Empty Bodies Box Set | Books 1-6 Read online

Gabriel approached the boy and knelt down. He reached out to comfort him.

  “Dylan, it’s Gab…”

  The boy panicked, waving his arms and bringing the pistol up in front of his face. Gabriel reacted before Dylan pulled the trigger and the bullet went just over his shoulder.

  “Whoa,” Gabriel said, reaching out and snatching the gun from the boy’s grasp.

  Dylan broke out into tears, jumped to his feet, and embraced Gabriel’s neck.

  “I’m so sorry. I had to. I had to kill him,” Dylan said.

  Gabriel ran his hand up and down the boy’s back, sending autumn leaves back to the forest floor.

  “It’s okay,” Gabriel said. He put his hands on the boy’s shoulder and pushed him away to where he could look him in the eyes. “Why didn’t you run back to the plane like I asked?”

  Dylan wiped his eyes and shook his head. Sniffling, he said, “I couldn’t. My legs locked up and I fell down right here. He lunged at me and I had no choice.”

  Gabriel rubbed the boy’s head, running his fingers through his hair as he would to comfort his own child.

  Behind them, they heard the faint howls of the approaching herd.

  He put his hands on Dylan’s cold cheeks. “Can you move your legs now?”

  Dylan nodded.

  “Good. Come on.”

  The sun was completely hidden, leaving Gabriel and Dylan in the dark among the dead. They came out of the trees and heard the horde to their left, getting closer. For a moment, they came to a stop while Gabriel thought of their next move. Most of the tall light posts in the parking lot still worked, powering up at their usual, automated time. Gabriel used the light to scan the parking lot and, to his right at the edge of the lot, he saw a large SUV.

  “Come on,” Gabriel told Dylan, and they ran away from the horde, towards the SUV.

  The door on the truck had been left open by the driver, but no body was in sight. Gabriel opened the back door and threw the two bags and the rifle onto the back seat. He looked to Dylan.

  “Get in the back.”

  The boy did as he was told, using the step on the side of the truck to elevate himself onto the leather back seat.

  Gabriel jumped into the driver’s seat and checked the ignition for keys that weren’t there. Then, like every movie he had ever seen, he checked under the sun visor and in the glove compartment for a spare. Nothing.

  “Hurry! They’re coming!” Dylan yelled.

  And he was right. The congregation of the dead was limping their way closer and closer to the truck, gathered like the runners of a marathon.

  Before Gabriel shut the glove box, he felt something made of steel and pulled it out. He smiled as he clicked on the flashlight with a turn of the head, realizing the mistake he’d made in not picking one up while in the sporting goods store. He considered himself lucky for having found one and handed the light back to Dylan.

  “I need you to lean up here and shine this light under the steering wheel. And I need you to hold it steady. Can you do that for me?”

  Dylan nodded.

  Gabriel got out of the truck and knelt down, reaching under the wheel and busting open a compartment full of wiring.

  “Do you know what you are doing?” Dylan asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Gabriel lied. Jimmy, his brother-in-law, who’d taught him how to shoot, had shown him how to hot wire a car once, just because he knew how to do it and wanted to brag about it to his visiting in-laws. It was the last thing Gabriel ever thought he would have been thankful for, until now.

  Now, Gabriel split the wires and began to run them together, trying to create a spark that would start the truck. Nothing happened.

  “Hurry,” Dylan shouted.

  The undead were only about fifty yards away now, using their cannibalistic sense to follow the trail of the man and the boy.

  “Fuck! Come on,” Gabriel mumbled to himself.

  He ran the copper innards of two of the wires together and heard a bolt. A small spark came off the wires and he heard the motor begin to rumble.

  “Come on!”

  The engine turned over.

  “Yes!” Gabriel shouted.

  He looked up and saw a wide-eyed Dylan pointing behind him.

  “Look out!”

  Gabriel turned and saw it lunging at him. It was his instinct that pulled the knife from its sheath and thrusted it up through the creature’s throat and through its head. The others had almost reached the truck, and Gabriel withdrew the knife, turned, and jumped into the driver’s seat before slamming the door behind him.

  He threw the column shift into Drive and floored the gas pedal, sending the tires into a wailing screech, leaving the horde aimlessly reaching at them from their left as they sped away down one of the lanes of the parking lot.

  Five minutes later, on the open road, Gabriel pulled the truck over onto the shoulder. Every car they passed was abandoned. Either most of the population had turned, or Gabriel was the only person dumb enough to be driving around at night while the beasts lurked in the streets.

  Gabriel shut off the lights so they wouldn’t gather any attention, and looked back at Dylan.

  “You okay?”

  Dylan nodded. “I’m hungry. Did you find me something to eat?”

  Gabriel shook his head.

  The boy sighed, looking down to his hands as they moved to his stomach. Gabriel’s own stomach screamed at him, but nothing hurt him more than seeing the scared, innocent child aching with hunger.

  Gabriel looked down and noticed a bottle of water three-quarters full in one of the cup holders. His first instinct was to grab it and squeeze the plastic bottle dry. But the boy needed it more than he did. He took the bottle and handed it back to Dylan.

  “Drink this,” he said. “We can’t get food right now, but you need to at least drink some water.”

  Dylan accepted the bottle, smacking his dry lips. He unscrewed the cap, tossed it to the side, and began to drink the water as fast as he could, squeezing the plastic bottle in his small hand. Because of the mild temperature outside, the water was still cool, and comforted his throat on the way down.

  When more than half of the contents was gone, Dylan looked to Gabriel, who was watching him.

  “Drink up,” Gabriel said.

  Dylan looked at the bottle and then extended his arm, offering the rest of the water to Gabriel.

  Gabriel shook his head. “You drink it.”

  “I’m fine. You need to have some, too,” Dylan replied.

  A smile grew on Gabriel’s face. He accepted the water, pressing the mouth of the bottle to his lips, and feeling the water wet his tongue and slide down his throat, which had a slight sting in it from the shock of hydration. He gasped as he took the last drop of water from the bottle and looked to Dylan.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Dylan smiled. He turned the cab light on above them, and reached for the bags.

  “What’s in here?” the boy asked.

  Gabriel reached back between the front seats and grabbed Dylan’s arm.

  “Whoa, whoa. Hold on there, champ.”

  Ducking his head, Gabriel crawled between the front seats and joined Dylan in the backseat. He opened the bags and pulled out the clothes he’d gotten for Dylan.

  “Hope these fit.”

  Dylan’s eyes lit up like he’d woken up on Christmas morning and seen the bike he had been asking Santa about for months. The clothes on his back were sticking to him from all the sweat and dirt, and he was beyond thankful for the new digs. He gave Gabriel a hug.

  “Thank you.”

  Gabriel smiled. He was happy to see at least a little joy in Dylan’s face, imagining that the boy had to be missing his parents dearly. It made him think of Sarah. She was likely missing him just as much as he missed her. He wanted to think that his wife and daughter were alive, so, in his mind, he knew they were.

  “We should try the radio,” Dylan said.

  It was a great idea, one that Gab
riel should have thought of sooner, but his mind had been so focused on getting the boy away from danger.

  Gabriel leaned into the front seat and pushed the volume knob, feeling the click on the tip of his finger as the radio powered on.

  Static buzzed through the speakers as Gabriel pressed the Seek button.

  The radio found a signal and stopped on 94.7.

  “Turn it up,” Dylan said.

  Gabriel turned the knob.

  This is the Emergency Broadcast System with an urgent message. The state of Tennessee has issued a house arrest for all residents until further notice. Please be advised that no one is allowed outside until the ban is lifted. Failure to abide by these laws will result in instant prosecution. Again, do not leave your home.

  This is the Emergency Broadcast…

  Gabriel shut off the radio.

  “What are we gonna do?” Dylan asked. “I’ve never been arrested.”

  The innocence made Gabriel smile, an emotion he needed to feel after hearing the warning from the radio.

  “Well, I haven’t seen any police, have you?”

  Dylan shook his head.

  Gabriel wedged back into the front seat and reclined the chair, resting the back of his head against it.

  “Let’s get some rest,” Gabriel said. “We’ll have to wait and find food in the morning when there’s light.”

  The following morning, Gabriel was awoken by a noise so distant that he was surprised it roused him. He slowly sat up in the front seat and saw the oncoming car speeding down the road.

  His eyes widened.

  People.

  Gabriel hurried to open the door and stepped out of the truck. He stood next to the hood, waving his arms frantically in the air.

  In the back seat, Dylan began to wake and rose his head to see the oncoming car. He was too tired to be as interested in it, his tender mind not able to process what this could mean so soon after waking.

  The car wasn’t slowing down.

  “Hey! Hey!” Gabriel screamed, jumping up and down now while continuing to flail his hands.

  When the car came within fifty yards, Gabriel realized the driver wasn’t going to slow down. He dived into the driver’s seat of the SUV, pulling the door shut just before the speeding car would have taken it off its hinges.

  “Why didn’t they stop?” Dylan asked.

  Gabriel just leaned down and ran the two wires together, starting the truck.

  “Put on your seatbelt,” he told Dylan. “Now.”

  The engine turned over and Gabriel turned the wheel all the way to the left, and punched the gas flush against the floorboard, the tail of the white car a small blur in the distance.

  Chapter 17

  Will

  “Are you able to pinpoint your exact location in this building?” Will asked Marcus over the radio. He and Holly were still standing in the office at the front part of the facility.

  “The lights went out before we got back to this part of the building,” Marcus began. “All I know is that I was struggling with a couple of these things, I felt a door, and I opened it. The room is solid concrete and there are no windows. It’s some kind of storage vault or something. There is no way these things are gonna get in, but I hear them outside. Luckily, the roof of the room isn’t concrete, so I can actually get a radio signal through.”

  Will rolled his eyes, not particularly caring for the extra information. He just wanted to know where Marcus was so that they could extract him and get out of here.

  “Do you know how many of them are back there?” Will asked.

  “At least fifteen,” Marcus said. “Enough to make me about go crazy back here.”

  Will and Holly could hear the hissing and scratching through the radio while Marcus talked.

  “Alright. We are going to try and come get you. Do not radio us again unless it’s an emergency. We don’t want them to hear us. If we get to a safe spot, we will call you and check in,” Will told him.

  “Alright. Please hurry.”

  Will rolled his eyes again and looked over to Holly.

  “You ready for this?”

  Holly nodded. “I’m ready. I won’t freeze again, I promise.”

  Will took a few steps toward the door that led to the warehouse. He took the flashlight in his hand and stuck it under his arm that held the gun, putting his now free hand on the door knob.

  “Let’s do this.”

  Like the facility Will had spent the last two days in, the warehouse was in pitch black darkness, only this building didn’t have a crack in the roof to bring in at least some sunlight the way the warehouse at Element had.

  Will stepped through the door first, the little bit of light peeking through the door from the office windows allowing him to see to his immediate left and right that it was clear. He looked back to Holly and cocked his head, signaling her to follow him.

  They could see the outlines of the large metal racking in the warehouse. In the distance, the baying of the hounds, but no Empties seemed to be near them. Will pulled out the flashlight and clicked it on.

  There were boxes all over the ground. If he hadn’t turned on the flashlight, one of them would have fallen for sure, likely attracting Empties.

  “It sounds like they might all be in the back,” Will whispered. “Near the room he’s trapped in. We need to figure out the best way to get back there.”

  Holly licked her lips, the smack cutting through the silent air, and said, “Maybe if we go to the last aisle, and then walk to the back from there, we can sneak around and they won’t see us. I know the layout of this place a little bit. We should have a straight shot back there.”

  Will nodded his head, agreeing.

  They began their walk to the last aisle of the warehouse, stepping slowly so as not to make a lot of noise and attract any of the Empties. Will scanned the area in front of them with the flashlight, giving bits of hope in the utter darkness.

  Holly tripped, barely keeping herself upright and somehow holding in a scream. She let out a small yelp, but nothing loud enough to attract any of the horde.

  But when Will turned around and flashed the light on the ground where she had stumbled, it was much harder for Holly to hold in her emotion.

  He quickly shuffled over and covered her mouth, as the light moved away from the decaying body on the floor. Even though he had grown immune to seeing it, a body showing up in the beam of his flashlight had startled him.

  Holly turned away, burying her head into his shoulders. Will took the flashlight and pointed it down at the body. The head was completely detached, sitting next to the shoulder, lying flat on one of the cheeks. The face was battered and torn, and the flesh from the upper body had been skinned and eaten. From the hairstyle, he assumed that it was a man. There wasn’t much evidence left to prove otherwise.

  “We gotta keep moving,” Will told Holly.

  She moved away from him and they continued making their way to the last aisle.

  When they reached a wall, Will instinctively turned to the right and saw four Empties on the ground, gathered around something. The flashlight grabbed their attention, and they snarled as they began toward Will and Holly.

  Holly turned to run but Will stopped her, grabbing her shoulder.

  “There’s nowhere to go. We have to take them out,” he said.

  “But it will attract the others. And we aren’t even sure how many there are yet,” she replied.

  Will shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We gotta hold our ground.”

  He handed her the flashlight.

  “Shine this on them so I can see them. Just give me light and cover me.”

  Holly stood behind Will, aiming the light at the first of the four. He turned and put the rifle to his shoulder, taking aim at the Empty directly in front of him.

  The shot rang off the walls and the solid floors, sending an echo through the 40,000-square-foot concrete warehouse. The Empty body dropped to the ground, and they heard howls coming from the b
ack of the warehouse. They couldn’t be sure how many, but it sounded like a large group.

  Holly froze and the light didn’t move.

  Will turned to her.

  “Holly, I need light,” he yelled.

  She shook her head and snapped out of her trance, moving the light to the next, and then the next.

  Only missing twice, Will finished taking out the small group.

  Holly flashed the light to where the Empties had stood and saw what she thought were the remains of a stray cat, torn to pieces by the dead.

  She turned and threw up on the concrete floor. Will grabbed the flashlight from her hand and shined it down the end of the aisle, hearing the growls get closer.

  The light shone on the eyes of at least eight Empties, coming at them with outstretched arms and open jaws.

  Their noises sounded as if they were surrounding them, and he turned the light to his right to see another group coming at them.

  “Shit!” Will said.

  He grabbed Holly under the arm, turned, and ran down the other end of the aisle toward the front of the warehouse.

  It was a dead end.

  Chapter 18

  Jessica

  It was a frail shriek. One that echoed through the house and represented the crumbling heart of a broken woman. A young woman burdened with seeing what lay in front of her.

  Melissa turned from the front door and ran up the stairs. She took the right at the top and saw Jessica on her knees, weeping at the head of her parents’ bed.

  Her parents.

  Matt and Alexandra “Alex” Davies lay motionless on the bed. From where she stood, Melissa couldn’t see why, but she did see the matching red stains that flowed up the headboard and onto the wall. Above their bed was a black and white painting of a forest, and the dried blood added a dark element to the piece.

  Melissa moved closer before having to cover her mouth and turn away.

  The Davies’ each held a pistol in one of their hands while their other hands remained clasped together.