Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation (34 page)

“We’ve gotta get you to safety, sir,” Lance said.

“You come with me,” Ambrose replied. “Derek, stay here with this piece of shit until I signal you.”

“Why don’t we just kill him now?” Lance asked.

“Just shut up and come on.”

Gabriel listened as the two men scurried out of the room.

He wanted to open his eyes, but was worried that Derek would be looking down at him. So he kept them shut tight, waiting.

Boot steps moved across the floor, heard only between the gunshots. Derek whistled.

Gabriel opened his eyes.

Derek stood on the opposite side of the room, examining a poster on the wall. It showed a weight lifter handling an impressive amount of weight and had a cheesy inspirational quote plastered across the middle.

Gabriel shifted, wanting to work himself to his feet, when suddenly Derek turned away from the poster. Gabriel fell limp, closing his eyes again.

Boots moved across the room once more. They moved closer to Gabriel, stopping next to him. One of the lockers near him opened, and then another.

“You’d think there’d be something left in one of these,” Derek said to himself.

He continued to open lockers, and Gabriel awaited the perfect moment.

“Jackpot,” Derek said, a tinge of excitement in his voice.

The pages of a magazine turned above Gabriel.

“Damn, girl. I’m not sure your daddy would like seein’ this.”

Derek moved again. When Gabriel opened his eyes, Derek stood only a few feet in front of him, his back turned.

Gabriel bit his lip, tasting the blood residing there. He saw his chance.

Gunshots continued to blast outside, drowning out the inside of the locker room. Gabriel eased himself to his feet, all while Derek kept his nose buried into the magazine he’d found. Gabriel’s entire body ached. His face felt as big as a watermelon. Blood had started to dry on his cheeks. He feared looking into a mirror to see his nose. But his legs felt fine, and those were what he needed right now.

As gunfire rained outside, Gabriel ran forward. Derek hadn’t a clue what was happening until it was too late.

Gabriel grabbed onto Derek’s coat with one hand and the back of his head with the other, gripping a wad of his long hair. He used his momentum to carry Derek toward the nearby wall. The gunfire outside ceased, and Gabriel heard Derek’s face break as he slammed it into the wall.

Derek’s body dropped from his grasp and landed tangled on the floor. The impact of his face on concrete had left a blood splat on the wall. Gabriel kneeled next to the guard and rolled him over.

His nose was completely mangled. Teeth were missing from his mouth. Blood poured from both places.

Gabriel checked his pulse.

Nothing.

Gabriel sighed, shaking his head as he closed his eyes. Even with all he’d been through at the school, it didn’t make killing easy. He collected himself and gathered Derek’s weapons. The rifle he’d held had fallen onto the ground nearby, and he wore a handgun on his waist, along with a knife. He took the weapons and went to stand.

“Don’t fucking move.”

The voice was familiar, and Gabriel swallowed hard. He turned back and saw Lance with a Glock pointed at his head.

“Throw that shit over here,” Lance said. “And I’ll know if you’re bullshittin’ ‘cause I know everything that asshole carried.”

Gabriel closed his eyes and sighed. He threw the rifle onto the floor and slid it toward Lance. He gripped the handgun on his waist.

“Try anything and you’re dead.”

“I’m dead anyway,” Gabriel said.

“That might be so, but not quite yet.”

Gabriel pulled out the handgun and slid it across the ground, followed by the knife.

“Stand up.”

Gabriel stood.

“Face me.”

He turned.

Lance’s eyes shifted down to Derek, and he smirked. “Dumb motherfucker.”

“At least you’ve got the balls to look me in the eyes when you shoot me,” Gabriel said. “I’ll give you that.”

Lance scoffed. “Shoot you?” He lowered the Glock, tossing it onto the ground.

Gabriel tilted his head to the side, confused.

“I’m gonna kill you with my bare fucking hands.”

Lance charged.

***

Jessica moved down the hallway with a stealth-like ability. She looked around each corner, making sure it was clear before moving further. Each room she passed, she looked through the window, checking to see if Claire was inside. Every room so far had been empty.

Outside, the gunfire continued. The further she moved away from her room, the quieter the firefight became.

She was walking down a long hall when a door opened ahead. Jessica ducked into a nearby doorway, concealing herself behind the end of the row of lockers. Footsteps clicked across the floor and Jessica turned to check the door. It was open and she went inside, careful to shut the door behind her.

Jessica froze against the wall, listening as the person walked by. She waited until she heard the footsteps no more, and then exited back out into the hallway.

Two doors down was the room the person had come out of, and Jessica hurried to it.

She looked through the window and gasped.

Claire lay in the middle of the room on a stretcher.

The door opened when Jessica pushed down on the handle and she entered the room, rushing to Claire’s side.

“Claire?” Jessica put her hands on Claire’s shoulders and shook her, but she didn’t move.

Jessica laid her head against Claire’s chest to check for a heartbeat.

It was faint, but there was one.

“I’ve gotta get you out of here,” Jessica mumbled.

Jessica had unlocked the wheels and started for the door when it opened.

A man entered, reading a piece of paper on a clipboard. Jessica froze as she saw him.

He looked up, and a smile extended across his disgusting face.

“Well, fancy seeing you here, dear. You remember me, right?”

She, of course, did.

Bruce.

***

If Gabriel’s head had hit the ground when Lance tackled him, then he likely wouldn’t have ever woken up. But his back slamming against the concrete floor was enough to send a bolt of pain down his spine. It disoriented him long enough for Lance to land the first two punches.

The wounds on Gabriel’s face came alive again, and he raised his hands to block further blows. He remained in the defensive position, trying to keep Lance’s fist away from his face.

“Fight, you fucking pussy,” Lance spat.

Lance grabbed ahold of Gabriel’s arms, pinning them down. When he let go of one of them to try and connect with another blow, Gabriel struck, hitting Lance’s in his injured nose and knocking him off of Gabriel.

Gabriel rolled onto his side and both men staggered to their feet.

Blood streamed from Lance’s nose. He covered it with his hand, then looked at the blood on his palm.

Gabriel clutched his ribs, which still ached from the earlier abuse. It was hard to breathe, but he drew in fast breaths.

“You ready to die, Alexander?” Lance asked, still wiping blood away from his face.

Without speaking, Gabriel raised his hand and waved Lance toward him.

Again, Lance charged.

Waiting until the last possible moment, Gabriel sidestepped him. Using Lance’s momentum, Gabriel pushed Lance from behind. He threw Lance into a door, which busted open. Lance fell into the room beyond it. Sporting gear filled the small supply closet. Much if it came spilling down onto Lance as he went head and shoulder first into a shelf, falling face first to the ground. When the balls, helmets, and bats had stopped falling, Lance lay still.

The fight continued outside, and Gabriel grimaced and held onto his aching ribs again. He turned around and limped to where Lance had dropped his gun. He picked up the Glock, the outside gunfire sounding much closer now. He checked to make sure the gun was loaded. It was.

He’d made it halfway to Derek’s rifle when he heard movement behind him.

When he turned around again, Lance reared back a baseball bat and screamed.

Gabriel’s eyes went wide and he ducked just in time. Lance’s swing missed, the bat crashing into a locker behind Gabriel’s head.

Gabriel raised the Glock, but Lance turned around and hit him in the forearm with the aluminum bat. He cried out and dropped the gun onto the ground. With Gabriel gripping his arm, Lance drove the butt of the bat into Gabriel’s gut. Gabriel doubled over and held his stomach. He fell to his knees, shutting his eyes as the pain passed through him.

When he opened them again, he watched Lance’s shadow move behind him.

Lance stood at Gabriel’s back. Unable to move, Gabriel remained on his knees with his shoulders slumped. The Glock had slid to the other side of the room.

Gabriel felt the cold aluminum touch his neck as Lance rested the bat on his shoulder.

“Any last words?” Lance asked.

Silence.

“Well, all right then.”

Standing executioner style behind Gabriel, Lance raised the bat.

Gabriel closed his eyes.

Lance swung.

Gabriel went face first to the ground, and Lance swung all the way around, having missed the shot. He’d swung so hard that the bat left his hands, crashing into the lockers behind them. His momentum carried him all the way to the ground.

The bat bounced off the locker and landed next to Gabriel. His eyes went wide as he grabbed onto it and stood.

Disoriented, Lance landed on the other side of the room. Gabriel saw the Glock lying within reach, and Lance went for it.

Grabbed it.

Lance went to his knees and lifted the gun as he turned around toward Gabriel.

He faced Gabriel just in time to see the bat coming, but not soon enough to evade the blow.

The aluminum bat crushed the top of Lance’s skull, and he fell limp, dropping the Glock. Gabriel watched as his body sank to the concrete, and his Philadelphia Eagles hat fell beside him.

The sound of aluminum hitting concrete echoed throughout the tiny space as Gabriel dropped the bat and fell to one knee. He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to stay on his feet at all, but knew he now had to garner the strength to leave. He grabbed the bat again, using it as a cane to stand.

He got to his feet, but before he could grab any guns, the door opened.

Gabriel readied the bat on his shoulder as a man appeared in the doorway, a rifle aimed at him. He’d been about to swing when he suddenly loosened his grip.

The man standing in front of him lowered the rifle and squinted his eyes.

“Gabriel?”

Gabriel spit blood and mumbled, “Will.”

***

Rolling the stretcher, Jessica stepped backward as Bruce came toward her. He smiled, showing his yellow teeth.

“There’s nowhere you can go this time,” Bruce said. “No one is gonna save you.”

When her back hit the wall, Jessica pushed Claire to the other side of the room, away from both herself and Bruce. Nothing stood between them now.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” Bruce said. He licked his lips. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.”

Jessica moved down the wall, but knew she had few to no options on where she could go.

Bruce faked a lunge toward her, and Jessica almost lost her balance. He laughed.

“Now, come on. Let’s just make this easy, all right?”

“Stay away from me.”

Jessica came to the stretcher and had no place else to go. She was sure to keep herself between Bruce and Claire.

“Stay back,” Jessica said.

Bruce came forward and tried to grab her, and Jessica slapped him. She dragged her hand so that her nails scraped across his cheek, breaking flesh. He stepped back and held his face. When he pulled it away and looked at his fingertips, he saw the blood.

His taunting smile turned to a glare of hateful lust.

“You stupid bitch.”

Jessica screamed as Bruce came at her again. She swung her arm again, but he caught her by the wrist this time. Using his other hand, he backhanded her across her face. Jessica fell to the ground.

“Get the fuck up.”

He grabbed onto the back of her coveralls, yanking Jessica to her feet. Tears streamed down her face as he turned her toward him, binding both of her arms with his strong grip.

“Please, just leave us alone,” Jessica pleaded.

“We’re far past that, darlin’.”

He struck her again. Hard enough to turn her around. She caught herself on the edge of the stretcher, bending over. Behind her, she could hear Bruce groan.

“You like it this way, huh? Fine by me.”

The sound of him unzipping his pants was like glass shattering. Soon, his hands were on her waist, moving up her body. He squeezed her breasts and pinched her nipple. Jessica cried out. Further violating her, he slapped her on the ass. It burned, but not as much as her pride.