by M. D. Massey
“I hate to even think that. Does that make him not fully committed to Elaina?”
“No, I don’t think so. I think his love for Sophie was, more or less, situational. They developed a bond because they understood each other’s issues. He’s very much in love with Elaina. I don’t doubt that.” Claire talked and reorganized.
“If he breaks her heart…,” Nick growled.
Claire gazed up at him. “He has broken her heart many times during this insanity. And I’m sure it won’t be the last time, either.” She walked over to him. “We all have had our hearts broken in one way or another.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” He pulled Claire close, kissing her. “But they can be mended sometimes.” Claire smiled at his effort, but pulled away. “What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s just hard. I still have feelings for Marc, and I know you still have feelings for Jenna.” Nick dropped his gaze to the floor. “It’s true. We both know it.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “But, like we discussed before, they would want us to move forward. I know it’s quick, but I can’t help the way I feel. Don’t question us.”
“Can I be completely honest?” Claire fidgeted with her sleeves.
“I would hope you would be.”
“How do I know you aren’t just sweet-talking me to get sex?” Nick put his hand over his heart and rubbed for a moment, a grimace on his face. “That was always your M.O. You always moved on quickly, and I don’t even want to guess how many women you have hooked up with.” She was embarrassed to even say that, but she felt it had to be brought up at some point.
“Claire…” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes. “I understand why you would feel that way, but it’s different with you. I feel like it’s supposed to be. You are amazing, and this should have happened ages ago. Don’t you wonder why I never settled down? Don’t you see? We are supposed to be. The first time we were together, I knew you were what was missing in my life. I knew you were the only woman I ever wanted to be with again. It’s you, and that’s it. I can’t imagine feeling that magic with anyone else.” Claire thought about every word Nick said. “What brought this on?”
“I don’t know. It’s just something I feel hanging over us.”
“Well, you put away those fears. As long as I’m alive, and you’ll have me, I will be here and only here.”
“I needed to hear that,” she whispered. Nick pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “We should work on this mess. I have no idea how we are going to fit all this in Henry’s truck.”
Trying to still his reaction to her, Nick sighed at the mountain of supplies, pushing his hands through his hair. “We may have to leave some supplies behind.”
“I have no idea what we could do without. The good thing is we’ll only have to worry about gas for one truck.”
Nick and Claire sat on the floor, elbow deep in the mess.
Henry lingered just outside of the doorway, staring at Sophie’s truck. “I don’t know why I look at this truck as an extension of Sophie. It’s a company-supplied vehicle. It’s not like it was actually hers.” I didn’t say anything.
He walked to the vehicle, watching the surroundings. Thomas leaned against the house, covering us. Henry opened the driver’s door and immediately stepped back. I stood strong next to him.
“I can do this if you want.”
“It’s just hard. I feel like she’s just going to come around the corner, you know?” He continued to stare at the driver’s seat.
I reached in and checked every compartment and place she could have possibly hidden things. Henry walked around to the back and opened the liftgate.
There wasn’t much in the truck, just a few needles and a couple bullets. Both would be useful. We didn’t find any personal effects. I think Henry hoped to find something he could hold on to besides the one piece of luggage with her clothes and her pack. Something that would always make him think of, and feel, Sophie.
“I’m sorry we didn’t find what you were looking for.” He didn’t say anything as he got in the driver’s seat and started the truck, checking the gas gauge.
I watched him work diligently. He shut every emotion out. Every move he made was methodical. It was sad to see him still so programmed. I didn’t think he would ever be able to just relax and let his guard down.
Once he finished, he put both sets of keys in his pocket, then grabbed my hand and we went back inside, Thomas following right behind. I opened the door, finding Claire and Nick on the floor, organizing supplies.
Claire looked up and frowned. “Elaina, I have no idea how we’ll fit all this in one truck. It’s nearly impossible. We need to decide what to weed out.”
We all sat and went through everything until we had our supplies down enough to fit in the truck. I was surprised when Henry said we should leave Sophie’s clothes behind.
Once we were satisfied, we loaded up and got the hell out of there. I didn’t want to spend another minute in that townhouse. It was just one more place with bad memories.
With a deep breath, a calming silence filling the inside of the truck, Henry safely navigated back to the highway. We continued toward our destination, where I presumed we would make more bad memories.
Chapter 33
-December 2014-
It had taken us well over a month to get to Virginia. There were a few times I didn’t think we were going to make it between coming close to running out of gas, the undeads, congested roads, and other survivors trying to take our supplies. Henry got into a few fights. The last one, I had to have Nick pull him off the douchebag before he killed him.
We spent about half our ammunition. Henry was worried we wouldn’t have enough to get us to Gunther. The meeting point was supposed to be at one of the ports in North Carolina.
I was almost hoping Gunther wouldn’t be there. I didn’t think I could handle another Kellan situation. I had already seen Henry and Gunther duke it out once, and it wasn’t pretty. Gunther was bigger. Henry’s speed gave him a run for his money, though. I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized Henry pulled the truck over to the shoulder of the highway.
“Nature calls. Nick? Thomas?” They both decided to go with him. I gazed back at Claire, who was biting her bottom lip not making any eye contact.
“Don’t worry. They’ll be back in a minute.” I tried my best to be comforting. I wasn’t very good at it, but I had to keep trying.
“Oh. Yeah.” She fiddled with her fingers. There was something really wrong.
“Claire, what’s going on? Did you and Nick have a fight?” She shook her head. “Tell me. I can see you’re upset.” There was a long silence.
Just when I thought I was going to die from curiosity, she said, “I think I might be pregnant.” Her voice was so quiet, I thought I misheard her.
“Pregnant?”
She nodded. “Even through all this bullshit, I’ve been on time. I was supposed to get it two weeks ago.” I didn’t say anything. Frankly, I didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know what to do, Elaina.”
“You have to tell him.”
“I know, but we can’t bring a baby into this crazy, fucked-up world! We’re barely surviving ourselves.” The tears flowed down her cheeks. She put her face in her hands, and I reached back and rubbed her knee.
The three men came back, relief written all over their faces. Nick opened the door and saw Claire crying.
“Claire? Hey. Hey. What’s wrong?” He pulled her close, and she pushed her face into his chest. He looked at me with his eyebrows raised.
“She’s just worried.” I turned around and faced the front. I took a deep breath, hoping Nick wouldn’t ask me anything.
“Claire… Tell me what’s going on. Please. You’re scaring me.” I knew he had to be truly worried because he would never admit to being scared. When she shook her head, Nick opened the door. “Let’s go outside so you can talk to me in private.” He guided her out of the truck and walked her to
the back.
“We’re alone. Sort of.” Nick grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. “Whatever it is, I want to help you. I love you. Now, please, talk to me.”
Claire leaned against the bumper of the truck, tears running down her face. “I think…” She had to take a deep breath. “I think I might be pregnant.” She stood in silence, wiping her tears on her sleeve. Initially, Nick was stunned, then he paced.
“Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I’m two weeks late. I’ve been feeling sick to my stomach for the past couple days.”
“Shit…” He stopped in front of Claire and put his hands together in front his mouth. After a couple of deep breaths, he stepped closer to her and pulled her into him. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this.”
“A baby will be a burden on the group,” she cried.
“They will just have to accept it.”
“I’m sorry. We should’ve been more careful.”
“Well, we can’t turn back time, so we just have to move forward. Okay?” He tipped her chin up and wiped her tears off her face. He smiled. “You are an amazing woman, Claire. I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”
“It’s going to be immensely difficult. I don’t know how we’ll clothe, or diaper, or even feed the baby. I can’t imagine I would produce enough milk with the lack of nutrients I’m getting.” Her fear and worries broke his heart.
“I know. We’ll take it day by day, one step at a time.” He rubbed her shoulders. They heard the truck door open and Henry rounded the back.
“Ahh… Sorry.” He pushed a hand through his messy hair, hoping he wasn’t intruding. “I hate to break this up, but we need to get moving. It’ll be dark soon, and we need to find a place to stay.”
Claire wondered if Elaina had said something to him.
“Yeah. Sorry. Come on, babe.” Nick touched the small of her back, guiding her back to the truck.
“Are we all set?” Henry asked.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Nick held Claire, who was sniffling, close to him. Thomas and Henry stayed quiet, not asking any questions about what was going on.
“You know, we’re close to a military base. I heard rumors before all this mess began that there is a massive cache of weapons at this particular one.” Henry waited for someone to respond. It didn’t look like that was going to happen. “Fantastic,” he quipped. He was really catching on to my sarcastic ways.
“Yes… Fantastic, Henry,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I don’t think it’s a great idea. It’s military.”
“Correct,” he replied in a rather cheerful tone. “That means they have bigger guns and bigger ammo.” He grinned. I had no idea why the thought of weapons made him so giddy. It was kind of creepy.
“I don’t know, Henry. It just seems too risky. What if they are in operation and we try to steal from them? We’d all be undead food. Besides, the military has to up and running with the bombings up north.”
“If you hadn’t noticed during our small expedition, there have been bombings here, as well.”
“Henry… I just don’t see this as a good idea.”
“We’re running low on ammo, and I want to be sure I have enough to take out Gunther and whatever army he has gathered.”
“I understand that. It just seems dangerous.”
Henry laughed. “Look around us, love! It’s dangerous everywhere.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” I grumbled.
Nick spoke up. “Maybe we could just drive past it and see what it looks like.”
“I guess that would be fine,” I mumbled. “I just want us to be careful.”
“Love, have you forgotten with whom you are riding?” A wide grin spread across his face.
“Oh, my god, Henry,” I groaned.
“Oh, love, I know you enjoy me thoroughly, but to call me a god? That’s a little excessive, don’t you think?” I crossed my arms and looked out the window. I suffered from a range of emotions: anger, embarrassment, and irritation.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Daniels.”
“Oh! Burn!” Thomas yelled with a laugh. Sometimes I forgot we weren’t alone.
“Shut up, Thomas!” Henry quipped. There was an eruption of laughter throughout the truck. Even from Claire. “We’ll just have to see about that next time, my love.” He put his hand on my thigh and squeezed it.
A loud sigh escaped my throat. “Keep it up, and there won’t be a next time.”
“I better shut up then.” He chuckled.
As dusk arrived, Henry pulled the truck up to what looked like an abandoned farmhouse. The grimy gray paint, which was probably white at one time, needed refreshing, the porch tilted to one side, and the front windows had cracks in them.
It was a chilly night. The south had been somewhat warmer than the north, obviously, but it was still pretty damn cold.
“Thomas, come with me. Nick, protect the women.” Henry and Thomas checked their guns, then headed to the house. From inside, someone drew the curtain back enough to peek out.
“Nick, there’s someone in there.” I rolled down the window. “Front left window!” The curtain fell back across. “Nick, what if they get hurt?”
Once again, my nerves took over. My stomach cramped when Henry knocked on the front door. I hid my face. I couldn’t bear to watch him get shot…or worse. Sometimes having faith in Henry just wasn’t good enough. Nick reached up and held my hand.
Acknowledging the yell from the truck with a wave, Henry approached the house carefully. He held his arm out, indicating to Thomas to stay behind him, then knocked on the door.
“What do you want?” came a woman’s voice from inside.
“Ma’am, my name is Henry, and this is Thomas. My crew and I don’t want to hurt anyone. We just need a place to stay for the evening.” There was a long silence.
“I don’t have enough food and water for everyone.” He could hear the contemplation in her voice.
“We have food and water. We can give you some of our supply as payment for allowing us to stay.”
There was another long minute before Henry heard the lock click. A worn, middle-aged woman peered through the opening. He pressed his hand to chest. “Hello, ma’am. Thank you. I appreciate this.”
“I didn’t say you could stay yet.” She glanced past Henry and looked at the truck. “How many are there?”
“Five in total.”
“I have one spare room. The rest will have to sleep on the sofa or the floor.”
“That’s fine, ma’am. We would be grateful just to have a roof over our heads. It’ll be just for one night. We’re traveling to North Carolina to meet family. Well…hopefully meet family.”
“Your family?”
“Yes. Extended.” She studied at Henry and Thomas, debating whether she should take them in for the evening. “Like I said, we won’t hurt you or use any of your belongings.”
“Can I meet everyone first?”
“Certainly.” Henry jogged back to the truck.
“She wants to meet everyone first. Proper behavior please…Elaina.” He raised his eyebrow at me. I snarled. I couldn’t understand why he would say that to innocent little me. The three of us got out and walked up to the front porch, Nick watching our surroundings.
“This is my fiancée, Elaina; her best friend, Claire; and that’s Elaina’s brother and Claire’s boyfriend, Nick.” We all put on our best smiles. She looked all of us up and down several times.
“Y’all be gone around daybreak?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Henry was really working the charm.
“Okay then. But I assure you, I can defend myself if need be.”
“Without a doubt.” Henry smiled again. “Can we bring in all of our belongings? We can’t afford to have any of it stolen.”
“Yes.” She stepped back from the door and waved us in. Claire and I went inside as Henry, Nick, and Thomas went to unload the truck.
&n
bsp; “Thank you for allowing us to stay the night. We are so very grateful.” I looked at Claire, wondering if she were impressed by my wonderful and polite words. She raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, thank you. I didn’t catch your name.” Claire was as sweet as pie.
“Addie.” She was curt and all business, her stare heavy. I could tell she wasn’t pleased with us being there.
“Well, we should probably help the boys get our things.” As Claire turned to head back out the door, I grabbed her shoulder.
“Why don’t you sit and relax? I’ll help.”
“I can help.”
“I just…” I noticed Addie watching us. “Okay.” We both went out to the truck, only for Nick to pull Claire aside and whisper to her.
“Stop treating me like I’m helpless!” she growled.
Nick grabbed her arm before she could turn away from him. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself or the—”
“Let…go…of…me.”
“Just let her help,” I said. “There’s no sense in fighting her and getting her all riled up.”
“Fine.” He let go of her arm and handed her a couple blankets.
It took us about fifteen minutes to unload everything and bring it into the house, Addie directing us to drop our belongings into a corner of the living room. Henry opened the box containing our dwindling food stock, handing her a couple jars and bottled water.
“I apologize that I can’t spare more. We haven’t had much luck finding more food as of late. We hope that, once we get settled somewhere, we’ll be able to plant a garden.”
Addie hesitated. “Why don’t you keep these then? I have a garden out back. I also have a couple chickens, and by the looks of y’all, I think you could use a nice meal.” My mouth watered.
“Oh, that sounds fantastic!” I couldn’t control myself.