“Stay with me,” she said, his face in her palm.
For the first time, he looked up at her. He looked so scared, yet as if he wasn’t sure he was even looking at her. She felt a chill stretch through her body.
His mouth moved, but the dialogue was inaudible.
“What?” Jessica asked.
She put her ear down close to his face.
“It’s beautiful,” he mumbled.
Tears rolled down her face. “Don’t. Stay here, Will. Don’t you leave us.”
Still gripping his hand, she moved their hands down to his stomach, where she could feel his stomach rising and falling much more slowly now.
“So beautiful.” Will hissed, reaching to taste another breath.
When the gasp had passed, his stomach fell and she waited for it to rise again. Jessica looked into his eyes, and he appeared to be staring past her now, over her shoulder. He didn’t make a noise.
And his stomach didn’t rise again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jessica
The sun had almost completely hidden behind the horizon now, and it would soon be pitch black outside. They wouldn’t be able to stay here much longer. But Jessica couldn’t leave his side.
Will was dead.
She lay over his body, the side of her head pressed against his stomach. The only thing she was conscious of was staying clear of the open wounds, not sure if the bite could somehow spread to her. She couldn’t stop crying, and her weeps were loud and unforgiving. She was so distraught that she’d completely forgotten about the young boy, and she finally looked up when she heard him sniffle.
Dylan sat on his legs in the middle of the road, a stark face absent of emotion. She scurried to her feet and went to him.
Kneeling down, she hugged him.
“Dylan, I’m so sorry.”
The boy didn’t hug her back and he didn’t respond. She pulled away to look him in the face, and she concluded that the child was in shock. He then looked her dead in the eyes.
“When will he change?” Dylan mumbled.
Oh, shit.
Through all her grief, Jessica hadn’t even thought about the fact that Will would soon turn into one of the creatures. There hadn’t seemed to be a set timetable on how quickly people had changed: it had varied from person to person, based on her little experience seeing the transformation happen.
“We’ve gotta get back to the farm,” Jessica said.
“No!” Dylan cried.
He ran over to Will and hugged him.
Jessica trembled, her palms sweating. Will could change at any moment. She chewed on her nails, knowing she’d would have to pry the distraught child away from his friend.
“We can’t stay here, sweetie. It’s not safe. He’s going to….” She cut herself off.
“Maybe we can help him,” Dylan pleaded. “Please, we can’t leave him.”
Jessica’s eyes filled and she reached down to grab Dylan.
“I’m so sorry, honey. We have to leave him. He’s dangerous.”
“No!” Dylan shouted.
A voice then came from behind her. Jessica turned, and she saw a trembling hand sticking out of one of the windows of the vehicle, followed by another groan. She rose from her kneel and hurried over.
The man was still strapped into the back seat. His eyes were slightly open, his lips parted as he gasped. When he saw Jessica, he dropped his arm.
“Please, get me out of here,” he said, barely able to speak above his heavy breathing.
Jessica opened the door and reached over to unfasten the seatbelt. As soon as it released, the man slumped over.
“You have to take me over to him,” the man said. “Please.”
Jessica narrowed her eyes. “What?”
“Please. Take me over to him.”
“How?” she asked. “Can you walk?”
Gently, the man shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
For whatever reason, Jessica didn’t question the man as to why he needed to be taken to Will. Something inside just told her to do as the man asked.
“Dylan,” she said sharply. The boy looked up from Will, his once stoic face now red from tears. “I need you right now!’
Dylan rose to his feet, then scurried over to the car as he apparently realized the urgency in the situation.
“You have to help me get him over to Will.”
“Why?”
“Just help me!” Jessica demanded. “Let’s see if we can slide him off the seat.”
Jessica could see the man’s pain as he gritted his teeth together, his eyes closed. He groaned the entire time, but they were able to slide him off the seat. His feet hit the ground, and the man grimaced as they sat him up.
“Can you walk?” Jessica asked.
“I think so,” he responded. “Please, just help me.”
Jessica grabbed ahold of his arm and threw it around her, holding his hand on her shoulder. Dylan was too short to mirror Jessica from the other side, but he walked next to the man to help brace him. The man walked like an elderly person with a cane, his back obviously having been injured during the accident.
They came around the front of the vehicle where Will still lay unmoved. Jessica feared he’d have turned by now, and was relieved that there appeared to still be time for the man to possibly help him, given that that seemed to be his intention.
“What’s your name?” Jessica finally asked, as they were halfway to Will now.
“S-Samuel,” the man replied.
For no reason, Jessica didn’t give her name, and Samuel didn’t ask. Perhaps it was because they were both so focused on just trying to get him across the road.
“I need to be on the side of his body where the bite is,” he said.
“There are two,” Jessica informed him.
“Same arm?”
She nodded.
“Good.”
They reached Will, and Jessica wished she had closed his eyes before she’d hurried over to Samuel. They looked up toward the sky, having been abandoned by life inside. It was difficult for her to even look at him.
Samuel managed to kneel next to Will, and he looked back up to Jessica.
“I’m not sure what is going to happen, but you have to make me a promise.”
“What?” Jessica asked.
“That you’ll kill me if I change.”
Jessica narrowed her eyes. “What? No.”
“Please,” Samuel said. “Please, promise. We are running out of time.”
Jessica hesitated, looking down to Will’s lifeless body. She looked again at Samuel and nodded.
“Thank you,” Samuel said. “Now, stand back.”
“What are you doing?” Dylan asked.
Jessica took the boy’s hand and walked back toward the center of the road. She stopped when they were just over five yards back.
Samuel placed his hands on Will’s injured arm and closed his eyes. His mouth began to move, but Jessica couldn’t hear what he said. The wind blew harder, and the dark sky reflected a smoke tint that signaled it could open up again and rain down on them. Samuel’s mouth ceased moving and he opened his eyes, looking straight ahead.
“What’s he doing?” Dylan whispered.
“Shh,” Jessica urged in return.
Reaching under his shirt to his chest, Samuel grasped onto something as he began to speak. The words were indistinguishable.
One time when she’d been a teenager, Jessica had visited one of those churches where the preacher and the congregation would randomly speak in tongues. The noises spilling from the man’s mouth now sounded no different. Samuel raised his free hand to the sky as he looked up, his eyes closing again.
The first new drop of rain fell from the sky and, within moments, heaven seemed to open as thunder sounded in the distance. The rain came down, and Samuel looked as if he were bathing in it, though Jessica wondered if he was even aware it had started to storm.
Dylan hugged Jessica tight, and she look
ed down at him. A new sense of fear painted his face as he worked to hide his eyes.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
The question drew Jessica’s attention back to Will and Samuel, and her mouth fell agape.
Will’s body shook. At first, she thought it was possibly her eyes playing tricks on her. But she made herself stand completely still, confirming the truth. It wasn’t an intense tremble, but he was moving, apparently involuntarily. His eyes still had the same vacant look to them, staring up at the sky.
Samuel talked louder in the same scattered language. All the fear and worry had left the man’s voice. He spoke with strong intent. Rain continued to fall, and it glistened on his face as it reflected off the full moon and the almost sleeping sun.
A kind of roar came from the area where the two men were. It was more of a desperate shriek than a declaration of dominance. Like something was in a fight, but losing. With Dylan in her embrace, Jessica scampered back to a few steps away from Will and Samuel. Dylan cried out and buried his face into Jessica’s side. He then let go of her so he could bring his hands up to his ears and cover them, and began bawling, a muffled cry of terror sinking into her shirt.
Samuel’s eyes opened and he slowly lowered his head to look down to Will. Still speaking in a strange dialect, he slowly brought his outstretched hand in to clasp at his chest with the other. His strong voice went away, and he now mumbled. An uneasy feeling panned Jessica’s mind, but she couldn’t look away.
In an instant, Samuel went silent. When this happened, Dylan stopped crying and looked down at the two men, still hugging his chest to Jessica’s side. Samuel simply stared at Will. He still held something tight at his chest, but the only sound was that of rain pattering down on the cooling asphalt.
Jessica took another few steps back, now standing on the shoulder of the road, across from Will and Samuel.
Opening his mouth wide, Samuel made a grotesque sound that startled her. It was as if he’d tried to inhale all the air around them at once, and made this painful sounding gasp in reaction. Streetlights illuminated the road, and Jessica caught a glimpse of Samuel’s face. The whites in his eyes showed, pupils apparently lost somewhere in the back of his head. It looked demonic, and she wondered if she should just take the boy and run. But she couldn’t.
Will’s back arched violently. Stranger still, he let out a more ghostly gasp than Samuel had. Dylan started to race to Will’s side, but Jessica managed to catch his collar and pull him back.
“No,” she said.
Samuel spoke. This time, it was in English. Four simple words that Jessica knew she would never forget.
“Fly into me, demon.”
Will’s head jerked up, and his eyes were stark white, much like Samuel’s. He gasped and let out a hellish scream before falling back onto the asphalt.
Jessica couldn’t believe her eyes. She thought she was dreaming.
A gunmetal cloud of smoke flowed from Will’s mouth. It was thick, with no particular shape or consistency. The cloud rose out of Will and flew its way into Samuel’s mouth. He made a strange sound as he began to swallow the cloud, inch by inch. Some time had passed, and the tail of the cloud left Will’s body, Samuel inhaling it like smoke, taking in the last little bit and closing his mouth.
Samuel’s eyes closed, and he slumped over onto the concrete.
Both Will and Samuel’s bodies lay still.
Jessica left the boy’s side and faltered toward the two unmoving bodies. The storm had slowed, but rain still fell in scattered drops. Her hair was soaked, parted flat and straight from the downpour, and her clothes were drenched. Her eyes were on Will, trying to see if he was breathing. His stomach was flat and his eyes were closed, the skin on his face still so pale.
All the while, the young woman fought to process what she’d just seen. How was she supposed to explain to the rest of the group what had happened?
She stood over Will. It felt like she was looking directly into a coffin as he lay there with his arms crossed, similar to how you’d see those placed on the deceased. Falling to one knee, she took his hand.
“Go to them,” she said. “Go to your par—”
Her words were interrupted by a horrific growl behind her. She turned just in time to see Samuel rise up into a sitting position and reach for her. His hands clasped her shoulders, and she screamed.
The eyes. Empty and pale. Samuel was one of them.
He worked to try and pull her toward him and she fought it off, even grasping Will’s pants leg to try and gain leverage. The beast clicked its teeth and continued to spit and snarl. Her shirt sleeve ripped, and it was almost as if this angered the creature. It bellowed louder. She felt a sharp pain on her shoulder blade as she fought her way to her feet, the creature having dug its nails into her.
There was a loud ‘boom’ then, and then a thud.
The beast Samuel lay flat on its back. The thud had apparently been its head smacking the concrete.
Then Jessica faced forward and saw Dylan standing a mere five yards away, a pistol drawn and exhaling smoke from its barrel.
“Dylan.”
She jumped to her feet and scurried to the boy. Carefully removing the gun from his grip, she held it aside and embraced him. Dylan returned the gesture, wrapping his short arms around her.
A gasp, and then the boy pulled away. It was a terrifying sound, like someone raising their head above water just as they’d been on the verge of drowning.
She turned around.
And he was alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Gabriel
Blink.
Blink.
A haze washed over him as he opened his eyes.
Gabriel wasn’t sure how long he’d been out, and as he started to come to, a familiar voice spoke to him.
“Gabriel, you okay?”
The voice belonged to Holly. She squeezed his arm.
“Wake up.”
Blink.
His eyes opened wide, looking up at the slatted ceiling. His attention shifted toward Holly, who sat on her legs beside him.
“How long have I been out?”
“Not really sure,” Holly said. “You ran into the house a while ago, and we started to get really worried when you never came back out. But we were pinned down and unable to come after you. Do you remember what happened?’
Gabriel sat up and felt the blood rush to his head. Holly tried to urge him to lie back down, but he wanted to try and adjust his body to being upright again. His lips were dry, and he circled them with his tongue to wet them. He tasted something on his upper lip, and brought his hand to his face. When he pulled it away, he saw the blood on his fingertips. His nose throbbed, and he realized that’s where the blood had come from.
“Hardly,” Gabriel replied. “I found Dylan, but then David showed up and we got into a fight. He was going to kill me, but these two girls stopped him. That’s all I remember.
Moving his hand up to a place on his head where his skull throbbed, Gabriel felt a lump. It brought back the memory of him being leveled with the butt-end of a shotgun. The blur in his vision disappeared and he was finally able to get a good look at Holly. The beautiful girl looked like she’d aged almost ten years since he’d seen her last. Blood stains rode up her arms, and spots of red were scattered on her dirt-covered face. Her eyes were bloodshot and weak.
“What happened?” Gabriel asked.
She spoke slowly, as if in shock, but she didn’t falter and she didn’t cry. She explained to Gabriel how they’d been in the middle of a firefight with the people who occupied this farm, when a truck came soaring at them. Will had stepped out in front of it when he saw David was driving, and fired at him. Just before David had hit Will with the truck, Marcus had pushed Will out of the way and had sacrificed himself for Will.
“I’m not even sure he felt anything,” Holly mumbled.
It hit Gabriel like a brick. Marcus had become a good friend over a short period of time, and he�
��d sacrificed his own life for another one of their own. But there was unfortunately no time to grieve, not with others still out there.
“David had Dylan with him. Did you see him in the truck with him? And where’s Will now?”
Holly looked away and stared at the adjacent wall.
“What?” Gabriel asked. “What’s the matter? Are they okay?”
She looked back toward him now, but not directly at him.
“I don’t know,” Holly said. “Will jumped into the truck and took off after them.”
Grumbling, the joints in both his knees popping, Gabriel managed himself to his feet. His back had stiffened from lying on the hardwood, but it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t work itself out, the longer he stood. By the time he had worked his way down the hall, to the stairs, Holly was already at the bottom, making her way over to the exit. A car door slammed outside. Holly peeked through the drapes that dressed a window next to the entrance.
“Oh my God.”
Holly swung the door open and ran outside.
Holding onto the banister, Gabriel shuffled down the stairs with haste, ignoring the pain in his sciatic nerve and the lump on his head.
The front door was ajar, and when he looked out, he saw Holly running toward a vehicle. The passenger side door was open, and a small figure stepped out and looked around. Gabriel’s heart thumped in his chest. He moved to the middle of the archway, then stepped out onto the old patio.
The boy turned to look toward the house, and the moon shone down enough light to show his smile.
Dylan ran to the front porch.
***
Jessica
The car door creaked as it opened. Smoke rose from the engine, and it finally puttered out. Jessica tried to crank the pickup again, but it wouldn’t turn over. She was surprised the car had started at all, to even get them back to the farm. The damage to the engine appeared to have been catastrophic after David had run the car off the road and into a tree.
No one seemed to notice that the vehicle wouldn’t re-start. On the other side of the car, Holly held Will in a tight embrace, crying into his shoulder. And Dylan had run up to the house and jumped into Gabriel’s arms.
Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) Page 14