Apocalyptic Beginnings Box Set

by M. D. Massey

  “I’m here.”

  “I just wanted to say…” Static.

  “Claire?”

  “I’m sorry.” Claire was crying. “If we don’t get out of this, I just want to let you know how much I love you, how much I appreciate what you and your family have done for me over the years…” She paused. “You know, since my parents died.” I fell apart as the sounds of gunfire surrounded us.

  “I love you, too, Claire. You’re my sister in every sense. Nick…?”

  “I’m here.” Even Nick’s voice shook.

  “I love you.”

  “Likewise.”

  I turned to Thomas. “Thank you for all that you have done for us, Thomas.” His eyes wet, trying to keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks, he nodded.

  The gunfire continued. It seemed to be more than fifty rounds, but I wasn’t counting. A second later, Henry scrambled off the roof, but he didn’t get back into the truck. He took off toward Sophie’s truck.

  “Elaina!” Claire screamed over the walkie-talkie. “Sophie’s hurt!”

  “I have you covered,” Thomas said as he opened his door and began shooting the undeads still trying to get to us. I got out of the truck. Nick came up to help Thomas hold them off. I ran as fast as I could in the snow-covered road to Henry and Claire squatting over Sophie’s lifeless body.

  “What happened?!” I yelled.

  “She fell. She must have slipped.” Henry cradled her bloodied head in his arms. “Jesus, Sophie… Come on! Sophie, wake up! Please…”

  Claire peeled off my mother’s fur coat and her pack. I gasped. Sophie’s body was awkwardly positioned. Her upper half was bent toward the right, her bottom toward the left. When I looked at Claire, she shook her head. Even if she did survive, she would be paralyzed.

  Losing it, Henry held her tightly. “Sophie… Sophie! Damn it, Sophie! Why did I allow you to go up there? Why? I should have told you no…” Henry broke down, stroking her hair.

  Claire listened for breathing and checked for a pulse. “Henry…,” she whispered. Henry rocked Sophie, the tears freezing on his stubble. “Henry… She’s gone.”

  “No!” He was adamant.

  “Henry, we have to—”

  “No!” he growled at Claire.

  “She’s going to turn, Henry.” Henry was in such despair. He held Sophie close to his body, rocking her. “Please. We have to—”

  “Go!” he barked at Claire and me. “Go, both of you! Get in the fucking trucks!”

  Claire slipped the pack straps over her shoulders and walked to Sophie’s truck. One slow step at a time, I walked backward, watching him. I heard him whispering to Sophie, then he got up on his knees and picked her up. He carried her lifeless body to the side of the road.

  By then, Nick and Thomas had stopped firing. Thomas opened the door for me. “Is she okay?” As soon as Nick said the words, we heard Henry’s gun go off.

  Henry dropped to his knees, his entire self exposed. Every emotion poured out of him, reminding me of when Kellan told Henry about his mother. Instead of getting in the truck, I ran to him. “Henry! Henry!” I grabbed his arm, but he wrestled me off.

  “No!” he screamed, immediately focusing back on Sophie’s body. “I’m so sorry, Sophie. I’m so sorry. I should have protected you better. I’m so fucking sorry.” He shook all over. He kept telling Sophie how sorry he was, that he would find her babies, that he would make Roger pay.

  I tried to grab him, but he shrugged me off again. “Henry… I’m so sorry.” He turned and looked at me, fire and rage in his eyes. “Henry, please. You’re scaring me.”

  He stood and pushed past me. “Get in the fucking truck!” He wiped the frozen tears off his face as I ran after him. “Nick! Drive Sophie’s truck…and if you so much as put a dent in it, I will kill you.”

  Nick looked back at her already battered truck. The cracked windshield, part of the grill missing, and countless amounts of scratches and dents. Nick looked at me curiously as Henry shoved past him. I scurried into Henry’s truck, along with Thomas.

  Henry threw open his door and jumped in, slamming the door with such intensity, I thought the window would shatter. He sat in silence for a moment with his head in his hands, clutching his hair, then he screamed, “Fuck!” He punched the dash and steering wheel a few times. I didn’t know what to do or say because nothing would make him feel any better.

  Quietly, he pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself. I went to take his hand, seeing blood trickling out of the wounds.

  “Henry… We need to take care of your hand.” When I took it, he hissed. “I think it may be broken.” It had already started to swell. He continued to look forward, lost in thought. “Do you want me to get Claire to look at it?” He didn’t respond. I glanced over my shoulder at Thomas, looking for an answer. He shrugged. “Henry…?”

  “Can you just wrap it up for now?” he asked in such a soft voice, it took me a moment to figure out what he had asked.

  “Of course. Whatever you want me to do. Thomas, grab me something.”

  Thomas dug around for a minute, then passed me an already torn up t-shirt. I tore another section off it and carefully wrapped Henry’s hand, trying to be as gentle and as tender as I could.

  “Henry, I’m so sorry about Sophie. I know what she meant to you. I love you.”

  He swallowed hard, his brilliant green eyes filling with tears again. His breath caught in his throat. It took him a minute to swallow his immense sorrow. He cleared his throat. “I love you, too. Tell Nick we’re ready.”

  I picked up the walkie-talkie as Henry put the truck in drive, keeping his foot on the brake. I could feel the agony radiating off his body. I knew he didn’t want to leave Sophie there, lying on the side of the road.

  I touched his arm. “She’s here with us, inside of us. You are not leaving her behind.” He nodded once. “She would want you to keep going.”

  Then he took his foot off the brake and inched the truck forward, bumping over the many true deads littering the highway.

  Chapter 31

  By the time we crossed the New Jersey border, the snow had let up a great deal. Surprisingly, we had made good time. Henry turned off the highway, looking for a place for us to camp for the night. I couldn’t deny that I was worried.

  It seemed to be an area where we could encounter a lot of undeads. He turned into a subdivision of townhomes. It looked deserted and a little run-down, trash blowing around the street.

  “Henry, I don’t think this is a good idea. We should try to find a home in the country or something. Too many things can go wrong in an area like this. I’m not getting a good feeling.”

  “I’m going to knock on a few doors.” Before I could stop him, he dragged his sorrowful, battered body out of the truck. I sighed.

  He proceeded to the first house. No response. He went to the next couple houses, also peeking in a couple windows.

  Either no one was truly alive in the neighborhood or we were being watched. The latter made more sense to me. Henry walked back to Nick. They talked for a minute, then he came back to the truck.

  “What did you find?” I tried not to have any sort of tone in my voice. I knew if I did, he would flip out.

  “That one’s empty, like the people moved out. So we are going to camp there. Nick and I are going inside to clear it first, just in case.”

  “Be careful.” He forced a slight smile and touched my hand. He pulled out his Sig.

  “Thomas, keep watch over the girls.”

  “I will.”

  “Thank you.”

  Thomas jumped out, looking around like his head was on a swivel, as Henry and Nick stalked off. I watched him pick the locks, while Nick looked through the windows. Henry opened the door, and they went inside.

  By the time they emerged, I was antsy. Henry jumped in the truck and pulled up into the driveway. When he shut it off, he said, “It’s not a palace, but it will keep us dry
for the night.”

  “As long as we’re safe.”

  “As long as I am around, you will be safe. Don’t you worry about that. We need to unload the trucks.” That seemed like a daunting task. I sighed. “There may be looters around. We can’t risk losing everything we have.”

  We got out and went to the back of the truck. Claire waved me over. Keeping my eye on Henry, I walked to her.

  “How’s he doing?” she asked quietly, looking around.

  “I…I don’t know. He’s not really talking. He went nuts when he got into the truck afterward. I think he may have broken his hand. It’s really swollen.”

  “Nick said he saw his hand bandaged, but he wasn’t sure why. I’ll look at it when we get unloaded.”

  “Thanks.”

  Claire smiled, handing me Sophie’s pack. I hesitantly took it. “Put this in a safe place…for Henry.” I put it on my back. It was as safe there as it would be anywhere else.

  I looked at the mound of supplies. Everything was haphazardly thrown in the trucks when we left, trying to escape the bombing. The thought of the destruction made me cringe. I really hoped my family home was unharmed but, deep down in the recesses of my mind, I knew it was probably gone.

  Luckily, we hadn’t heard anything as the night began to swallow us. I think it was safe to assume they stopped for the time being. I grabbed a box of supplies and headed into the empty townhome.

  “All right. Let me take a peek at that hand of yours.”

  Henry leaned against the side of Sophie’s truck while Claire untied the scrap of fabric. She held his hand with both of hers and pushed down on the back of it with her thumbs. He hissed. She looked up at his face, but he had turned away.

  “I’d imagine it’s broken. I would like to put some antibiotic cream on the cuts. I think you might need a course of anti-inflammatories, as well.”

  “No pain meds,” he mumbled, still looking away.

  “It hurts, yes?”

  “Of course it does.”

  “Then…why not?”

  He turned and looked at her. “The pain… It makes me feel alive.” His voice cracked. “I need to know I’m still alive.” That broke Claire’s heart.

  “Henry… It’s not just for pain. It helps with the inflammation.” He looked down at her hands. She still held his, gently stroking it. His brilliant, sad eyes tore through her. Even though he had exploded on a few occasions in front of her, that was the first time she could actually feel the intensity of his pain. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was a little surprised by the embrace, but he accepted it. “I’m so sorry, Henry. I’m so sorry for all that you have gone through.”

  “Thanks,” he whispered, a tear trickling down his face.

  “Let me get the cream, then I’ll wrap it back up.” Henry nodded. She turned around and walked back to his truck, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  I walked upstairs. All the bedrooms were about the same size as the one in my apartment. I laid out a few blankets and pillows on the floor for Henry and me.

  “Hey. Can I come in?” Claire stood in the doorway, looking defeated.

  “Sure. Are you all right?” She had been crying, her eyes red and puffy.

  “Yeah, I guess. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Anyway, I think we should try reorganizing and repacking everything to be more efficient.”

  “Good idea.” I rubbed my arms, thinking of how heavy some of the boxes were. “I think we should eat first, though. Henry wants to find gas, as well.”

  “Right,” she said. Something was off, but I would get it out of her eventually.

  We both walked down the stairs as Henry rummaged through boxes, looking for food. My stomach was more than ready. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I saw the box of granola bars. Not that they were something amazing, but it was better than nothing.

  “Here, love…” He looked at the box. “S’mores?” he said, questioningly, handing me two granola bars. “What’s that?”

  Claire sat on a box and suddenly fell apart.

  Nick knelt beside her, taking her hands in his. “Babe, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

  “We had a conversation about s’mores with Sophie when we went to get supplies from Henry’s apartment. At the time, it was a meaningless.” The sound of her name made Henry clench his jaw. Nick reached out and took Claire into his arms.

  Thomas grabbed a bottle of vodka out of one of the boxes, passing it to Henry. He removed the cap and lifted the bottle. “To Sophie,” he said quietly before taking a long pull from it. He passed the bottle around, and we all followed suit. When the bottle made it back to Thomas, he nearly put it to his lips when Claire grabbed it from him.

  “You aren’t old enough.”

  “What does it matter? There ain’t no laws.”

  “Maybe not, but I won’t condone drinking at your age, law or no law.” Claire had seemed to forget all the parties we went to in high school, but I wasn’t going to bring it up.

  “I agree, mate…,” Henry said. “Not until you are at least fifteen.”

  We all looked at each other and had a good laugh. We needed it. It had been tense between all of us since Sophie’s passing. Thomas sat on the floor and pouted while he watched us pass the bottle, bypassing him several times.

  Henry said, “You know, the first time I got to actually converse with Sophie, she was, quite frankly, off her rocker.” Henry looked down at his boots as he pushed around the matted, stained carpeting with his toe. “The innocence in her pale blue eyes was what drew me to her.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear about his feelings for her because I felt like he was talking about a lost love. I suppose, in a way, he was.

  “She was the only girl recruit in our grouping. I felt the need to step up and keep an eye on her. Roger tried to hurt her the first time he laid eyes on her, so I had to step up. I won’t tolerate seeing a woman abused after what I saw with my mum.” He took a deep breath, shuddering as he released it. “I hope she knew how much I cared for her, how much I wanted to help her, even when she was strong. We had a common thread…her pain ran as deep as mine.” He cleared his throat, trying to hold it together.

  “Elaina, I know you guys didn’t get off on the right foot, but she was really happy for us. She confessed that she still loved me and wished we would have gotten back together, but she knew how much I loved you,” he finished, pausing to look at me. The quiet was uncomfortable, and I felt the need to say something.

  “She told me something like that.” I remembered our conversation when she said Henry never loved her as much as he did me.

  “It’s going to be hard for me to move forward without her. I have some things I eventually need to take care of for her.” He continued to take sip after sip out of the bottle. I knew “Drunk Henry” was just around the corner. I got up and put my hand on the bottle as he put it to his lips again.

  “I’m kind of tired. You want to go to bed? It’s pretty late.” I had to stop the train wreck before it happened. His drinking worried me. I pulled the bottle out of his hands and capped it.

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  We said good night, then I grabbed his good hand and led him up to the bedroom. I shut the door, sealing his sorrow in with us. The moon lit the room just enough for me to see Henry’s face. I reached up and stroked his cheeks with my hands.

  “What did Claire say about your hand?”

  “Probably broken.” Henry paused, then whispered, “You know, I couldn’t do this without you.”

  As I put my arms around his neck, he put his around my waist. We swayed a little, as if there were soft music playing around us. He pulled me in tight and rested his forehead against mine. “If I didn’t have you, I would have put a bullet in my head right next to her.”

  I stepped back. “Henry! Don’t say shit like that!”

  “What would I have to live for?”

  “The cause!”

  “Trying to stop this madnes
s?” He laughed. “I doubt I’m the man for the job.”

  “No! You can do this. We can do this. I have faith that we can.” He shook his head. “Henry, without you, we would all be dead.”

  “Without me, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Don’t do this to yourself again. This is not your fault. You have got to stop blaming yourself for what Roger did.” A look of disgust ran across his face when I said Roger’s name. “This would have happened with or without you. You were an innocent boy. He took advantage of you.” He let go of me and ran his hands through his hair, pacing back and forth. “You cannot change what happened, but you can change the outcome.”

  “My outcome will never fucking change! Why do you not understand that?! And why do you have so much fucking faith in me?!”

  “Lower your voice! And don’t you dare get angry with me. I am trying to help you,” I snapped. “And I do understand your personal outcome will never change. Why would you think that I don’t get it?” I stepped closer to him. I poked him in the chest with my finger. “Against all the odds, you are a decent man. I know I’ve had my share of doubts, but some good has come out of this situation.”

  “What the hell could that possibly be, Elaina?”

  “You know how to fight this! He never bet on you going rouge. He always thought you would be too terrified because of everything he put you through. He believed he had you trapped, but you have risen up. You have taken control of your own self as much as you can. He no longer owns you, Henry. You are your own man. You can control your own destiny now.”

  “I’m only one man. I depended on Sophie to help me. She is…was an important role in fighting this. Now it’s just me, and I have to keep all of you safe. I have to fight Gunther alone. I’m not sure I’ll make it through that on my own. He’s so much stronger than I am, as you know.”

  I thought of how Kellan ravaged his body, then thought about Gunther kicking his ass at the bar.

  “You don’t have to do it alone! You have me, Claire, Nick, and Thomas! We may look a little bit like riff-raff, but I think we have done relatively well…considering the circumstances.”