It hadn’t taken his captives long to break the boy. When they’d chained up one of the creatures just over a foot away from his face, leaving the child blindfolded, he’d both soiled and wet himself, and his gums had nearly bled from his clamping down so hard on the gag.
And while he had cursed them before, talking to Gabriel, Dylan even prayed to God for his mommy and daddy.
He’d long ago lost track of how long he’d been here, though it’d barely been more than a day. The only way he knew of the nightfall was because of the preacher pleading with God to bring the sun back to show them light.
Dylan had so many questions for the preacher. Where are we? Who are these people that have us captive? How long have you been here? Are they going to kill me? But none of them seemed destined to be answered. Not as long as he was gagged, at least.
The door to the barn busted open and Dylan jumped, causing the shackles to pull against his wrists. He cried out through the gag.
“Lord, please protect these children,” the preacher said. “Please protect them, and bring forth your sword to strike down these men.”
Dylan breathed heavily, the solemn words of the preacher only heightening his nerves. The people loved to come into the barn and toy with him and the other prisoners. They’d, of course, brought the creature in the one time, leaving it there for a time before bashing it with a baseball bat right in front of them. The sound the bat had made, crushing the skull of the beast, was something Dylan would never forget. He only knew it was a bat because one of the men had run the cold aluminum across Dylan’s face, leaving trickles of blood to creep down his bare cheek. The cruel laugh that had come from the man’s voice said a lot about the people who were holding him captive.
The footsteps now were that of more than one person, and they stopped near where Dylan believed the two girls to be.
“Mmm, which one?” a man asked.
“They’re both so pretty,” another man said. “Do I really have to choose?”
Dylan heard both the girls crying desperately through their own gags.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” the first man started. Dylan had played this game hundreds of times before, and he pictured the man pointing his finger, alternating back and forth between the two girls.
“Catch a tiger by its toe…”
The two girls whimpered, and Dylan envisioned them with their blindfolds removed. The people had done this to him when they’d stuck the Empty in his face, and he had to think these men would want these two girls to see their faces now as they teased them.
“My mother told me to pick the very best one, and that is… you.”
One of the girls cried louder now, and the two men laughed.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day, baby.”
The chains above rattled, and it sounded as if a struggle was going on between the men and at least one of the girls.
“Stop all your fuckin’ squirmin’,” one of the men demanded, and the chains continued their furious clanking.
There was a loud pop, and that’s when the chains calmed.
“Now, I didn’t wanna have to go on and hit ya like that, but you gave me no choice. You gonna be good now, or not?”
The room was silent, other than for the shuddered breaths through the gags of the girls and the young boy, and the mumbling of the preacher, as the man waited for a reply from the girl.
“Good,” the same man said.
Dylan heard the girl being pulled out of the barn. The other girl, the still restrained one, started to wail again.
The door to the barn creaked and slammed shut. Now the girl next to him tried to scream, the volume muffled by the gag, and the preacher went on.
“Show us the light, Lord. Praise these children, and save them from these evil-doers.”
When the door opened again, Dylan wasn’t certain about how much time had passed. He only knew it had been enough time for him to have fallen asleep, as he’d now been abruptly woken by the double doors’ screaming hinges. His blindfold had shifted during his nap, and he was able to see three sets of feet under it. They stopped in front of the preacher, just to the boy’s right. Dylan contemplated lifting his head to see their faces, but thought better of it, so as to not draw any attention to himself.
“Ready to try again, preacher?”
For one of the first times since Dylan had ended up here, the preacher spoke words outside of scripture or prayer. He said, “Please, don’t make me do this.”
The slap echoed through the barn as one of the men hit the preacher.
“You ain’t gonna tell us what to do, you got that?”
The preacher whimpered, and started into another prayer. “Oh, Lord, please allow me grace…”
Chains rattled above the preacher’s head, and Dylan looked over when he heard the man hit the ground. The preacher had dropped to all fours, grasping the dirt as if, if he held tight enough, the three people wouldn’t be able to pick him up off of the ground. But as a man wearing a black t-shirt and a faded baseball cap leaned over to pick him up, the priest made eye contact with Dylan for the first time.
“Bless you, child,” the preacher mumbled as the man stood him up straight and dragged him away.
One of the pairs of feet approached Dylan and the boy gasped for air. His blindfold came off, and the last thing he saw before passing out was the back of a bearded man’s hand coming down toward his face.
Chapter 1
Gabriel
A short time had passed since David Ellis had thrown Melissa Kessler into the locked room with the Empty. Will and Jessica still remained lying on the ground beside the room, and the rest of the group stood across the hall in utter shock at what had happened. Gabriel had the the sense to start moving people away from the gruesome scene. He left Will alone, allowing him to do what he felt necessary to mourn his mother, but moved the rest of the group down the hallway into a large, vacant room. Jessica had remained behind, as well. Gabriel just wanted to get everyone else away from the scene, but wasn’t ready to take everyone back to their living quarters yet. They’d regroup while giving Will and Jessica time to mourn.
Holly had wanted desperately to stay with Will, but Gabriel had encouraged her to give him some time alone. After putting up a small fight, she’d reluctantly agreed, and joined the rest of the group as they trudged away from the murder scene.
After relocating the group down the hall, Gabriel returned to the scene along with Brandon. They moved back around the corner, and saw Will and Jessica in the same spot they’d been. Inside the room, the Empty hissed out of sight.
Brandon walked into a nearby room, and when he came back, he held a bed sheet under his arm. He walked across the hall and used it to cover Kristen’s body. He then approached Gabriel, and reached into his pocket.
“I grabbed this in there, too,” Brandon said, revealing a scalpel to Gabriel.
“I got it,” Gabriel said, reaching his hand out to retrieve the blade.
Brandon extended his hand, and Gabriel accepted the tool. As he moved toward the door, Gabriel glanced down at Will. He didn’t even acknowledge Gabriel’s presence, simply staring off at the opposite wall. Gabriel looked up and reached for the door, and pulled it.
Opening the door was like turning up the volume on the inside of the room. The creature growled and moaned as it continued to feast on its kill. Gabriel put aside the thought that it was Will’s mother lying on the ground, and he carefully moved toward the beast. Just as he came just within reach of it, the Empty turned and hissed at him. Gabriel reacted quickly, bringing the scalpel into the side of the creature’s head. It slumped over, and Gabriel turned away right as Mrs. Kessler came into view, but not before he caught a glance of what remained of her corpse. He leaned over and coughed, then hurried out of the room.
Brandon shut the door behind Gabriel, who retched, just holding back from vomiting all over the floor. Brandon patted him on the shoulder.
“You alright?” Brandon asked.
Brandon went back into the same room where he’d found a scalpel and returned this time with a mobile bed. They each lifted an end of Marcus’ limp body, and loaded the unconscious man onto the bed. Brandon began to push Marcus down the hall, while Gabriel gave Will one last glance. He still sat in the same spot, Jessica crying next to him, his face vacant of any emotion.
Gabriel understood the fight ahead. Will would want to seek revenge, there was no doubt of that. And Gabriel would back the decision, but he also knew they would need a plan. He wouldn’t allow Will to just march out of the hospital like a loose canon. He was confident that, wherever David was headed, Dylan would be there. In Gabriel’s mind, the boy’s safety was the number one priority now. There was nothing they could do about Mrs. Kessler. She was gone. But they had to find Dylan and bring him back into the group safely. Gabriel was responsible for the boy being taken, and he was determined to be the one responsible for getting him back. The boy dying wasn’t an option. Gabriel would put a bullet in his own head before he’d live every day of the rest of his life with that guilt.
When Marcus finally came to, Holly was the one who decided to explain to him everything that had happened. When she was finished, he joined Gabriel in the hallway while the rest of the group stayed in the large room.
“How you feeling?” Gabriel asked.
“Like shit. I feel like I got hit with two ton of bricks.”
“Sorry about that, man.”
“Why you sorry?” Marcus asked. “Don’t worry about me.” Marcus nodded his head down the hall toward the place they’d come from. The place where Melissa’s body still lay. “What we gonna do about Will?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel replied. “But I’m gonna need your help with keeping him from doing anything stupid. He’s gonna be emotional, ready to go raise hell on David. You know as well as I do, we can’t just rush in there without a plan.”
Marcus scoffed. “That shouldn’t be a problem. We don’t even know where there is.”
Gabriel was silent, and he let his head rest against the wall as he shut his eyes.
When he opened his eyes and looked over to Marcus, he noted, “It’s my fault he’s gone, Marcus. I was careless. I should have never let him out of my sight.”
“Come on, man. You had no way of knowing that asshole was gonna find us. Hell, I thought he was dead.”
“He should’ve been,” Gabriel said, regret in his voice. “We shouldn’t have left that warehouse with him still breathing.”
“And had we done that, what would that have really said about us? What kind of person do you want to be?”
“The kind who doesn’t let children get kidnapped and people’s mothers get eaten alive by those fucking things.”
“At the time, killing David wasn’t the answer. You know that.”
“Yeah?” Gabriel continued. “Well, what about now?”
Marcus looked to the ground and rubbed his eyes. Shaking his head, he then moved his hands to his hips.
Exhaling, Marcus looked up to Gabriel and said, “I think we both know what needs to be done.”
Will
He simply sat there. No movement. No talking. Just still and silent.
Will’s back lay against the wall underneath the window. He had one knee up with his arm resting on top, his foot flat on the ground. Just on the other side of the wall lay his mother and the beast that had killed her. Though, the real beast that had killed her had escaped.
Will stared into the wall opposite him, and all he saw in it was the face of David Ellis.
Just a week earlier, Will had been a forklift operator at one of the world’s most popular cymbal and percussion manufacturers. When the world fell, he’d looked on as all his co-workers had been destroyed. He now lived in a world full of flesh-eating creatures, and those things weren’t even his biggest threat or enemy. This man, who owned a company just down the road from where he’d worked for so long, had taken his own mother from him. And for what? Will had no answer.
Will thought back to when they’d left Ellis Metals. David had just been lying there on the ground, unconscious. Why had he let him live? If he would have just killed the man right there, none of this would be happening. He’d have his mother, and they’d be thriving at the hospital, working through the trouble of this new world together.
But it wasn’t to be.
Then there was Jessica—the girl who had apparently come to love his mother. She’d been lying next to him, but had moved some time ago. She now sat across the hall, weeping. After having sat in the same spot for some time, turning over all his emotions in his mind, Will decided to go to her.
He stood up and breathed heavily, ignoring the urge to turn around and look inside the room. He closed his eyes and walked over to the corner where Jessica sat.
When he approached her, she looked up from her arms where she’d buried her head. Her eyes were beet-red and she looked exhausted. Will took a seat next to her, and she immediately leaned into his arms and started to cry again.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Will remained silent. He still couldn’t find the words to speak. His face stoic, he just held her and comforted her with his presence while his mind wandered.
But Will couldn’t just sit anymore. He looked over toward the room, knowing his mother was lying in there. He had to get away.
And with that, Will stood and headed down the hallway.
Gabriel
“How much longer are we just going to let them sit down there?” Holly asked.
“As long as he needs to,” Marcus replied.
“We can’t do that,” Holly explained. “What if he does something to himself? He just lost his mother!”
“Holly—”
“I’m going down there,” she said, and started out of the room. Brandon grabbed onto her shoulder.
“Marcus is right,” Brandon said. “You need to just give him some time. He will snap out of it, then we can all come up with a plan together.”
“Get your hands off me,” Holly demanded.
“Come on, Holly,” Marcus said, trying to calm her down.
Gabriel stood near the door, away from the crowd. He leaned his back against the wall, watching as the group argued amongst themselves. His head pounded, overwhelmed by the thought that Dylan was out there somewhere, the boy likely terrified and waiting on them to come and get him. He was just about to raise his own voice and shut the group up when he heard footsteps coming down the hall.
It caught the rest of the group’s attention, and they stood quiet.
Gabriel watched as Will moved past the room, and when he turned to look at the group, Marcus was already headed after their friend. Holly tried to follow, but Gabriel stopped her.
“Just wait here,” he demanded.
“No, I’m not—”
“Just do it, Holly!” He was demanding, but he knew that he and Marcus needed to handle it. He then calmed his tone. “Please, just stay here with the others. Marcus and I got this.”
He turned and started after Marcus and Will.
Gabriel followed them all the way to the main corridor where the survivors had been living. When he raced through the double doors near the elevators and moved around the corner, his eyes went wide.
Will and Marcus were each fighting off an Empty. Will had his assailant pinned against a wall, while Marcus struggled to stay on his feet in the middle of the hall. The thing had its hands around Marcus’ neck as the other man made eye contact with Gabriel.
“Help! Get this thing off me!”
Their firearms having been stolen by David, Gabriel scanned the room for a weapon, finally deciding to pull a fire extinguisher off of the wall. He darted over to Marcus and reached him just as the thing pushed him down onto the ground. The creature looked up toward Gabriel, who swung the fire extinguishe
r as hard as he could, leveling the beast in the face. Gabriel spun around, dropping the weapon as he did. He then stepped up beside the Empty, which reached for him, and slammed his foot down onto the creature’s face, looking away so he couldn’t see the result; the grotesque sound and the feeling underfoot provided plenty of sensory confirmation.
He then turned and saw Marcus scooting on the ground toward a wall, staring over toward Will.
Will was on top of the beast he’d been fighting, the fire extinguisher in hand. He wouldn’t stop continuing the assault, bringing the metal down into the Empty’s face again and again. Blood sprayed up from either side of Will’s body, and he’d begun to yell.
Gabriel took his eyes off of Will and looked down the hall. The rest of the group was starting to gather, Holly at the front. She had a look of shock and terror on her face, covering half of it with her hands as tears poured out of each eye. The rest of the group shared similar looks. All except for Jessica, who stood with her hands at her sides, just watching the assault on the creature.
Will continued, and Gabriel didn’t think he was even aware that everyone was looking on.
Marcus went to Will, and Gabriel followed. Together, they pulled Will off of the Empty. He nearly hit Gabriel in the face with the fire extinguisher, and Gabriel managed to wrangle it from his hands.
“Easy, easy,” Gabriel said.
“Come on, Will. Ease up, kid,” Marcus added.
Gabriel was taken back by the look in Will’s eyes. He looked like a man possessed. Blood now covered his face and he gasped for air. His eyes were wide, and he stared down into the creature’s face.
“Will, come on, snap out of it,” Gabriel said.
Will looked over to Gabriel, those eyes still spread, but his breathing starting to level off. After a few moments, he was breathing almost normally, and his eyes relaxed.
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 32
