Charlie stood outside the van chatting with Karl, while the rest of the group was already waiting inside.
“Sorry I took so long,” Will said.
“All good, man,” Charlie said. “Everything cool?”
“Yeah, everything’s cool.”
Charlie gave Will a look that said he didn’t one-hundred percent believe him, but if he didn’t, he never said as much.
“Where’s Timothy?” Will asked.
“He went to check on some of the survivors from the school,” Charlie said.
“You guys should have everything you need,” Karl said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Will. “There should be more than enough guns and ammo back there to get all this if he has it. Just don’t let him take all of it. This isn’t worth everything we gave you.”
“Then why overload us?” Will asked.
“In case you come across anything else we might need that he’d be willing to barter.”
Will nodded, and Karl stuck his hand out.
“I really appreciate you doing this.”
“With all you guys have done for us, it’s only fair.”
Karl smiled. “There’s got to still be some good people left in the world, I guess. Right?”
“Right,” Will said, returning the smile.
“Let’s get going,” Charlie said. “I’m driving.”
Will passed him a funny look and said, “Yes, sir.”
He walked around the front of the car and hopped into the passenger seat. As he put on his seatbelt, he turned around and glanced over the rest of the group. The passenger van held up to fifteen people and still had the name of the Baptist church plastered on the side panel. With all the weapons in the very rear of the vehicle, the four still had room to spread out and be comfortable.
“Everyone ready to go?” Will asked.
“More than ready,” Shawna said.
Will smiled. He could tell from her enthusiasm that he was going to get along well with this daughter of a New Orleans cop.
As Charlie pulled away, Will looked to the house he was staying in, shifting his gaze up toward the window of their bedroom. There, Holly stood with one hand over her mouth and the other holding her elbow. Will waved, and she returned the gesture, wiping her eyes. He then turned away before he became upset all over again, and focused on the trip. Peeking in the rearview mirror, he could see Jen looking at him, but she quickly looked off outside.
“Have any of you been to where we’re going?” Will asked.
“I made one trip with Karl,” Steve said. No one else responded.
“All right, well, we aren’t going far,” Will said. “It should only take us about twenty minutes to get there, assuming we don’t run into any Empties.”
“Empties?” Shawna asked. “What the hell is that?”
“That’s what we call the sick people,” Charlie said.
“Who came up with that?” Franklin asked, chuckling.
“I did,” Will said.
“Why would you call them that?” Shawna asked.
Will shrugged. “When all this started, it was just the first thing that came to mind. They all seemed empty of any thought, life, or soul. I guess it just made sense.” He had of course since learned that he hadn’t been far from the truth in his assessment of what had happened to The Fallen, but decided now that he would wait and let them hear that later in the evening with everyone else from the community.
“Makes sense to me,” Jen said.
Will decided he wanted to change the subject. “You’re all carrying, right?”
Shawna was the first to draw her weapon, pulling out a semi-automatic .45 pistol. She shoved a magazine in and popped the slide back, loading the weapon. The others followed her lead.
“Good,” Will said. “Keep those on you. I want you to be ready for any situation. You have to out here because you never know what you might run into—even on back roads like these.”
“Is it true that you made it all the way here from Nashville?” Jen asked.
Will nodded.
“Holy shit,” Franklin said. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” Will said.
“That’s not even the half of it,” Charlie said, looking at the rest of the group through the rearview mirror. “You should talk to Gabriel. He and the little boy with us were on a plane when all this started. It crashed and they were the only two survivors.”
“No way,” Steve said. “How did they survive?”
“No idea,” Will said. “And don’t ask him about it. He doesn’t like talking about it, and it’s best Dylan doesn’t either.”
“So y’all been through a lot of shit, huh?” Shawna said.
Will was silent for a moment. Then he mumbled, “Yeah, we’ve been through a lot.” He cleared his throat. “And that’s why Timothy wants you out here with us. So that you can learn and you can be there for your community.”
“I also heard y’all are leaving tomorrow,” Jen said. “That true, too?”
“You hear a lot,” Charlie said.
“Sorry,” Jen said. “Not a lot for us to talk about, ya know? Gossip gets around.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Will said. “We have to get to Alexandria and try to find Gabriel’s family.”
“He hasn’t seen them since all this started?” Franklin asked.
Will looked back at the former gang member and shook his head.
Franklin scoffed. “Good luck on that.”
Will scowled at him, and Franklin immediately apologized.
“How about we be quiet and focus for a while?” Charlie suggested, and they all fell silent.
As Charlie drove the familiar country roads, Will looked out the window. Though they’d only made this trip once before, it had been a memorable one. When they passed the place where they’d had to stop the last time to clear the Empties from the road, Will looked down into the ditch he’d nearly been killed in. Then he looked back to the dash in front of him, ignoring the outside world. When he glanced up and over to Charlie, he saw in his face that he’d been thinking about that last trip as well, but neither of them spoke about it in front of the others.
Will wasn’t looking outside when Charlie took the final turn before the neighborhood Adam’s group lived in and suddenly slammed on the brakes.
“What the hell was that, man?” Shawna called out from the back seat.
Will looked up and, like Shawna, was confused as to why they’d stopped. There were no Empties in the road ahead, and the car seemed to be fine. He couldn’t think of why else Charlie would’ve stopped.
Then from the back seat, Franklin said, “Holy shit. Look.”
Will looked over to Charlie again and then followed his dumbfounded gaze.
And then Will saw it, too.
And all he could do was stare.
Chapter 9
“Don’t tell me that’s where we’re headed,” Steve said.
Smoke rose above the tree line in the near distance. And Will was sure of it: the smoke was coming from Adam’s community. It was too thick and dark to have come from burning trash or a bonfire, and there were three separate clouds. Three houses on fire.
“No way,” Jen said. “We can’t. We’ve gotta turn around.”
“Are you kidding me?” Shawna said, looking at Jen. “Girl, there could be people in trouble there, and we could be their only hope.”
“She’s right,” Steve said.
“We can’t go,” Jen said, starting to panic. “Turn the car around now.” She reached up and started to shake Charlie.
Jerking away, Charlie snapped back at her. “Hey, stop it.”
“Everyone, stop it,” Will said, raising his voice.
Jen pulled away, and everyone looked up to Will in the front seat. He gave Charlie a quick look before turning back to the rest of the group.
“There’s six of us here. I say we decide together what to do. But we need to decide fast. If th
ere are still people alive there, we need to get there as quick as possible.”
In the back seat, Shawna pulled out her pistol again, making sure it was loaded.
“Fuck this,” she said. “I’m not holding a vote while people could be dying over there.”
“Shawna, calm down,” Franklin said.
“No,” she said, shoving her weapon back into its holster. “I’m going out there.”
“What?” Will said. “You’re gonna walk over there by yourself, and then what? You just gonna start dragging people out? Shoot all the Empties by yourself while you do? And what if it’s not Empties? What if there’s a group of rogue survivors attacking them? And that’s all assuming you even make it. The street they live on is in the back of a big subdivision. We’re still at least a mile away.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Shawna said, starting for the door.
“Sit down,” Will said, raising his voice even louder. He stood up himself and narrowed his eyes at the woman.
For a few moments, she glared back at him. Then she scoffed and sat down.
“Good choice,” he said to her. “Now, let’s vote. By raising your hand, who wants to return home right now?”
Jen immediately raised her hand. It trembled as it stayed in the air.
Steve also raised his hand. He looked at Shawna and said, “I’m sorry. I’ve got a wife and kid back at home.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have come,” Shawna spit back.
“Stop it,” Charlie said.
Will looked into the face of Franklin, and so did everyone else. He knew that, like himself, Charlie was all for going in and trying to help Adam and his people. Franklin could hold the tying vote, and then they’d have to figure out a way to break that draw.
Franklin looked at Shawna, then over to Jen. “I’m sorry, Jen. I just can’t in good conscience leave here without checking if there’s people who need our help.”
Jen dropped her hand and rolled her eyes as she choked back tears.
“All in favor,” Will said, raising his hand.
Charlie, Shawna, and finally Franklin all raised their hands.
Jen shook her head, staring down. Will looked to Steve.
“I’m sorry. You knew there would be risk coming out here.”
Steve nodded, and Jen looked up, her cheeks red.
“So do you have a plan?” Steve asked.
“There’s a gate they keep guarded before you even enter the neighborhood,” Charlie said. “We should know a lot just by pulling up there.”
“Agreed,” Will said. “If no one is manning that gate, which I’ll assume there won’t be, then we’ll know for sure something bad is going on.” He looked to Shawna. “Go in the back and get the ARs ready.”
“Got it,” she said.
“How comfortable are you guys with assault rifles?” Will asked.
“I’m good,” Steve said.
“I’ve shot Uzis,” Franklin said. “But never anything like an AK or an AR-15.”
“Shot them plenty at the gun range,” Jen mumbled.
“Good,” Will said. He looked to the back of the van. “What about you, Shawna?”
The cop’s daughter picked up an AR-15 and inserted a full magazine without blinking an eye. She then held it across her chest, ready to aim and fire.
“I think that answers your question,” Charlie said to Will, grinning.
Will smiled back and then gestured for Charlie to pull forward.
His fear came to fruition when they rounded the corner into the neighborhood.
“Shit,” Charlie said.
Nobody was there to guard the wide open gate. Will looked off into the woods to their right, from which armed guards had emerged the last time they’d come here.
“Hold up,” Will told Charlie, and he opened his door.
“Where’re you going?” Steve asked.
“Everyone just stay here and be quiet.”
Will stepped out of the van. He drew the .45 from his holster and raised it, gripping the weapon with both hands. He walked off the path and into the grass, peeking into the trees. Entering the woods, he glanced both ways, looking for any sign of the guards that hung out there. When he saw nothing, he turned around and headed back toward the van.
He came out of the trees and was halfway back to the van when he heard a scream come from ahead. Charlie and him exchanged a glance, and Charlie threw the van into drive as Will jumped back into the passenger seat. He hadn’t even shut the door yet when Charlie punched the gas, racing up the drive and into the subdivision.
“Everyone get your weapons ready,” Will said. “Shawna, hand me one of those rifles.”
“Here you go,” Shawna said. “It’s all loaded and ready to go.”
Will looked at the others in the back seat. Steve was taking deep breaths. Franklin had his eyes closed and was saying something to himself—a prayer, Will guessed. Jen had an assault rifle in her shaking hands.
“You good?” Will asked Jen.
She looked up to him and nodded.
“You can do this,” he said.
“I know.”
“Just take deep breaths and aim. Be true with each shot.”
“Will,” Charlie said.
Along the main road of the neighborhood lay bodies, sprawled out and mangled. Blood stains spread across the road, leaving trails from torn bodies and amputated limbs. Ahead, four Empties were down on the ground, picking apart human flesh.
“Should we stop?” Charlie asked.
Will could see the corpse between the Empty bodies. Whoever the creatures were feasting on was already dead.
“No,” Will said. “Keep going.”
As they neared Adam’s street, the smoke cloud loomed larger and its toxic smell poured into the van. Will was sure now that it was coming from one, perhaps even several houses, on that road. To the left were the woods Spencer had run into the last time they’d been there, where he’d gotten himself killed. A small group of Empties was walking from the trees, headed for the road.
The van came to Adam’s street, and Charlie hit the brakes almost as soon as he started to turn onto it.
“Jesus Christ,” Steve said from the back seat.
Will couldn’t count the Empties. There had to be several dozen. Some lumbered in the streets while others feasted in packs on humans. One body lay on the hood of a car in the middle of the street while a small pack of the creatures tore apart flesh. No humans made any noise.
“We can’t just sit here,” Shawna said.
“There’s no way we’re finding anyone alive here,” Jen said.
Shawna turned to her and said, “Bitch, if you say that one more time, I’m gonna—”
“Both of you, quiet,” Charlie snapped. He looked to Will. “What are we doing?”
Two of the Empties down the street turned toward the van and started to head their way. The ones that had been walking out of the woods snarled, approaching the vehicle.
Will bit his lip as he looked to the houses. The burning home creating the cloud of smoke was three houses down from Adam’s. The path to Adam’s door was clear, the only obstacle being two Empties kneeled over a body in the front yard.
“I think I can make it to Adam’s,” Will said.
“By yourself?” Charlie said. “No way, man.”
“We aren’t talking about this,” Will said. “There’s no time.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked into the back seat. “But one of you does need to come with me.”
To Will’s surprise, Jen immediately raised her hand. “I’m coming with you.”
“You sure you’re calm enough to run?” Will asked.
“I don’t think we have enough time to discuss this any longer,” Charlie said. He was looking into his side mirror as the Empties from the woods approached.
Charlie opened the door and jumped out of the van. The first gunshots rang out from his pistol as he took out two of the Empties from the woods in succession.
“Go!” Will shouted.
He hopped out of the van while Shawna opened the sliding panel door and got out with the others.
The gunshots had drawn the attention of the Empties up the street, and many turned to head their way. Others kept their focus on bodies they were already eating.
At the rear of the van, Shawna helped Charlie finish off the small horde from the woods. Jen stood next to Will, her eyes wide.
“You ready?”
Jen nodded.
“Charlie, keep them off of us best you can!” Will shouted.
“We got it,” Charlie shouted back, waving Will away. “Shut up and go!”
Will looked to Jen and said, “Come on.”
He took off, holding the AR-15 across his chest. Gunshots rang out behind them. Will watched Empties hit the pavement, and others kept coming. Some of the creatures broke off from the pack in the middle of the road and headed for the two of them.
Will had thought they had a straight shot to Adam’s house and could just run around the few Empties he’d seen, but more creatures had emerged from an open garage two doors down from Adam’s house. He readied the assault rifle and slowed to a crawl, aiming at the creatures. He was about to fire when a shot rang out nearby and one of the Empties in front of him fell. He turned to see Jen with her own AR at her shoulder, taking aim at the beasts. Thankful that she had calmed down and could focus, he turned and took aim at the creatures. A burst of fire came from the rifle, giving him a good kick, but the creature he’d been aiming at fell down. As they moved closer, he slid the AR around to his back and drew his .45, giving him better aim at short range. He and Jen took out the other Empties, and then Will spun around to see how Charlie and the others were doing. Several Empty bodies lay in the road, but over a dozen more were still making their way toward the van. Charlie had a moment to look up at Will and wave him on again, and then he put his hands back on his AR and continued to fire.
“Let’s go,” Will said to Jen.
In the next yard, an Empty looked up from the body it was chewing on and Will drove his foot into the thing’s face, smashing it against the ground and feeling the crunch of its skull under his boot.
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 91
