But David just turned around and headed for the house, leaving the girl behind, screaming for him to help her. While he knew he’d already punched his ticket to Hell over the last few days with the things he’d done, even he wasn’t cold enough to kill a child. He thought back to his teenage years and how his own father had abused him, his mother, and his little brother. There were a lot of things he could tolerate, but hurting a child wasn’t one of them.
“Pussy!” Clint spat at him.
But David just continued to walk toward the house, his head down, trying to ignore the screaming girl behind him.
He reached the patio and the two boys were still in the rocking chairs, swaying back and forth and chewing on gum, or perhaps even tobacco, he thought, as backward as these people were. They stared at him through the posts in the guardrail, then he walked up the creaking steps. He tried to ignore them, but he could see them glaring at him from the corner of his eye.
Creepy fuckin’ kids.
David took one last look out into the yard. Though he was a good distance away, the girl’s screaming sounded as if it were almost right in front of him, its high shriek piercing through the cloudy sky. Danny was waving his arms, attracting the Empty ever so closer to the table. David turned back around, pushed open the door, and headed inside.
Chapter 17
Jessica
“You sure that’s the place?” Gabriel asked.
Jessica turned to face him from the front seat. “I-I think so.”
“That doesn’t sound like such a sure answer,” Holly sneered.
Jessica ignored her, and Will chimed in.
“We followed the directions. There’s only one way to find out, I suppose.”
Jessica took a deep breath and nodded as Will put his hand on her shoulder.
“You sure you wanna do this?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said with confidence.
“We’ll be right behind you. I promise.”
Gabriel stepped out of the back seat, then coming to Jessica’s door and opening it for her to get out. She thanked him and hugged him.
“You got this,” Gabriel said. He jumped into the passenger seat.
Knowing they had to be close to the farmhouse where they’d find Dylan, they’d parked the truck off the side of the road. Jessica turned away from the truck and started walking away.
She wore a backpack over her good shoulder to make her look more like a drifter. Even though she didn’t really need it, she wore the sling on her injured arm. Will figured this might make her appear more innocent to strangers, and like someone who was in desperate need of help.
The ground sloped off the shoulder into a ditch, and the tall brush blocked the view of the land beyond. While she didn’t know exactly which one of these houses was the one, she had a strange feeling she’d know it when she saw it.
Jessica passed the first driveway and looked through the break in the brush to see the remains of a home. It had been burned down and, by the looks of it, the accident had happened within the past week. Some of the white structure of the front of the house still stood, though most of the remains had been scarred black. Jessica turned back to the road and continued on.
Through a break in the brush, she was able to look into the vast front yard of the next home. She slowed down when she was sure she saw people outside. Jessica walked through the shallow ditch and kneeled down in front of the brush. She peeked through a gap and saw a few people gathered around a table. A large man held some kind of stick and moved like he was fighting something, but a small shack blocked most of her view. She looked back to the truck and gave the group a thumbs up, signaling she was pretty sure this was the place.
She made her way back onto the road and headed for the driveway. As she approached it, she saw the sign next to the mailbox that read “Hopkins Farm”, confirming this was the place that the man had given direction to over the radio. The driveway was a curved dirt path leading up toward the house. A large bush stood about halfway up, blocking her view of the front of the home, as well as the space where the people stood in the yard.
As she approached the bush, a foul smell hit her nostrils and she noticed flies buzzing around the tall grass that surrounded it. She covered her mouth and wretched, seeing a collection of rotted bodies under the large bush.
Once she passed this bush, she knew she’d be in full-view of the people standing outside. She closed her eyes, then stepped into the open.
When Jessica stepped around the corner, though, she couldn’t believe what she saw.
She now had a clear view of what the large man with the pole was wrestling with. It was an Empty. Her mouth agape, her gaze focused on a table under a tree. A man stood beside it, while another kneeled next to it. On top of the table, a figure with long hair struggled. The person looked like they were bound to the table unwillingly.
What’s going on here?
One of the men standing by the table looked over toward Jessica and moved around it. She raised her good arm to show him that she was harmless.
“Stop right there!” the man called out.
Jessica froze.
“What the hell you doin’ on my land?”
“I’m just a drifter,” Jessica lied. “I’ve been out here on my own a couple of days. I just saw you people and was hoping I could get some help. My shoulder is hurt and I haven’t eaten in a couple of days. Please, could you help me?”
The man looked around. “Do I look like someone who wants to help you? Get the fuck outta here!”
Pushing her luck, Jessica took a couple of steps forward. “Please, I won’t stay long.”
Then she heard the girl on the table scream, “Help me!” She sounded like a child.
“What’s going on here?” Jessica asked.
The man reached around to the back of his pants and brought it out with a gun. He pointed it toward her and she heard the first shot go off, then ricochet off the ground nearby. Jessica stumbled back, falling onto the ground as another shot went off. She hurried to her feet and dove behind the brush. Forgetting about the dead bodies, she went to the ground next to them, and then turned and threw up.
Two more gunshots rang out, and then she heard the roaring engine of the truck behind her.
Will
The first gunshot had been hard to distinguish, but the ones that followed confirmed that Jessica was probably in trouble.
“Go! Go!” Gabriel yelled.
Will hung his head out the window and shouted, “Hang on!” to Marcus, who sat in the bed of the truck. In the back seat, Sarah cried and Holly cocked a pistol. Will punched the gas, the tires screeching on the asphalt, and raced toward the driveway.
He made the left turn onto the dirt path, barely slowing down and kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. Jessica was lying behind a bush, and he thought of stopping for her, but she waved him on and yelled, “Keep going!”
The truck reached the other side of the large bush and they found themselves out in the open. The long driveway led all the way up to an old barn, which sat near a large farmhouse. Just off the side of the path, he saw the small group of people standing around a table. They all looked toward him.
Then he saw something strange that made him stop the truck.
“Why did you stop?” Holly demanded.
He pointed toward the group and said to the passengers, “What the fuck is going on here?”
A girl screamed on the table. Nearby, a large man had an Empty trapped at the end of an animal control pole. The two groups just stared at each other. Will watched one of the men reach into his pocket and stuff something into the mouth of the girl on the table. Then he knelt behind the table, using the girl as a shield.
“What the fuck you doin’ on my property?” the man shouted.
“We have reason to believe you may have someone we’re looking for,” Will replied.
“And what goddamn reason is that?”
“Did you kidnap a child? Dylan is his name.”
The man laughed. “You’ve got to be fuckin’ shittin’ me. Y’all the ones that killed Trent and Cody?”
“We didn’t kill them. You got duped into thinking so.” Will swallowed. “Is David here, too?”
The man ignored the question. “Boy, if you don’t get the fuck off my property right now, I guarantee you’re going to regret it.”
Will looked over to Gabriel, whose expression had turned cold.
“We aren’t leaving,” Gabriel said.
Will’s sweaty palms gripped the steering wheel. He could feel his heart beating against his ribcage.
“Look, just give us the boy and let the girl on the table go. No one has to get hurt.”
“No one gets hurt? That depends on you! Tell you what… you’ve got to the count of three to turn that piece of shit around and get the fuck off my land! If you don’t, I can promise you some folk ‘bout to get hurt!” the man threatened.
Will could feel all the eyes in the truck on him, awaiting his next move.
“One!”
He glanced into the mirror again and saw that Sarah was crying, the young nurse scared out of her mind. Holly’s face was much more determined. Dylan had become like a much younger brother to her, and she wanted to get him back almost as much as Gabriel did.
“Two!”
Marcus remained in the bed of the truck, gun ready. But it was another look at Gabriel’s face that confirmed Will’s decision. It was a coldness Will hadn’t seen in his friend. Dylan was here, and Gabriel was going to get him back no matter what. Then, a thought brought with it a chill. It was almost as if Will could feel that David was near. His eyes narrowed, and he turned his hand over and over again on the wheel.
“Three!”
David
By the time the first gunshot went off, David had made it halfway up the stairs. He turned around and shuffled back down to the first floor, hurrying to the front window. A truck raced toward the picnic table and his so-called associates. He’d started to reach for the door when he recognized one of the men in the back of the truck.
Marcus.
“Oh, shit.”
David checked his waist to make sure he still had the Glock and the knife. Both were there, securely affixed to his side. The gunshots had attracted Cindy to the window and she now stood beside him.
“Son of a bitch,” Cindy said.
The two girls who’d been sitting on the sofa watching television all morning had been unmoved from the gunshots outside. The front door opened and the two boys entered from the porch.
“Get to your fuckin’ room,” Cindy said to the two girls and the boys. “And lock the door. Don’t let no one in, you hear me?” The kids hurried up the stairs. Cindy then looked over to David. “Wait here.”
The woman hurried into a room on the other side of the living area. When she reappeared, she had a rifle over her shoulder and was checking to make sure a pistol in her hand was loaded.
“Go around back and head for the barn,” David said. “You might be able to flank ‘em if you go that way. I’ll take the front.”
The gap in the woman’s teeth showed and she nodded. “Good idea.”
She ran through the kitchen toward the back door. Before she fell out of sight, Cindy turned around and wished David luck. He acknowledged her with a nod, and then she disappeared.
David waited until he heard the back door open and close, and then instead of racing out the front door to help defend the farm, he turned and darted up the stairs.
Opening the various doors, he started to check the rooms. The first two he opened were vacant. Upon opening the third door, he came across the two girls who’d been looking out the window with him just moments earlier. They each sat staring at him from the edges of their respective beds. Without saying a word, he closed the door and tried the next room.
When he went to turn the knob to the next door, it was locked, and he noticed it was dead-bolted from the outside. He unlocked the door, swung it open, and found who he was looking for.
Dylan, the young child who’d been with Will and Marcus’ group, lay on the bed, curled up and covering his ears. When he heard the door open, he sat up and stared at David.
“What’s going on out there?” Dylan asked. “What do you want?”
Without a word, David hurried over and grabbed the boy.
“Stop! Leave me alone!” Dylan shouted, pounding his fists against David.
David sat the boy up straight on the bed. With one hand, he grasped Dylan’s collar. With the other, he brought the cold barrel of the gun up to the child’s nose.
“Listen to me. You’re gonna shut your little fuckin’ mouth and come with me, you got that? And if I hear one more peep outta you, I’m gonna clock you over the side of the head with this. Hell, I might just shoot you.”
The boy’s mouth fell open, and David could see from his expression that he understood. He grabbed the child by the wrist and dragged him out of the room.
Upon exiting, he headed for the stairs, pulling Dylan behind him. Just as he approached the top of the staircase, the front door swung open. David moved into a nearby doorway and covered the young boy’s mouth before he could call out. He looked around the corner and down the stairs, and flashed a small grin when he saw who’d entered the house.
Chapter 18
Gabriel
“Give me some cover,” Gabriel said.
At his request, Will had pulled up to the front of the house so Gabriel could run inside and search for Dylan. In the bed of the truck, Marcus had ducked down, exchanging fire with the men on the other side of the yard.
Will readied a rifle and Marcus did the same in the bed of the truck, preparing to provide cover for Gabriel to run inside the house. In the back seat, Holly worked to try and calm Sarah down.
“Go!” Will shouted.
Gabriel swung open the door of the truck as Will and Marcus fired. He looked toward the door and made a run for it. Shots ricocheted off one of the beams that held up the patio, chipping away a chunk of the painted white wood. He reached the front door and found cover.
He knelt down by the door as Will turned the truck around, gunshots continuing to ping off the side of it, and headed toward the middle of the yard.
Gabriel opened the front door.
Just inside the house, he saw that the bottom floor appeared to be empty. To his left, Gabriel saw an old dining room table and a kitchen with dirty dishes stacked as tall as him sitting in the sink. In the other direction, an old beat-up couch sat in front of an old tube television. Directly in front of him was a set of stairs.
Gabriel stood in front of the staircase, unsure whether to check the top or the bottom level of the house. Gunshots rang outside, urging him to make a decision.
He took a deep breath and mounted the first step. The faded wooden stairs creaked as he walked, showing their age. He moved carefully, trying to mute his steps, but it was of no use.
Once he reached the top of the stairs, Gabriel took a moment to scan the long, slender hallway. Doors were set into either wall, each one closed. The floor was made up of more of the same old, wood paneling, photos on the wall looking like they hadn’t been dusted in years. He held the pistol up in front of his face, ready to fire at any threat he came across.
He opened the door nearest him and moved through the entrance quickly, his finger itching the trigger. Though the room look to have been occupied recently, with blankets and sheets a mess on the bed and clothes tossed on the floor next to it, the room was vacant.
Gabriel moved to the next room, opening the door to reveal an empty bathroom.
His heart raced, knowing that at any moment he could open one of the doors and be face to face with someone ready to hurt him. On the flip side, he could find Dylan, who he knew had to be in the house somewhere. He was tempted to call to him.
The game that was becoming a kind of Russian roulette continued when he opened the next door. Gabriel peeked inside to see two teenage girls sitting
on the edge of two beds. They wore identical outfits, each with the same stoic expression across their faces. Neither girl even flinched when Gabriel entered.
He started to speak, but one of the girls slowly raised her arm and pointed out into the hallway.
He moved to the side and turned around to see a door. When he looked back to the young girl, she still pointed out to the hallway, directly at the same door.
“Is there a boy in there?” he asked.
Neither girl responded, but the other girl now lifted up her arm and pointed to the same place.
Gabriel turned out of the room and moved across the hallway. He reached for the handle, turned it, and pulled. His eyes widened.
“Dylan.”
The boy sat on the floor of a small linen closet, not making a noise. He wasn’t tied up or gagged, so Gabriel assumed he had been hiding.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
Just as Gabriel leaned down to pick the boy up, the floor creaked and he heard a forceful grunt. He turned just in time to see David Ellis lunging at him with a knife. Gabriel dodged, avoiding most the blow, but the knife still grazed his shoulder blade, ripping his shirt and cutting him so that he grimaced.
David struck again, leaving Gabriel no time to tend to his wound. This time, Gabriel managed to roll out of the way, causing David to miss all together. But in the process, Gabriel’s gun fell from his waist, sliding into the open room with the two young girls.
When he got to his feet, he stood less than ten feet away from David. Gabriel had no weapon left, while David tossed his knife from hand to hand. Looking to David’s belt, Gabriel noticed that the man also carried a handgun.
“I’m gonna enjoy butchering you,” David said.
Gabriel fought for each breath. His back was to the dead end of the hall, and he was looking toward the stairs beyond David. Behind him were rooms he’d yet to check, and for all he knew, there could be others waiting in there, and he’d be surrounded. David lunged toward him, and when Gabriel gasped and jumped back, David laughed.
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 42