Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) (8 page)

“Will,” Jessica said with a tremble, “I think he’s right—we need to—”

“Just trust me,” Will said, cutting her off.

The Escape crept forward again, and one of the Empties banged on the window immediately beside Jessica. The creature had once been a woman, and was somehow still wearing radiant red hair and an open blouse. Will eased out into the street, and another two Empties came up from the other side of the car. They’d apparently been wandering down the sidewalk and been drawn in by the commotion. Jessica could feel the sweat form on her brow. She became distractingly wet under her arms and on her palms, and she rubbed her knees nervously, an old habit she’d had since middle school.

“Tell me when the entire group is out of the garage,” Will said, speaking to any of the three in the car who might still be listening to him and not the creatures.

It was hard to be sure with no light behind them, and with just trying to see past the glowing eyes of the approaching horde, but Jessica couldn’t see anymore creatures within the lighting of the garage.

“It looks clear,” she said.

Glancing back at her through the rearview mirror, Will asked, “You sure?”

“Positive,” she lied.

She jolted back against the seat as Will punched the gas. Out of the corner of her eye, Jessica saw the Empty who’d been knocking on the door beside her fall. Will drove another thirty yards before slamming on the breaks and turning the car a hundred and eighty degrees. The lights faced the horde now, who seemed to be walking faster now to try and reach the SUV.

“I think you’ve led them far enough,” Brandon said. “Please, go.”

Jessica leaned up and put her hand on Will’s shoulder.

“Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s get out of here before we push our luck. They’re not gonna go back into that garage. They’re gonna continue to follow us, even when we’re long gone.”

Will hesitated, then finally turned the vehicle around.

Jessica leaned back and quietly sighed. She understood the intention in Will’s plan, and it was smart. But the way he’d gone about it still felt a touch reckless. Brandon sat in the front seat with his arms crossed, and he looked like he’d lost his patience with Will altogether.

In minutes, they were pulling onto the ramp for I-40, headed for Brandon’s dad’s house.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Will

Brandon’s father, Jack Nix, owned a house on the western outskirts of Knoxville. It wasn’t the same house Brandon had grown up in; his mother still resided in that house. They’d divorced on the tail end of Brandon’s teenage years when he’d just turned twenty. So his father, a hard-working independent contractor, had bought a small ranch-style home on a couple of acres, giving him at least a little space from his neighbors.

When they arrived at the road Jack lived on, the lights in most of the houses were off. The street lights were no longer on, and Will assumed that they must have lost power in the neighborhood. Two houses had small gleams of light on the inside, likely drawing power from generators. No Empties appeared to be in the street, but Will had the headlights turned off so as to not draw any attention. Through the silence, they could hear that there were indeed beasts out there somewhere, but they didn’t sound to be too close. Thankfully, the moon was full and provided them with a little bit of light, though Will could still barely see beyond a few yards in front of the car.

“We’re almost there. It’s just up here on the right,” Brandon said.

Easing the car forward, Will’s heart raced. He had a feeling that one of the creatures would jump out in front of the small SUV at any moment, but it had yet to happen, leaving him all the more on edge. Sweat surrounded the perimeter of his hands on the steering wheel as he waited for Brandon to tell him they’d arrived.

“Slow down,” Brandon said, “the driveway’s right here.”

Will saw the entrance to the driveway and eased the car into it. The outline of the house appeared and Will tapped the brakes just as they approached the garage. He put it into park, and then they sat quietly and listened for Empties surrounding the area.

After a few moments, Jessica whispered, “Sounds clear.”

Will looked over to Brandon. “So, what’s the plan? Do you have a key?”

Shaking his head, Brandon said, “Not on me. Left that at my house.” He looked back toward his father’s home. “I think we should go around the back just in case any of the neighbors are still home. People around here are pretty damn protective, and I know they’d look out for my old man’s shit.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Will said.

“What do you want me to do?”
Sam
asked.

“Stand outside the car and keep a look out,” Will said.

Sam
nodded.

“Hope his place hasn’t already been raided,” Will said.

“Only one way to find out,” Jessica said, and Will heard her door click open.

Leaving the key in the ignition, Will pulled the handle and joined Jessica outside. He grabbed her by the arm.

“I think you should stay in here.”

“Why?” Jessica asked.

“Because one of us needs to keep the car running. You already have a hurt shoulder, so it makes sense for you to be ready to get us the hell out of here.
Sam
can stand outside and keep a look-out.”

“Alright,” Jessica said, sighing.

“If either of you see or hear anything strange, honk the horn three times,” Will said.

“Roger that,”
Sam
said.

Will turned to head behind the house, and Jessica called his name. He looked back to face her.

“Don’t do anything stupid in there,” Jessica said.

Will shook his head. “I won’t.”

***

Empties howled off in the distance. Will could even hear them shuffling through the fields behind Jack’s house, but creatures didn’t appear to be an immediate threat. The windows and door at the back of the house were still intact and looked untouched—a good sign that no one had raided the place yet.

Brandon walked over and tried to turn the handle to the back door, but it was locked.

“No surprise there,” he said.

Will looked to the houses on either side of them and saw that they were shrouded in darkness. The closest house with lights on was three houses down on the other side of the street. What made him most nervous were the Empties that he could hear in the distance behind the house.

“We’re gonna have to be quick,” Will said. “Those things don’t sound too far away. Is there a ditch or anything back there that would prevent them from getting to us?”

“No,” Brandon said. “It’s a clear path. All that land is undeveloped.”

“Do you know exactly where he keeps his guns?”

“Yeah, he’s got a case back in his bedroom.”

Will drew in a deep breath. A shovel leaned against the wall next to him and he grabbed it.

“Well, I hope so,” Will said. “‘Cause there’s no easy way to do this, and we’re definitely going to attract attention.”

He lifted the shovel up onto his shoulder, almost like a baseball bat.

“Ready?”

Brandon drew in his own deep breath. “Yeah, I guess.”

On that mark, Will reared back and swung the shovel into the window, shattering the glass on the first try. The sound was deafening. Their clock began to tick.

Brandon reached through the window and unlocked the door. He opened it, and the two men headed inside.

***

Jessica

Jessica turned around, looking to other houses on the street to see if anyone had heard the window break. Everything looked the same, but she now worried that any Empties in the area would have been attracted by the crash and be heading toward the house. They’d heard some of the creatures when they’d come from the end of the street, so they knew there were some lurking around, though she couldn’t hear any now.

“Everything okay,
Sam
?” she whispered.

Sam
poked his head through the passenger side window. “So far, so good.”

She turned her wrist over, gripping the steering wheel tight.

“Please, hurry,” she mumbled under her breath.

***

Will

Directly on the other side of the back door was the kitchen, and Will found himself standing on the tile floor near a granite top island that reflected the moon’s light coming in from a window above the sink. He awaited Brandon’s lead.

“Come on, his bedroom is back this way.”

Will followed Brandon through the living room, running into the back of the sofa and nearly falling. He stopped to gather himself, gripping the top of the couch as he guided himself around it.

Brandon hadn’t waited on Will, and a door swung open in the hallway, its knob slamming into the adjacent wall.

Brandon screamed.

“Brandon!”

Will let go of the sofa and ran toward the hallway. Paying no attention to his unfamiliar surroundings, he tripped over a coffee table in the middle of the room and stumbled onto the floor. He braced himself with his hands, grimacing when all his weight fell onto the bandaged hand he’d punched the mirror with earlier. Still, adrenaline pumped through him and he jumped to his feet, running toward the direction of the scream.

When he reached the end of the hallway, Will came to an open room. Inside, he saw Brandon sitting on the carpet with his back against a dresser. One of his hands covered his mouth as his shoulders shuddered, and he stared up at something on the other side of the room. Will crept closer until he was through the doorway, and his gaze followed Brandon’s.

“Oh, shit.”

A man sat upright against a headboard on a king size bed. What remained of his head had slumped to his shoulder. A large handgun lay beside him, suggesting he’d died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Will looked back down to Brandon, who sniffled as tears ran down to his hand on his face.

“I thought he was in Florida,” Brandon mumbled. “I had no idea he’d even be here.”

The man on the bed was Jack Nix, Brandon’s father, dead of an apparent suicide.

Kneeling down, Will rubbed Brandon’s shoulder and didn’t reply. There were no words he could say. He knew that firsthand, having just lost both his parents in just a matter of days.

From outside Will heard a scream, and he turned back toward the rear of the house. It was inhuman—that much he knew. The Empties were inching closer.

“Brandon, I know this is hard, but we need to get as much out of this case as we can and get the hell out of here.”

Looking down at the ground, Brandon wept into his hand. Will didn’t waste anymore time. He slipped over to the closet and opened it. Rummaging past shoes, he found the strap to a duffle bag and pulled it out.

Near the bed stood a large cherry wood gun case, one of its doors still open. He hurried over to it and started to empty ammunition and hand guns into the bag. He also found a holster, tossing that into the duffle as well. He threw a rifle over each shoulder, and pulled out three shotguns. Placing the shotguns on the bed along with the bag, he pulled out a box of shells and loaded each weapon. He kept his focus, fighting not to let his gaze move toward Mr. Nix. The smell in the air was horrendous, but he was too set on gathering the firearms and getting out of the house to worry about it.

Once the shotguns were loaded, he went back to Brandon and kneeled down.

“Brandon, we have to go, dude.”

But Brandon didn’t budge.

Another howl came from outside, this time followed by a collection of them, and Will shook Brandon’s face.

“Now! We’ve gotta get out of here!”

Brandon finally seemed to snap out of it. Trembling, he nodded toward Will and took his hand to stand up.

“Take these, I can get the rest,” Will said, and he put two of the shotguns into Brandon’s chest. Will walked back over to the bed and threw the duffle bag over his shoulder and grabbed the last shotgun before he headed out into the hallway, making his way into the living room.

Will peeked out the window next to the front door to make sure it was clear. He could make out Jessica’s silhouette in the driver’s seat. His hand went to the deadbolt and he turned it.