After the three of them found Sam, they continued their trek towards the Wall Mart.
Sam explained his messed up story about broken urinals and zombies, but Brendan was only half listening. Actually, he wasn't listening at all. His brain kept obsessively replaying the night's events. Watching the cars flash by on the way to Five Guys. The red and white tiles. The dark night sky. The warm food. Helena's smile. Running across the busy street. The cold wind. The screams. The dead skin. The deader eyes.
The events ran quickly over his mind's eye. He was barely concentrating on where they were going. The four of them continued to walk behind the stores, away from the chaos. They all knew that any second, a cripple could jump out at them, and then what would they do?
More than anything, Brendan wondered where Helena had gone. They knew she was alive, but that's about as much as anyone knew. Sam hadn't seen her. Brendan struggled to remember the last thing he had said to her. What were they even talking about? They never talked much. He never talked much.
He didn't say anything to her and now maybe she's hurt. Or dead.
"Brendan?" Brendan snapped out of his daze and glanced over at Rory.
"What?"
"You okay?" Rory looked awkwardly over Brendan's shoulder, avoiding his gaze.
"Not really," Brendan muttered. No one else spoke after that. Not even Salar, who had become mute over the past while. No one in their right mind was okay.
Rory spoke again. "I hope Helena's okay."
No one replied. They were nearing the Wall Mart. The skin on the back of Brendan's hands were frosty and stiff. They looked very white under the moonlight.
"Do you think she'll go to the Wall Mart?"
Brendan clenched his jaw, staring at his feet. He wished Rory would shut his mouth. He looked sideways at Sam, who was still wearing his neon coat despite almost getting killed. Brendan sometimes thought his friend was missing a few screws in that head of his. A lot of the time, more accurately.
Maybe all the time.
"What if she's injured?"
"Then I guess she won't show up, will she?" Brendan snapped, tired of Rory's pestering. Then he sighed. "Just shut up, Rory."
"Sorry," Rory hung his head. Dark strands of hair was stuck to his forehead, speckled white with frost. He was the shortest of the group, reaching Brendan's nose. Tall or not, Brendan figured he looked about twelve.
They reached the Wall Mart quickly and walked around the store to face the front. Brendan took the lead, followed by Rory, Sam and Salar.
The store's inside was dark and deserted, the automatic door no longer worked. The parking lot was still chaotic. Fires had sprung out of overturned cars and bodies littered the ground. Police sirens set the area spinning with blue and red lights. Police men ran around, shouting orders. They didn't seem to be doing much, other than adding to the melee.
"I guess we'll have to break the glass," Sam said, pulling at the door to no avail.
"Yup," Rory looked around. "With what?"
The four of them looked around for a while, before coming to the conclusion that there was nothing of use.
"Okay... So who wants to bodycheck the glass?" Sam smiled grimly.
They all looked at eachother, no one feeling up to the challenge.
"Fine," Rory finally said. "I'll try."
