Holly opened the door and jumped out of the truck. Will looked back inside, and Charlie was looking toward him. The second gunshot, sounding off near Charlie’s head, must’ve snapped him out of his trance. Will reached into the truck and grabbed Charlie by the collar.
“I need you,” Will said. “If you want any chance of saving these people, get your ass out here and fight.”
Charlie hesitantly nodded. He then reached onto the passenger seat and grabbed the gun Holly had left for him. He stepped out of the truck, and aimed at the horde coming out of the woods.
"Stay with him," Will told Holly. He hurried to the other side of the truck, and took aim at the group of Empties in the courtyard. They had closed the distance halfway on the truck, allowing Will a much better chance of hitting his targets. He took aim, and fired.
Will took down two of the creatures before he was forced to reload again. Every time one of the beasts fell, it was almost as if the others became more motivated to get to him.
"Talk to me," Will said, reloading his rifle and stepping back toward the truck. "How're y'all doing?"
"It looks like there's just more coming," Holly said.
Will shot down two more Empties down before his back hit the truck. His rifle ran out of ammunition again, but he didn't have the time to reload. Instead, he tossed the rifle over his shoulder and drew his handgun. One of the thing's lunged at him, and he pulled the gun up just in time to hit the Empty square in the forehead. He then raced around the back of the truck, joining Charlie and Holly.
"Shit," Will said, looking off into the woods. Many bodies lay on the ground, but there were more coming, just as Holly had said. He heard a snarl from behind him. The two remaining Empties from the courtyard had followed him around the truck, and he'd been so distracted by the group near the woods that he'd almost forgotten about them. He fired off two consecutive shots with the handgun, connecting with head shots to both of the creatures.
"We can't take all these things out," Will said. "We've gotta make a run for the cabin."
“It’s burning to the ground,” Holly said. “How’re we supposed to get in there?”
Will shook his head. “I don’t know, but we’ve gotta try. Come on."
He ducked into the back seat of the vehicle and grabbed their bags. He handed some of the gear over to Charlie and Holly, gathered what he could, and then shut the door and headed around the back of the vehicle, starting toward the cabin.
When they'd made it halfway across the courtyard, a guttural scream came out of the burning cabin. It was the scream of a man. It stopped Will dead in his tracks.
Charlie's jaw dropped open and Holly gasped. A figure come running out the front door. He screamed, like a man, not like one of the creatures, and he was on fire. The man was tall, and wore overalls.
"Oh my God," Charlie said, taking another step toward the burning cabin. “Larry.”
Will wrapped his arms around Charlie, who'd started to cry and yell out, wanting desperately to run to Larry. It took everything Will had to hold him back.
"It's too late," Will said. "We can’t help him.”
The flaming figure fell face-first onto the grass in front of the cabin. The flames shooting off his body licked the open air, and the old man no longer screamed.
Two more figures came through the front door of the cabin, these lumbering with the same gait as the undead. They were Empties, on fire, and apparently unfazed by their flames. Meanwhile, the horde from the woods were quickly approaching the survivors.
"We've gotta move, now," Holly said.
“We’ve gotta run to our cabin,” Will said.
“What about the kids?” Holly asked.
“We’ll never make it inside there. His arms wrapped around Charlie's waist, Will pulled back on Charlie. "Come on, man."
Still weeping, Charlie turned and grabbed Will's shirt. Will backed up, and aimed his pistol at the approaching group of Empties and fired.
"Go!" Will shouted at Holly. Charlie pulled away from Will, and both men jogged to the cabin.
When they climbed up the steps, Holly already had the door open. Charlie went inside first, and Will stood at the edge of the cabin. He pulled the rifle off his shoulder, and aimed down at the horde. He hadn't known Larry that well, but he was tired of seeing good people die from these demons. He fired into the group, again and again. Squeezing the trigger and watching the creatures fall felt good. Every single one of these things deserved to fall. Every one.
"Will!" Holly shouted.
He looked back to her, seeing the worry in her face. The horde was only about fifteen yards from the cabin now, and four more had come out of the flaming cabin, all of them on fire. Will took one more shot as he backed up, connecting with his target's skull.
Then he disappeared inside the cabin.
Chapter 22
Will locked the door and dropped his bag in the middle of the floor. Holly searched the cabin for the children. When she returned to the living room, concern spread across her face.
"Not here?" Will asked, speaking of the children.
Holly wiped at her eyes and shook her head.
"Son of a bitch," Will mumbled.
The sound of marching thundered on the front porch, and the Empties banged on the door. Over and over, they slammed their decrepit hands against the front of the cabin, clogging Will’s ability to think.
“We can’t stay here,” Holly said.
“I know,” Will said. He ran his hands through his hair, gripping it tight. “Maybe we can get out the back door, and have a clear shot to the car with—” Will stopped himself, realizing what he was suggesting.
“We can’t leave,” Charlie said. “There could be others.”
The banging continued on the front of the cabin, and there were now creatures banging on the windows.
“I know, I know,” Will said. He looked at Charlie and said, “You got any ideas?”
An orange glow appeared at the front of the cabin. Two of the burning Empties had made it up the steps. Just outside the window, Will got a good look at them. All their flesh was burned, leaving nothing but flaming statues of muscle and bone. Yet, somehow, the things still were able to move.
“Oh, shit,” Will said.
The flames licked the roof of the porch, catching it on fire.
Holly put her hands on top of her head, showing her panic. She started to pace and curse under her breath. The glass of the window broke from all the pressure, and Will readied his gun.
"Grab your weapons!" Will yelled. He fired, taking out the creature whose face filled the window.
The horde filled most of the front porch. As they fired at the creatures, Will could see the door start to give way on its hinges. Flames swam in through the window, threatening to catch the kitchen on fire. Staying in the middle of the cabin would soon no longer be an option. He brought down another creature with a bullet, then started to back up as he reloaded.
“We’ve gotta move,” Will said. He grabbed ahold of Holly's arm and started for the rear of the cabin. Charlie ran ahead of them, opening the door to the master bedroom. All three loaded inside the room, and Will shut and locked the door.
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Charlie said. "Either they're gonna break in here, or this place is gonna burn to the fucking ground." The smoke had begun to reek throughout the entire cabin. They had little time.
Will said to Holly, "Grab your essentials. We're gonna have to sneak out the back door."
As Will and Holly began gathering their things, the continuous banging at the front of the cabin stopped. His hands still in his bag, Will turned and looked back toward the door.
"They stopped," Holly said.
Will said, "Shh," putting his index finger to his lip. He was pretty sure he heard something past the crackling of the flames and the muffled snarls of the creatures. It sounded like the voice of a human.
Charlie was the first one to say, “What the hell?”
Someon
e whistling. Someone calling out, “Over here!”
Will looked out a window, through the flames. The fire had made it into the kitchen, but the Empties had retreated from the porch. Will squinted his eyes, looking through the mirage of smoke to see someone jumping up and down across the courtyard, waving their arms.
"Scott!" Charlie said.
"Quiet," Will said. "He's drawing them over to him so we can get the hell out of here."
Will retreated back into the bedroom and grabbed his things. He threw on the rifle, feeling the strap rub against his neck. He picked up Holly's bag, too, and when he returned to the living room, he handed it to her.
"I want you to go out the back with Charlie," Will said. "When you get down to the end of this row of cabins, drop your bag. You two head back to the truck, using it as cover, and flank them from the front."
"What are you gonna do?" Holly asked.
"I'm gonna go out the front door."
"No," Holly said. "You can't go out there alone."
Will said, "I'll be fine. There’s still time for me to make it out. With you guys distracting them, they’ll be halfway across the courtyard once I get outside. I'm gonna take as many of them out from behind as I can and draw them away from Scott. You guys should be around the other side of them by the time that happens, and you'll have an opening. There aren't that many of them. We should be able to make this work. But we don't have a lot of time, so you've gotta go."
Holly's face told Will everything he needed to know. She didn't like the plan. Didn't want to leave Will's side. But they didn't have a choice. They couldn't stay here, and Scott had given them the opening they needed.
Charlie grabbed onto Holly's arm and began to pull her. She held her ground, leaning into Will to kiss him on the lips.
He said, "I'll see you in a few minutes."
Will pulled away from her, and headed for the front door. When he turned around again, Charlie and Holly had disappeared to the back of the cabin. The fire had made it into the kitchen, lighting the cabinets aflame. Will thought to salvage any food or medical supplies he could get, but there wasn’t time. The number one focus right now was to clear out this band of creatures so that they could look for Dylan and Mary Beth, and then they’d be able to regroup and inventory all their supplies from the other cabins.
Will went to open the door, but quickly drew his hand away from the metal handle. It was hot.
“Son of a bitch.”
He waved his hand, hoping to bring relief and to cool down the burn. He also started to cough, the smoke quickly filling the cabin. He glanced out the window, seeing that Scott was now having to back up towards the woods, the creatures gaining on him.
Will stepped back from the door. He counted down from three, then picked up his leg and slammed his foot into the front door. As soon as he connected, he turned his back to the adjacent wall, clearing the path of the entrance. The door opened with a ‘woosh’, and flames came spilling into the cabin, like pouring lighter fluid over a charcoal grill. The backdraft wasn’t as strong as he’d anticipated, but it had been enough to where it would’ve set him on fire if he hadn’t moved out of the way.
After the fire dissipated, Will came off the wall and turned out of the door. Flames engulfed the porch, forcing him to run through a shallow fire, then jump down the three stairs leading to the concrete. The heavy bag on his shoulder, he fell to the ground, his ankle twisting. He landed on the bag, knocking the breath out of his lungs as his ribs slammed into it. He writhed on the ground, safe from the flames, but unsure whether to grab his aching ribs or to clutch his throbbing ankle. He found the sense to look up. He’d apparently made enough noise to lure at least a small population of the Empties back toward him, thus ruining his idea of a surprise attack.
Breathing heavily now that he was in the fresh, open air, away from the toxic smoke, he tried to make it to his feet, but fell down again when he attempted to put weight on his ankle. From the angle he lay at, he couldn’t see Scott beyond the swarm of Empties. He glanced toward the vehicle, not seeing Charlie or Holly. They should’ve been there by now, and he hadn’t heard any gunshots come from the rear of the cabin. With no other choice, he drew his pistol and fired at the creatures coming toward him.
They moved slow enough and were far enough away where he could take his time and make each shot count. There were only four of the beasts coming toward him, but the shots would sure garner the attention of others. He took aim and fired. The first shot missed his target, but he quickly shot again, taking down the first Empty. He shot again, nicking the neck of the next creature. They had cut the distance on him in half, and if he couldn’t make it to his feet, he knew he might not survive. Will got up to his knees, at least allowing himself to aim better. He shot the Empty he’d grazed again, this time hitting it in the face.
When he aimed at the next beast, the gun clicked.
“Shit!”
He went for his pouch, then quickly adjusted and grabbed his knife instead. Mouth open, the Empty lunged at him. With a yell, Will drew the knife and jammed it into the side of the creature’s head as all its weight fell onto Will. He groaned as the lifeless thing fell onto his aching ribs. He was unable to muster the energy to get the thing off of him. Will lifted his head, and saw more of the creatures heading his way. He mustered every ounce of energy he had, but couldn’t get the creature off of him. In its human days, the thing had been a heavy-set woman, around 240 pounds — far too heavy for him to push her off of him with his injuries.
“Help!” Will finally called, with no other choice. He could feel the pain in his gut as he called out, like someone grinding their fist into his injured ribs as he pushed the cry out through his lungs. He knew that yelling would likely bring the whole group toward him, but it wouldn’t matter if the monsters already headed his way made it over to him.
“Help! Holly!” This time when he yelled, he used everything he had left in him. He cried louder, sounding more desperate. He picked his head up again, and could now see more of the creatures coming his way. He tried again to lift the hunk of dead weight from on top of him, but failed, yet again. He found himself confused, not sure what had happened to Holly, Charlie, and Scott. Had they run into resistance behind the cabins?
Will tried to ready his knife for the oncoming gang, but it was still lodged in the skull of the body on top of him, and his arm was pinned.
“Fuck!”
He looked up again, and the swarm was almost close enough now to where they could spit on him. Will made one last effort at his knife, and he shifted the weight of the beast further onto his arm. He yelled out, feeling that if he moved anymore, his arm might snap. An Empty had started to lean down to come for him when the first shot sounded off through the air, and half of the creature’s head disappeared. Its limp body collapsed just a few feet away from Will. Human screams sounded across the campground, and the onslaught began.
One by one, the creatures fell. They’d turned their attention away from Will, and he followed their gaze to see Holly, Charlie, and Scott, weapons in hand, each mowing through the mob of Empties with gunpowder and lead. Will heard several bullets whistling overhead, missing their targets.
Another creature approached, kicking gravel and snarling. It was about to lunge at Will when it fell like its counterpart had just moments earlier. A shadow came over Will, and Holly was there. Gunshots continued in the background as she leaned down and rolled the dead, overweight beast off of him.
“Come on,” she said, grabbing his arm.
“Wait,” he said, pleading. “You’re gonna have to help me. I twisted my ankle, and I’m not sure if I broke a rib or not.”
Holly squatted down, and Will got up onto his knees. It felt like a shank jabbing into his side, but he got his arm around her, and used his good leg to stand up. Charlie and Scott provided cover fire for them as Will hobbled on his decent leg, on their way over to the van.
“Get him in the van!” Charlie said. “We can finish th
em off!”
Holly opened the sliding door, and she and Will loaded into the van. He was glad to be inside the vehicle, the ringing in his ears only making it harder to handle the pain in his ankle and in his mid-section.
“Are you okay?” Holly asked.
Will nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
Moments later, the gunshots ceased. Charlie squatted down, fighting to catch his breath. Scott, seemingly in shock from what had happened, dropped the rifle he’d been firing and put his arms behind his head. He began to pace in circles, disoriented and confused about what was happening. Holly opened the door to the van, and Charlie straightened and joined her and Will.
“You alright?” Charlie asked Will.
Clutching onto his ribs, Will asked, “What the hell happened to y’all?”
“We got caught behind the cabin with four Empties,” Holly said. “One of them attacked Charlie, and I thought he got bit.”
“Shook me up real bad,” Charlie said.
“We didn’t use our guns because we didn’t want to ruin your ambush on this group,” Holly continued. She smiled and said, “Looks like you didn’t need us for that,” making light of the situation.
Will ignored Holly’s attempt at humor, looking past her to glance at Scott. He seemed short on breath, hyperventilating. His hands remained behind his head, continuing to show him in an utter state of panic and confusion. Will slid off the seat and onto the gravel. His ankle felt better, but he still used Charlie and Holly to stand, and applied all his weight to his healthy leg.
“Scott,” Will said. At first, Scott didn’t move. He just continued looking forward, spots of blood splattered on his white shirt. Will called his name again, louder this time. It garnered Scott’s attention, and he turned.
Will let go of Charlie and Holly, and took a step. Holly joined arms with him, which he allowed even though he was now able to put some weight on his leg. No reason to get too confident and hurt it even more.
Scott’s breathing sounded like that of a terrified child. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and he looked like he’d seen a ghost — which really wasn’t far from the truth.
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 60
