“They’re here, Samantha,” Timothy called out.
“All right, be right there.”
“Do you know if Gabriel and Jessica will be joining us?” Timothy asked.
“Not really sure,” Will said.
“All right, well, we’re cooking plenty. So if they decide not to come, we can give you plates to take to them. Let’s go ahead and sit down.”
The couple had set up a smaller table for the kids to sit at across the room from the main table. They had laid two coloring books and some old, worn crayons on the table next to silverware and napkins. The kids’ eyes lit up as they sat down at the table and tore into the books.
“Maureen found those and figured we could use them for occasions like this,” Timothy said, speaking of the woman who had housed them the first time they’d shown up with Dylan and his amputated arm.
“Looks like they’re pretty happy,” Holly said, smiling.
Timothy put his hand on her good shoulder. “How’re you feeling?”
“So much better,” Holly said. “I think that sleep did a lot of good for me.”
“Very good.”
“I never really got the chance to thank you for helping me,” Holly said. “I can’t tell you how much you’ve done for me, and for our group.”
“No need to thank me,” Timothy said. “We’re all about helping the good people still left in the world.”
Samantha appeared from the kitchen then, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and three appropriate glasses in the other.
“Hope y’all drink,” she said, smiling.
“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said, rubbing his hands together.
She put the glasses down and popped the cork on the bottle, allowing the wine to breathe for a few moments.
“It’s a 2014 Murphy Goode,” Samantha said. “Not the greatest wine, but I’m not gonna be one to be picky nowadays, right?”
“Always been more of a beer drinker myself,” Will said. “But that smells glorious.”
Samantha poured wine into the three glasses, then left the bottle open on the middle of the table. “We’ve got another bottle we can open, so there’ll be plenty for everyone to have at least a glass. Don’t think we’ll be getting drunk, but it should still be good to get a taste. Dinner’ll be ready in just a bit. I’m making beans and rice, and I picked some fresh potatoes and lettuce from the garden.”
“Sounds delicious,” Holly said. “Thank you.”
Samantha retreated to the kitchen, and Will took the first sip of his wine. He wasn’t used to the dry taste of red wine, but found himself enjoying it. Not sure of how often he’d be able to drink alcohol anymore, he wasn’t going to be picky, just as Samantha had said.
Not long after they’d popped the cork on the wine bottle, a knock came at the door.
“I’ll get that,” Timothy said, standing up.
He walked through the dining room, into the foyer, and opened the front door.
“Jessica, so very nice to see you,” Timothy said.
Will turned just as she stepped into the foyer. She had on a blue cotton dress with a white sweater on top to keep her warm. Her hair was pulled back, showcasing her bright eyes and radiant face. Will had forgotten how beautiful she was and smiled when he saw her, feeling a little underdressed.
“You didn’t have to go and get all dressed up for us now,” Timothy said. “But you look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Jessica said. “The lady next door brought me over some clothes I could wear, so I figured I would dress up a little bit. Don’t get to do that much these days.” She gave a little smile, which Will could tell was forced. It gave him the sense that she didn’t really want to be there.
Jessica walked into the dining room, first going over to greet the kids. She gave each of them a hug and chatted with them for a moment before allowing them to get back to their coloring books and making her way over to the adult dinner table. Holly sat on one side of Will, but there was an empty seat on his other side. He thought to invite her to sit there, then decided against it. If she wanted to, she would, but he wouldn’t force the matter.
She opted for the seat across from Holly instead, next to Charlie.
After she sat down, she looked to Holly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Very good, thank you. There’s a little bit of discomfort, but I feel pretty good, all things considered.”
“That’s good.”
Timothy picked up the bottle of wine and offered to pour Jessica a glass.
“No, thank you,” she said.
“You sure?”
“Never been much of a drinker.”
“How about you?” Holly asked Jessica. “How’re you doing?”
“I’m fine.” The way she said it further showed Will that Jessica was uncomfortable for some reason.
“Good,” Holly said.
Samantha entered the room again, this time with covered dishes balanced on each arm. The smell of fresh vegetables and spices hit Will’s nostrils immediately and their host smiled as she laid the dishes down on the table.
“Should we wait on Gabriel?” Charlie asked.
“He’s not coming,” Jessica said.
Will looked to Timothy. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, it’s no worries,” Timothy said. “If he just wants to rest, I completely understand. As I said before, you’re welcome to take him some food.”
“Honey, say the blessing so these folks can eat,” Samantha prodded him.
“All right,” Timothy said. “Everyone, please bow your heads.”
It had been years since Will had sat at a dinner table where someone had blessed the food. But after the experiences he’d been through, having died and been brought back to life, he figured a little prayer wouldn’t hurt.
“Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for our friends, Will, Holly, Jessica, Charlie, Dylan, Mary Beth, and Gabriel. We pray that you be with them and offer them strength. Lord, we pray that you’ve blessed Gabriel’s family with life and that he makes it to them safely. Now, please bless this food to nourish our bodies, which are for your service, Lord. We pray to you. Amen.”
Everyone else at the table said “Amen” in unison, and Samantha lifted the lids off the pots. Steam rose from the potatoes along with the smell of rosemary. Will’s stomach growled as the smell hit his nostrils.
“Dig in, everyone,” Timothy said.
The ladies went first, and as Will was collecting his share of potatoes, lettuce, rice, and beans, he said, “This looks and smells delicious, Samantha. Thank you so much.”
She just smiled and retreated into the kitchen.
“She loves cooking for others,” Timothy said.
Samantha returned with another bottle of wine, popped the cork, and poured a glass for herself and one for her husband. Then she sat down and fixed herself a plate.
Will took the first bite of the potatoes and closed his eyes as he chewed, the rosemary spice hitting his tongue.
“This is so good,” Charlie said.
“Thank you,” Samantha said. “We’ve only got a few more weeks of the garden, I’m afraid. Then it’ll be mostly canned goods until Spring.”
They enjoyed their dinner, not speaking much. The kids did equal amounts coloring and eating. Then Timothy spoke.
“So, now that Holly is feeling better, what’s the plan?” he asked.
“That was something I’d hope to talk to you about,” Will said. “I know you wanted me to speak to the others in the community about the Empties. I still intend on doing that before I leave, but we just need to figure out when.”
“I was hoping we could possibly have a community meeting tomorrow evening.”
Will passed glances with Holly, Jessica, and Charlie. Then he said to Timothy, “I’m not really sure we were planning on staying all day tomorrow. Holly is feeling well enough to travel, and I know that Gabriel is ready to leave. If he’d had it his way, we’d have never stopped here.�
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“Well, it’s a good thing you did, because she might have gained an infection,” Samantha said.
Will sighed and said, “I know. But it’s crucial that we get to Alexandria.”
“Well,” Timothy said, “I hate to even ask this, but I was hoping that we could get one more favor from you first.”
Will swallowed, knowing he was about to be put into a position that he didn’t want to be in. An uncomfortable dilemma where he’d have to make a choice that would make someone unhappy. He could feel it coming.
“We need to make another supply run,” Timothy said.
Will felt his throat go dry, and not from the wine.
“And look, I know that you guys are trying to leave,” Timothy continued. “But you’ve got so much more experience out there than we do.”
“Right, and you know how we got that experience?” Holly asked. “By being out there. How do you ever expect your people to get good at surviving in this new world if you keep sending others out there to do your deeds for you?”
Will placed his hand on her arm. “Holly, calm down.”
She looked to him. “I’m tired of you always being the one having to go out and do this shit. Do you know how hard it is for me every time you leave on one of these little adventures without me?”
Will sighed. “Holly, these people helped you.”
She wiped her mouth and stood up. “You wanna go? Fine, go.” She turned.
Will tried to grab her arm, but she moved out of reach too quickly.
“Holly, wait.”
But she was already out the front door.
“I’m really sorry,” Will said, looking to Timothy and Samantha.
“It’s completely understandable,” Samantha said. “Go talk to her if you need to.”
“No, she’s best if I just let her cool off.”
“What if I just go?” Charlie said.
“Won’t make a difference,” Will said. “Sure, it’ll appease Holly. But it’ll still delay us from leaving. Gabriel isn’t going to be happy about this either. Probably be more upset than Holly was.”
Charlie said, “Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk to you guys about.”
Will narrowed his eyes, giving Charlie a quizzical look.
Charlie cleared his throat. “I’m not going with you guys when you leave.”
“What? Why not?”
“You’re not coming with us?” Dylan asked, looking up from the small table.
“I’m not made to be running like this,” Charlie said. “At the campground, we had it made. I would go out on those runs to the home improvement store, but that was it. We were safe. You know how much better it felt to be somewhere you could feel that way? Like you were immune to all the danger out there?”
“But you weren’t,” Will said. “Remember what happened? If you had been there, you might’ve gone down with everyone else.”
“I’m really sorry,” Charlie said. “But I feel like my place is here with these people.”
Will sighed again. “Well, I can’t stop you from making the decision. And I can’t say that I really blame you.” He looked to Timothy and Samantha. “These are really good people here, and they’ll be getting a very strong addition to their community.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said.
“We’re really going to enjoy having him around,” Timothy said. “And we’ll be sad to see you guys go. But I understand if you can’t help us out one last time tomorrow.”
“You brought us into your community and helped us twice, without question,” Will said. “Without you, Holly might have died, and—”
He cut his words off, looking over to Dylan coloring. Will knew everyone understood what he would say and that he had no need to finish the sentence.
“I’ll go,” Will said. “It won’t be that big of a deal for us to stay an extra day. And tomorrow night you can get everyone together and I’ll tell them about what happened to me.”
Timothy nodded. “I really appreciate you agreeing to that.”
“You need to send people with me who you want to make runs in the future. Charlie will be able to help train them as well, but they should go out with us this time.”
“Agreed,” Samantha said.
“But after tomorrow night, we leave.”
“Understood,” Timothy said.
Will realized suddenly how silent Jessica had been, through all that conversation. She sat across the table, still picking at her food. Everyone else had finished, but she had taken her time with eating.
“You’ve been really quiet,” Will said to her. “You need to be in on these decisions, too.”
She looked up at him with a discouraged scowl. “It seems like you’ve already made your choice.” Then, like Holly, she stood up and left.
Will leaned back in his chair and blew out a deep breath as he heard the front door open, then slam shut.
“Look,” Timothy said, “we really don’t—”
“It’s fine,” Will said. “Really. It’s one extra day.”
He kept on telling himself it was only one extra day, and then trying to figure out how he was going to sell that to Gabriel.
Chapter 6
Jessica had made three trips down the road and around the cul-de-sac when she finally stopped in front of the house she and Gabriel were staying in. She thought to do another lap, the cool autumn breeze feeling good on her skin, but decided not to. She had been in her own thoughts for long enough, and wanted to talk to the only other person there who knew how she was feeling.
The people who lived in the house, a couple in their 30s, looked back from the living room when she entered. Jessica had only talked to them once, and wasn’t sure she remembered their names. She thought the man was Steve, the woman Teresa. They had a 10-year-old son, and his name was definitely Caleb; Dylan and Mary Beth had spent some time that day playing with him when Jessica had been watching over the children.
“Good evening,” Steve said when she entered.
“Hi,” Jessica offered back lamely.
“Can we get you anything?” Teresa asked.
“No, thank you,” Jessica said. “I’m just going to head upstairs.”
At the top of the stairs, she headed right down the hallway. There were two bedrooms, separated by a bathroom. A door on the other end of the hall led into a closet. Jessica put her ear to Gabriel’s door. It was quiet inside. Knowing he’d hardly slept and that it was still early in the evening, she knocked.
No response.
“Hey, it’s Jess—”
The door opened, and by the time she could see Gabriel, he had already turned his back and headed to the bed. He sat down on the edge of it and averted his eyes from her. Jessica shut the door behind her and went to the chair in the corner of the room.
There was silence for several moments. Jessica focused on the crickets chirping outside the window. She could hear Gabriel breathe. Then he spoke.
“How was dinner?”
“The food was good,” Jessica said. “They saved you some, but I left before I could grab it for you.”
“That’s all right. I’m not really that hungry. Was everyone else there?”
Jessica nodded.
“Even Holly?”
“Yeah, she was there.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s good,” Jessica said. “I didn’t really talk to her. She seemed like she was in a little bit of pain. But she was doing all right.”
“Good,” Gabriel said. “Hopefully, she’ll be ready to leave by tomorrow.”
Jessica sighed and leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. “About that.”
Gabriel looked up, narrowing his eyes. “What about it?”
Jessica went into the conversation they’d had over dinner. How Timothy had asked Will to go on another run, and how Will had made the decision to say yes without even talking to the others.
When she was finished, Gabriel was silent. He stared at the dr
esser sitting across from him. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet and knocked everything off of the top of it. Pictures and other random things fell to the ground, and Gabriel’s face went red. Jessica remained seated, gripping the arms of her chair tight.
“Fuck this,” Gabriel said. He went back to the bed and started to gather his clothes and his few other possessions into his bag.
“What are you doing?” Jessica asked, rising out of the chair.
“I’m leaving,” Gabriel said. “I’m tired of this shit and I’ve gotta get to my family.”
“Are you nuts?” Jessica said. “You can’t leave.”
“I can, and I will.”
“You’re not going out there at night. And you shouldn’t be traveling alone at all anyway, even in the daytime.”
He continued packing without responding, and when he was finished, he headed for the door. Jessica stood in his way, putting her hand out and grabbing his shoulder.
“Get out of my way, Jessica.”
“No. I’m not letting you leave.”
“You’re not going to stop me.”
“Look, if you want to leave, fine. I get it. But before you go bolting out of here and doing something stupid, I want you to lie down in that bed and think about it. Give it an hour; if you’re still pissed and wanna leave then, I won’t stop you.”
He just stared at her, breathing heavy with his face scrunched up in anger.
“Please,” Jessica said.
“One hour,” Gabriel said. “I’ll lie in here, and when I’m ready to go, you’re not going to stop me.”
“Absolutely not,” Jessica said.
He turned around, dropping his bag on the floor. He took off his shoes and lay back down in the bed, eyes wide and facing the ceiling. Jessica returned to the chair in the corner of the room.
He’ll think better of it, Jessica thought. He has to.
And he did, as the hour mark passed and he never left.
Chapter 7
After breakfast, Will made his way over to the house where Jessica and Gabriel were staying. Holly had already been asleep in their bed by the time he’d gotten back to their house the night before, but he’d hardly slept—not after the fuss at the dinner table. And she had still been asleep when he’d gotten out of bed that morning to go have a bowl of cereal, not feeling sure if she was still upset with him or not.
Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 89