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  DAMNATION

  (Book Five of the Empty Bodies Series)

  by Zach Bohannon

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  DAMNATION

  Zach Bohannon

  www.zachbohannon.com

  Copyright © 2016 by Zach Bohannon. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction of this publication in whole or in part without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  Edited and Proofread by:

  Jennifer Collins

  Cover design by Johnny Digges

  www.diggescreative.com

  For all the loyal followers of The Horror Writers Podcast:

  Thank you.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The boy’s screams echoed off the surrounding trees. They’d muted the crack of the machete’s blade as it severed flesh, tissue, and bone on its way into the tree stump. The others cried out as well—most of all, Mary Beth. Through this, Will remained calm, controlling the situation. If he didn’t, Dylan’s intense pain would be for nothing, and the boy would die.

  “Keep holding him down,” Will told Charlie and Holly. He put the t-shirt back into Dylan’s mouth and the boy sunk his teeth into it, trying to reduce the pain.

  Dylan stared to the sky, eyes wide. His cheeks began to pale.

  “He’s going into shock,” Charlie said.

  Will would worry about that in a minute. For now, he just wanted to stop the bleeding. He had severed the arm just inches below the elbow. He’d wanted to take only the boy’s hand, amputating at the wrist, but he had been worried that the demon wouldn’t be vanquished unless he amputated farther up the arm. It still remained to be seen whether the amputation had fended off the possession or not.

  Will wrapped the t-shirt around the boy’s arm, just above the elbow. He pulled the knot tight, applying intense pressure. Convulsing, Dylan kicked his legs and flayed his remaining arm.

  “Hold him still,” Will commanded, speaking to both Charlie and Holly.

  They pinned down Dylan’s shoulders, and Will finished tying off the knot. He now just had to hope that it would hold.

  “Charlie, I need your shirt,” Will said.

  Charlie removed his jacket, then his t-shirt. He gave it to Will, who turned to Holly.

  “I need you to hold this against the wound and apply pressure. Charlie and I are gonna have to pick him up and carry him back to the cabins. You’ve gotta stay next to us and keep this pressed against his arm the entire time, okay?”

  Eyes red from crying, Holly nodded.

  Will turned to Mary Beth. The girl cowered a few feet away from the scene, sitting down on the ground with her head tucked to her knees. Will kneeled down next to her. The girl’s eyes were bloodshot from her having cried so much. Her body quaked, and she sniffled continuously.

  “Sweetie,” Will said. “I’m gonna need you to stand up now. Dylan’s going to be fine, but we have to get him back to camp right away. Can you stand up and walk fast with us to get him back?”

  Mary Beth didn’t move. She stared past Will, past the others, looking off to the gunmetal sky. Staring off into nothingness. When Will reached down and grabbed her arm, she screeched and moved back. Her eyes met his.

  “We have to do this, Mary Beth. We have to go, now.”

  Behind Will, Dylan cried out. He no longer clenched the t-shirt with his teeth, and the sound filled the air around them as he screamed. Mary Beth looked at Dylan, and she began to cry even more.

  Growing impatient, Will said, “If we don’t go now, he’s going to be screaming a lot more. The only way that we can help him, that you can help him, is by getting onto your feet and going with us back to the cabins.”

  She stared past him again, and Will grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Mary Beth.” He said it firmly, but not aggressively. “Please.”

  They held each other’s gaze for a few moments before Mary Beth nodded. Will stood up, offering his hand to her. She accepted and he pulled her onto her feet.

  “Stay with us,” Will told the girl. “Pay attention, and don’t get behind us, or ahead of us. Understand?”

  “Yeah,” Mary Beth mumbled.

  Will turned to Charlie. “We’re going to have to carry him. You get his legs, and I’ll grab under his arms.”

  Dylan’s mouth was open, and slobber dripped down from the edges of it. His eyes were wide. He had stopped kicking his arm and legs, making it easier to pick him up. Charlie grabbed onto his ankles, and Will took the boy under the arms.

  “Keep a lot of pressure on it,” Will told Holly, speaking of the wide open wound at the end of Dylan’s arm. Will then looked down to Dylan. “You’re going to be all right, buddy. I’ll be sure of it. This might just hurt a little.”

  He placed his hands under Dylan’s arm pits, and the boy screamed. As Will choked back tears, he looked to Holly.

  “Keep it together,” he told her. She nodded, and Will looked back to Charlie. “On three.”

  They lifted the boy on the count and, again, Dylan cried out. Will closed his eyes tight, still fighting back tears.

  “Come on,” Charlie said. “Let's move.”

  As they moved through the trees, the rain came all at once. It didn’t drip for a few minutes, easing into a steady fall. Instead, it came crashing down.

  Will picked up his gait, not wanting to have to carry Dylan through the mud.

  With no Empties along the path in front of them, their biggest enemy now was time.

  By the time they arrived back at the cabins, Will found himself thanking God for the rain. Smoke from the fires filled the air surrounding the area, even visible through the storm. But the rain had extinguished much of the fire, allowing them to safely walk onto the campgrounds.

  The muscles in Will’s arms pulsated from his forearms all the way up to his shoulders. They hadn’t set Dylan down since picking him up. And even though all Will wanted to do was lay the eleven-year-old boy down and rub his arms, he continued to pace toward the cabins.

  “Let’s set him down by the SUV,” Will said.

  They hurried past the playground and arrived at the vehicle.

  “Holly, grab the door,” Will said.

  Holly directed Mary Beth to sit in a spot fifteen feet away from the SUV, and told her not to move. She opened the vehicle’s rear passenger side door.

  “Easy,” Charlie said as they eased Dylan onto the back seat.

  “Holly, grab a bottle of water.”

  On the floor of the back seat lay a towel, and Will grabbed it.

  “Keep pressure on his arm with this,” Will said.

  Tipping the water into Dylan’s mouth, Holly shook her head. “It’s too dirty. We can’t risk him getting an infection.”

  “We also can’t risk him bleeding out on us,” Charlie said.

  “Charlie’s shirt wasn’t clean either. It’s going to have to work until we can find something else,” Will said. “We’ll have to take each scenario one at a time.”

  Holly said, “But, Will, we can’t—”

  “Just do it, Holly!”

  Holly stopped arguing. She pressed the unwashed towel against the wound.

  Inside th
e SUV, Will grabbed the first aid kit out of one of the duffel bags. He opened it and found bandages, scissors, Band-Aids, and cream to aid burns. But no clotting powder.

  Will turned around to assess the cabins. The fire had taken out all but two of the units. A flame still rose from the bannister on the front porch of one of the cabins, but the rain made sure it wouldn’t spread.

  “Stay here with them,” Will said to Charlie. “Holly’s got Dylan; just be here if she needs any help, and try to keep Mary Beth calm. And make sure Dylan drinks plenty of water. I’ll be right back.”

  Will ran to the nearest cabin of the two that remained standing. Charlie had been staying there. He ran up the patio, and tapped the doorknob with his palm. When it wasn’t hot, he entered.

  Though flames tickled the air outside, the inside of the cabin appeared to be untouched. Will hurried back to the bedroom. Charlie’s suitcase lay on the bed and Will flipped through it. He pulled out several shirts, as well as a belt.

  He went to the kitchen and opened the pantry. On the second rack sat an array of spices. Will checked each one, tossing aside the spices he didn’t need.

  “Bingo,” he said.

  In his hand, he held a small bottle of cayenne pepper. Will had once read about how the spice could help to clot blood. He stuffed the canister into his pocket, then reached to the back of the shelf and grabbed a half-full container of iodized salt. The cayenne pepper supposedly stung far less than the salt upon hitting an open wound. The salt would be option B to stop the bleeding.

  Will turned around and went to a cabinet above the sink. Inside, he found a bottle of aspirin, and stuffed it into his pocket. He checked the other bottles, but this was the only pain reliever, so he shut the cabinet and hurried to the door.

  Will ran across the muddy courtyard. Charlie was inside the shaking SUV, helping Holly hold down a bucking Dylan.

  “He’s coming in and out of shock,” Charlie said. “It’s becoming harder to hold him.”

  “How’s the bleeding?” Will asked.

  “It’s getting worse,” Holly said.

  “All right, well, we’re gonna stop it.”

  “How?” Holly asked.

  Will set the first aid kit on the seat, then pulled the cayenne pepper out of his pocket.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Holly said.

  “It’s the only way,” Will said. “If we don’t stop the bleeding soon…” Will didn’t finish the sentence. He opened the first aid kit and pulled out the bottle of aspirin. “We’ll give him this. Not sure if it’s going to do shit to help with the pain, but it’s all we’ve got.” Will opened the bottle, removing three of the capsules. “Open his mouth.”

  Charlie held Dylan down while Holly reached to the boy’s face and peeled his lips apart.

  “You have to take these,” Will said. He dropped the pills into Dylan’s mouth. “Make sure he doesn’t spit them out.”

  Holly fed Dylan water, and he swallowed the pills without protest.

  After the boy had swallowed the pills, Will wrapped the belt around the top of Dylan’s arm. He pulled it tight, hoping it would help stop blood flow to the open wound.

  “We’re gonna have to do this quickly,” Will said. “As soon as you remove the towel, I’m gonna pour cayenne onto the wound.” He handed Holly one of the clean t-shirts. “Once we’re done, put this one on his arm.”

  “Then what do we do?” Holly asked.

  “We wait until the bleeding stops,” Charlie said.

  “And hope that we don’t have to use the salt,” Will added.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Mary Beth asked, having approached the vehicle.

  “Don’t look,” Holly snapped. Mary Beth jumped back. “I'm sorry, but we need you to go sit back down, okay? He’s going to be fine.”

  Mary Beth bowed her head and turned away, going back to the spot Holly had asked her to stay put at.

  Holly wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself.

  “You ready?” Will asked her.

  Taking a deep breath, Holly nodded.

  Will unscrewed the top off of the cayenne pepper. The container was three-quarters of the way full. He hoped that it would be enough to stop the bleeding, as he had no desire to have to try using the salt.

  “He’s going to squirm like hell once this hits the wound,” Will said. “You’re going to have to hold him down with everything you’ve got, Charlie.”

  Charlie nodded.

  Will looked back to Holly. “You stay behind me. As soon as I get this on the wound, I need you to be ready with that clean shirt. I think we can stop the bleeding if we can get some pressure back on it right away.”

  Will closed his eyes and drew in long, deep breaths. Please, God, let this work, he thought. He looked up and told Charlie to hold Dylan down. Charlie pushed down on Dylan’s shoulders.

  Will pulled away the dirty towel, and dumped the spice onto the wound.

  It was the loudest scream that Will had ever heard.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Jessica was the first among the group to wake. All four of them had slept in the middle of the main room of the Welcome Center. The temperature had dropped significantly overnight. Fortunately, they’d slept close to each other, absorbing one another’s body heat.

  The smell of cleaning supplies surrounded her, but it still beat the smell of rotting flesh from the bodies they’d pulled out of the inside of the building.

  After lying on her back for a few minutes, she decided to get out and go for a short walk before the others woke. She knew that Gabriel would be ready to head out as soon as he was up. In fact, if he’d had the ability to set an alarm, they’d probably already have been on the road by now. But he’d hardly slept lately, and that had caught up with him as he lay with his eyes closed, breathing heavy as he rested.

  Careful not to wake Gabriel, Thomas, or Claire, she walked over to one of the bags containing their firearms, removing a pistol from the inside. She stuck it in the back pocket of her jeans, put on a coat, and tip-toed across the room to the door.

  A gentle Autumn morning’s breeze brushed against her face. She ran her hands together to warm them, then stuck them into her pockets. It was a typical North Carolina Fall day, like so many she’d lived through. The mornings and evenings would be chilly, while the middle of the day would almost feel like Summer. Soon, every hour of each day would be cold, and she wondered where they’d be when those days came.

  In front of the Welcome Center, a group of abandoned cars sat on the highway. She tried her best not to look at them, wanting to forget about the world she lived in. Instead, she looked off in the opposite direction at all the trees which covered much of the property.

  As she stared off to the distance, one question loomed heavy on her mind: had she made a mistake?

  The decision to come with Gabriel had been an impulsive one. On one hand, she’d simply become bored at the campground, which was strange for her. An introvert by nature, Jessica rarely found herself looking for adventure. As long as she had a pen and paper and somewhere quiet where she could be on her own, she was content. At the cabin, she’d had those things, but it hadn’t seemed to quite fulfill her. Somehow, she’d gained a new sort of love for adventure and a craving for the adrenaline rush that came with it. Sitting inside of a cabin wasn’t going to feed that hunger.

  Jessica also wondered if she’d let the jealousy take hold of her.

  Because she was in love with Will.

  She couldn’t put a finger on why she’d fallen for him so quickly—she just knew it to be true. Perhaps it had been the bond she’d built with his parents before the two of them had even met. She’d already seen so much of their fighting spirit inside their only son. Maybe part of it was the fact that she’d been there when Will had ‘died’. She felt a connection to him through that that would be impossible for Holly to understand. When she’d seen him lying in the middle of the road, the feeling hadn’t been so different from walking in on her dead par
ents.

  But had her jealousy of Holly gotten the best of her?

  Jessica reached the far side of the parking lot and stared out onto the desolate highway. Part of her wanted to keep walking and return to the camp. Another part of her wanted to jump into a vehicle and just drive away. To get away from Gabriel, who would only remind her of Will every time she looked at him. Additionally, she worried that Gabriel’s recklessness and desire to reach his family would end up getting her killed. She could head south to Florida, and leave the threat of an impending Winter behind her. Others would surely be there, and she could hook up with another group and lean on them for survival.

  All these ideas swam around inside her head, but they didn’t matter. The thought of going at it alone was appealing, but stupid. As careless as Gabriel had become, he was smart and, like Jessica, he was a survivor. The same could be said for Claire, and especially for Thomas, who wasn’t going to put up with a lot of bullshit. He would help keep Gabriel on track and focused.

  Jessica set aside the asinine idea of leaving and retraced her steps back to the building. As she approached the Welcome Center, the door opened and Gabriel came walking outside. Immediately, he covered his nose, remembering the bodies they’d left to rot near the building. He met Jessica near the bathrooms, out of range of the stench.

  Gabriel asked, “How’d you sleep?”

  Jessica shrugged.

  “Yeah, same here. What are you doing out here?”

  “Just wanted to get some fresh air and take a walk before we left. I knew you were going to want to leave pretty much right after you woke up.”

  “Already packed up my bed and got my stuff together,” Gabriel replied. “I purposely made noise in hopes that I’d wake those other two up, but they sleep like rocks. Neither of them moved.”

  Jessica smiled.

  Gabriel looked off toward the road. He put his hands in his pockets and drew in a deep breath. “Can I ask you something?”

  Jessica nodded.

  “Do you think I’ll find them?”