“Meh…yeah, I guess.” Sophie shrugged.
“Seriously, what if that was your family member? Wouldn’t you want them to be treated with at least a little bit of respect?” She shrugged again. “Seriously?” Nick shook his head in disbelief.
“I don’t have any family, Nick. I never have.” It pained her to say that, but it was the truth. “The only person that I’ve ever cared about was Henry, and he was the only person that cared about me. I have to step back from him. Not by choice, but that’s how it’s going for me.” She was hurt, and it was evident in her words. She missed Henry. He was all that she ever had.
“But isn’t Henry your family?”
“No, not anymore. He’s just a friend now. Elaina is his family.” Sophie brought the truck to a screeching halt. “Look, can we not talk about Henry and me anymore, please?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Nick felt a little embarrassed, but he was still irritated by her blatant disregard for the person the undead used to be.
“Look. Let’s go in there and see if there are any supplies left for us to take.”
“A blood bank?” Nate didn’t like the idea.
“Yeah, medical supplies. You never know what we’ll need.”
“I think that’s the one Henry worked at,” Nick said as he looked around.
“Haven’t a clue,” Sophie mumbled.
“Whatever.” Nate sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Sophie pulled up to the front entrance and asked for one of the flashlights that was jammed in the pockets behind the front seats. Nate passed it to her. She shined the light in the front windows, looking for undeads.
“Stay here, both of you. I am going to go in and grab some supplies.”
“Oh no. Absolutely not!” Nick shouted. “You are not going in alone. I don’t want to deal with the wrath of Henry if something happens to you.”
“Let her go alone. One less mouth to feed.” The disdain in Nate’s voice was quite evident.
Sophie whipped around and, unexpectedly, pointed her Sig right between his eyes. “Shut it! Or you will find yourself in a bit of a pickle. Got it?” Nate nodded, slowly. Nick just sat there shaking his head, wondering when he had hopped on the crazy train.
“Henry will be pissed if we let you go alone. I can’t let that happen.” Nick opened his door.
“Fine. Nick, you come inside with me. Nate, you can stand guard outside the front door.”
“You want me to stand guard outside?” Nate’s voiced squeaked.
“I am speaking English, yeah?” She snipped at Nate. “I know I have an accent, but I do believe Queen’s English is essentially the same basic language as yours.”
“Calm down, Sophie. Nate will stand outside. I think he’s in shock that you trust him with this important job.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it.” Nate sighed.
“You do this, Nate, and we will hit up a designer store and you can pick out whatever your little heart desires. Tab is on me.” Nate rolled his eyes and wondered if she was trying to get Nick alone so she could seduce him.
“Sure. Whatever.” He sighed again.
“Get your packs on and let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Nick hopped out when Sophie did. Nate, being his typical self, took his sweet ass time.
Sophie went to the door of the facility. She tested it and, unsurprisingly, it was unlocked. Nick came up next to her. She whispered, “Does your watch work?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s set a timer for ten minutes. Once the timer goes off, make a dash back to the entrance.” Nick swallowed hard. He wasn’t keen on splitting up. Henry had specifically said that there was to be no splitting up.
“So many things can go wrong in that short of a time span. Henry would want us to stay together.”
Sophie stifled a laugh. “I can handle myself, Nick. You mustn’t forget that I was trained, just like our fearless leader.” He shook his head. What was he going to do? He set the timer on his watch for ten minutes. “I’m going to go in, and you follow behind to cover me. Then, once we get in, we’ll figure out which way we will go.” Nick reluctantly agreed. He looked back at Nate, who was scanning the surrounding area.
“Henry is going to kick my fucking ass,” Nick grumbled.
“Don’t worry. I will handle him if he goes crazy.”
Sophie and Nick crept into the blood bank, guns ready and flashlights on. Sophie stopped abruptly before making it to the reception desk. There was an island near the back of the waiting room directly across from the entrance. There was a resounding putrid odor and a low humming sound in the background.