“Shhh…I’m here, lover.” I whispered the same words to him that he said to me on many occasions. I wrapped my arms around him. I loved him so much. I just wished he would be truthful with me.
Henry looked up at me. He seemed to have pocketed his emotional state for the moment. “We have to get out of here.”
“Out of here? The kitchen?” I hoped he wasn’t implying that we should leave the area.
“No. As in out of this area. It’s killing me. I just need to go where I don’t know anyone. I have shot half the people in my building. Your family, my host family, strangers, children...” He paused.
I could see that he was reeling from all the blood that he thought was on his hands. Convincing Henry to stay would pose a major challenge. I still wanted and needed to see if anyone I knew or loved was still alive out there, even though my hopes were dwindling.
“Henry, this has to be happening everywhere. You said so yourself. You would run into the same situation. You know that!”
The slamming of the front door made us all jump. Instinctively, Henry pulled out his Sig and aimed it toward the door. I turned around, and there stood Sophie and Nick. Henry put his gun in the back of his pants. Someone forgot to lock the door after Sophie, Nick, and Nate left.
“Nick!” I ran to him, and we hugged each other. I was so glad to see my brother was back and safe.
“I’m fine, sis.” Henry and Claire slowly walked up to us.
“I think we should travel,” Sophie murmured as she touched Henry’s face. I glared at her, ignoring her statement.
“Where’s Nate?” Claire asked with suspicion, then it dawned on me that he wasn’t there.
Sophie cleared her throat. “True dead.” She was so cold about it. It was almost like it was as much of a big deal as misplacing an everyday item. Henry looked down at his feet and swallowed hard. “Are you alright, Henry?” She didn’t wait for a response. She dropped her pack, and pulled him into her.
“I’m struggling.” Sophie hugged him. I hated to see her show affection for him. It lit my fuse, igniting a white hot blaze. I don’t know why, but my jealousy was still lingering, even though he confessed his undying love to me over and over again.
“Wait!” Claire yelled. “Will one of you tell us what the hell happened to Nate?”
Sophie sighed. Claire and I looked at Nick for an explanation. “Sophie and I went into the blood bank to check for medical supplies.”
“So you were looting? Let’s just say what it really is, instead of beating around the bush,” Claire snipped. I was clueless as to why the idea of stealing still bothered her. It was necessary for survival. To be frank, I wasn’t a fan, either. It had been difficult to get used to.
“Yes. Looting.” He looked annoyed. “Anyway, Nate stayed behind to stand guard.”
“Why did you leave him? He wasn’t capable of taking care of himself!” I yelled.
Nick looked down at his feet. “I know. I didn’t feel right about it,” he mumbled.
“Then why did you do it?” I was growing angrier by the second. As shitty as Nate was acting, I still felt grateful to him. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have my brother.
“I don’t know, okay! When we came back out, he was missing. We saw a few undeads roaming about. We went back to the truck, and he was sitting on the ground, leaning up against the truck with his throat torn out. He must have blown his brains out after he got bitten.”
“Wait… I’m confused,” chimed in Claire, with a solid platform of skepticism. “So he was bit, and then shot himself? How is that possible? Don’t they usually feast? And why wouldn’t he shoot the undeads before they got to him?”
“I don’t know,” Nick said. He sounded ashamed of himself. We looked back to get answers from Henry and Sophie, and they were no longer there. We all looked at one another.
“Where did they go?” I stormed down the hallway, yelling for Henry. Nick and Claire were hot on my heels.
Chapter 13
“S
o you just left him to fend for himself?” Henry asked as he sat down on the edge of the vanity, crossing his arms.
“Yeah. I guess it didn’t work out for him.” Sophie shrugged, then grinned.
“UGH! Sophie! You have to be more careful. Someone could have seen you.”
“Who? There was no one around but undeads.”
Henry threw his arms up in the air. “Nick could have seen!”
“I had already sent him down the hall.”
“He didn’t see you go back out?”
“No. Once I heard the door swing shut, I waited a minute and hauled arse back outside. Then I took care of him.” She smirked.