Empty Bodies (Book 4): Open Roads

by Zach Bohannon

  “Come ‘ere and give me some light,” Will said. “Maybe there’s keys in one of these drawers.”

  Gabriel hurried over to the desk and pointed the flashlight as Will opened up the top drawer and rummaged through it. He searched each drawer, throwing papers and other things all over the ground. When he’d looked through each drawer, he sighed and looked down to the ground.

  Gabriel furrowed his brow. “You doin’ alright, man?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  Will narrowed his eyes. “Let’s just keep looking around.” He turned toward the door behind the desk.

  Gabriel shook his head and shined the light onto the door as Will pushed down the handle. It clicked, and Will pushed it open, entering the room. Gabriel shined the light inside the space.

  To the left was a set of stairs. Gabriel shone the light to the other side of the room and saw just how small it was. A cleaning cart with a mop and bucket sat against the wall, but that was it.

  “You hear that?” Will asked.

  Gabriel stood still and listened.

  “Hear what?”

  “Come on,” Will said, and he started up the stairs. Gabriel reached out and grabbed onto Will’s shoulder.

  “Easy,” Gabriel said. “If there’s someone, or something, up there, we need to be quiet so they don’t hear us coming.”

  Will stared at Gabriel for just a moment, then nodded. Gabriel entered the room behind Will, and pointed the flashlight up the stairs.

  “Holy shit,” Gabriel said.

  Blood stained the wall in the shape of human handprints. Gabriel moved the beam up the wall, and the same stains decorated it every few feet. He shone the light down onto the stairs, which also had blood on them. He whipped his head toward the top of the staircase when he heard a snarl.

  “Hear it that time?” Will asked.

  “Let’s just be careful.”

  Will nodded in agreement, then turned to move up the stairs. The steps were made of metal, making them easy to mount without making much of a noise. Eight stairs up came to a landing, and then five more stairs to the right led to a door. The familiar hiss was prevalent now.

  “Sounds like it’s just one of ‘em,” Gabriel whispered.

  Will crept up the stairs and gently turned the handle. He looked back to Gabriel and said, “It’s locked.”

  “Let’s just turn back and leave it in there. It’s trapped in that room.”

  Will shook his head. “It’s probably the live-in tenant. I bet we’ll find the keys in here, and maybe some other goods.” He moved back down the steps and joined Gabriel. “Stand back and give me some light.”

  “Will, no,” Gabriel hissed.

  But Will had already decided on his next move as he charged up the stairs and threw his shoulder into the door. Gabriel darted up the stairs behind him, and shone the light inward as the door fell into the room, and Will with it. It must’ve gone down easier than Will thought it was going to, because his momentum carried him all the way to the ground.

  The beast snarled, but Gabriel couldn’t see where it was.

  “Here!” Will yelled.

  Gabriel pointed the light down and saw the hands coming up from each side of the door.

  “Shoot it!”

  Gabriel saw Will’s pistol had fallen onto the ground near him, and he hurried to pick it up. He positioned himself at the top of the door where he could see the creature’s head peeking over the top. Gabriel used one hand to point the light down at the beast’s head, and aimed the gun with the other; then he pulled the trigger. Blood shot up as the bullet entered the thing’s skull.

  Will rolled off the door, onto his back. “Thanks,” he said, gasping for air.

  “Pretty lucky that he was right on the other side of the door,” Gabriel said.

  Will reached over and moved the door out of the way, and Gabriel directed the light to the Empty’s face.

  “She,” Will said, correcting Gabriel.

  Downstairs, the door to the front of the office creaked opened, then slammed shut.

  “Are you guys okay?” Jessica called. “Where are you?”

  “Up here,” Gabriel replied. “Through the door behind the desk.”

  They heard footsteps come up the stairs, and the two women and children appeared in the doorway.

  “Will,” Holly said, and she rushed to his side.

  “I’m fine. No worries.”

  Gabriel moved the door the rest of the way off the Empty, and tilted his head. He pointed the flashlight at its waist and he smiled. Kneeling down, he grabbed something off the creature’s pants.

  “What’s that?” Will asked.

  Gabriel flashed the light on the object he held up in front of his face, revealing the dangling keys to the rest of the group.

  ***

  The third key that Gabriel tried opened the door into the climate controlled storage space.

  “Will and I will go in first,” he said. “Stand back and give us plenty of light.”

  Gabriel pushed through the door, and Will followed close behind. Each of them readied their weapons, prepared to face any threat. Once everyone was inside, Gabriel put his finger to his lips, urging the others to be silent, then signaled for Holly to point her flashlight ahead of them. The air was filled with silence, aside from the five of them breathing. Ahead, the hallway appeared vacant, lined with blue, metal doors on either side which all looked to be closed. Gabriel turned to the right, and the women followed him with the light. He looked down another hall of similar length, its scene exactly the same.

  “I think we’re clear, but we should look around,” Will said.

  “Agreed,” Gabriel replied.

  At the cautious pace they used, it took them ten minutes to check the building before arriving back at the entrance. As predicted, the facility was vacant.

  One of the units near the front door was open. They took a brief look at the items at the front of the unit before deciding they’d check in more detail in the morning when they’d have natural light pouring in through the glass front door. Gabriel wished he had a way to open some of the other units up and look to see if he could find a blanket or something he could use as a pillow. But the kids each had their bedding, at least, and the two of them being comfortable was what really mattered.

  “I’ll keep first watch,” Will said.

  “I don’t think it’ll be necessary,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “The door’s locked and we know we’re the only ones here. Even if someone shows up, they’re gonna have to come crashing through that glass door. We’ll just sleep up here; that way, we’ll hear if someone shows up.”

  Gabriel looked over to Will, and he could see the pure exhaustion in his friend’s face. He walked over to him and put his hand on Will’s shoulder.

  “Tonight, we all rest.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  I see the blood stains on the road. I notice the iron substance dripping off a nearby bush. It’s almost as if I can smell him. He’s here.

  And then he jumps out of the vegetation, and I’m taken by surprise. I feel the burn in my arm. The reanimated David Ellis falls, but not before he curses me.

  My arm pulsating from the two bite wounds, I lie on the ground alone, looking at the sky. Cold. Becoming so cold.

  What’s that voice? Who is that?

  I don’t know who or what it is, but it’s inside my head. I can’t understand what it’s saying. Slowly, it’s becoming clearer.

  It’s the voice of my mother.

  “Will… Will… Will.”

  Her voice sounds so tired and defeated.

  “Mom?”

  “How could you, William? How could you let him do that to me?”

  I begin to cry. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I wish I could take it all back. If I could, I would’ve just killed myself when I woke up in that fucking warehouse.”

  “William?”

  That’s my father’s voice. I look to the gunmetal sky, bu
t I see nothing. No face. Nothing.

  “Dad?”

  “You were supposed to protect her,” my father says. He’s crying almost as hard as I am. “How could you fail me like that, son?”

  “But, Dad, I—”

  “Don’t ‘Dad’ me! You fucked up! This is all your fault! You’re a worthless piece of trash, son! You always have been!”

  I shake my head and I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I can. Something trickles down my face, and I put my hand to my cheek and pull it away to see blood. Near convulsing, I rub my eyes with my fingers and can feel the blood flowing from my eyes in place of tears.

  Then a laugh. It’s familiar, but it’s not that of my mother, nor my father.

  David.

  He continues to laugh as I feel something inside me taking over. All the blood in my body seems to be rushing to my head, and it feels as if two hands are squeezing my brain, like one of those foam stress balls.

  Oh, God, what’s happening to me?

  “God?” David says. “God?”

  My eyes widen as I see his face in the sky above me. His eyes aflame, and that laugh.

  “I’m your God,” he says.

  He starts with that evil laugh again, as I find myself gasping for air. My back arches.

  I scream, and the last thing I see before everything goes black is the large head in the sky opening his mouth, and coming down to swallow me.

  Will awoke from his nightmare in the middle of the scream. It carried over into reality, and he let out a dry, raspy yell. He sat up and saw Holly sitting on the floor nearby with the kids. All three of them looked startled, and Holly jumped to her feet and rushed over to him.

  “Are you alright?”

  Will lay back down, realizing that he’d shot up too fast and that the blood had rushed to his head. He put his hand to his forehead and breathed in and out in rapid succession.

  “Will, talk to me,” Holly said.

  “I’m fine,” Will said. “Really. It was just a bad dream.”

  The front door opened, and Gabriel and Jessica came into the facility.

  “Is everything okay?” Gabriel asked. “We heard a scream.”

  “I'm fine,” Will repeated, still rubbing his forehead, his hand now wet from perspiration. “Just a nightmare.”

  Will heard a sniffle and looked over to see Mary Beth in tears. Before he could say anything, Jessica went to the children and took their hands.

  “Come on, let’s go outside,” she said, and she led Dylan and Mary Beth out the door.

  His breathing back to normal, Will sat up. He used the collar of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face and let out a long sigh.

  “How long have you guys been up?” Will asked.

  “Couple of hours,” Holly said. “You were sleeping like a rock, so we decided to just let you rest.”

  Will ran his hands through his hair. “Shit. Guess I didn’t realize I was that tired.”

  “Yeah, well, luckily we noticed,” Gabriel said.

  Holly looked up to Gabriel and asked, “You guys find anything yet?”

  Gabriel nodded.

  “What’s she mean?” Will asked.

  “When I woke up this morning, I went to check out that SUV and went back inside that apartment above the office to see if there was anything up there we could use. The SUV didn’t have anything in it aside from some makeup and shit, and it’s almost out of gas. The needle is on empty. But inside the apartment, I found some canned food, bottled water, and some nuts. We can’t have enough of that stuff.”

  “Great,” Holly said.

  “I also found these in the office.” Gabriel pushed the door open and leaned outside on one foot, bending over to grab something. He came back in grasping a set of bolt cutters. “We’ve already busted open a few of the units to see if we could find anything.”

  “And?” Will asked.

  Gabriel shook his head. “We grabbed a few blankets that were being used to cover furniture, but that’s about all we found that would be useful. Found a bunch of shit probably worth a lot of money, but I don’t see that doing us good anytime soon.”

  “We probably don’t need to hang around here too much longer,” Will said. “I know it’s cozy, but we need to get back on the road.”

  “Don’t have to tell me twice,” Gabriel said.

  The door opened, and Jessica moved halfway into the doorway with a concerned look.

  “You guys need to come have a look at this.”

  ***

  “And you haven’t seen or heard anybody?” Gabriel asked.

  “No,” Jessica said. “I looked around for just a second, then I grabbed the kids and ran back over to the storage unit.”

  Will walked around to where he could see through the rod iron fence. The driver’s side panel door of the van was wide open.

  “You sure we shut it last night?” Holly asked. “Who was the last one out of the van?”

  “I made sure it was closed,” Will said.

  “You sure? You were pretty out of it,” Gabriel said.

  “I shut the fucking door!”

  “Whoa, easy,” Jessica said, nodding in the direction of the children.

  “This isn’t helping anyone, guys,” Holly added.

  Will blew out a deep breath. If there was one thing he was tired of, it was the group babying him over the last few days just because of the shit that had happened. He distinctly remembered closing the door to the van all the way, no matter how exhausted he’d been.

  “Let’s run back to the building and grab our things,” Gabriel said. “If someone knows we’re here, it’s best we get the hell out of here as fast as we can.”

  ***

  The group threw everything over the fence and scaled it, just like the night before. Jessica and Holly went first, and then Gabriel and Will each helped one of the children get over the top. Then the two men climbed over and helped load everything into the van. Considering how much stuff was presumably in all of those storage lockers, the group’s haul was minimal. They’d come away with more food and water, a few blankets, some candles they’d found in the tenant’s apartment above the office, and a pair of bolt cutters.

  Will looked down as he opened his hand. In his palm were the keys Gabriel had found in the apartment above the office, clipped to the Empty’s belt loop. Will reared back and threw the keys over the fence as far as he could. He figured that if another group of good people stumbled upon this place, they might need them.

  He loaded into the back row of the van. He was the last one to get in, so Holly pulled the sliding door shut beside her.

  “Someone was definitely in here,” Gabriel said from the driver’s seat. “The glovebox was opened and the console is wrecked, and I left a jacket on the floor of the backseat that’s gone.”

  “Let’s just get out of here,” Holly said, a slight tremble in her voice.

  Gabriel slipped the key into the ignition and turned it, but the engine just groaned.

  “What the?” he said.

  He tried again, and the same thing happened. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel in anger.

  “Son of a bitch siphoned our gas!” he yelled.

  “Does that mean we’re stuck here?” Mary Beth asked.

  “I’ve got about a gallon in this can back here,” Will said. “We can’t stay here. For all we know, whoever stole Gabriel’s jacket and the fuel could have left to go get friends. If that’s the case, we don’t wanna be here when they get back.”

  “What about the tenant’s SUV?” Holly asked.

  Will shook his head. “That gate is far too strong. We’d do more damage to the vehicle than it’s worth, especially considering it has almost no gas.”

  Will passed the can up to Gabriel via Holly, and Gabriel stepped outside to feed the tank with the remains of their fuel.

  “What happens if we leave and then don’t find any gas?” Dylan asked.

  Holly looked at the boy, not sure what to say. And when she
looked back to Will, all he could do was shake his head.

  He knew that not finding gas wasn’t an option.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The sky was overcast, looking as if it might open up at any moment and bring forth a storm. They’d only driven a few miles down the road, but had yet to come across much resistance in the form of either piled cars or stray Empties.

  Successive gasps for air sounded from the middle row of seats. Bodies shuffled, and an aura of panic hung in the air.

  “Pull over,” Jessica said, glancing over to Gabriel from the seat beside him.

  “What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked.

  “Stop the car!” Holly demanded.

  Gabriel cut the wheel, and before the mini-van had come to a complete halt, Holly threw open the sliding panel door on the passenger side.

  “Come on, sweetie,” Holly said.

  Gabriel looked back to see Holly and Dylan assisting Mary Beth with getting out of the vehicle. Jessica opened her door and jumped out, slamming it behind her. Will slid over the middle row of seats to join them outside.

  Gabriel opened the door and stepped onto the highway. He scanned the area, realizing they appeared to be the only sign of life around on this desolate stretch of North Carolina freeway. They’d be okay to stop here for now.

  He walked around the side of the van, where Jessica, Will, and Dylan stood in a semi-circle. Holly sat on the ground, her arm wrapped around Mary Beth.

  “She okay?” Gabriel asked.

  “She’s having some kind of panic attack,” Jessica said. “Probably stress. She’s starting to calm down, though.”

  Mary Beth had her head nestled into Holly’s chest as Holly rocked back and forth, and continuously said, “Shh, it’s okay.”

  “Let’s just give them a few minutes,” Will suggested. He put his hand on Dylan’s shoulder, and led him to the other side of the van. His face blush with concern, Dylan turned back and kept his eyes on Mary Beth as Will urged him away.