Broken Dreams (35 page)

“We may have something you would want. Food or drink?” The punk ass kid licked his dry, overly-chapped lips. He was hungry, for sure. His shirt was barely hanging on him, his collarbones were protruding, and his face was sunken in.

“You will trade for tha’ crazy fucker?” He nodded his head back toward Henry, astonished. I wasn’t sure who this kid thought he was, but I was the only one who could call Henry crazy and get away with it.

“Watch your mouth, you hairy-palmed little boy! Don’t you dare speak poorly of him!”

“Screw you! Do you have any idea wha’ he did? Huh? Do you?” Claire and I looked at each other.

“Looking for undeads and supplies?” I cautiously chose my words. The punk ass kid started laughing. It took me by surprise. I wasn’t so sure what was funny about the situation.

“You have no clue, do you?” Henry started yelling as much as he could through his gag. The little twerp continued to laugh.

“Uh, yeah I do. We stopped here to check for supplies.” I felt my fourteen-year-old self coming out.

“Look around! There ain’t no supplies. I’m all out!”

“Exactly. That’s why we will work a trade with you. We have some supplies.”

“That doesn’t change what he was doin’!” Henry continued yelling through the gag. I couldn’t make out what he was trying to say.

“Alright, Captain Know-It-All, you tell us exactly what he was doin’.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest. It’s my signature “I don’t give a fuck what you say because I know I’m right” move.

“He killed that dude out there. That other one that was wit’ you!” I stopped for a moment. I was taken aback. That
dude
was my blood. Thoughts of Nick’s death crept back in.

“What? No, he didn’t! That dude was killed by that undead out there! And that dude is my brother! Show some respect, you pissant!” He laughed again. It was such an evil laugh. There was something seriously wrong with him.

He got inches from my face and yelled, “Wrong!” I didn’t back down. He had no idea who he was fucking with.

“How am I wrong? Please, tell me how I’m wrong!” I was ready to fuck his face up.

“I saw him go behind him after he yelled to you, covered his mouth wit’ his hand, and put a gun to his head.” He was batshit crazy. There was no way that Henry would have done something like that! The kid could sense that I was doubting his story. “It’s true! Then he bit right down on his arm and was suckin’ on it like a vampire!”

“I’m throwing out the bullshit flag on that one! Nick was bit by the undead that’s under that shelving unit! You’re just making up shit! And, FYI, vampires are
not
real!” My heart and mind was racing, trying to figure out how to get Henry free.

“I ain’t fuckin’ lyin’! He used the undead, or whatever you call it, as a diversion. I saw him do it! And how do you know vamps ain’t real? Zombies are so why not vamps?” I could see Claire looking over at Henry, examining him.

“You really are mental aren’t you? Hello! It’s fucking daylight, you asshat! Everyone knows that vampires don’t come out in the daylight! They fry, or get all sparkly.” Okay, so I was being a little facetious. There were times that I couldn’t help myself. It was in my nature.

“For the last time, I ain’t lyin’! And there’s vamps, too? Wha’ the hell’s goin’ on?”

I shook my head, thinking how stupid this little twerp was. “Okay, okay. Let’s just say this little fabricated story is true for a moment…” I leaned in even closer to him. “Why would he do something like that?”

“I have no clue! Maybe he’s some sort of freak crossbreed or something.” His words trailed off as he looked between Henry and Nick.

“A freak crossbreed? Because that exists.” I busted out the eye roll again.

“You are really startin’ to piss me off, lady! I’ll shoot your ass! I saw it with my own two eyes!”

“Well, maybe you need to find yourself a pair of glasses!” Claire pushed me aside a little bit. She was going to try to diffuse the volatile situation. Good fucking luck because I was ready to kick his ass.

“Listen,” Claire said. “If he did what you said, then we will take care of it. Just let us trade him for some goods. You can come out to our trucks…”

His eyes nearly popped out of their sunken sockets. “Trucks? Like more than one?” He looked amazed at our good fortune.

“Yes, plural. You can come out to our trucks, and you can pick out some food and water. You’re obviously in need.”

The kid looked back at Henry, then at Claire and me. “How do I know this ain’t some sort of trick?”

“If there aren’t two black trucks out there, you can come back in and shoot him.”

Henry didn’t agree with her deal, and neither did I. I grabbed her arm, and gave her my best “what the fuck” glare. “What? Are you out of your goddamned mind? You can’t just volunteer his life like that!”

“He was going to shoot someone anyway, Elaina.” Claire spoke through her teeth, much like Henry would when he was royally pissed. I glanced over at Henry, and I looked at the blood on him. The sight concerned me, but I didn’t show it. I felt a little guilty, using his life as a bargaining chip.

“Fine. Let’s go then.” I turned around and headed back out the door, not even worrying about the shotgun that he was holding. Henry was screaming in protest, while the prepubescent punk ass kid followed behind like a faithful dog. I swear that I could hear him salivating over the thought of food.

Claire stopped for a moment when we got to Nick’s body, but then she caught back up to me. In the heat of the moment, we nearly forgot about what we needed to do. I felt so guilty that I had neglected my brother. My heart and stomach ached.

Then I heard a garbled moaning. I realized Nick must have been turning. I stopped dead in my tracks. “Claire…” I whispered. I pulled out the Sig that I had tucked neatly away in the back of my pants.
Now or never
, I thought. Nick suddenly stumbled to a standing position and staggered to the end of the register counter, holding his arm.

We stepped back a few paces. I blinked a few times, but still had my Sig trained on him. I kept saying to myself,
That’s not Nick. Nick is dead.
He sensed that we were there, and looked up. His eyes were bright emerald green…like Henry’s.

“What. The. Fuck.” I have an epic way with words. He coughed and dragged the back of his hand over his lips.

“E-lai-na…” Nick grumbled. I stared at him in disbelief.

“Nick?” No response. “Nick? Are you in there?” He nodded, but grabbed his neck and cringed in pain. I was absolutely astonished.

“Duuude…this is the most bullshittiest thing I’ve ever seen!” Apparently, the kid had an epic way with words, as well. I was at a loss. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My brain was not computing what had just happened. And where the fuck was Sophie during all the absurdity?

“Claire, what is going on? Have I gone batshit crazy or something? Am I dreaming this?”

“If you have, then so have I,” she stammered.

“Where’s Sophie?”

“I have no idea. She said she would stand guard until I came back out.” I wanted to run over and hug Nick, but I was so confused and, quite frankly, I worried he was going to try to eat me.

“I guess you could say that we are some sort of freak crossbreeds.” We all spun around.

Chapter 16

enry walked toward me, Sophie at his side. I was confused as to how she came up from behind, but I realized she must have come in through the broken side door. I turned back around to Nick so I could try to decipher what was taking place right in front of me.

I looked at Henry, then at Sophie, and then I spun around and looked at Nick. The same eyes. Oh, my god. They had the same motherfucking eyes! I started to back up, away from Henry. “Oh no. Fuck, no…” I stepped back further.

“Elaina, please, let us explain.” I raised my Sig at Henry, and then at Sophie, and then I swiveled on my heels to Nick. I didn’t know what to do, or where to go, or who to shoot first. My mind was racing, my heart was pounding out of my chest. I began to feel a little lightheaded.

“What the fuck is going on?” I swallowed hard. I was trying not to freak out, trying not to faint, and trying not to run all at the same time.

“I was hoping to be able to tell you in due time, and I certainly hoped it wouldn’t happen like this.” He held out his hand and touched my Sig. Ballsy move, motherfucker. I could have pulled the damn trigger. “Give me the gun, love.” I held it with a firm grip. I stood there, shaking all over. “Please. I promise you no harm. Trust me.” I wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Holy shit. He was an undead. Holy fucking shit. Henry and Sophie just stared at me. I looked at Nick again. He was leaning over the counter, rubbing his temples, much like Henry did. Claire had no words, either. The punk ass kid stood there with his mouth hanging wide open like he was goddamn fly trap.

“Elaina…please. Let us explain.” He swallowed. “Then if you want to shoot me, so be it. I will accept my fate. Whatever you want to do, love.” I looked at Claire and grabbed her, pulling her close to me. I lowered my Sig down at my side, but I was on guard, watching Nick in my peripheral.

“Wha…what do you think we should do?”

“I think we should listen to them, at least for some sort of explanation.” Her voice was so quiet and meek. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear their explanation, either.

“I, for one, want to know what the hell is going on.” I turned, and Nick was resting his elbows on the counter with the heels of his palms pressed into his eyes. His voice was clearer, but he still looked like death warmed over.

“We need to get him some blood soon, or we will be in trouble,” Sophie said to Henry.

“We will. Just give me a second. Tie up his wound for now.” Henry pulled off his bloodied shirt and tore a section off of it. He handed it to Sophie, and she went to attend to Nick’s arm.

Henry looked back at me and stepped closer. I stepped back. We repeated the movements a couple of times. It was like we were dancing. For each move he made, I made the opposite.

“Elaina…please. I won’t hurt you. I love you. I’m the same person I was a week ago. The same person I was two years ago. I’ve been like this for years. Sophie, as well.”

“Okay, then. Explain. But I expect the whole truth this time. No more bullshit!” My last nerve was tweaking.

“You have my word, my love. I will give you the whole truth. This is what I’ve been struggling to talk to you about. I’m just going to start from the beginning so bear with me. It will be easier this way.” I nodded. He inhaled and exhaled a long, loud sigh, all while pacing in front of me.

It felt like an eternity before Nick growled, “Out with it!”

“Yeah, sorry. My mother was murdered when I was five. On my fifth birthday, actually.” That would explain why he didn’t want to celebrate his birthday. He looked down and bit into his blood-stained lips. He looked up at Nick apologetically. I could see him fighting his emotions already, and we hadn’t even gotten to the meat of the conversation yet. Losing his mother before his eyes affected him at a tremendous level. He took another deep breath.

“I can still hear her calling me by my given name. Luke. My father was absent from my life so I was shipped off to an orphanage. I spent my days and nights angry with the world. I rebelled at everything…school, life. By the time I turned fourteen, I had already been in ridiculous amounts of trouble with the law, and in and out of school.

“I was approached by Roger, the head of this whole fucked-up program. He told me he ran a military-style university, and promised to turn me into the man that I wanted to be. So I agreed to go. There were several new recruits when I came in. We,” he pointed between him and Sophie, and then shoved his hands in his pants pockets, “arrived at the training complex at the same time. He told us we were throwaways, and society would not want us anymore. He said that when we finished the training portion of the program, we would be accepted by society. Little did we know that once you were in, you were in for life.

“Roger was our general, and we were the recruits. There were areas in the complex for training in different skills. We trained for combat day and night. Learning different techniques: hand-to-hand, weaponry, explosives. It was relentless. It would go on for hours upon hours, with hardly any breaks for rest, or meals, or even sleep sometimes. The trainers were trying to break us and build us back up to their ridiculously high standards.

“I, being who I was, would question everything. They got sick of me so I would get tased, beaten, bloodied, and was near death on several occasions. I had countless injuries, concussions, and was hospitalized three times within those two years.”

Claire looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Nick had a similar look, but with more intensity. He had the “Angry Henry” look.

Henry had told me much of this before, but he needed to start at the beginning for everyone else. He kept shifting his weight during the uncomfortable silence. He looked over at Sophie, who looked devastated. He licked his dry lips, and continued, “Once Roger was confident that we would fit into the program, the shit became real.” I stood in silence, working on processing what would be coming up next.

Then Claire interrupted, “Wait. What happened to the ones who
didn’t
fit within the program? Did he just send them back to the orphanage or wherever he picked them up?”

Henry grimly shook his head. “Permanent elimination,” he whispered. We both put our hands over our mouths and gasped. Sophie tried to stifle her sobs. Claire and I suspected they saw many lose their lives to the program…or they were the ones forced to do the eliminating. Maybe they even had to eliminate their friends. Henry continued working hard not to be too emotional.

“The complex was an abandoned warehouse, which they remodeled to look like an office building. It had labs, weapons, guards, scientists, and a huge room full of caged animals. They changed our identities. Luke Richards,” Henry pointed at himself, “is dead on paper. They changed my name to Liam Henry Daniels. Then I shortened it to Henry when I came to the States because I couldn’t be Liam anymore. I just couldn’t be him.” Henry paused, and purposely didn’t give Sophie’s given name. He wanted her to decide if she wanted to share that information.

“Anyway, we spent hours upon hours rehearsing our new identities. If we so much as spoke the wrong syllable, we were beaten. Plus given extra training. This went on for few years.”

Claire interrupted again, “So where does this whole undead/true dead thing come into play? Because I really would like to know what the hell you are.” Thank you, Claire, for asking because there was no way that I could formulate a sentence right then if my life depended on it.

Then the punk ass kid bravely interrupted, “True dead? Ain’t tha’ a show or somethin’?”

“Vampires are not real!” Everyone shouted at once, and the kid stood there like a moron.

“Well, if zombies are, why not?” Claire nearly crossed the line by saying that, and Henry worked hard to control his anger.

Nick chuckled. “Good one,” he mumbled. Nick sounded angry and annoyed, but I was happy to hear his personality coming out.

Henry shook his head. “You two are so much alike.” He looked at Claire, then at me. He pointed at me. “You are just a bit more vocal.” He pointed at Claire. “And you have a filter. Usually.”

“This is one fucked-up story,” the kid mumbled to himself.

Henry snapped and grabbed the scrawny kid by his throat and pulled him close, spitting in his face as he screamed. “This is not a fucking story! This is our lives! This is what we live with day in, day out!” He was furious.

Sophie walked up to him and touched his shoulder. “Hey, put him down. He doesn’t understand. Believe me, I want to beat the shit out of him, as well.” Henry let go of the kid, and ran his hands through his hair. He continued to eye Nick, watching his every move.

He cleared his throat. “So, like I said, in the very beginning, back at my flat when all this bullshit started, I was an agent. I’m now an agent that has gone rogue. My government and your government worked together to create this super virus. Your government didn’t know that ours would be placing agents all over their country to spy on them. It was a ‘cover your ass’ deal. Our government didn’t want yours to release the virus and turn them back into the superpower they once were.” Claire was looking impatient. As for me, I still looked like I was in shock.

“Okay…to the part about why we are the way we are. During our training, they injected us with a small amount of the virus. They wanted to make us immune to it. But, after an incident, they discovered we are not immune. We can still turn into an undead. There were some side effects, obviously, and it backfired when they realized what was happening to us. They discovered that if we drank clean blood, it would bring us back.

“With the virus in our system, it changed us a lot. Our eyes, our body temperature, our entire physical and mental state was affected. If we go too long without clean blood for the virus to feed on, we start deteriorating, much like a true dead person does. Our joints stiffen, we get these horrible headaches, and we start to downward spiral. It’s not pretty when one of us does not get the blood that we need. We, essentially, rot from the inside out.” Again, Sophie tried to stifle her cries.

Henry whispered, “I’ve seen it happen more times than I want to even talk about.” Then I realized that this must be what happened to those who didn’t meet the standards for the program. I imagined it was the recruits that were continuing on that handed out a true death. It sounded like pure torture. My body shuddered.

I was finding it difficult to look at Sophie and Henry. My anger with them was subsiding, and was being replaced with empathy.

“So the virus starts wreaking havoc in our body and brain, looking for that clean source of food. If we do not get clean blood into our systems, we will become completely undead.”

“So the cure for someone who has been bit is clean blood?” Claire said.

“No. There’s no magic pill that I’m aware of. It’s immune to everything. As far I understand, once the virus is in your system, there’s no getting rid of it.” Claire seemed intrigued, but skeptical.

“Well, isn’t this just fucking perfect?!” Nick snapped.

“Then why aren’t you like the others?”

“They injected us with a very small amount.”

Claire glanced over at Nick. “Oh. Then why is Nick like you now, and not like one of the other freaks out there?”

Henry glossed over her freak comment after he gave her a healthy glare. “Because the amount of virus that’s in us is much smaller than what is out there. Low amounts leave you in a constant state of reanimation, unless you don’t feed the virus. Then you will turn. It’s a much longer, drawn out process, unlike those who have been exposed to a full dose. Minutes for them; a week or so for us.”

“So what you’re saying is that, essentially, I’m dead?” Nick chuckled again. “This is fucking epic.” Nobody was seeing the humor in the situation.

“Essentially. I guess you can look at it that way.” Claire backed up from everyone a bit. The punk ass kid still stood in shock, with his jaw hanging open.

The only thing I could think of was that I had been fucking a dead person. Does that make me a necrophiliac? I shuddered. Henry looked at me with concern. His eyes were full of sorrow.

“So…I’m talking to a dead person?” I whispered.

“Sort of, I guess,” Henry replied. Claire seemed oddly calm with all the information that was pouring in, but not me. I had been fucking a dead guy!

But then she narrowed her eyes at Henry and Sophie. “How did it get out there? Did you bite a lot of people?”

“I have my suspicions, and no. Who would admit to it? I suspect a full amount of the virus was injected into someone. It had to be. It’s the only way the full-fledged virus would be out there. This virus can annihilate us as a population. It already has.”

“So…Nick is in a state of reanimation, like you?” Claire asked. Nick grumbled something, but I was too focused on my necrophilia.

“Correct.”

“How were you getting clean blood from people before?”

“I ran the blood bank. I stole bags and vials all the time. It was a steady supply of clean blood so I never had to worry.”

“Hence all the shortages you hear about in the media?” Claire’s words were sharp.

“Yeah, I suppose.” I could see he felt ashamed for taking advantage of a system for people in need. Claire’s anger had returned. It was the epitome of an emotional roller coaster. I couldn’t decide what emotion I was. I was still trying to process that I had been fucking a dead guy.

“Oh, my god. You were taking blood from dying people? Sick,” Claire growled.

“I can understand why you feel that way. I would collect extra vials and say I was taking a sampling of blood for research purposes before a donation. I told them it was a new process. Since I ran the bank, no one questioned it. I had official-looking documentation ready if I was questioned. I have also done some things that I’m not proud of. Some really bad shit,” he muttered, and scrubbed his face with his hand. I wondered what he meant by that, but at that point, it didn’t fucking matter.

“This is so sick and twisted!” Claire raged.