Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) (23 page)

Will had wanted to assist in preparing the graves, but Gabriel had insisted that he rest. In truth, Gabriel still had trouble even believing the story of Will’s survival, and likely wouldn’t have at all if it weren’t for the bite marks not having fully healed on Will’s arm. He doubted he’d even have believed that Will had been bitten by David at all if it wasn’t for the torn flesh. But trying to reason that a prayer had exorcised the demon out of him? Gabriel just didn’t have the faith for that.

Either way, he and the ladies could handle preparing the burial ground. Gabriel had suggested that Jessica rest, as well, having been nearly executed by a psychotic woman, but she insisted on helping, telling him that it would be more beneficial for her to do something productive rather than sit and watch him and Holly.

Dylan sat on the porch with Mary Beth, doing his best to console the young girl. He seemed to be doing fine on his own, and the adults left them alone. The boy had matured so fast.

Will had remained close by, sitting against the tree. He’d stared over at the table, now flipped over, and had wondered how many people had been put to death over the last week on it. Thankfully, they’d been able to save young Mary Beth.

Will, Gabriel, Jessica, Dylan, and Mary Beth now stood under the almost full moon, staring down into the three holes—three more innocent people vanished prematurely from their legion.

The preacher, Samuel.

Sarah.

Marcus.

Death was never easy; even in the case of someone as evil as David Ellis, it was still a human life ending. And while the group would mourn Sarah for weeks and months to come, it was especially hard for Will, Gabriel, Holly, and Dylan to say goodbye to Marcus. He’d become such an intricate part of their group, and had been a friend and co-worker of Holly’s for years. Her boss, in fact, and the best one she’d ever had. Now, he was nothing but a memory.

Will was especially distraught, as two of the dead had helped him escape death. Marcus had sacrificed his own life in order to save him, diving in front of the speeding pickup truck to push him out of the way. The crash of the truck into Marcus’ body was a sound that would play over in Will’s mind for years to come, if he had years left in his life.

And the preacher, Samuel, had quite literally, brought Will back to life.

Will couldn’t speak.
 

Nothing needed to be said. All five of them were exhausted, and they were tired of burying friends.

In lieu of eulogies, they stood in silence.

***

The following morning arrived, and they’d all slept until the sun began to shine through the windows. Jessica was the first to awaken. She, Holly, and Mary Beth had stayed in one of the upstairs bedrooms, while the two men and Dylan had stayed in the other. The two rooms were side by side and shared a door, so, barring their all crowding into one room, it had seemed like the safest thing to do in case someone, or something, got into the house.

Jessica stood and stared out the window as she stretched, arching her back and clasping her hands together as they reached for the ceiling. It was strange—sleeping in the house, having known the type of people who had lived there, but she was thankful just to have a real bed to sleep in. After leaving the hospital, she hadn’t been sure when she’d see the luxury of a bed again.

Holly still rested in a nearby bed, lying on her side and clutching a pillow. Jessica had taken the larger bed, and Mary Beth had cuddled with her all night. The young girl still rested.

The floor creaked as Jessica crept toward the door. The hinges sounded even worse, and she was surprised the whole house didn’t wake up. She shut the door behind her, and turned around just as a toilet flushed across the hall. The bathroom door swung open and Will appeared.

“Oh, good morning,” Will said as he trudged out of the bathroom.

“Morning.”

“How are the ladies?”

“Sleeping like babies in there. Holly’s holding some dead person’s pillow tight,” Jessica said with a soft smile.

Will narrowed his eyes.

“Sorry,” Jessica said, looking away in slight embarrassment. “That’s a little weird.”

Cracking a smile, Will said, “No, it’s okay. In a strange way, it was kinda funny.”

Part of Jessica’s smile returned, and she looked back to Will.

“Do we really have to leave?” she asked.

Will nodded.

“We have everything here. Power, air and heat, a kitchen, plumbing… everything we need to survive.”

“Yeah,” Will whispered, “but we don’t have Gabriel’s wife and daughter, or Dylan’s parents. And who’s to say there isn’t some sort of refuge, put together by the government, there?”

“Do you think there’s really something like that for us there?” Jessica asked.

Will shrugged. “I have no idea. But I know there’s nothing left for me here—and Gabriel already tried to go out on his own once, and we all ended up back together here. And if we had all stayed together from the beginning, my mom—”

He stopped himself mid-sentence and looked to the ground.

Turning away, he said, “I’m sorry.”

Jessica thought of responding, but then the men’s bedroom door opened and Gabriel exited into the hallway.

“Morning,” Gabriel said.

“Excuse me,” Will said, and he moved past Jessica and shuffled down the stairs, turning toward the kitchen when he reached the bottom.

Gabriel looked to Jessica and narrowed his eyes. “He okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, just a rough couple of days. For all of us, but none more than him.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel mumbled.

“Is Dylan awake?” Jessica asked, changing the subject.

“Uh, yeah. He’s up, but trying to actually wake up. The kid sleeps like a rock.”

Jessica chuckled. “Alright, well, I’ll go start waking the girls so we can try and head out soon.”

“See ya downstairs.”

***

Will

The sun was just starting to warm the morning when Will opened the front door and stepped out onto the patio.

Gabriel, Jessica, Holly, Dylan, and Mary Beth stood a few yards away from the bottom of the staircase, looking up at him. They’d found a couple of backpacks and duffle bags inside the house, and loaded them up with their remaining ammo, as well as some items from inside the house, including dried and canned food, and as much water as they could gather in bottles they’d found in the kitchen cabinets.

As he came down the steps, no one said anything. They each held the expressions of people who’d been through hell.

Gabriel had told him the previous night that they were just a hair under 500 miles from Alexandria, VA., where both he and Dylan lived. Will had thought about how long it had taken them to just get the 180 miles from Nashville to Knoxville, and dreaded even thinking about the journey to the East Coast.

He joined the group in the yard, though, and leaned down to give Holly a kiss. He then acknowledged Jessica and the children, sharing a nod with Gabriel lastly, who finally broke the silence.

“Hope we find a car quick,” Gabriel said. “Not looking forward to walking.”

“We’ll find something a few miles down the road at one of those gas stations,” Will said, picking up a backpack off the ground and throwing it over his shoulders.

“I hope so,” Dylan said. “My legs hurt.”

Smiling, Will reached over and rustled the boy’s hair. Then he turned around and took one last glance at the farmhouse.

“You know what’s funny?” Will said. “I always wanted to be a farmer when I grew up.”

“Well, I’m not gonna live on a farm,” Holly said. “So, let’s get the heck out of here.”

Will stuck his thumbs under the straps on his pack and took the first step toward the main road. Footsteps followed behind him.

When he reached the three mounds of dirt in the middle of the yard, Will stopped. He drew in a deep breath, then kneeled down to Marcus’ grave.

“I’ll miss you, brother,” Will mumbled. He set his hand on top of the mound, patted it once, then stood.

He took the two steps over to where they’d laid Samuel to rest, and squatted down once more. Will reached under his shirt, grabbing hold of the cross which he’d taken from around the preacher’s neck.

“Thank you,” Will whispered, rubbing the surface of the crucifix with his thumb. He rose to his feet again.

Will turned around when he heard a sniffle, and looked over to see Holly with her hand over her mouth, her eyes moist and red. He put his arm around her as Gabriel, Jessica, and Dylan said their final goodbyes; even Mary Beth took a second to say a quick prayer. Will glanced down to Holly, then continued the walk to the main road, his arm still around her.

When he and Holly reached the end of the driveway, he removed his arm from her and turned around to the rest of the group.

“Everyone ready?” Will asked.

His friends collectively acknowledged that they were.

Will nodded, then turned back around and stepped out onto the road. He hung a right toward the interstate. An Autumn morning breeze, trapped between the rows of trees on either side of the street, traveled down the path. He looked up to see the sun rearing its face over the horizon. The sky was clear, clouds of all shapes occupying its vast space. Will found himself mesmerized, no longer taking such a trivial thing as Mother Nature for granted after the recent encounter with his own death.

A hand brushed against the back of his own, then grabbed it. He looked over to see Holly smiling, her face beginning to dry and her eyes almost back to their natural color of baby blue.

He glanced back to see Jessica talking to the two children, keeping them entertained. Gabriel walked just a couple of paces behind her, scanning the area with his hands gripped firmly on the rifle.

This is my family
.

Will smiled.

And then another thought came to Will.

I’ve always wanted to visit the nation’s capital.

AFTERWORD

I sit here writing this note after fourteen hours of finishing this book in order to have it uploaded to Amazon in time to meet my pre-order deadline. I have just over an hour to spare. Yikes!

Before I go upload this, I just thought I’d take a moment to say ‘thanks’. This has been an amazing and exciting year for me, and it has only been made possible by all the people—that’s you—who decided to take a chance and read a brand-new author. I can’t believe this is the fifth book I’m releasing this year. I’d never been able to finish a novel before this year, and now I have five books out. Wow!

I’ve spent hours upon hours at the keyboard this year writing these books, all while holding down a full-time job, being a husband, and a father to a now 13 month old little girl. The e-mails I get from readers and all the support makes it so much easier to wake up at 5 a.m. and work on these books before work, spend my lunch breaks writing, and take time away from my family to do what I love. Please, feel free to keep sending messages my way (
[email protected]
)

Now, to the book you’ve just read…

If I’ve garnered the reaction that I was going for, you’re likely still reeling from the end of this book. I’m being honest with you when I say that I’m partly terrified to go upload this manuscript to Amazon when I’m done typing this message. After talking to so many of you zombie fanatics, I know that not everyone is going to understand or appreciate my take on what an “Empty” is.

But the truth is, this was my idea all along. I had no desire to write another zombie book about a viral outbreak. I know that so many of you love those stories as much as I do, but I wanted to write a zombie book with my own spin, tying in my obsession with the end times as depicted in the Book of Revelation. It’s by no means a religious statement; I just think Revelation one of the best horror stories of all-time!

It took me three books to get here because there was no way I could have explained “The Fall” in the first or second book without forcing it, and I couldn’t be any happier about how Deliverance turned out.

Will and the gang still have a lot of story left, and I look forward to telling it to you. Book 4 will be called Open Roads and is currently in pre-production. If you want to stay up to date with its release, as well as all the other books I’m working on, please consider
joining my new release mailing list
.

Again, thank you so much for reading.

Zach

August 21
^st
, 2015

9:58 p.m.

P.S. (If you haven’t seen The Walking Dead: Season 5, don’t read this!) - I know that a big part of the storyline of the more recent episodes of The Walking Dead takes place in Alexandria. The fact that Gabriel and Dylan are from there is purely coincidental. My aunt has lived there for the past 30 or so years and I’ve spent a lot of time there, and I picked that city based solely on that. I had no idea Rick and his posse would end up there when I chose it. Promise.

COMING SOON