“I know!” There was worry dripping from her voice. How convenient for Henry to ignore our conversation while he readied himself for battle.
“I don’t want him to be too tired. Plus, he has drunk a lot.”
She touched my shoulder. “Trust me. He will be fine. He’s an adrenaline junkie, if you haven’t figured that out yet. If anyone can handle this, it’s him.” I didn’t like it one bit, but what choice did I have? It was settled. Henry was going with Sophie and me, whether I wanted it to happen or not.
“Fine,” I snarled. I glared at Nate, while pointing at him. “You win. You get to stay. Are you happy now, Nate? If something happens to him, I will come in here and fucking kill you myself! I won’t hesitate, mark my words!”
He didn’t say a word. As a matter of fact, he looked terrified. Good, he ought to be. He thought Bridezillas were scary. Well, he had better hope that Henry came back in one piece, or he would find out how fucking mental I could really be.
Obviously, I wasn’t pleased one bit with how it all unfolded. I didn’t intend for Henry to take Nate’s place. I was angry with myself, as well. I needed to learn to keep my big, fat mouth shut.
Chapter 9
H
enry, Sophie, and I made it to the front door of the apartment building without incident. He paused at the door, and scoped out the area.
“Coast is clear. Stick together, and be ready to shoot.” Sophie and I both nodded. We opened the door and walked out into the war zone.
The first building we were going to clear was the shoe store just down the street from Henry’s building. As angry as I was at him for leaving on his own to get clothes and supplies for us, I have to admit that I was pleased I didn’t have to wear his clunky boots anymore. I hoped that we would have the time to grab a few pairs of shoes for future use.
Henry stopped about a foot away from the door. Sophie was behind me, covering us. I kept my eye on the street in front of us. He looked through the door. “Two visible,” he said. “Elaina, same routine as when we picked up Nate.”
“Got it.” I took a deep breath and Henry moved to the other side of the door. I put my hand on the handle. I peered back over my shoulder, and Sophie was scanning the street. Nervously sweating, I tugged at my shirt to free it up from my tacky skin.
“Now, Elaina.” I pulled open the door and Henry jumped into the store. He fired once, taking out one. He went to fire again, and nothing happened. “Shit! I’m jammed! Fire, Elaina, fire!”
I aimed at the female undead coming toward us. Her name tag said ‘My name is Marion’, and ‘How can I help you’. Henry was fiddling with his Sig.
“Damn it, Elaina. Fire!” he yelled.
I said, as caring as I could, “Sorry, you can’t help me, Marion, but I’m here to help you.” I pulled the trigger and Marion dropped to the tiled floor like a pile of wet laundry. Henry pulled another Sig out of his pack.
“Let’s head toward the back room.” He ran toward the door. I stopped at Marion, and apologized again under my breath.
“Is Sophie going to be okay out there by herself?”
“Yeah. She knows how to handle herself.”
***
Sophie stood outside the shoe store. She heard the door from the apartment building open. With speed and grace, she hid herself in the hope that whoever it was didn’t see her. She didn’t recognize him, but she assumed he was the man from the first floor. Her nerves prickled in excitement. She needed a fix.
He walked up to a true dead woman that Henry killed earlier and touched her hand. He bowed his head for a moment, whispering something. Sophie tucked her Sig in her pants while turning around, trying to grab her supplies from her vest. He was quite vulnerable right then, and she felt she could take advantage of that. She figured she would make him pass out, and then she would perform a draw while he was out cold. Easy enough.
“Shit. Thanks, Elaina, for fucking up my vest,” she snarled as she tried to pull the zipper apart. It was stuck, and she valiantly fought with it. A warm hand cupped over her mouth. She let out a small whimper when whoever it was grabbed the gun out of her pants and held it to her temple.
“Well, hello there, Barbie,” the harsh voice grumbled in her ear. “Guess what?” Sophie contemplated a smart ass response, but since his hand was over her mouth, it would have been pointless. “Since that crazy fucker that you’re hanging out with killed my wife, I’m going to take care of you. Let’s move.”
He grabbed her arm and pushed her toward the next shop…Gemelli’s, the café. He assumed they would be heading that way since he saw them enter the shoe store. Plus, he knew if she disappeared, they would look for her everywhere and anywhere. He figured he would just sit tight until they arrived.