Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation

by Zach Bohannon

  “Do you mind if I have a few words with you?”

  Will shook his head. “Not at all.”

  Timothy led Will into one of the downstairs bedrooms. It had a twin bed with all the linens neatly made up. On the walls were scenic paintings of flowers and outdoor landscaping. Timothy sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at Will.

  “He really is a strong boy,” Timothy said.

  “Yes, he is.”

  “But I need to know; what happened to him?”

  Will swallowed and stared at Timothy. Even though the doctor had helped Dylan, he wasn’t sure how much information he wanted to share. He hadn’t met the majority of the people at the camp. If people knew about what was causing the mutations of humans around the world, how would they react?

  “He was bit out in the woods,” Will said. “I just figured if I amputated the arm, it would keep the disease from spreading.”

  “That’s good thinking,” Timothy said. “But I’m still a little bit surprised it worked. The virus must travel very slowly through the blood stream.”

  Will swallowed, unable to lie anymore.

  “Timothy, I—”

  He was cut off when the door opened and Samantha entered the room.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Samantha said.

  “It’s all right,” Will said.

  She looked to Timothy, her thumb pointing over her shoulder. “They need you across the street.”

  “All right,” Timothy said. “Be right there.”

  Samantha exited, and Timothy looked back to Will.

  “Finish this conversation later?”

  Will smiled. “Sure.”

  Timothy shook Will’s hand, and they exited the room.

  That night, Will and Holly slept in a nice, large and clean bed in one of the houses. Dylan had been allowed to come with them, sleeping in the next room in his own bed.

  Will didn’t bring up the conversation he’d had with Timothy. But he thought about it. Felt bad about it. The rest of the group was exhausted, and he didn’t want to burden them with his guilt.

  Tonight, they would sleep.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Gabriel awoke the next morning having spent the entire night tossing and turning on the tile floor of an empty classroom. After he had met with Nathan Ambrose, he’d been taken to a classroom with no other people inside. His own suite, he’d thought, morbidly laughing at the notion. Because it was more like solitary confinement. He’d hardly slept a wink. They hadn’t given him any blankets or even a pillow. With his body still aching from the accident, he’d known sleeping on a hard floor wouldn’t be easy. He’d ended up taking off his coat, folding it in half, and using it to lay his head on. With no sleeves covering his arms, he’d gotten a little cold in the non-powered space, but at least he’d had a place to rest his head. In the absence of sleep, he spent most of the night thinking of his wife and his daughter. And, of course, about Dylan.

  Though these men hadn’t given him any sort of makeshift bed, they had at least fed him. The dinner served had been chicken noodle soup. Out of a can, no doubt, and cold, but Gabriel hadn’t cared. It was nourishment to keep him alive a little longer, for whatever reason they were letting him live.

  He wasn’t entirely sure whether his internal clock had woken him up, or if it was the boots stomping down the hallway. Gabriel wiped his eyes and tried to get up, but his entire body screamed at him. His back locked up, stiff as a dining room tabletop. The joints in his knees popped with the slightest movement.

  A shadow encompassed part of the room, and Gabriel looked up through the tiny window in the door to see a man standing there. As the door clicked open, Gabriel drew in deep breaths. Having made it from his back to his side, he fought to relax his muscles.

  The door swung open, and two armed men walked in. One of them had long, stringy hair, and the other wore a Philadelphia Eagles hat. These were different guards than those who had come and fetched him the day before.

  “Get up,” Stringy Hair said.

  Gabriel groaned. “I’m trying.”

  Neither of the men apparently had any patience or gave two shits that he’d slept on a hard floor all night. They walked over to Gabriel and picked him up off the ground. His back screamed at him all the way to his feet.

  “Can’t you at least give me a second to wake up?” Gabriel asked.

  “Shut the fuck up and put your hands out,” Eagles Hat said. He reached down to his waist and drew forth a pair of handcuffs.

  Gabriel complied and stuck out his arms. Eagles Hat wrapped the cuffs around Gabriel’s wrists, and tightened them more than they needed to be. The suffocation of his wrists now drew him away from the dull ache in his back.

  “Come on,” Stringy Hair said.

  Stringy Hair walked in front of him while Eagles Hat walked behind. Eagles Hat gave Gabriel a nudge in the form of a light punch to the kidneys just as he started to walk out the door. Gabriel groaned and bit his lip. He wanted to turn and punch the asshole in the face, but he knew it would likely only lead to a beating. He instead took a deep breath and followed Stringy Hair.

  Stringy Hair drew a walkie talkie from his hip and said, “Derek here, and I’ve got Lance with me. We’re on our way.”

  Sun poured in through the windows, bringing rays of natural light into the hallway. The men led Gabriel down a long corridor, and he wondered if he’d ever see daylight again. Wondered if he’d ever see his family again.

  As they came to the end of the corridor, Gabriel swore that he heard something peculiar. It sounded like a loud commotion outside. Derek opened a door and they walked into a small room. It had a staircase leading to the school’s second level, as well as a door that led outside.

  When Derek opened the door that led outside, the sound Gabriel had heard got much louder.

  It sounded like a crowd.

  Even though it had only been a day since he’d been outside, Gabriel’s eyes had trouble adjusting to the sun’s light. He brought his bound hands up to his face to cover his face as the roar of the people got louder and louder.

  When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw where the men were leading him.

  Across the parking lot was the school’s football stadium. The sport must’ve been a big deal to the school and its town because the stadium looked big enough to house a small college team. Cars were scattered across the parking lot. There were at least fifty of them. At the stadium’s entrance, there was a line of about ten people waiting to get inside.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked.

  “Shut up,” Lance said from behind him.

  Only one person remained at the entrance by the time they’d walked across the parking lot. She was a woman, and she stood by the turnstile. Two large boxes lay next to her, each filled. Gabriel noticed some canned food, as well as a couple of boxes of ammunition inside.

  “Morning, Stephanie,” Derek said.

  “Good morning, gentlemen. You’re looking nice today.”

  Lance chuckled. “Likewise, darlin’.”

  Glancing at Gabriel, Stephanie blushed. “And who might this be?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Some piece of shit,” Lance said.

  Stephanie smiled, looking Gabriel up and down. “He sure doesn’t look like it.”

  “All right, well, thanks, Stephanie,” Derek said, running his hands through his hair. Gabriel felt a light punch to his kidneys and grimaced.

  “Move,” Lance said.

  Gabriel could feel both Stephanie’s and Lance’s eyes on him as he stepped through the turnstile. Each staring at him for different reasons. He could hear Lance sigh behind him, and smirked at the thought that he’d made him jealous.

  They started the walk around the stadium. Closed concessions stands were to the left. They varied in condition, all looking like they’d been raided. Popcorn machines had been broken and the doors of the beverage coolers had been left open.

  They didn’t walk far before Derek turned into section 114.r />
  Gabriel followed Derek up the open-air tunnel. At the top, the open football field came into plain view, and Gabriel’s eyes widened.

  “Oh, my God.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  When Will woke up, he rolled over to find that Holly no longer lay at his side. After a few minutes of allowing his mind and body to transition from sleep, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. He dressed, used the restroom, and then headed for the room next door.

  The door to Dylan’s room was open. The linens were scattered all over the bed, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

  The clanking of pots and pans sounded from the kitchen, and Will heard a laugh.

  He walked down the hallway, arriving in the living room. When he looked into the kitchen, he saw Holly looking down at the counter. In the dining room next to the kitchen, Dylan sat at a table large enough to seat six people, leaning over a bowl with a spoon in his hand. The boy looked up at Will and smiled. Holly looked over to Dylan, and followed his gaze to Will.

  “It worked,” Holly said, smiling.

  “What?” Will asked.

  “I was kinda banging those pots and pans around on purpose, hoping that it might wake you.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Will said, returning a crooked smile. “It’s not like I need sleep.”

  Lumbering toward the dining room table, Will scratched the scruff on his face and ran his hand through his hair. He had shaved while at the cabin, but the hair on his face had already returned to the annoying itchy stage of growing a beard.

  Placing his hand on Dylan’s back, Will asked, “How you doin’ this morning?”

  Dylan kept his head buried in his fruity cereal, which he was eating with water. “I’m okay,” he mumbled.

  “He’s hungry,” Holly said.

  “Where’s Mary Beth?”

  “Still sleeping,” Dylan said, with cereal stuffed in his mouth.

  Will walked into the kitchen and kissed her. Staying leaned in near her ear, he asked, “How’s he really doing?”

  She pulled away and looked him in the face. “I think he’s in a little bit of pain, but it’s better than yesterday. He woke up hungry, and I think he’ll be in a better mood once he’s done eating.”

  Will looked back over his shoulder. “Cereal and water?” He sounded disgusted.

  Dylan looked over to him and shrugged. “Hey, I actually like it.”

  Will smiled. “Well, that’s good, I guess.”

  Holly took Will by the hand and pulled him to the far end of the kitchen. Standing in the corner, she asked, “When are you guys leaving?”

  Shaking his head, Will said, “I’m not sure. I’ve gotta go check with Charlie and Karl here in a little bit and see.”

  “You have to go, don’t you?”

  Will sighed. “Yeah.” He looked over his shoulder at Dylan, who was eating the last few bites of his watered-down cereal. “If it wasn’t for Karl, Laurie, Doug, and Timothy, I’m not sure he’d be here.”

  Holly moved her hair from in front of her eyes, and wouldn’t look at Will.

  “Hey,” Will said, pushing her chin up. “Everything’s going to be fine. We aren’t going far.”

  “But what if those people you guys are going to see aren’t… good?”

  “I trust Karl’s sense of that sort of thing,” Will said. “The way he handled the situation with us showed me a lot. He was extra cautious and didn’t allow his guard to come down too quickly.”

  “Can I have some more?”

  Will turned around to Dylan, who was looking at him and Holly, his bowl now empty in front of him. Will smiled.

  “Of course, buddy.”

  He turned back and kissed Holly once more. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Will opened the cabinets until he found a bowl, and then grabbed the box of cereal and walked over to the table. He set the box in the middle of the table and took a seat across from Dylan.

  “I’ve gotta try this.”

  Dylan poured himself another bowl, then handed the box to Will. Will topped it off with water from a pitcher, and dipped the spoon in for the first bite. He scrunched his face as if he’d just eaten something sour.

  Dylan laughed. “That bad, huh?”

  “Just gonna take a little bit of adjusting.”

  Will sat and ate with Dylan. They talked mostly about Dylan’s favorite comic book characters. Holly stood and watched from the kitchen, absorbing the moment.

  For Will, it was a welcome distraction. It pulled his mind away from thinking about going back into the world.

  ***

  About half an hour after Will and Dylan finished breakfast, Laurie stopped by and asked Will if he could be ready to leave in twenty minutes. Will said he could, and that he would meet Karl outside.

  Twenty minutes passed, and Will stood in the foyer with Holly. Her face was pale, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “We shouldn’t be gone too long,” Will said. “Hopefully just a couple of hours. Maybe less.”

  “All right,” Holly said. She sounded almost disconnected.

  Dylan and Mary Beth approached them from the living room.

  “Take care of them,” Will told Dylan, speaking of Holly and Mary Beth. “Can you do that for me?”

  “Of course,” Dylan said.

  Will smiled and hugged the boy, whose single arm held Will tight. He kissed Mary Beth on the cheek, then went back to Holly.

  “Timothy is supposed to come by soon and change out his bandage,” Will said.

  “Mm-hmm,” Holly mumbled.

  “Hey, look at me.”

  Holly lifted her head to look into Will’s eyes.

  “We’ll be fine, okay?”

  “I just worry about you going out there with people we barely know,” Holly said. “They haven’t seen the things we’ve seen.”

  “Charlie will be with me,” Will said, trying to reassure her. “We’ll make it back. All of us.”

  Knowing that his words would do little to comfort her, he simply leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. The only thing that would ease her emotions would be for him to live up to the words and to actually come back to this house.

  ***

  As they exited the neighborhood, Karl pointed out the houses which he knew had survivors in them. He showed them one house where a family of four was. Another where a man lived on his own, having lost his family at some point after The Fall. An elderly couple lived in another home.

  “And you said that you tried to help these people?” Charlie asked Karl.

  “Sure have,” Karl said. “They all have their own reasons for not wanting to join us. The elderly couple told Timothy they’re just waiting for everything to pass over, comparing this situation to Ebola or Anthrax. That the government will find a cure for all this and that everything will be okay soon.”

  “Exactly how far away is this place?” Will asked.

  “As long as we don’t hit any resistance, I think we should be there in only about fifteen minutes.”

  “How are you sure that we can trust these people?” Charlie asked.

  Karl laughed. “I’m not. Why the hell do you think I brought y’all long? You think I was really gonna go check out this place with only Spencer back there?”

  Spencer was the other person from the campground who Timothy had chosen to ride along with them. He’d been out on a couple of runs with Karl before, and had apparently proven that he could handle himself. He was also one of the few people at the camp who had experience firing guns, having grown up in a home where his parents owned them. He was now in his early 30s and had come to the camp in a way similar to that of Will and the others. He had lived in an apartment complex not too far away from the neighborhood, and had made his way over to the houses at some point after The Fall.

  A few miles down the road, Karl hit the brakes. Will looked up from double-checking that his handgun was loaded.

  Trees lined either side of the road. Every fifty to a hund
red yards was another driveway. The houses out here were older, ranch-style homes, each sitting on several acres of land.

  Fifty yards ahead was a herd of Empties—six of the creatures. They spanned the width of the road, making it impassable.

  “Shit,” Karl said.

  “It’s all right,” Will said. “This happened quite often to us out on the open roads. We’ll have to get out and take care of them.”

  Karl reached between the seats and grabbed his pistol. He’d started to check that it was loaded when Will reached over and grabbed onto his wrist.

  “If we can, we need to try and use melee weapons. Guns will be far too noisy, and we need to try and conserve ammo. If there’s other creatures or any people in the area, firing guns will surely bring them out.”

  “You mean we’ve gotta get close to ‘em?” Spencer asked. “No way, man.”

  Great, Will thought. He said, “Charlie and I will go first, and we’ll try to spread them out. I’ll try to get a couple of them to follow me to the right, and Charlie, you take the left. If we can each draw a couple of them, that’ll make things easier for the two of you.”

  Spencer slapped Karl’s shoulder. “We should just shoot ‘em, man. Shoot ‘em, jump back in the car, and get the hell out of here.”

  “No,” Will demanded. “Don’t fire unless you absolutely have to.”

  Karl peeked over his shoulder. “Listen to them, Spence. They’ve spent a lot more time out here than we have.”

  As Will checked his handgun again for the umpteenth time to make sure it was loaded, he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Charlie, handing him the same machete he’d used to severe Dylan’s arm. Will accepted the weapon, examining the blade. Charlie had taken the liberty of wiping it clean of Dylan’s blood, though the blade had been forever tainted with a crimson stain.

  The other weapons had all been scoured from garages in the cul-de-sac. Charlie and Spencer each held an ax while Karl wielded a large knife.

  “That going to work for you?” Will asked, looking at the knife.

  “I’ll be fine,” Karl said.

  “Want to trade?” In truth, Will would have loved to pass the machete off to someone else after what he’d had to do to Dylan with it, and he’d killed plenty of Empties with a knife.