look at you two. I’m glad you have clothes that actually look good and not frumpy.” Sophie smiled with delight, seeing us. The men came back in seconds later.
“It’s not a fashion show, Sophie,” I said. Nate balked as he walked by with some clothes for himself.
“Honey, it’s always a fashion show!” He yelled as he headed toward the bathroom to change. We all had a good laugh.
Henry walked up to me. “Well, now, it’s nice to see that fabulous smile of yours.” He rubbed my cheek with his thumb. It was comforting. “Let’s get all this food put in the cupboards.” We unloaded the bags. There was everything from canned goods, to granola bars, to shelf stable milk. Plus, several cases of water.
And let’s not forget all the alcohol. There were several cases of his favorite whiskey, and several cases of random bottles of wine, champagne, and liquor. I thought I caught a whiff of booze on his breath, but then I figured it was from the previous day’s minor boozy event.
“Henry, where did you get all of this stuff?” We were in awe.
“I may have found a store or two that were empty of the living.”
“Were there undeads in there?”
“Yeah. I took care of them and went on a spree.”
“You didn’t take everything. You left some so that other survivors could get supplies if they needed it, didn’t you?”
“Come on, Elaina. Of course I left some stuff. You know me better than that.” I hoped I did. I smiled at him.
I grabbed a box of cereal and some of the shelf stable milk. Claire grabbed some canned fruit and we headed to the table. We sat around, eating together as a family. It was a rare moment where everything almost felt normal.
After we ate, Henry’s team went out and swept a neighboring building. As soon as his team walked back in the door, I went to Claire. I was still concerned that she would react like the broken mirror incident every time she came back. I took her by the hand and pulled her over to the bookcase that spanned the entire front wall of the apartment, where no one else was standing.
I whispered, “Are you alright?”
“Yes. Yes, I think so.” She had some splatter on her cheek and a few speckles on her shirt.
“Maybe we should rethink wearing our clothes to go out undead hunting. We should ruin Henry’s entire wardrobe first, before ours.” I winked and she chuckled. “Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up.” I took her by the hand, and we headed down to the bathroom.
When we finished cleaning her up and changing her shirt, we headed back to the living room. Everyone was sitting around, waiting for us. Henry wanted to chat about where he wanted to go next.
It was getting later in the day and the moon was lurking in the sky. I was hoping Henry decided it was enough for the day. He grabbed a bottle of booze, not wasting any time. He cracked it open and took a long pull from it. Then he opened the map, and I knew he wasn’t done.
“There are three buildings here, like we discussed before. I want to clear the storefronts on the left, or at least as many as we can before the sun sets.” And there you go. My wish was not Henry’s command. I had to speak up.
“Henry?”
“Yeah, love?” Maybe he would be receptive.
“I’m kind of thinking we should hang here, and we can go out in the morning.”
“No, we need to clear areas as soon as we can. The less undeads roaming, the better chance of our survival. We have already wasted too much time.” Just as I suspected. Not one iota of receptiveness.
“Okay. Well, I think our team should go out. You have already been out twice today, and maybe you should get some rest.” Nate was looking at me like I was a crazy woman. I had a feeling he just wanted to be protected and not have to work for it.
“I think that’s a brilliant idea. Sophie, your team will take the next shift. Clear as many buildings on the left side of the street before the sun sets. We’ll do our best to keep an eye on you through the windows. I have a couple sets of binoculars in the closet.” I was getting more nervous by the second, and started chewing on my thumbnail. “You okay, Elaina?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m just thinking.” Thinking about death, or undeads, or true death. I shivered. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to freak out again.
“Alright, you three make sure your guns are loaded. I want each of you to a carry an extra mag, and some sort of knife or axe in your packs.”
Sophie and I got up, grabbed some packs, and loaded them up. Nate didn’t move, which Henry noticed immediately. I hoped “Angry Henry” wasn’t going to make a comeback. I wasn’t a fan of that guy.