@thenickclark | continued
Nick walked up to the gates of the community where they were held up in. By they he meant his cousin Andrea and her partner Tara. The twenty one year old was covered in blood from head to toe, his hair slicked back with it, his white tshirt definitely no longer white. He’d volunteered to lead the herd away and was gone before Andrea or anyone could stop him. That was Nick though, incredibly self-destructive and surprisingly selfess.
The gates were opened for him and as he walked back inside, he wasn’t expecting the greeting he got from Tara. She looked... worried? Nick looked confused by that but it’s quickly replaced by a little laugh and a nod. “Yeah, no. I’m fine. I told you I would be.”
Fine was used loosely here. He was exhausted and smelled like death. “Got you somethin’.” He says as he pulls out a pack of Twizzlers from his pocket. He’d been hiding in a convenience store for about an hour until the herd passed so he stocked up. “You might want to wash them before...” Just the plastic bag they came in, it had Nick’s bloody fingerprints on them.
The sight in front of her... didn't look good. Was any of that blood his? It was reminiscent of the last time a hoard infiltrated this place- she had heard tale of them drenching themselves in the guts of the dead to mask and blend in-- luckily, she had misses that due to her coma; and that was something she was grateful she had missed out on. But, Nick was standing on his own two feet- and beneath the gore, he seemed to be fine.
And when he confirmed that he was, in fact, fine- Tara saw no reason for him to lie to her. Not realizing she had been holding her breath for so long, she let out a long exhale. "You can take care of yourself- I get that, I really do, but..." Yes, she had been worried. Andrea cared about him, and she did too; he was family. And that was rare to come by. "Just glad you're back, is all." She didn't want anyone outside the gates by themselves.
Tara rose a brow in curiosity. He had gotten her something? The fact that he had even thought of her made her heart swell. She eyed the familiar packet and offered him a smile. "Thank you, Nick." She offered him a genuine smile as she took the package from him. "I'll give 'em a nice rinse." She promised. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up, you look like shit."