Henry clutched the note in his hands.
Gone out to get supplies. Be good. Back before sunset. A heart by way of signature.
He was aware that he was crumpling the paper, ruining it, but his mother's writing offered him comfort. There were two of them in here now. They hadn't noticed him yet, but he knew they would soon. For shambling, rotting corpses, they had a keen sense of smell.
He was tucked into an empty cabinet near the garage door. He'd chosen that one on purpose, just like his mother had told him-that way he could escape if he needed. The handgun she'd given him laid at his side and he slid his small hand around the grip. He could shoot them both before they could get to him, but he could see a few more of them outside and the noise would only draw them in.
Only for emergencies, his mom had told him as she held the gun out. Only to get you out of tight situations. More will come if you use it, so shoot and get out quickly.
He was going to have to make a run for it.
Henry pulled himself into the truck, ducking under the tarp and curling up among the duffel bags of supplies beneath it. The run out of the house had passed in a blur of groans, blood spatters, and gun shots. He thanked the gods that the zombies weren't fast and he'd easily been able to out-pedal them on his bike, but they were still headed in his direction and who knew how many he'd encounter further along his path. The bike - a gift from his aunt Ruby, he remembered with a sour taste in his mouth - had been thrown reluctantly to the side. There had been no time to lift it into the back of the truck.
He felt the rumble of the engine as the owner started the car.
This woman had probably saved his life and she didn't even know it yet.
Hey! Hey, please! Henry had shouted as soon as he'd realized she was a living, breathing human being. She'd shown no signs of hearing him as she slid into the driver's side.
Please, please help me, he thought as she pulled out of the neighborhood. Please don't leave me by myself.
Regina pulled the tarp from the bed of her truck and stumbled backwards, cursing as her hand flew to the gun at her hip. There was something - a body, she thought - in the back with the supplies, and she moved to curl her palm around the hilt of the sheathed knife she wore beside the gun. Always kill quietly, she reminded herself. When the thing began to move, she drew the blade.
"Wait!" The thing - a kid, she realized with a start (what the hell was a kid doing here? and on his own?) - stood and raised his hands in a stop gesture. "Please, I'm alive! I'm not a zombie!"
She stepped backwards and lowered the knife but kept it in her hand, just in case. "Where did you come from? And how the hell did you get in my truck?" She hadn't seen anyone since the outbreak. It'd been a full eight months since her last human contact. Suspicion rose in her chest and she struggled to fight it down. Not everyone needs to be treated as a threat, she reminded herself. Especially not a child.
"My name's Henry. I...they got into my house while my mom was out. I had to run. I saw your car and I just...I needed to get away. I climbed in right before you left." Regina noticed his eyes flicker to the knife and she slid it back into the sheath, deciding that he wasn't a threat. Henry clambered over the side of the truck, dropping to the hard packed earth beside her. "I need to find my mom." His voice cracked on the last word.
The expression on the boy's face nearly broke her. She'd seen that look of hopelessness, of shaken panic before.
"What do you mean Uncle Daniel isn't coming back? Did he go on vacation?"
Regina cleared her throat, shaking herself back to the present. "Your mom?"
He nodded. "Yeah, my mom. She's like, really pretty. You'd know her if you saw her." He shifted his weight from side to side. "Can you help me find her?"
Regina couldn't help a tiny smile at that. She was a total stranger, and he was asking for her help. Then again, any human was an ally anymore. She sighed. "I'm going to need more to go by than just 'really pretty'," she said, her stomach twisting slightly at the way the kid's face lit up, panic dissipating. It reminded her of Luke.
She shoved that thought to the back of her mind.
"Come on, let's get you inside."