Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) (4 page)

Gabriel looked surprised. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

Will nodded. “She helped get my mother here, and my father saw something in her enough to risk his own life for her. If she wants to go with us, I think she should be able to make that decision herself.” He looked over to her and smiled. “Clearly, she can hold her own.”

Jessica returned the smile. “Thank you.”

Marcus clapped his hands together one time and looked to Will. “Alright, so when y’all headed out?”

Before he could answer, Sarah came rushing into the room.

“I need to show you guys something,” Sarah said. “Please, come quick, it’s important.”

***

Gabriel

The group stood on the bridge that separated the main corridor from the parking garage. To either side of them, the large windows showed that the sun had almost disappeared for the night, but there was still just enough light to see about a half dozen Empties lumbering along on the road below.

Everyone looked on in silence.

Pummeling sounded from the door in front of them; it was the exit that led out into the parking garage. And through the small window in the solid metal frame, a group of Empties fought to have their faces seen.

“I was just going to go out to get some fresh air, and I heard the banging as soon as I walked onto the bridge,” Sarah explained.

Gabriel walked to the door as the rest of the group remained silent behind him. The window was filled with faces. The most prominent had been a male—the bushy beard, once gray but now stained with human blood, still prominent on its face. Though the creatures filled the space of the small window, they kept pushing each other out of the way enough for him to be able to see past them in quick glimpses. Not only was the makeshift gate the group had built open, but it had been crashed through. Gabriel could see shards of the boards scattered over the concrete.

“Looks like David didn’t bother to close the gate behind him,” Will said. “Don’t think we’ll be repairing it anytime soon.”

“Shit,” Marcus grumbled. “How in the hell are we supposed to get them out of here now?”

The Empties seemed to be banging and growling louder now that they could see human flesh, and that combined with the commotion of a few members of the group prevented Gabriel from thinking properly. He put his hands behind his head and bowed it, crushing his eyes shut.

“Everyone, shut up!”

Gabriel looked up and noticed Will’s scowl. He was also looking toward Gabriel, clearly seeing that they were equally frustrated.

“Let’s take this shit inside where we can actually think straight without these things about to punch that damn door down, and we’ll come up with a plan,” Will said. He turned around and headed back inside, the rest of the group following.

Gabriel took one last look back toward the door, staring into the starving faces of the undead. Outside, the sky had only minutes of daylight left. Below, the street was empty, and Gabriel wondered if the beasts who had been there were now headed upstairs to join their friends.

***

When Gabriel walked back inside the hospital, the rest of the group had already gathered near the nurses’ station to discuss what their next action should be.

“The staircase over there is the one we hauled the bodies into,” Brandon said, pointing to a door just a few doors down from the break room. “We put them all the way down at the bottom and blocked the door, so even if we wanted to try getting past all the dead bodies without getting sick to our stomachs, that door is still blocked. And I don’t think anyone is touching those things.”

“So, our only option is to use the staircase down by the elevators then, right?” Will asked. He was thinking of the story he’d been told earlier about how one of the survivors at the hospital had been killed the last time they’d tried to go downstairs.

Brandon nodded. “That’s the closest to the garage, no doubt.” He pointed down the long hallway toward the elevators. “We’re still gonna have a nice little run for it to the garage. Luckily, the general layout of the floor is about the same, so we should have a basic idea about how far we’ll have to go.”

“What’re you going to do about a car once you get out there?” Holly asked.

Brandon gave Will a puzzled look and said, “Maybe we could still get to the ambulance once we get out there.”

Marcus scoffed. “There could be fifty of those things waiting to get in here to us and surrounding that ambulance. Gonna have to come up with a better plan than that.”

Gabriel finally spoke up. “Do any of you know how to hotwire a car?”

“Pretty much,” Will said.

Gabriel tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Will. “Pretty much?”

“I sure as hell don’t know how,”
Sam
said.

“Maybe you should just let me go,” Gabriel said. “I had to—”

“No,” Will said, cutting him off. “I can handle it.”

“Should we even be doing this at night?”
Sam
asked.

“It’ll be fine,” Will replied.

“That’s a good point,” Jessica added. “We should wait until morning. It won’t be as dangerous.”

“We aren’t waiting ’til morning,” Will told her. “We’re going tonight. For all we know, those hicks could be on their way here now, and it’d be just like pickin’ fish out of a barrel if they showed up. We’d all be dead in minutes.”

Gabriel could see the frustration mounting on Will’s face. He looked over to Marcus, curious if he’d speak up and protest. Marcus just gave a slight shrug. Gabriel sensed a fine line in how to approach Will. Even though he was acting more like himself now, this was still a man who’d lost his mother just hours earlier, and learned about the death of his father not too long before that.

“We’ll be alright,” Brandon assured them. “I’ve seen someone hotwire a car before, so I think between the two of us that we’ll figure it out.”

Gabriel sighed. “Okay.” He looked over to Jessica and asked, “You cool with this?”

She looked slightly hesitant, but nodded.

“Guess we better try and find something you can use to at least shoo them away with if any Empties come after you,” Marcus said, trying to lighten the mood. It got a laugh out of a couple of people, including Will, but Gabriel remained stoic.

All he wanted was for the group to get to those guns, and move one step closer to reaching Dylan.

CHAPTER FOUR

Jessica

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Jessica tried on the tennis shoes that Sarah had brought her. They’d belonged to Kristen, the nurse who David had killed.

They were only about a half size too large, which was perfectly fine with Jessica. She knew she’d be able to maneuver in them much more easily than in her work shoes, which would be important when they left for Brandon’s father’s house.

Once the laces were tied on both shoes, she stood up to test the comfort of them. She jogged in place for a few moments before walking over to the large window at the other end of the room. The shoes were comfortable, and her ankle felt good from her earlier injury. She’d opened the curtains earlier in the day in hopes of improving her mood with sunshine. Now, the moon gently lit the room. The stars were out, and she gave herself a moment to admire them. She looked down and could see one of the creatures moving across the sidewalk, under a lamp post. The two lights on either side of it had reached the end of their kindling, leaving an extended stretch of darkness over the pavement.

Jessica was nervous about going on this run.

Not only would getting to a vehicle be a challenge, but then they had to get it started. Then, even if those two things happened, they’d be traveling for half an hour in the dead of night to a place that she was unfamiliar with. Despite the danger, though, Jessica did agree with Will. The risk was well worth it. If the people from the farm showed up to avenge their deceased, everyone in the group would be dead.

A knock came at the door and she turned back. It was Holly.

“They’re just about ready,” she said.

“Oh, thank you.”

Holly stepped all the way into the room and shut the door behind her.

“I’m really sorry about earlier,” Holly said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t offend me,” Jessica said. “I’m sorry for what I said about you guys not knowing what it’s like out there.”

Holly nodded. “It’s just been a really tough day, you know? And I’m just really scared about Will going out there. I’m really worried he’s just going to be careless.”

“If you’re scared he’s going to do something irrational to get himself killed tonight, I’d quit worrying so much about it,” Jessica told her. “From what I see, he’s not even gonna sleep until he gets his hands on David.”

Holly took her hands up either side of her head and moved her hair back behind her ears.

“Just promise me you’ll keep a close eye on him,” Holly said.

Nodding and moving her bangs to the side, Jessica agreed. “I promise I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Thanks,” Holly mumbled. “I really appreciate it. And when you get back, maybe we can sit down and have a cup of coffee together or something.”

“I’d like that,” Jessica replied, smiling.

There was another knock on the door, and when it opened, Marcus appeared.

“Hey, you comin’? They’re waiting on you.”

Jessica looked down at her feet, wiggling her toes and bouncing her heels a few times to continue adjusting to the broken-in shoes.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

Marcus nodded and then looked to Holly. “Will wants to see you before he leaves.”

“Alright,” Holly said.

Marcus headed back down the hallway and Holly gave Jessica another smile before she turned and walked out the door.

***

Will

Will sat at the edge of his bed with his hands clasped together, staring down at the floor. His mind had been overtaken by thoughts of his dead parents and of David Ellis. In truth, he knew he wasn’t focused enough to go out on this gun run. But he didn’t care. Sitting around in the hospital only meant he would continue to think about his mother’s description of how his father had turned into an Empty, then come after her. And then he would replay that scene in his mind—of David throwing his helpless mother into that room with the beast and making him watch the fallout. Will needed a purpose to give his mind a break, and this gun run would be the perfect outlet.

A gentle knock came at the door and he looked up to see Holly entering. The overhead lights were off, the lamps above the bed giving the room its only illumination. Even through the shadows, Will could see the concern spread across Holly’s face. She stopped halfway between the bed and the door with her arms crossed. Will sat up and let his arms rest on his thighs.

Holly bowed her head to the floor and mumbled, “I don’t want you to go.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing this?” She looked up at him now. “Just let Gabriel or Marcus go.”

“I can’t.”

Holly scoffed. “Great, now I’m just getting two word answers out of you.”

Silence filled the room while Will collected himself. He was facing the ground again with his eyes closed when he said, “I’m too dangerous to stay here right now.”

“What do you mean?”

He looked up at her again. “I mean that, if I stay here, I could end up hurting someone.”

Her eyes went wide and she looked as if she wanted to cry.

“I feel like a caged animal in here right now. I can’t just sit in this place and do nothing. I’ll go mad.”

She moved beside him and rubbed his shoulder with her hand.

“We don’t have to sit around and do nothing, sweetie. I can cook us some supper. I make a mean microwave dinner.” This got a slight laugh out of Will, and Holly moved her hand up to the back of his neck. “Then I can do plenty of things to distract your mind.” She ran her hand around the side of his neck, rubbing it.

“That isn’t good enough,” Will replied.

The next few moments went by in a blur. Those four words had just poured out before Will could realize what he was saying—the grip on his neck loosened and Holly stepped away from him