“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 bef
ore 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
“What did you say?” Holly asked.
Will looked up at her and she was glaring at him.
“Holly, that’s not what I meant.”
“Well, what exactly did you mean? ‘Cause that sure as hell sounded like you don’t give two shits about what happened earlier.”
Will sighed. “Come on, Holly. All I’m saying is that I got caught in the moment. Needless to say, the timing kinda sucked.”
“Are you saying you ‘anger-fucked’ me?”
Will stood and rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this petty bullshit.”
Holly’s eyes filled with tears as she started to back away from him. What was strange to Will was that he didn’t feel guilty about any of it, and he was sure the look on his face showed that. She shook her head, then turned and stormed out of the room.
When she was gone, Will drew in deep, heavy breaths. He walked over to the wall and braced himself against it with both his hands. Dark energy rose inside him and he could feel the blood rush. When he looked up, he realized he’d come to a place at the wall where a mirror was just in front of him. He saw the blood and the paleness in his eyes. A version of himself he’d never seen before stared back at him. One filled with anger and hate. In an instant, he reared back his fist and punched the mirror as hard as he could, causing the whole mirror to crack, growing out like a spiderweb.
Blood pooled on the floor as Will clinched his fists, looking back at his worn face through the broken mirror.
***
Jessica
The rest of the group stood in the hallway, waiting on Will. Moments earlier, they’d seen Holly exit the room in tears. Marcus had followed her down the hall, and neither of them had come back. Jessica looked over to Brandon, seeing that he appeared even more nervous than she did. She knew he’d been on plenty of runs before, and wondered why he was so nervous about this one.
“You sure you want to do this?”
Jessica looked over and saw Gabriel standing next to her. She nodded her head.
“What about your shoulder?” he asked.
“It feels fine, really. You guys aren’t going to stop me from going.”
Gabriel smiled. “Fair enough.”
The door to Will’s room opened, garnering everyone’s attention. Jessica’s eyes immediately went to his hand. It was wrapped in what had once been a white towel, which he clutched with his opposite hand. Most of the white color of the towel was gone, replaced by stains of his blood.
Brandon looked over to Sarah as he walked toward Will. “Go grab something to clean and wrap it in, quick. Let me see that.”
“It’s fine,” Will said. “No big deal.” Will pulled the towel away and revealed a laceration across the middle knuckle on his left hand.
“Shit, man,” Brandon said. He leaned in to observe the wound. “You’re gonna need stitches.”
“What the hell did you do?” Gabriel asked him.
Will shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” He then looked back over to Brandon. “How long will it take to stitch me up?”
“Shouldn’t take but a few minutes, but I can’t do it. I don’t know how.”
Sarah came back with some gauze and a bottle of peroxide to disinfect the wound.
“Can you do stitches?” Brandon asked Sarah.
She shook her head. “I’ve never done it, but I could try.”
“I’ll do it.”
They looked over at Jessica.
“You’ve done this before?” Sarah asked.
“Well, not on a human. Or with skin. But I’ve sewn since I was nine years old.”
Brandon and Sarah looked at each other, and Brandon shrugged.
“Alright. I’ll go grab the supplies you’ll need and Sarah can set you up with a spot to do it.”
***
Sarah prepared one of the small observation rooms for Jessica to stitch up Will’s hand. While grabbing the supplies, Brandon retrieved a light numbing agent and administered the shot into Will’s hand so he wouldn’t feel the needle. When they had finished getting the room ready, Brandon and Sarah left Jessica alone with Will to stitch up his hand.
She ran the needle through his skin as he faced the wall and refused to watch. Once the bleeding had mostly ceased and she could see the wound, it was a fairly easy task. She treated it just like one of her craft projects, and it made her miss the hours she’d spent putting little pieces of art together.
“Thanks for doing this,” Will said, still looking toward the wall.
“It’s no problem. I don’t even think those other two wanted to try.”
Will chuckled. “Yeah, I was getting a little worried myself. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re able to do this with your arm hurting.”
“Well, if I’m being honest with you, I think Lawrence didn’t really know what he was talking about. I’m pretty sure I just have a minor sprain or something, not a broken collarbone. A lot of my movement has come back—I just still have some discomfort.”
“Gotcha,” Will replied.
“Dare I ask how this happened?” Jessica asked.
Like the rest of the group, she’d seen Holly leave the room abruptly, and though she wasn’t the type to gossip, Jessica still found herself a little curious.
“Just not a good day,” he replied.
“Yeah. You could say that.”
After a few moments of awkward silence, Will spoke again.
“Sounds like you really got pretty close to my folks ove
r a short period of time.”
“I was inches away from being eaten by one of those things when your dad opened their door and pulled me into their room. Then he kept them off your mother and I so we could get away, and got bit himself in the process. I owe everything to that man.” She pulled away from his hand for a moment to gather herself. She wasn’t crying, but she was fighting back tears. Then, she leaned in and continued. “And your mom was there for me when we found my parents. I was ready to lay down and die beside them, but she wouldn’t let me. She made me get up and keep going.”
Will was quiet after that, and just continued to stare at the wall.
“All she wanted was to find you,” Jessica continued. “That was one of the things that kept me going. I felt I owed her that.”
For the first time since she had started sewing up his hand, Will looked away from the wall and peered into Jessica’s eyes. She had a couple of tears running down her cheek, and he used his free hand to reach over and wipe them off one side of her face with his thumb.
“Thank you for helping her find me,” he said softly.
Her only response was to smile at him. Then she wiped her eyes as he pulled his un-injured hand away and allowed her to continue working on the stitches.
A few minutes later, she set the needle down on a nearby table.
“All done,” Jessica said.
Will looked down at his hand. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Now let’s get ready to get out of here.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Will
The group gathered at the end of the long hallway by the elevators. Opposite the elevators were two doorways. One of them led to the staircase that would take Will, Brandon, Jessica, and Sam to the level below, and the other housed the double doors that went back to the wing where David had taken the group earlier in the day.
Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) Page 3