“I hope so. A three-hour trip has taken us three days.”
“And we’re going to find your parents. I know they’re there, Will. And that they’re safe. I can just feel it.”
Will continued to run his fingers through Holly’s hair, and he leaned his head back against the seat and shut his eyes.
“Yeah. Yeah, I hope so.”
The truth was, Will had begun to lose hope that he’d ever see his parents again. He wondered if the people around him would be the only family he’d have from here on out. He still had some hope, from the text message he received, but it was quickly fading. Added to that was the fact that every time he tried to call the number back, he got nothing more than a busy signal. Most times, though, the line was silent. Both his patience and his faith were wearing thin, fast.
“I just want to meet them to tell you how much of a gallant hero you are,” Holly said, smirking at him.
“Hahaha,” Will replied.
Marcus turned around and looked at him.
“Hey, man, don’t underestimate what you did back there for us. That was some serious shit.”
Will laughed. “Dude, I was kidnapped. Not like I had much of a choice.”
“The hell you didn’t!” Marcus said. He turned all the way around so that he could look directly at Will. “You could have kept driving when she waved at you.” Marcus nodded toward Holly, and Will looked at her. “But, you didn’t. You came to help her. Plus, you’re a smart dude, man. You probably could have gotten away if you really wanted to before you came to save my sorry ass.
“Either way, the point is you didn’t. You helped us. And now, here we are.”
“Yeah, but, what is here?” Will asked.
“Here is a hell of a lot better than back there,” Miranda said.
Holly looked up and kissed Will on his cheek, then looked him in the eyes. “It’s much better. We’re going to be fine.”
Gabriel
For once, the road ahead was fairly clear. While there were some Empties and abandoned cars out on the highway, most of the vehicles had gone off of the road, making it much easier to maneuver. He hoped that this would be the day they finally reached Knoxville, so they could find Will’s parents, and head on toward the East Coast.
At the same time, Gabriel had other things on his mind.
Ever since their talk earlier that morning, Dylan had been acting strange. He sat in the front passenger seat while Gabriel drove, but had yet to say a single word. While he wanted to continue their conversation, Gabriel really wasn’t sure if this was the time or the place, not with the others around.
When he looked over to Dylan, the boy was tossing a small, red rubber ball that Donny gave to him. The kid looked as if he was focusing intently, and Gabriel wondered what the boy was thinking.
Soon after, he stopped tossing the ball, and Gabriel didn’t have to wonder anymore.
“Why are they here?” Dylan asked.
The four that sat behind Gabriel and the boy stopped talking, and Gabriel could see in the rearview mirror that they were looking up toward Dylan now.
“Why are who here?” Gabriel asked the boy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel could see Dylan finally look up at him, and he glanced over at him while trying to keep an eye on the surprisingly open road.
Dylan pointed to Gabriel’s left, and Gabriel looked out of the driver’s side window.
They were passing a vast, wide-open corn field. It seemed to go on forever until it finally met the slowly rising sun at the horizon. About fifty yards off the road, three Empties limped through the farmland. Everyone in the vehicle was silent, and Gabriel could feel the others looking out into the field just as he was, and watching the three creatures walk aimlessly through it.
Gabriel re-focused his attention on the road and could feel the boy looking up to him. Dylan was awaiting a response. Finally, one came, but not from Gabriel.
“Buddy, we don’t know why they’re here,” Marcus said. “But we’re going to make sure that they don’t hurt you, okay?”
Dylan looked back at Marcus, and then stared over at Gabriel as he navigated the vehicle around a small group of Empties and an abandoned semi-truck that was taking up a large portion of the highway.
“Do you think… God sent them?”
Gabriel glanced into the rearview mirror to see if anyone else looked as if they’d respond. When no one did, he broke the awkward silence.
“Why would God send something to kill us?”
Dylan shrugged. “Maybe he’s mad at us.”
Gabriel was a man of no faith. He grew up in a Catholic home, but quit going to church after going off to college and living on his own. He simply didn’t believe in all the things the Bible had to say about rights and wrongs, life and death. But, he wasn’t sure of the boy’s beliefs and allegiances, so he decided to take the high road.
“Dylan, I don’t think that a loving God would send anything down here to hurt us. I mean…”
“Look out!” The yell came from Holly in the very rear of the truck.
Gabriel looked ahead and saw the SUV heading straight for a fire truck parked in the middle of the road.
He reacted quickly and turned the wheel hard to his left, the sound of screeching tires and the aroma of burning rubber moving through the autumn air. Behind him, everyone in the vehicle was in a panic, yelling out, and Gabriel struggled to regain control of the truck.
But he couldn’t.
The SUV swerved off of the road, flying over a ditch and rolled into the grass just on the other side.
With Gabriel’s foot still on the brakes, the vehicle slid in the grass and stopped as it collided with a tree.
Steam rose from the engine and the air bags deployed.
Inside the truck, no one moved.
But outside, the Empties loitering on the highway were making their way toward the truck.
Chapter 8
Jessica
Jessica had almost fallen back to sleep in the chair when the door to the room opened. She nearly hopped out of her skin and the nurse herself jumped in reaction to seeing how she’d frightened Jessica.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Sarah said.
Jessica sat up straight in the chair, then sighed and rubbed the side of her head. She watched Sarah walk over to her bed and check the various machines connected to Melissa, recording data on a chart as she did.
“She doing about the same? No movement?” Sarah asked.
Jessica shook her head. “Not from what I’ve seen.”
Sarah took a few notes, then looked back over to Jessica. “How about you? How’s your shoulder?”
“Actually, much better today, thanks.”
Sarah placed the clipboard back on the table beside the bed, then asked, “You up for a little walk?”
Jessica looked over to Melissa, seeing the woman in the same state she’d been in since they arrived. While she wanted to be here when Melissa awoke, she knew that it would be a futile task, simply waiting. So, she looked up to the smiling nurse and nodded.
“Sure.”
Sarah led Jessica down the hallway to a small room near the front corridor. She went inside and picked up a large plastic tote, then smiled at Jessica. “Laundry day.”
“Do you do everyone’s laundry?”
“It’s not a huge deal. It’s not like everyone has very much. I mainly just end up washing sheets and linens.”
Sarah rested the bin on the ground and then walked back into the room, returning moments later with an additional laundry basket in tow, which had wheels and a handle.
“Mind pulling this one?”
“Not at all.”
Jessica used the hand on her good arm to grab the bin, and they walked back down the hallway.
The two women went from one room to the next, collecting the dirty laundry from the floor. Sarah explained to Jessica that the survivors occupying the hospital had been instructed to just leave their dirty clothes or linens on the
floor just inside the door, and whoever had laundry duty next would come by and pick it up.
Once they’d gathered all the dirty laundry, they headed back toward the front of the hospital wing, and Sarah led them to a door and opened it.
“Wash is through here.” The two women headed inside.
The small laundry room had been built inside one of the guest lounges for visitors to use if they were required to have an extended stay at the hospital. They’d begun to load the washing machine with the pile of laundry when Jessica finally turned and asked the question that had been on her mind.
“What happened here?”
Sarah stopped, mid-lean over a laundry bin, while collecting another pile of linens. She dropped them as she stood back up, looking at the wall for a moment before sitting down in the nearest plastic chair.
Jessica leaned back against the washing machine and ran her hand through her hair.
“I’m sorry to have asked,” Jessica said.
Sarah looked down to the floor and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. It’s just still really… new, you know?”
The young nurse cleared her throat and then finally spoke, keeping her eyes focused on the ground.
“I was making my rounds, checking in on different patients. My shift had only started about a half hour before, so I was seeing some of them for the first time. I went into a room where a young boy was, maybe around twelve years old. His name was Harrison. He was recovering from surgery. The day before, his dog had run out into the street and he’d chased after it. The guy driving was allegedly text messaging when he hit the kid.”
“Asshole,” Jessica mumbled.
“Yeah, no shit,” Sarah added. “Anyway, I’d gone in to check on him. His surgery had gone well and he was resting. There had been a good bit of internal bleeding, which is always scary, but the doctor had done a good job and stabilized the boy. When I walked in, he shot me a big smile, which is always satisfying to see when you know a child is in pain. Harrison’s mother was in the room with him. We talked for a few moments, and then I went on with doing some of my normal procedural stuff.
“While I was checking his blood-pressure, I heard a thud on the ground behind me and Harrison cried out. When I turned around, his mother was on the ground. I kneeled down and checked her pulse and, of course, there wasn’t one. Almost at the same time, I heard the panic in the hallway.
“I rushed out of the room and the entire hospital was in a panic. There were bodies on the floor, people leaned over performing CPR. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do. There was so much going on, it was as if I had been dropped right in the middle of a war zone. I stopped and tried to help a few people, until I remembered that I’d left Harrison back in his room with his mother collapsed next to him. So, I hurried back to him.”
Sarah began to cry, and Jessica reached over and put her hand on the young woman’s shoulder. Sarah took her hand, and let the tears flow. After a few moments, she continued.
“She was… on top of him. The screams… they were like nothing I’d ever heard before. Blood sprayed from both sides of the bed, staining the mattress. I started to run to help the boy, but when his mother looked up at me, I stopped dead in my tracks. She was one of them, and I watched her tear her own son apart.”
Sarah couldn’t hold back now. Jessica watched the girl slump over and her shoulders begin to move up and down as she cried. She patted Sarah on her back, and knelt down to embrace her.
“It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it anymore.”
Sarah picked up her head and wiped her eyes. She shook her head.
“No, it’s okay. I need to.” She sniffled, and moved her hand under her nose to wipe it down. Sarah took a deep breath, and then started again.
“She moved to where I could see the boy… at least, what was left of him. It was horrible. I’ve seen people come into the hospital after devastating car wrecks, but I’d never seen anything like this.
“Then, the boy’s mother was crawling over the bed toward me. I thought of running for the door, but the screams outside were deafening. I could hear people running up and down the halls, yelling out, and could hear what I now know was the snarling of these monsters. My back was against the door to a bathroom, so I turned around and trapped myself inside. When I went to lock the door, I couldn’t. The damn doors on these patient bathrooms don’t have locks. Within seconds, she was banging at the door. I pulled on the handle, just waiting for her to try and turn it. But all she did was bang and slam on it instead of trying to open it. I couldn’t stop crying and trembling. All I wanted was to be home in my bed.”
Jessica was covering her mouth, just listening to the story. “How long did you stay in there?”
“It was at least a couple of hours before I heard the door to the room open. I heard gunfire coming from somewhere inside the hospital. I jumped and cried more with every burst I heard. Then, the door to the room opened, and the banging at the door finally stopped. A loud gunshot rang through the room, followed by a crash. The snarling stopped, and I fell back against the wall, crying and shaking. I couldn’t feel my hand from gripping the door handle so tight.
“When the door to the bathroom did finally open, I screamed and balled myself up, waiting for one of the creatures to attack me. Instead, I turned to see a hand extended and a familiar face.”
“Lawrence?” Jessica asked.
Sarah nodded.
“When I walked out into the hallway, I couldn’t believe my eyes. And the smell was awful. There were bodies everywhere. Lawrence led me to a room where the rest of the survivors were hiding. He came back a bit later with Trevor, who had been helping him clear the place out.”
“What did you guys do with the bodies?” Jessica asked.
“We spent the rest of that afternoon moving them into a couple of the stairwells. It was exhausting, but we were at least able to get some of the smell out of here.”
“What about the rest of the hospital?”
“Lawrence, Brandon, and this guy Kyle went down to the floor below us. Lawrence and Brandon barely made it back. Kyle... he didn’t. Ever since then, we’ve kept ourselves isolated up here. Apparently, it was really bad, and Lawrence doesn’t want to risk looking around, at least not yet. If enough of those things get up here, we’re done.”
Jessica just crouched there, letting everything Sarah told her sink in. She thought about the hotel, and what happened after her escape. Did anyone survive? Maybe there was a small group there, like there was here. Just maybe some of her friends from her old workplace were still alive. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever know.
Sarah stood up and filled the washing machine with as many dirty clothes as she could before turning it on.
“Come on,” Sarah said to Jessica. “Let’s go grab some food and check on your friend; then we can come back later and throw this stuff in the dryer.”
Chapter 9
Lawrence
“We’ve got to make a stop,” Lawrence told David. They’d driven for about an hour, occasionally seeing survivors pass by in their own vehicles, but not finding anyone stranded. Lawrence would wave at the other vehicles in hopes that they would stop, but they didn’t, and David kept reiterating how people had already lost their trust and hope in others.
Lawrence was getting a strange vibe from David. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but something about the way he’d been acting was just rubbing him the wrong way. He was about to ask David about how he ended up in a ditch on the side of the highway before Lawrence had rescued him when David spoke first.
“Where are we going?”
Lawrence thought of changing the subject, but they were close to their destination, and so he decided against it.
“There’s a small clinic up the road here. It’s a little off the beaten path, so it may not have been raided yet. I know some of the people that worked there so I want to go check it out.”
He looked over to David, who didn’t respond. The man just sat
there, looking out the window.
“You know how to fire a gun?” Lawrence asked.
David looked over to him and nodded. “I can hold my own, yeah.”
“Good.”
With one hand on the wheel, Lawrence reached down and grabbed a pistol that was hidden between the driver’s side door and his seat. He held it in his hand where David could see it, all while staring at the man. He was trying to get a read on the mysterious man to see if he should give him the gun or not. In the end, he knew that it wouldn’t be safe for him to go into the clinic alone, and he couldn’t send David in unarmed. So, he handed David Ellis the small firearm.
David accepted the weapon into his hand as Lawrence put all his focus back onto the road. He heard David pop out the clip to confirm that the gun was loaded.
“It’s a 0.38. Should give you plenty of punch to take any of those things down.”
“Thanks,” David said.
Lawrence looked up the road and saw the exit he needed to take to get to the clinic.
“Here we go,” Lawrence said.
As Lawrence continued to drive toward the exit, he heard a window open. He looked over and saw David pointing the gun outside with both hands gripping the weapon. Up the road just a bit, Lawrence saw one of the creatures limping down the shoulder on the other side of the metal railing. David had the gun focused on it.
As they passed by the beast, Lawrence heard David fire off a round, and then he looked into the passenger side mirror.
Lawrence could just see the beast roll down the hill and come to a stop at the bottom, lying motionless.
He looked over to David, who was rolling up the window with the gun in his lap. The man never looked over toward Lawrence. He only continued to stare outside, and Lawrence wondered what the man could have been thinking.
David
“It’s just up ahead,” Lawrence said.
Just as Lawrence had told him earlier, the small clinic sat off an uninhabited road. They must have been on the outskirts of Knoxville, because there wasn’t much out here. As they got closer, David noticed something. Behind the building was a large wooden structure with chain link fence built into the sides of it. It ran a good twenty yards off the back of the building. Then, David could finally read the sign out front: Volunteer Kennels.
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 21
