“But we know now where they are. We’re going to get to them.”
Gabriel looked up to Will. His face was pale and showed no emotion.
Before Will could find the words to say anything more, the SUV opened and Jessica stepped out, closing the door behind her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, approaching the two men. “But I wanted to talk to the two of you before we jetted out of here.” She took a deep breath as the two men looked to her. “What about Dylan’s parents? We can’t just leave Alexandria without going to find them.”
Will looked over to Gabriel, who still held the same blank stare. Before Gabriel let loose on Jessica over putting another obstacle in front of finding his family, Will spoke. “We’re not going to go and find Dylan’s parents.”
Jessica cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “And what happened to the Will who was going to discuss these things with the rest of us before jumping to conclusions?”
Shaking his head, Will said, “It wasn’t my decision. It was Dylan’s.”
“What do you mean?” Jessica asked.
Even Gabriel’s face had changed. Gone was the pale stare, now replaced by curiosity. So Will told them about the conversation he’d had with the boy on the patio earlier that morning.
“Jesus,” Jessica said when Will was through, massaging her temples.
“And look, here’s the thing: he doesn’t want any of us asking him about it, okay? He clearly told me if he wants to talk to any of us about it, he will. But he’s just trying to adapt to us being his family, so let’s not bring it up. I just hadn’t had a chance to tell you guys yet, away from the kids.”
Both Jessica and Gabriel nodded. Will approached Gabriel, reluctantly placing his hands on his shoulders.
“There’s nothing else standing between us and your family. So let’s get to that cabin.”
Chapter 25
As they rode down the interstate, Gabriel remained silent. The kids played in the back seat with Holly and Jessica while Will drove, allowing Gabriel to sit in peace.
The scene from his bedroom played in his mind as Gabriel flipped the note from his wife over in his hands. Every few turns, he would look down at it and read what she’d written, and then he’d go back to nervously playing with the paper.
When he closed his eyes, he pictured Katie trying to escape the house, getting herself and Sarah to safety. And he had many questions, one of which was more important than any others.
Had they made it to the cabin?
It didn’t take long for him to realize it was better for him to just to keep his eyes open for what would come next.
He looked up from the letter in his hand and stared outside. It hadn’t taken long for them to move away from the city and surround themselves with more rural landscape again. There were Empties roaming the fields alongside the highway. Some lumbered in the road, but the interstate was wide enough to maneuver around them. And as was normal, cars had been left abandoned, creating more obstacles in their path.
His gaze faded away from the field when something ahead caught his attention. Squinting his eyes, he stared up the road.
A car on the shoulder looked familiar. It was a red Ford Escape—a fairly common vehicle. But something told him that this just wasn’t another Escape. Something inside him said it was the one he’d bought Katie just a couple of years ago.
As they got closer, he saw the familiar Beatles sticker on the rear window.
“Stop the car,” Gabriel said.
“Why? What do you see?” Will asked.
“Stop,” Gabriel repeated, raising his voice.
Will hit the brakes, and before the vehicle came to a full stop, Gabriel had the door open and was running toward the red SUV.
As he ran, he read the numbers on the Virginia license plate, which confirmed it was Katie’s vehicle.
He slammed his hands against the driver’s side window and looked inside. Scanning the interior, he searched for any sign of his wife or daughter. When he looked in the back seat, chills rode up his body.
Lying on the back seat was the pink bear he had given Sarah on her 5th birthday.
The sight brought tears to his eyes, but he was suddenly pulled away when a creature jumped from the other side of the Escape, snarling. Gabriel hesitated, looking the Empty up and down to make sure it wasn’t his wife. It had definitely been a woman when it had been alive, but her build didn’t match Katie’s.
As he backed away from the Empty, he reached for a weapon and realized only belatedly that he didn’t have his gun or a knife.
He lost his footing and fell back.
The creature prepared to lunge, but Will came from behind the monster and jammed a knife into the side of its head, sending it crumbling to the concrete.
Gabriel gasped in relief and Will reached down to help him up.
Back on his feet, Gabriel returned to the SUV and opened the driver’s side rear door.
He scanned the cargo area, checking the entire interior of the vehicle for not only clues to where his wife and daughter might have gone, but also for any blood stains that might indicate they’d been hurt.
“This is her car?” Will asked.
Gabriel’s eyes fell upon the bear again and he picked it up. Lips parted, he stared at the stuffed animal as he ducked out of the back seat, standing back in the open air.
He didn’t have to reply for Will to know.
Will opened the front door and sat in the driver’s seat. He opened the glove box and reached under both front seats.
Stepping back out, he said, “Doesn’t seem like she left any kind of note.”
“Maybe she didn’t have the chance,” Gabriel said, looking down into the plastic eyes of the bear.
“There’s no way that bear is all they had with them,” Will said. “Surely they each had at least one bag. Clearly, they had time to grab those if she had time to write that note.”
“Or someone has already been here and taken what they had,” Gabriel muttered.
“Hey,” Will said. “Your family is alive. There’s nothing in this vehicle indicating there was a struggle.” Will’s face lit up and he jumped back into the front seat.
He reached for the ignition, and found the keys dangling there together. The engine whined as Will turned the key, but it wouldn’t turn over. He tried a few more times before he stepped back out.
“They ran out of gas,” Will said.
Gabriel’s looked around. “That means they could be around here somewhere.”
“It’s possible. Either that or they got another car, or maybe even a ride from someone.”
Gabriel glanced past Will, just trying to think, and that’s when he noticed the two buildings for the first time.
“There,” he said, pointing.
They sat facing the interstate, fifty yards away over grass and a service road. One of the stores was an outlet furniture warehouse, and the other was a discount carpet and tile store.
Gabriel was about to run for them when Will grabbed onto his arm.
“Whoa, hold up.” Will pointed up the road. “There’s the exit right there. Let’s just pull up there with the car.”
“I’m driving,” Gabriel said.
Gabriel hurried over to the vehicle and jumped into the driver’s seat. He already had it in gear before Will loaded in beside him.
“What’s going on?” Jessica asked.
While Will explained, Gabriel set the bear beside him and punched the gas.
The exit was less then a quarter of a mile up the road, and Gabriel raced up the ramp, taking a sharp right turn at the end.
Other than a couple of gas stations, the exit was barren. Gabriel sped down the access road and pulled into the parking lot of the furniture store. Several abandoned cars still sat in the lot, and only a few Empties lumbered around. He stopped the vehicle at the curb, halfway between the two buildings.
“We should split up and search both buildings,” Gabriel said.
&n
bsp; “Let’s stay together,” Holly said.
“No, he’s right,” Will said. “It’ll save time. We can cover more area. Holly, we’ll check inside the furniture store with the kids. Gabriel, you and Jessica check the carpet place.”
“One of us should stay in the car with the kids,” Jessica suggested.
“I want to help,” Dylan said.
“We don’t have time to argue about this,” Gabriel said, frustration in his voice. “We’re all going.” He opened the door and got out, slamming it behind him.
As everyone else made their way out of the vehicle, Gabriel went to the back and opened the rear cargo area. He grabbed an AR-15, as well as extra magazines for his sidearm, which he had affixed at his side again.
Will got together weapons for himself and the women, then handed Gabriel a two-way radio.
“Keep this on in case of an emergency. Otherwise, we meet back out here in ten. All right?”
Gabriel nodded and slammed the rear cargo door. He was anxious to get inside, and the sweat collecting on his face showed it.
“Just go in there calm,” Will said. “If we don’t find them here, we will at that cabin.”
He slapped Gabriel on the shoulder before getting Holly and the kids and heading toward the furniture store.
Jessica approached Gabriel.
“Ready?” she asked.
Gabriel popped a magazine into the assault rifle, then said, “Come on.”
Chapter 26
Most of the glass on the front of the furniture store had been broken out, and the door was ajar. Will directed Holly and the kids to stay hidden behind the brick part of the building while he sneaked by the glass and peeked his head through the front door.
It appeared to be clear, and he gestured for Holly to join him.
When they arrived beside him, Will looked down to Dylan and Mary Beth.
“You guys stay close to us, all right? Focus and make sure you’re within five feet of us at all times. Don’t wander off. You understand?”
Both children nodded.
He then looked to Holly. “I’ll go in first. Keep them right behind you and watch my back.”
“Just be careful,” Holly said.
Will pushed open the door and entered the store, crunching glass under his feet. It was impossible to avoid, but he tried to step as easy as possible, so as to not make too much noise. The place had no power and no windows other than the ones at the front of the store, leaving it covered in darkness.
“I’ve got a flashlight,” Holly said.
“Good,” Will said. “Don’t turn it on until we at least have an idea that this main room is secure.”
Will stepped forward into the store. A long counter was at his left where employees had likely greeted guests when they’d entered. A computer monitor was tipped over and broken, and paper was scattered everywhere. Will peeked over the counter to see piles of trash: various office supplies, papers, another broken monitor. A drawer stuck out from the counter that looked like it had once held a cash register. But that was gone, likely taken by someone who’d been here in the moments after The Fall, or looters who’d come through later on.
As they moved through the middle of the store, avoiding tossed over furniture, a sound caught Will’s attention and he jerked his head up to follow it. He drew his Glock and pointed it across the room. Looking toward the ceiling when it came again, he saw the silhouette of a bird. It flew to the front of the store, looking like it was going to head out through the open front door, but took a sharp turn at the last moment and landed on a pipe attached to the ceiling.
He scoffed, looking back to Holly and shaking his head.
“Let me see that flashlight.”
She handed it to Will and he clicked it on. When he flashed the beam onto the ground in front of them, he jumped back. Holly stifled a scream and averted the kids’ eyes.
Two corpses lay on the floor between two beds, torn apart and mutilated. The group had become so accustomed to the smell of death that none of them had noticed. Will checked to make sure there were no other bodies in the immediate area, then sidestepped around them, creating a path for Holly and the kids. He kept the light away from the corpses, but their presence was certain.
They reached the back of the store, this being lined with mattress sets and dressers. Will shined the light down the back wall until the beam illuminated two double doors.
“Come on, let’s check in the back. If someone is here, they’re bound to be back there.”
He moved toward the door, scattering the light to look for danger, all while listening.
“I’m scared,” Mary Beth said.
“I know, sweetie,” Holly said. “Just stick by me. Everything’s going to be all right. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Will’s heartbeat quickened as he approached the door. Like Mary Beth, he was scared, too. If someone, or something, stood behind that door, they’d have the upper hand. Surely they’d know by now that someone else was in the building.
He stopped at the edge of the door and signaled Holly to be still.
“All right,” Will whispered. “When I open this door and go in, I want you right behind me, Holly, with your gun ready.”
“Gotcha,” she said.
“You guys stay right there, okay? We’ll give you the signal when it’s okay to follow us in.”
Even in the dark, Will could see Mary Beth shaking. He kneeled down and put his hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be all right. Like Holly said, we aren’t going to let anything happen to either of you. Okay?”
Mary Beth swiped her hair from her eyes and nodded.
Will took a deep breath as he turned back toward the door. He aimed the Glock out in front of him, holding the flashlight up with his other hand for light.
Stepping in front of the door, he kicked it open and moved inside.
The door swung all the way in on its hinge and hit the parallel wall.
Will aimed the gun and the flashlight, scanning the room. It was an open warehouse with metal racking covering about half of the space, while the floor directly in front of him was empty. A metal bay door was at the far wall in front of him, big enough for the store to receive shipments through. And along the wall to his right were two more doors like the one he’d just come through, appearing to lead into offices.
He saw all this, but no Empties and no survivors.
Holly went back out the door and signaled the children to come inside.
“Stay on your toes,” Will said. “Just because we haven’t seen anyone yet doesn’t mean there’s no one here. They could be hiding in one of those rooms, or they might have left and could come back at any moment.”
Will stepped all the way into the warehouse, stopping halfway across the room in the middle of the open floor. He shined the light over, looking down the rows of metal racking. Along with several boxes on the ground, there were what appeared to be two bodies. Though the warehouse was much smaller, Will had flashbacks, thinking about when The Fall had happened and he had been at Element, his former workplace.
He was about to walk over and observe the bodies to see if they could be Gabriel’s wife and daughter when he heard a growl, followed by a scream.
Will turned, shining the flashlight toward where the cry had come from. At the far wall, an Empty had taken hold of Dylan, and the boy was struggling to fend the creature off.
Holly raised her gun to the creature’s face.
The click sounded through the room.
The gun had locked up.
Letting go of Dylan, the Empty lunged at Holly. She screamed as the creature fell on her. Her cry turned to a slurp as the Empty tore into her neck.
“No!” Will yelled even as he moved. He ran over to Holly and kicked the monster off of her.
Then he unloaded every round from the Glock into the creature’s face.
Chapter 27
Jessica and Gabriel were just about to walk into an office at t
he far end of the carpet outlet’s main floor when they heard the faint gunshots. They turned and looked at each other, and Gabriel was the first one to run for the door.
They ran back the way they’d come, jumping over the body of the Empty Gabriel had just taken down with his knife. Rushing through the store’s lobby, they pushed through the front door and ran to the other building.
When they arrived inside the furniture store, Jessica pulled out her flashlight. The walls in the building they’d just left had had several windows, allowing light to come in and illuminate it. This place was much darker.
Jessica and Gabriel looked around, scanning the store. Jessica thought about calling out, but wanted to remain quiet just in case another group of survivors had taken their friends captive.
She was looking toward the far wall when Dylan and Mary Beth came running out of a doorway in the back of the building, screaming and crying.
Gabriel and Jessica ran toward the kids, meeting them at the back of the store. Dylan ran to Gabriel while Mary Beth went to Jessica, each hugging the adults’ like their lives depended on it when they reached them.
“What’s the matter?” Jessica asked.
Both kids continued to cry and scream, unable to calm down enough to say what had happened.
Finally, Jessica bent down to the eye-level of the children.
“Guys, I need you to calm down and listen to me, okay? Tell us what happened.”
Mary Beth buried her head into her hands and looked away, so Jessica focused on Dylan.
“Dylan, what is going on?”
The boy wiped his eyes and pointed toward the back room.
“It’s H-Holly,” Dylan said. “She…”
“She what?” Jessica asked.
Dylan fell to his knees, unable to speak.
Jessica looked up to Gabriel, who ran for the door Dylan had pointed to.
“You guys stay right here, okay?” Jessica said. “Do not move, do you understand me?”
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 99
