“So we’re really leaving, huh?”
“We are,” Will said. “Probably sometime just after the sun comes up.”
“I’m sad we have to go. I really like it here.”
“I know, buddy. I wish we didn’t have to keep dragging you guys from place to place, but that’s just the way things are now.”
“No, I understand,” Dylan said. “I really want Gabriel to find his family.”
“Me, too.”
“Are you still mad at him?” Dylan asked.
Will looked at Dylan. “Where did you get the idea that I was mad at him?”
“Come on,” Dylan said. “I know I’m a kid, but I’m not stupid.”
Will chuckled. “I didn’t say you were.”
“I heard Jessica and Gabriel talking about it. He didn’t sound happy with you, and it didn’t sound like you were happy with him.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time around each other, and Gabriel is really stressed right now. The only thing he can think about is his wife and his little girl. Unfortunately, we’re going to have fights. But everything will be all right. I promise.”
“Yeah,” Dylan said. “I guess I’d be pretty upset too if I was trying to get to my family.”
Will noticed a certain somberness in the boy’s voice. “Dylan, we need to go find your family while we’re in Alexandria; you know that, right?”
“We can’t,” Dylan said. “I told you that.”
“But why? They’ve gotta be missing you.”
“They’re not.”
“How can you say that? I know if I was your dad that—”
“Because they’re just not, okay?” His voice was much more defensive now, startling Will.
“Whoa, all right,” Will said. “I’m sorry.”
Dylan looked off in silence. His eyebrows furrowed, he frowned.
“They beat me up,” he mumbled.
Will looked down at the boy ducking his head, a few tears coming out of his eyes and dripping down his cheek. More followed.
“I never told anybody. Not even my grandma. I never wanted to leave her house in Texas and go home, but I couldn’t tell her.” He continued looking down and said, “Honestly, when the plane was going down, part of me was happy.”
“Oh, buddy,” Will said. He scooted closer to Dylan and wrapped his arm around him.
The boy cried harder.
“I love you guys and want you to be my family now,” he said. “I don’t even want to know if my parents are still alive.”
“Okay,” Will said, continuing to hold the boy. “Okay,” he repeated.
Will was at a loss for what else to say. Growing up, he’d had a friend who’d been abused by his father. Lucas would show up to school with black marks on his arms. He never talked about it, and it wasn’t until later on that Will came to realize where the bruises had come from. He hadn’t talked to Lucas in years, but he’d heard that he’d gotten into some trouble with the law in his early 20s, making Will wonder if he had turned out the way he had due to that abuse.
Dylan looked up at Will. “Do you have to tell the others?”
“They have the same questions I have,” Will said. “We’ve talked about how we need to go find your parents. But they’d understand if they knew why you don’t want to.”
The boy bowed his head again and said, “All right. But do they have to talk to me about it after?”
“Of course not,” Will said. “I’ll tell them not to ask you about it.”
“You promise?”
“I promise,” Will said. “But I want you to know that, if you need to talk about it, you can come to any of us. You know that, right?”
Dylan looked back up to Will again and nodded, wiping the tears from his cheek.
“I don’t want Mary Beth to know,” Dylan said.
“She won’t unless you tell her. I’m only going to let Gabriel, Jessica, and Holly know.”
“Thank you,” Dylan said. He stood up. “I’m going to try and get some sleep now. You should, too.”
Will smiled. “I’ll think about it.”
The boy turned and headed for the door.
“Hey,” Will said.
Dylan looked back.
“You really can talk to any of us if you need to, all right? Please don’t forget that.”
Letting go of the doorknob, Dylan went to Will and hugged him, wrapping his arm around Will’s neck.
“I love you,” Dylan said.
Squeezing the boy tight, Will said, “I love you, too, buddy.”
***
Will didn’t sleep anymore that morning. He didn’t even try to.
In lieu of sleep, he walked around the cul-de-sac, no longer keeping count of his laps after he’d circled it five times. The secret Dylan had just revealed to him weighed heavily on his mind. It made him angry. How could anyone harm such a sweet child? The boy had become like a son to him, and it pissed Will off to even think about it.
Working to turn his mind away from Dylan’s abusive parents, Will thought of what the days ahead would be like, while trying to put himself in Gabriel’s shoes to understand how he would be feeling right now. The journey to his wife and daughter had been going on for several weeks, and now that he was only hours away from reaching them, Will knew the anxiety had to be weighing on him.
Out of Gabriel’s shoes, it was easier to imagine what things would be like if they traveled to Gabriel’s house and found that his wife and daughter weren’t there, or worse, had died or been turned Empty. Will knew he had to be prepared in case this happened, though he had no idea how he would help Gabriel cope through something like that. As much as Will wanted to set aside that scenario and have faith they would find them, he couldn’t.
Will also tried to imagine what it had been like being a captive in that school. From the way it had looked when he’d gone there, and the way Gabriel and Jessica had described the experience, Will had trouble even pretending he could understand what it had been like. He’d been taken by David Ellis right after The Fall and held against his own will, but believed that had been nothing compared to what Gabriel and Jessica had gone through. Especially considering they’d been imprisoned much longer than he had.
He decided he was done walking as the sun was just starting to come up. He went to his room and made two trips to grab he and Holly’s things, all without waking her. When they were loaded, he sneaked into Dylan and Mary Beth’s room. Lying on his back, Dylan was fast asleep, snoring with his mouth wide open. Will smiled, happy that the boy had been able to fall back asleep and get some rest. Will left a change of clothes out for each child, stuffed the rest of their things into their bags, and carried them out to the car.
When he arrived back at the SUV, Timothy was leaning against the back of it with his arms crossed.
“You’re up early,” Will said, tossing the bags into the rear cargo hold of the SUV.
“Nah,” Timothy said. “I wake up every morning just as the sun’s coming out. I like to get out here and take a walk before others wake up. Helps me free my mind.”
“I can understand that,” Will said honestly.
Timothy patted the side of the vehicle and looked inside. “Looks like you’ve got ‘er about all packed up.”
“Just about. Missing a few warm bodies, that’s all.”
Timothy sighed and looked to the end of the cul-de-sac. “We really are lucky here, aren’t we?”
“More than I think you know,” Will said.
Lowering his eyes to the ground, Timothy said, “I don’t envy anyone who has to be out there.”
Will knew what was coming next: one final plea for him to stay.
Timothy said, “You know, you can—”
“No,” Will said. “I’m sorry, Timothy, but we have to leave.”
Smiling, Timothy said, “Actually, I was going to say that you could come back here once you get Gabriel’s family.”
“The possibility is in my mind,” Will said. “But what are yo
u going to do in a few weeks when it starts to get colder? And what’ll you do when the temperatures go below freezing, and there’s snow and ice? You don’t have enough gas to run those generators for—”
“I know,” Timothy said, cutting him off. “I know we don’t.”
Will awaited an answer, but Timothy stared off, nervously scratching the scruff on his face.
“I’m sorry,” Will finally said. “I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. But you know you need to be thinking about it.”
“It’s all I think about,” Timothy said, looking at Will. “But I don’t know what the answer is. I can’t just take all these people and head south like we’re on the Oregon Trail. We’d lose probably half our damn population, except instead of dying from dysentery, it’d be those monsters biting them. Most of these people aren’t made to be out there like you, Will.”
“I’ve just done what I had to do to stay alive. An unimaginable series of events led us here, but I can see the light at the end of that tunnel now.”
“Florida?” Timothy asked.
Will nodded. “God willing.”
Timothy lowered his head and nodded. He stepped away from the SUV.
“I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us, Timothy. Your medical expertise saved Dylan and Holly, and you put yourself and others on the line to help us get to Gabriel and Jessica. I wish I could stay, but I also really wish you’d leave and come South with us.”
“This is my home, Will. And I’ll be here to defend it until the day I die.”
Will put his hand on Timothy’s shoulder. “I know.”
“All right, well, I’m gonna let you finish getting things together. I’ll be sure to see you off, eh?”
“Sounds good,” Will said. “And, Timothy...” Will stuck his hand out, and the doctor accepted it. “Thank you.”
Timothy smiled, shaking Will’s hand, and then let go and walked away.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When Will returned to his room, Holly was lying on her side, still wrapped up in the covers. She shifted her glance from the window to the door when he opened it, and both of them smiled.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Morning, baby,” Holly replied as she stretched, adding a slight moan to her voice.
Will got into the bed, sitting up against the headboard as Holly grabbed his hand and kissed it.
“How long’ve you been up?” she asked.
Will chuckled. “A better question would be, ‘when are you going to sleep?’”
“You didn’t sleep at all after you got up?”
Will shook his head, and Holly squeezed his hand.
“The dreams will end eventually.”
“I know,” Will replied, looking down toward his feet.
He couldn’t look at her because he knew he was lying. The nightmares would never end. He’d seen enough shit over the previous weeks to give a horror film director enough material for an entire career. Bad dreams would be the same as breathing for Will.
“I’ve got the car packed up,” Will said. “Already got yours and the kids’ stuff in there.”
“Good,” Holly said. “Thank you.” She looked over to the wall their room shared with Dylan and Mary Beth’s. “Are they awake yet?”
“I don’t think so.”
She smiled, took an even firmer grip on his hand, and pulled him over to her. She kissed him, moving a hand to his face and running the back of her fingers down his cheek.
“Then I’d say we have a little time, right?” she said.
As she kissed him again, Holly unbuttoned his pants and pulled them off. She was already naked from the waist down when she rolled over on top of him, straddling him.
Holly removed her shirt and moved closer. “I wanna do it like it’s our last time,” she said.
She leaned over and kissed him again as she pushed down over him.
***
Gabriel and Jessica were already at the car when Will and Holly walked out the door, Dylan and Mary Beth following right behind them. As soon as they reached the bottom of the porch stairs, the children darted past Will and Holly and raced to the vehicle, declaring the last one there a rotten egg.
A small crowd had started to gather around the cul-de-sac, most likely there to see them off. Among them were Timothy, Samantha, and Steve. Will gestured toward them before joining the others at the car.
The kids were hugging Jessica while Gabriel had the rear door of the SUV open, loading the rest of his things into the back.
“Good morning,” Will said to Jessica.
“Hey,” she replied softly.
Gabriel pulled his head out of the SUV and glanced at Will before reaching back in to shuffle some things around.
“About got all your stuff loaded up?” Will asked.
“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “Thanks for getting a head start.”
“Figured it was the least I could do.”
“Yeah.”
Will could feel the tension coming off of Gabriel, but now wasn’t the time to sort their beef out. There’d be plenty of time for that later. For now, Will just wanted to focus on the tough goodbyes.
He made his way over to the group, first stopping at Maureen. He thanked her again for her hospitality, and especially for when they’d first arrived and she’d allowed them to use her house to perform Dylan’s procedure.
Steve was next in line, standing with his wife and son. He extended his hand to Will.
“Thanks for everything.”
Will accepted the handshake. “No problem. Just be careful out there, all right?”
He nodded, and Steve’s wife then thanked Will also, shaking his hand. His son was shy and stood by silently, but Will patted him on the shoulder.
“Take care of your old man, all right?”
The boy smiled and nodded, looking down to the ground.
Samantha was already leaning in to give Will a hug when he moved in front of her.
“Thank you so much for everything,” she said. “Even if you decide not to come back, what you’ve done for our group and the information you’ve given us has forever changed us and made us stronger.”
Will pulled away from her, and she left her hands on his shoulders.
“Same to you,” he said. “Without you guys, who knows where we’d be?”
She kissed him on the cheek.
Will stepped in front of Timothy and the man extended his hand.
“Remember what I said earlier,” Timothy said as they shook hands. “You’re welcome any time.”
“I know,” Will said, sure he’d never see this place or Timothy again.
There was nothing else to say, and so he moved on.
As the others made their way down the line, saying goodbye as Will had, he looked around.
Where the hell is Charlie?
A door slammed shut at a nearby house, and Will looked up and smiled.
Charlie was throwing on his coat as he rushed down the stairs. Shawna, the militaristic daughter of a veteran cop, followed close behind him. She was also quickly throwing on a coat.
“Thought I was gonna miss you,” Charlie said.
“Yeah, because we totally would’ve left without saying goodbye to you,” Will said.
Will shot a look to Shawna, who had trouble looking him in the eyes. She was nervously playing with her hair. Will looked to Charlie and cocked an eyebrow.
“Shut up,” Charlie said.
Laughing, Will said, “It’s all good. I understand why you can’t leave now—believe me.”
“Yeah, well, we just kinda hit it off,” Shawna said.
“Well, take good care of him,” Will said. “You got yourself a good one here.”
Charlie smiled, stuffing his hands into his pockets and glancing at his shoeless feet before looking back up at Will.
“I’m gonna miss you, brother,” Charlie said.
“Me, too.”
The two men embraced, patting each other
on the back.
When Will backed away, the kids rushed over to Charlie and hugged him. He almost fell over from the force of their affection. As he hugged them, Will could see that Charlie was holding back tears.
Will got into the driver’s seat and cranked the SUV. As everyone else loaded inside, Charlie approached the open window.
“Seriously, you take care of yourself, man,” Charlie said.
“I will,” Will said.
Charlie leaned in through the window and looked back to Dylan. “You remember what I said, D-Man. Take care of these fools, all right?”
Will smiled and shook his head.
“I will, Charlie,” Dylan said.
Charlie put his hand on Will’s shoulder one last time and then withdrew from the vehicle.
In turn, Will put the vehicle into gear and backed out of the driveway.
They waved at the crowd outside as they pulled away, and Will watched Charlie in the rearview mirror as he went back to Shawna and put his arm around her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As Will pulled out onto the interstate, Gabriel sat staring outside. The kids talked beside him, but he’d blocked them out. He was going to be home today, and it was all he could think about.
Gabriel gazed into a nearby field at lumbering Empties as they passed by. There were three of the creatures, one half the size of the others and wearing a dress. They looked like they’d once been a family, though Gabriel doubted such creatures would purposefully stick together after death. He looked away before nightmarish thoughts of his own family creeped into his mind.
The kids giggled then, and Mary Beth bumped into Gabriel. He bit his lip, trying to ignore it. When it happened again, he closed his eyes and felt a shiver crawl up his spine, sending a chill through his arms. When the girl laughed and bumped into him a third time, he snapped.
“Stop!” he finally ordered them. “Jesus, can’t you kids stay fucking still for a little while?”
“Gabriel,” Jessica said, narrowing her eyes toward him.
“Chill out, man,” Will said, looking at him through the mirror.
“You guys just need to calm the hell down,” Gabriel said. “We don’t have room in here for you to be acting like that.”
Mary Beth scooted away from Gabriel, crossing her arms and lowering her head.
Empty Bodies (Book 6): Revelation Page 9
