“Shit!” Gabriel yelled. “They hit a tire!”
He looked down to the speedometer, and it had dropped from 120 all the way down to 95, and continued falling. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the truck was now between the two sedans. The man standing in the back pumped his fist, his rifle now pointed to the air.
But Gabriel wasn’t going to give up easily. These men would kill them, he was sure. He kept his foot down on the gas, all the way to the floor. In the rear, Thomas still groaned, and Gabriel’s control of the SUV continued to weaken.
“You two have to get up in your seats,” Gabriel said to Claire and Jessica. He was worried about a bad accident now. If that happened, the girls would be thrown around the SUV like clothes inside a dryer. When neither girl moved, he yelled, “Now!”
Jessica moved first, before she realized that Claire was remaining still in the floor. She went down and said something into the girl’s ear, and then Claire finally got up into the seat. No more gunshots came, and they were each able to make it into their seats and get buckled in.
“Duck your heads,” Gabriel said.
“What about Thomas?” Jessica asked.
Gabriel didn’t answer. He could only hope they didn’t get into an accident, tossing Thomas around the inside of the SUV.
Another round of gunfire came from the pursuing caravan. There were three shots before the other tire in the back of the SUV blew.
This shot was the fatal one.
Cruising at 90 miles per hour and losing another tire, Gabriel lost all control of the SUV. The back end got away from him, and by instinct, he slammed on the brakes.
The vehicle fishtailed, and then it flipped.
When the SUV finally stopped rolling, Gabriel groaned. Everything hurt. He clutched at his ribs as he tried to cough. Though the seat belt had saved his life, it had constricted his midsection. Gabriel now found it hard to take in even a single breath.
Outside, tires squealed and the smell of burning rubber permeated the air.
“Jessica?” Gabriel asked. “Claire?”
No one responded.
Car doors slammed and men laughed.
Gabriel reached around, trying to find a weapon. He looked for the shotgun Jessica had handed him, but he couldn’t even gauge in what way the SUV had landed.
One of the doors opened, and as he stretched to try and look, his side screamed at him and he cried out.
“We got one movin’ in here,” a man said.
Another said, “Get his ass out.”
A set of hands reached down, and Gabriel’s vision was too blurry for him to even see them clearly. He was on the verge of blacking out. As his seatbelt unbuckled, he slapped at the arms in front of him, but it was of no use.
“Get your ass up,” a man said, and began to lift.
Gabriel cried out as the man tried to pick him up, and his entire body fell limp. He now realized that the SUV had come to a stop on its side. He looked up, and the sun shined into the cab of the truck, blocking out the face of a man.
The man said something, which sounded muffled.
The last thing Gabriel saw before he was out cold was the man’s fist coming down into his face.
CHAPTER SIX
“Are we sure we can trust them?” Holly asked.
Will shook his head. “Let’s just wait it out and see what they have to say.”
Karl and Laurie had stepped away from the group to talk amongst themselves. A couple of minutes passed, and they finally returned to Will and the others.
“All right,” Karl began. “It’s clear that if that boy doesn’t get some attention soon, he’s going to be in serious trouble. We have a doctor back at our camp. It’s only a couple of miles down the road from here.”
“You can help him?” Holly asked.
Karl shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I’m not the doctor, and I’m not sure we even have the proper tools to do what needs to be done to help him. But we’re going to take you there to try.”
Will rubbed his forehead and then shook Karl’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you, so much.”
“Our group isn’t going to like us bringing someone else in,” Laurie said. “There’s no guarantee that they’re going to agree to let you stay, or that they’re going to help him.”
“How could they not help a child?” Charlie asked.
“Do you want us to try, or not?” Karl asked.
Will and Charlie looked at each other, and Will said, “Yes, of course.”
“Then get in your vehicle and follow us.”
***
Karl and Laurie led them through a rural area, passing nothing but trees on a country road. The group hardly spoke any words to each other. Holly sat in the back, cuddling up to Dylan and running her hands through his hair. Over and over again, she told him, “We’re getting you help.”
After several miles, Karl turned into a suburban neighborhood. The concrete sign outside the subdivision read: Lake Forest Estates. The entrance was blocked with a rod iron gate. Large slabs of wood covered the openings between each rod.
“Damn,” Charlie mumbled.
Karl stepped out of the vehicle and looked back to the SUV. Staring at Will, he held up his index finger, signaling that he needed a moment, and then he walked to the fence.
“I wonder how many people are here,” Charlie said.
“They sure could house a lot of people, I’ll tell you that much,” Will said. Houses lined either side of the street beyond the gate.
“You think they’re going to help us?” Charlie asked.
Will glanced into the rearview mirror at Holly. She wasn’t paying attention to the conversation in the front seat. She continued to run her fingers through Dylan’s hair, keeping the boy calm. In the cargo area, Mary Beth remained silent, but she stared at Will in the mirror.
“I hope so,” Will said.
Ahead, Karl stood at the gate talking to someone on the other side through a square opening. He made different hand gestures, and several moments passed with no movement.
“What’s taking so long?” Charlie asked. He was hardly able to get the words out before Karl stepped back from the fence and gave Will a thumbs up.
“Thank God,” Holly said.
The gate opened, and Karl pulled forward.
Will sighed. “Here we go.”
Two men guarded the rod iron fence, each armed with assault rifles. As the SUV passed through the gate, each man kept their eyes glued on Will and the others.
“They didn’t look too happy,” Charlie said.
“Your group wasn’t too happy when they first saw us, either,” Will reminded him.
Houses lined either side of the street. Some of them looked as if they’d been unaffected by mankind’s fall, while others appeared to barely be standing. Blood stained the doors on some of the homes, the grass on others. It didn’t look like any people were currently living in any of these houses. Karl continued down the street until he came to a stop sign and turned onto Chapman Drive. He drove down Chapman for three blocks before turning onto Mallory Court.
That’s when other humans appeared.
Ten houses lined the road on either side, funneling into a cul-de-sac at the end of the road. In front of one house, a man and woman stood in front of a barbecue grill. Two houses down, a man kneeled in front of a generator, looking up as the SUV passed by. On the other side of the street, three kids played in the front yard of a two-story house. A woman sat on the front patio, watching the children.
Charlie said, “It looks…”
“Normal,” Holly said, finishing his sentence.
Karl stopped in the middle of the road, at the end of the cul-de-sac. He didn’t bother to pull up next to a curb or into one of the driveways. Will came to a stop at half of a car length behind Karl’s sedan. Laurie stepped out of the passenger seat and Karl exited the driver’s seat.
“Stay here with the children, Holly,” Will said. He looked over to Charlie. “Come o
n.”
Will opened the door and stepped out of the SUV. He looked around, seeing now that more people had come outside from the houses.
There were people of varying age, ethnicity, and gender. Will counted at least a dozen people. At the end of the cul-de-sac, a man and a woman, each looking to be in their mid-50s, walked outside. Karl approached, meeting them halfway through the front yard. He spoke to them, pointing back to the SUV. Looking over Karl’s shoulder, the woman stared at Will. She didn’t smile, instead holding an expression that asked a thousand questions.
When she looked back to Karl, she slapped him across the face.
“Oh, shit,” Will said. Karl raised his hand to his face, massaging it. The man stood in Karl’s face, his finger pointed at him. When he was finished, both he and the woman walked past Karl and approached the SUV.
“Just stay calm,” Will said.
“This was a mistake,” Charlie said. “We've got to get out of here, now.”
“Everything's going to be fine,” Will said. “We have a child with us. They’ve got to help us."
As the man and woman approached the SUV, Will took another glance around the cul-de-sac. More people had emerged from their houses. He was sure that it was least two dozen now. People had also gathered in the street behind the SUV, forming a sort of wall. Even if Will wanted to jump back into the vehicle and try to race out of there, it would prove nearly impossible. They were trapped.
Will looked through the windshield of the SUV to Holly in the back seat. She held Dylan in her arms, her eyes wide as she stared out at him. Mary Beth had joined her and Dylan on the back seat. Will mouthed the words, “Stay in the car.”
The man and the woman stopped just a few feet away from Will. The man looked Will up and down, and then he smiled and extended his hand.
“Hello,” he said. “My name’s Timothy.”
Will hesitated before he reached out and shook Timothy’s hand. He still didn’t understand why the woman had slapped Karl.
“This is my wife, Samantha.”
Samantha didn’t offer a handshake. Instead, she simply smiled at Will and Charlie.
Timothy was silent for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. “Well, do you have names?”
Charlie started to respond before Will butted in.
“Why’d she slap Karl?” Will asked.
Timothy looked over to his wife, and then chuckled, turning his attention back to Will.
“Ya know, it’s awful rude for you to not tell us your names. You are, after all, asking for our help.”
Will furrowed his brow. “I’m just not sure I can trust you yet.”
Timothy looked past Will, into the SUV, shaking his head.
“From the looks of it, you don’t seem to have much of a choice.”
Will glanced back over his shoulder. Holly was kissing Dylan’s forehead while holding Mary Beth tight to her chest. Their eyes met again and her look told Will everything he needed to know. He turned around to face Timothy again.
“My name’s Will. This is Charlie.”
“Hello, Will. Charlie.”
“Do you have a doctor here who can help us?” Charlie asked.
Timothy walked to the side of the SUV. Will wanted to reach out and stop him, but Charlie grabbed his arm before he could.
Opening the driver’s side rear door, Timothy looked into the back seat. Holly continued holding Dylan and Mary Beth tight. Timothy ducked inside, observing the boy. Will clenched his fist, ready to go after Timothy if he made any sudden moves.
When Timothy pulled his head out of the truck, he looked to his wife.
“Samantha, go get Doug. Tell him it’s urgent.”
Samantha nodded, and ran toward one of the houses.
“Is Doug the doctor?” Will asked.
“No,” Timothy said. “I am.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Will and Charlie loaded Dylan onto a folding table. The legs had been completely removed, leaving only a solid table top. Will remembered the way Dylan had cried when they’d had to carry him through the woods, and how he’d had to pick the boy up under his arms. He was thankful for the make-do stretcher.
They hurried through the yard of one of the nearby houses, Timothy and Doug walking in front of them. As he approached the house, Timothy shouted directions at two people standing in the yard. Then he and Doug turned around.
“Let’s each grab a corner to get him into the house,” Timothy said.
Five stairs led up to the porch. Wind chimes sang in the breeze. Two empty wooden chairs sat near the door.
The front door was already open when they reached it. A woman with blonde hair, held up in a bun, stood just inside the house against a wall, making sure the door remained wide. She looked to be in her late 30s or early 40s, and wore a flowered apron over the top of a worn, long sleeve shirt. There were dried blood stains mixed in with the images of roses, dandelions, and magnolias on her apron.
“Everything’s ready in the living room,” the woman said.
“Thank you, Maureen,” Timothy said. He signaled his head toward an open doorway. “Come on, let’s take him over here and set him down.”
A waist-high table sat in the center of the living room. It appeared much sturdier than the throw-away one they’d loaded Dylan onto.
Timothy said, “Just set the whole thing down on top of that table.”
The four men lifted Dylan’s stretcher and set it down on top of the other table. A smaller table stood just over Dylan’s head. On top lay a collection of surgical tools, including a scalpel, scissors, and a small bone saw. Will was thankful that they were in a place where Dylan couldn’t see them. The tools made Will cringe. He thought back to when he’d had to amputate the boy’s arm, remembering how it had felt when the blade of the machete passed through flesh and bone. He shuddered, and then was drawn back into the moment when someone grabbed his arm. It was Doug.
“You guys should probably step outside.”
Will shook his head. “I don’t want to leave him.”
Doug pulled Will a few feet away from the table and stood closer to him. “It will be better if you leave. Timothy needs to be able to concentrate, and you’re not going to want to be in here.”
Will bit his lip.
“Maureen will show you and your group somewhere you can rest for a while. Please, trust us.”
Will still wasn’t sure that he could trust them. But now that he’d seen they appeared to have the proper tools and skills to help Dylan, he had little choice. He would have to have confidence that Timothy knew how to help. He sighed, then said, “Okay.”
Another hand grabbed him, and he turned around to see Maureen, smiling, if only a little.
“Come on,” she said. “I’ll show you where you can relax.”
Will walked over to the table and looked down into Dylan’s eyes.
“You aren’t going to leave me, are you?” the boy asked.
Will grabbed onto Dylan’s remaining hand. “We won’t be far. These gentlemen here are going to help you. They’re going to take the pain away. I promise you that we will be back over here as soon as it’s over.”
Dylan cried, and his body trembled. Will leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.
When Will turned around, Timothy stood there, wearing a pair of latex gloves.
“Don’t worry, we have a little bit of anesthetic left. We’re going to administer it to him before we start,” Timothy said. “He won’t feel a thing.”
“Please, just take care of him.”
“We will.”
Will took one more look back to Dylan. The boy’s eyes were red, full of tears. Will smiled and mouthed the words, “Stay strong.”
He walked out the door, where Maureen and Charlie were already waiting on the porch.
***
After Will and Charlie went to the SUV to fetch Holly, Mary Beth, and their things, Maureen led them to another house. The front door opened into a large, open living ro
om with all the furniture still in place. With the power out, the large windows lining the front of the house illuminated the living room. On the wall near the staircase were pictures of a family featuring a man, a woman, and four kids ranging in age from 7 to 17. Will didn’t recognize any of the faces as people he’d seen in the street.
Maureen smiled and leaned down to Mary Beth, her hands on her knees.
“Are you hungry?”
Mary Beth nodded. The trails of tears from her eyes were visible through the dirt on her cheeks.
Standing up, Maureen asked, “Do you guys want anything?”
“I’m starving,” Holly said.
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “We could use something to eat, thank you.”
“All right,” Maureen said. “I have to run a couple of houses over, but I’ll be back. You folks just make yourselves at home.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said.
Maureen smiled again, focusing it on Will, who still held a blank expression of apprehension on his face. She walked past him and exited through the front door.
Will went to the fireplace and picked up a picture off the mantle. The photograph showed the same man from the other photos, but now dressed in a swimsuit, pointing a hose at one of his daughters and one of his sons. The children laughed, holding their arms up to try and block the blast of the water. It looked like the kind of cookie-cutter, all-American family you would find in an apparel catalog.
“Do those people live here?” Mary Beth asked.
Will set the picture back on the mantle. “I don’t think so.”
“Then why are their pictures in here?”
Forcing a smile, Will ran his hand through Mary Beth’s hair. “Why don’t you hang out on the sofa until that nice lady comes back?”
“But I wanna go look around the house.”
“You need to stay in here with us,” Holly said. “Maureen will be back soon with something to eat.”
Plopping down onto the couch, Mary Beth asked, “When can I see Dylan?”
“Soon,” Holly said.
“Is he gonna be all right?”
Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation Page 4
