“It’s working,” Dylan said.
“Just stay right here and wait for his signal,” Jessica said. “Then we’re going to race out through that front door and make a run for the car. Everyone understand?”
Dylan and Mary Beth nodded and Jessica turned around to Gabriel and Sarah. They were still hugging each other tightly.
“Gabriel,” Jessica said.
He looked up.
“You understand?”
He nodded. “I got it.”
“Stay focused,” she said. “There’ll be plenty of time to continue your reunion once we’re on the road.”
Later, Jessica would look back on this moment as a flag in the sand, hinting to where her life truly changed. In mere weeks, she’d transformed—from a quiet, introverted hotel desk clerk who’d mostly avoided people when she wasn’t handing them room keys and swiping their credit cards, into an independent woman with the strength to lead others through an unthinkable situation. She’d become a sort of mother to two beautiful children who’d been lost and abandoned in the cruel new world. In the days and months to come, she would smile about her change when she thought of it, taking pride in herself and her ability to adapt. But for now, her only focus was to get herself, Gabriel, and the children out of the cabin alive.
“Go!” Will’s yell came from outside. “Go now!” His voice stood out from amongst the snarling horde, and the following gunshot reaffirmed the command.
“Follow me,” Jessica said. And holding on to Dylan and Mary Beth’s hands, she ran for the door.
As she opened it, she said to the two children, “Stay behind me.”
“I’ll be watching from the back,” Gabriel said.
Jessica opened the door, but it only swung halfway before hitting something. Knowing it had to be an Empty, she pushed harder, swinging the door all the way around on its hinges and knocking the creature into the cabin wall. Its snarl confirmed it was Empty, but she didn’t turn back to look at the creature.
“Come on,” she told the children as she ran for the vehicle.
All three children cried out as they ran. Out of her peripheral vision, Jessica saw that a few of the creatures had turned back to watch them, but she just kept running.
When they reached the SUV, she opened the rear passenger side door and urged Dylan and Mary Beth inside. Gabriel followed, leading his daughter into the back seat, and then he ran around to the driver’s side.
Jessica looked to the front of the cabin to see three Empties making their way toward the SUV. Then she panned toward the side of the cabin, watching the horde of two dozen making their way toward the trees. And beyond the pack, she could see her friend—the man she loved—waving his good arm and screaming at the creatures to come and get him.
For a brief moment, she caught a peek between the members of the pack and saw Will clearly. She fought to ignore the blood rushing from his stomach and look into his eyes.
And when he saw her looking at him, he stopped waving his arm and smiled.
A tear rolled down Jessica’s cheek.
The smile on his face quickly vanished and he began waving again as he shouted, “Go now!” He shot the gun again, dropping an Empty and keeping the attention of the pack on him.
The creatures from the cabin were halfway to the vehicle now. The engine roared to life as Jessica looked at Will.
“Jessica.”
She turned her attention to Gabriel in the driver’s seat.
“Come on.”
She glanced at the snarling Empties heading her way, then loaded into the passenger seat. Before she’d even shut the door, Gabriel had punched the gas. The tail end of the SUV spun around in the gravel, taking out at least one of the creatures coming up from the cabin.
But Jessica ignored all that. She instead kept her eyes glued to the horde near the trees. On Will’s waving.
She watched until the vehicle had sped down the driveway and the horde went out of sight.
Then she closed her eyes.
Chapter 33
Empties had reached for Will as he’d stepped out the back door. He’d shoved one aside with his good arm and kicked a creature on his other side before running out into the yard, creating distance between himself and the monsters, and then he’d run around the side of the house to where he could see the horde at the front.
“Hey!” he yelled, waving at them.
The creatures from the rear of the cabin were already chasing him, and the pack up front looked over to him. One by one, most of them began to make their way toward him. He continued waving and shouting.
“Come on, you ugly fuckers!”
He drew the Glock and popped out the magazine, checking to see how many rounds he had. There were four bullets left. He popped the magazine back into the gun, pointed it into the air, and fired. Any of the creatures at the front and side of the cabin who hadn’t already been coming at him focused their attention on him now.
The front line of the horde was closing in, and Will ran toward the rear of the cabin again. While running, he pointed the gun into the air and fired another shot, hoping to keep the creatures’ attention. He turned and saw no less than thirty Empties heading his way. More than enough to have created a safe passage.
“Go!” he yelled to the group inside. “Go now!”
He looked past the oncoming storm of beasts and could see the group running to the SUV. When he squinted his eyes to see Gabriel standing next to the open driver’s side door, and Jessica next to the open passenger side door, tears came to his eyes. Through a gap in the crowd, the two of them made eye contact. For just a moment, he forgot about all of the horrors around him. About the undead horde and about everyone he’d lost. He was able, if only for a brief second, to take pride in the fact that he’d done something to allow the best friends he’d ever had and three innocent children to live. He smiled at Jessica, a woman whom he knew loved him. He only hoped that she knew he felt the same way.
“Go now!” he yelled again.
He shot the gun again, using this bullet to take out one of the nearby creatures, and he waved again at his friends to leave.
Jessica jumped into the vehicle, and Gabriel punched the gas, kicking gravel up behind him. The vehicle fishtailed as it turned around, taking out two lingering Empties.
Then it shot down the driveway, and Will’s friends were gone.
It was just Will and the horde now. He shot a look toward the cabin and considered making a run for it. But the horde was too thick. He’d never make it.
Gasping for air, he instead turned and headed into the trees.
The burns in both his side and his shoulder were intensifying. The gunshot wound had mostly stopped bleeding, but his stomach hadn’t. It wouldn’t be long now until the beast was inside his head, taking over his brain. He would be Empty, just like the creatures chasing him through the woods. It was almost as if he could feel the thing crawling around inside him.
Will ran until a sharp pain burned his stomach, and he fell to the ground. It hurt so bad that he cried, writhing on the ground. Behind him, he could hear the Empties snarling, and he crawled away, dragging the dirt and using all his strength to pull himself.
He made it to a tree and used everything he had left to pull himself up. Leaning his back against the trunk, he clutched his stomach, trying desperately to stop the pain.
His vision began to fade, and he could barely keep his eyes open. He could sense the creature inside now, working to dig into his brain.
The snarls of the creatures on the outside became muffled, and he started to see bright white lights. Within those lights, three figures appeared.
His father.
His mother.
And Holly.
He was so far gone at this point that he didn’t know he was hallucinating. Holly stepped forward wearing a white gown, a smile across her face.
“Come to us, Will,” she said. “I’m ready to see you.”
“I’m ready to see you, too,” Wil
l said.
“Come.”
Just as fast as they were there, the three figures disappeared, and he found himself in the woods again. His sight had mostly returned, though it was still slightly blurred and fading. But he could see the creatures only ten yards away from him now.
All his strength was gone, and there was no running.
Will looked down and saw the Glock resting in his hand at his side. He gripped the weapon with his clammy palms.
Looking up to the sky, he could see clouds in the dark through the gaps in the trees. What a beautiful sight they were. Even within all the hell that the world had become, it still held certain overlooked beauties that no demon plague could take away. The world had a chance—Will just knew he wouldn’t be a part of the fight any longer.
Come to us, Will heard Holly say in his head again. I’m ready to see you.
And as the creatures lunged, a wide smile stretched across Will’s face.
He had one more bullet.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Nothing felt better than quiet walks on the beach in the mornings. The sand surfacing up between her toes and the breeze coming off the ocean provided a certain calm. The rolling waves and the birds in the sky were the only noises she could hear.
With all the world had become, Jessica cherished these moments.
She had even grown used to carrying the Glock on her morning walks. That, too, was just part of the world now.
Jessica used these walks each morning to remember. She thought of how simple her life had been before the moment she’d taken the elevator up to the 8th floor of the hotel and been thrust into the chaos. She had always taken that job for granted, but now wished she was still spending her days greeting strangers and pointing them toward their luxurious rooms.
But all that was gone now.
She thought of everyone she’d lost after The Fall, too.
All the people at the hospital.
Charlie’s friends from the campground.
Thomas and Claire.
Marcus.
Walt and Melissa Kessler.
Holly.
Her own parents.
And, of course, Will.
It was no surprise, Jessica thought the most of Will. They all did. He was a hero, and she knew if it hadn’t been for him that they would’ve never made it to the beach. Hell, they’d have never made it to the East Coast and rescued Gabriel’s daughter. Without Will, Jessica and Gabriel would’ve died in the prison that had been the school, being held captive by Nathan Ambrose. And through all that, if they had made it to the cabin without him, somehow, Will wouldn’t have been there to sacrifice himself for young Sarah.
But Jessica no longer cried when she thought of Will Kessler.
He wouldn’t have wanted that.
This morning, she had gone down the beach and only seen one other person walking. Forty-seven people lived on the island, and they had all come to know each other quite well. She’d only briefly spoken with Monica, the fifty-something year old widow she’d passed that morning, before continuing on her walk.
As she approached their own house, the kids came into view. They were playing in the sand while Gabriel sat in one of the chairs they left outside, watching the kids dig in the sand and splash water. She smiled as she got closer and the kids waved.
“What are you guys up to this morning?” Jessica asked.
“Dylan said he can make a better sand castle than either of us, even with one hand,” Sarah said.
“Is that right?”
“It’s true,” Dylan said. “And I’m gonna prove it.”
“No way,” Mary Beth said. “And you’re making a mistake by betting your favorite Batman comic on it.”
“Ha! You don’t even like Batman,” Dylan said.
“Yeah, but I’ll love to see your face when I’m reading it in front of you, pretending I like it.”
Jessica shook her head and smiled. “Well, you kids have fun.”
She went up toward the house and took the empty seat next to Gabriel. He was looking through the photo album he’d recovered from his house, but put it away once he saw her coming toward him. He had always been secretive with Jessica regarding the album, but she’d never asked him about it.
“How was your walk?” Gabriel asked.
“Nice,” Jessica said. “Very quiet.”
“Weird, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“The quiet.”
Jessica nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
“I mean, at this point we’ve been here longer than we were traveling the roads and in the thick of everything, and I still can’t seem to get used to it. It’s almost like it’s not fair.”
“Yeah, well, I just thank God everyday that we found this place,” Jessica said.
“Amen to that,” Gabriel said.
Jessica looked on as the kids continued to play. They were throwing sand on one another, running around. They ended up in the water where Dylan started splashing water on the two girls. He smiled, and Jessica did as well as she watched him.
“It’s so hard to look at him and not think of Will,” Jessica said.
“Believe me, I understand. I see Katie’s face every time I look at Sarah.”
“How’s she doing with that? I haven't asked in a while.”
“Much better,” Gabriel said. “She rarely cries now. Sometimes she wakes up with nightmares, but that hasn’t happened in a couple of weeks.”
“That’s great,” Jessica said.
“I’ve gotta be at the bridge in a couple of hours for my shift,” Gabriel said. “Do they have you gathering food today, or are you gonna be able to stay with the kids?”
“I told Deborah that you had a watch today, so she told me not to worry about coming in.”
“That’s good,” Gabriel said. “They don’t mind going to daycare, but I know they’d much rather hang with you.”
“When was the last time you shot anything?” Jessica asked.
“Two Empties came over the bridge during one of my shifts last week,” Gabriel said. “In my two shifts since, I haven’t seen shit.”
“You think that’ll keep up?” Jessica asked.
Gabriel shrugged. “I hope so. But we’ve got more than enough ammunition to handle an army of those things. We should be good here for a long time, especially since there’s only that one way onto the island. It’ll be easy to ward off any threat, the Empties being so slow.”
Jessica hesitated, then asked, “And what if they aren’t Empties? What if they fire back?”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to hope that there’s more of us than them and that we can keep ‘em from getting over that bridge.”
After that, they sat in silence, watching the kids play and the waves turn in the ocean. The sun was coming up, and it already felt several degrees warmer than it had when Jessica had started her walk.
“You think the world will ever go back to normal, and that everyone will find peace like us?” Gabriel asked.
Jessica looked over to see Gabriel staring out into the ocean, not bothering to turn and look at her. She followed his gaze and looked into the horizon, too.
“I don’t know,” Jessica said. “Hard to think so with how bad everything got. And what the hell is ‘normal’ anyway?”
Gabriel laughed. “I guess you’re right.”
They were silent for another few moments, and then Gabriel stood up.
“I’m gonna head up to the house and try to grab a bite before I gotta head out for my shift. You all right with me handing the kids off to you?”
“Not a problem,” Jessica said.
He patted her on the shoulder and said, “Thanks.”
Gabriel let go and then walked away. Jessica remained focused on the horizon, watching the sun rise fully.
“Hey, Gabe,” she said, turning around.
He stopped and looked back to her.
“We’re gonna make it,” she said. “We’re g
onna survive.”
A smile formed on Gabriel’s face. He looked past her as the kids cackled, rolling around together in the sand. He shrugged, a warm smile gliding ear to ear.
“We already have.”
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Find out what the world looks like 30 years after the events of Empty Bodies in the thrilling novel, Empty World! Available now!
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Zach Bohannon is a horror, science fiction, and fantasy author. His critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic zombie series, Empty Bodies, is a former Amazon #1 bestseller. He lives in Tennessee with his wife, daughter, and German shepherd. He loves hockey, heavy metal, video games, reading, and he doesn’t trust a beer he can see through. He’s a retired drummer, and has had a beard since 2003—long before it was cool.
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