Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation (19 page)

“We’ll take these two,” Derek said. He grabbed Jessica while Lance stepped to a few women behind Jessica and gathered Claire.

“What’s so special about us?” Claire asked.

“No questions,” Lance said. He cuffed Claire’s hands while Derek did the same with Jessica’s.

They waited until the other women had been taken out of the gym, and then till a few more moments had passed.

“All right, let’s go,” Derek said.

The two men led Jessica and Claire toward the same door that the other women had been taken out through. On the other side of the door, Jessica could hear the stern voice of a man giving directions. It sounded like Stanley.

Derek pushed open the door, and Jessica focused her eyes, opening them wide.

Another group of prisoners, these all men, came walking toward the gymnasium. They wore similar garments to what the women had on; only, these were a slate gray instead of orange. Armed male guards flanked the men, and it had indeed been Stanley that she’d heard barking orders.

When Jessica saw who anchored the tail of the line, she gasped.

Thomas had one eye open, the other swollen shut. More shockingly, he rode in a wheelchair. Jessica thought back to the accident, and how Thomas must’ve been tossed around the inside of the SUV. She could only assume that he had been badly injured in the accident, or that they just didn’t have the proper medical staff present to help him.

Yet, it was much worse than she’d thought.

“Thomas?” Claire said, seeing her brother. “Oh my God!”

Thomas’ left leg was missing. Completely gone from just above the knee.

When Claire tried to run to her brother, Lance held her back.

“Stay back,” Lance demanded.

“Please, he’s my brother.”

“I don’t care if it’s Elvis Fucking Presley walking by, you’re not going near him.”

“Claire?” Thomas asked.

Crying, Claire again tried to go to Thomas. She came within just a few feet, when Lance pulled her back and backhanded her across the face.

“You son of a bitch!” Thomas said.

As soon as the words left his mouth, a guard behind Thomas clubbed him in the back of the head with the butt-end of a rifle. He slumped over in the chair.

Derek and Lance pulled the two women with haste through the cafetorium now. Claire cried, yelling her brother’s name.

This can’t be real,
 Jessica thought.
I’m in hell.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Thirty miles outside of Roanoke, Will pulled over at a gas station. They had tried to stop at the previous two exits, but had seen too many Empties loitering around. When they arrived at this one, the gas station looked like it had been closed long before The Fall. The grass had grown up around it and been left unkempt. Parts of the roof were falling apart, and the price of gas was displayed as being $1.09. But no creatures loitered around the area.

Will stopped under the shelter of the gas pumps and put the SUV in park.

“The place doesn’t look entirely empty,” Charlie said from the passenger seat. “We should take a look just in case.”

“Agreed,” Will said. “I’ll check the pumps for gas, even though I’m sure they’re long dry. Never know, though.” He looked to Holly in the back seat. Her eyes were half-open, and she had an arm around each of the children, their heads nestled into her chest as they slept. “We’ll scope it out real quick, all right?” She nodded.

Charlie picked up a shotgun off of the floorboard and he and Will exited the vehicle.

“Let me just check this pump real quick and then I can go inside with you,” Will told Charlie. He drew his knife and cut the rubber hose open.

“Damn,” he said under his breath.

“Anything?” Charlie asked.

Will shook his head. He replaced the pump and the cap, and joined Charlie at the front door of the shop. The inside was barely visible through the dust-covered windows. Will cupped his hands around the side of his head and tried to look inside anyway. He noticed some shelves and the front counter, but the place looked mostly empty. He was surprised to see all the windows in tact.

“Hard to believe no one at least tried to check this place out,” Charlie said.

“Must’ve seen the gas prices and figured it wouldn’t be worth the time.”

Will pulled on the door handle and it didn’t budge. He looked over to Charlie, glancing down at the shotgun in his hands and shrugging. Receiving the message, Charlie smiled. He pulled back and used the butt of the weapon to slam it into the front door. The glass cracked, but didn’t shatter.

“Hit it like a man,” Will said, smiling.

“Fucker,” Charlie said. He pulled back further and grunted as he drove the butt into the door again, hitting the same spot. This time, the glass shattered. He looked over to Will. “That ‘man’ enough for you?”

They both chuckled as Will reached inside and unlocked the door, swinging it open.

As they entered the building, a cloud of dust rose from the concrete floors. The tile floors had been stripped in over half the store, revealing the concrete underneath. Will covered his face and coughed as he inhaled the age-old grit. Once it settled, he pulled his hand away and rubbed his eyes. The shelving remained, as he’d seen from the outside through the window—still neatly placed, forming four aisles. The displays on the wall behind the front counter had been torn away, except for the plastic display case that had once held cigarettes. It was there, but empty.

“Not looking like we’re going to find much,” Charlie said.

“Let’s look around anyway.”

Will walked down each aisle, checking the shelves for anything, but found nothing. At the back of the store were two restrooms. The doors were open, and Will saw nothing in the women’s room, and only a single roll of damp toilet paper in the men’s. The floor was wet, and he looked up to find a ceiling tile showing water damage.

A third door near the bathrooms was ajar and had a plate across the front that read: ‘Employees Only’. Will pushed it open and then jumped back when he heard something rustle inside. He looked down, and two rats scurried by his feet. These weren’t little home mice, but rats, each nearly the size of a shoe box.

“Scared they’ll bite?” Charlie asked. When Will turned to face him, he smiled.

“Not a big fan of rats,” Will said. He started to peek inside the room again, and then added, “Or snakes.”

The natural light from the sun didn’t reach to the back of the store, making it nearly impossible to see inside the room. Will opened the door as wide as it would go, and Charlie moved out of the way, taking his shadow with him.

Inside, all Will could make out were some cleaning supplies: various chemicals, a mop, and two brooms. One thing he did see that could be of use was a flashlight, so he picked it up. Sliding his finger over the power switch, he noted that the plastic clicked, but didn’t power on.

“At least we’ve got some batteries for it in the SUV,” Charlie said. “We can at least put some in and see if it works.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t look like we’re gonna find anything else in here.”

They walked back outside, only having salvaged a flashlight from inside. The sky had darkened, not only because the day was fading, but also because of an oncoming storm. Holly opened the door as Will and Charlie exited the store.

“Find anything?” she asked.

Will held up the flashlight. “Just this.”

“That’s all?”

“The place is dirty and it’s empty, but it seems pretty safe,” Will said. “We should consider camping out here for the night.”

“We’re only thirty miles from Roanoke,” Charlie said, seeming confused.

“Yeah, but look at the sky. Not only is it going to be night soon, but it looks like a storm is coming. Roanoke isn’t a small town. We don’t know what it’s gonna be like there or how many Empties we’re going to run into. We should play it safe and go into town tomorrow. At this point, I’m not sure getting there tonight will do us much good.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “You’re right. We don’t even know where we’re going. Going to be hard enough to find that preacher in the daytime.”

Will looked to Holly. “The kids can have my share of blankets. For all I care, I’ll sleep sitting up.”

“You and I can cuddle up together with a blanket and give Dylan and Mary Beth the rest,” Holly said.

Possibly at the sound of his name, Dylan poked his head out of the SUV. He appeared to still be half-asleep, but managed to form his mouth into a smile toward Will.

“We’re staying here tonight?” the boy asked.

“We are. It’s not the Double Tree, but we’ll have shelter over our heads and be out of this rain.”

“I think there’s enough garbage in there to get a fire going, too,” Charlie said.

“Good call,” Will said. “Let’s go ahead and grab our things so we can head inside.”

By the time they’d gathered all their gear and headed inside, it had started to rain. It only drizzled at first. Then thunder roared, and with it came harder rain. Water leaked through the ceiling in the bathroom, but after inspecting the rest of the place, they saw that that appeared to be the only leak. Charlie found a plastic bucket inside the supply closet and placed it under the leak.

With the rain came the birth of night, and Holly lit two candles that had been parting gifts from Maureen. The vanilla scent helped to mask the dank odor of the mold in the walls, and the light helped the group rummage through their things. Charlie took one of the candles and went back to the supply closet, returning with another bucket. It was old and made of metal, not plastic like the other had been. Will went over to one of the display shelves on the floor and tried removing parts from it with his hands.

“Watch out,” Charlie said.

Will stepped to the side and Charlie came forward, leg raised, and kicked the display over. The crash echoed through the tiny space and pieces of the wooden display broke away from it. Charlie bent over and picked up two pieces, and held them up for Will to see. Will smiled and shook his head.

Will lined the bottom of the bucket with paper before putting the wooden pieces inside. Holly struck a match and dropped it into the bucket. The first one dwindled out, but the second match lit the paper and, within moments, had caught the wood on fire.

Holly blew out the candles.

Will said, “We’ll just add a little wood and paper to this every now and then and it should stay lit. Hopefully, it’ll also help keep any rats away.” He found a spot against the front counter, a short distance away from where they had set up camp in the middle of the store. Charlie lay on his back, and Holly had the medical bag in her hands.

“How are you feeling?” Holly asked Dylan.

“I’m okay right now.”

“Are you in any pain?”

He shook his head.

“Good,” Holly said. “Then we will save this medicine for now. If you start to hurt, just tell one of us, okay?”

“Okay.”

Holly put down the bag and then crawled on all fours over to Will. In other times, this may have turned him on. But considering the present company in the room, he simply smiled and lifted his arm so that she could snuggle in under it.

Charlie shifted his view from the ceiling to Will and Holly. He stared for a moment, frowning, and then looked away.

“Everything okay, man?” Will asked.

“I’m good. Just missing D.” That was Charlie’s nickname for his late wife who’d been lost during The Fall.

Will looked to Holly and then withdrew his arm from around her.

“I’m sorry,” Will said.

Charlie looked over again. “It’s all right. You guys keep cuddling and stay warm, seriously. I’m gonna miss her whether I see you two being affectionate or not.”

In the moment, it felt awkward to Will. Holly’s eyes said that she agreed, so they stayed apart for the time being, just sitting next to each other. Holly changed the subject.

“How are we going to find this preacher we’re looking for? You said yourself that Roanoke isn’t a small town; it’s a city. It could be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. We don’t even know what church he’s supposed to be at.”

Looking down at his shoes, Will said, “You’re just gonna laugh if I answer.”