Empty Bodies (Book 6): Revelation Read online

  “Look, man, I know you’re ready to get out of here—and we’re going to. But you should really try to rest and eat while you’re here. You’re gonna need it for when we hit the road.”

  “And when’s that gonna be?”

  “As soon as Holly’s ready to travel.”

  “If you trust these people so much, why don’t you just leave her here with them while we ride into Alexandria to find my family?”

  Will sighed. “I’m not doing that again. We’ve already split from you twice, and look where that’s gotten us.”

  “Yeah, no shit,” Gabriel said, allowing a sniping tone into his voice.

  “You know what, man? I know you’re upset and you’re anxious to get out of here, but you need to chill out. I’m trying here, Gabriel.”

  “Chill out?” Gabriel moved from the window to stand in front of Will. “Do you know what the fuck I’ve been through? No, you don’t have any idea what kind of hell that school was. You don’t know what it was like to be held against your will in some classroom-turned-prison cell. To have a guard who wanted nothing more than to kill you coming by to check in on you several times a day and threaten to take your life. To watch your friend be dragged out onto a football field with both of his fucking legs chopped off and try to fight those monsters in a wheelchair, knowing full-well there was no way he was going to survive.”

  “Look, Gabriel, listen—”

  “No, you listen. I don’t wanna fucking hear it. All you managed to do was help Dylan lose his arm while I was gone.”

  Will’s expression changed, his face turning beet-red and his breathing coming on heavy. Gabriel looked down to see Will clinch his fists, and anticipated the first shot.

  But instead of hitting Gabriel, Will simply shook his head and turned around. He slammed the door on his way out, never saying anything.

  Gabriel, his own blood boiling, sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. He buried his face into his hands as he tried to calm down. Then he lay back down on the bed and faced the ceiling, looking up at the stars again while he waited to cool down.

  He still never slept.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Will circled the cul-de-sac, blowing off steam after his conversation with Gabriel. He kept his head down, trying to ignore the other people outside.

  He knew how anxious Gabriel was to leave, but his friend’s insensitivity toward Holly’s injury still upset him. And it was almost as if Gabriel had forgotten how Holly had sustained the injury in the first place.

  Will was at the end of the street when the two-way radio on his waist crackled to life.

  “Will?”

  He pulled the walkie off his waist. “Timothy?”

  “I think she’s about to wake up,” the doctor said. “Get over here.”

  Without responding, Will ran to the house where Holly was being treated, bowling through the door without knocking. He saw her lying there, her hands moving.

  And as promised, Will was holding Holly’s hand when she woke up from her long nap. He smiled and ran his hand through her hair as she opened her eyes.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “How long have I been sleeping?” Holly asked.

  “It seems like days. The sun will be going down soon. You’ve slept for probably ten hours, at least.”

  Holly rubbed her forehead and wiped her eyes. Once she shifted, she felt the pain in her wounded shoulder and grimaced.

  “Easy,” Will said.

  “It’s all right. It doesn’t hurt that bad. Not as much as I thought it would.”

  “You just need to be easy with it.”

  Timothy entered the room, wiping his hands with a towel.

  “Look who’s awake,” he said.

  Holly smiled at the doctor.

  “How’re you feeling?”

  “There is a dull pain in my shoulder, but mostly it only hurts if I jerk too much.”

  “That’s good,” Timothy said.

  She grimaced again, reaching for her lower back. “I’m really stiff. Is it possible that I could get up and walk around?”

  “That should be fine.” Timothy looked to Will. “You’ll be with her, I assume?”

  “Of course,” Will said.

  Will went around to Holly’s good side and placed his hand under her, lifting up as she held onto him. She cried out in pain, either from her back or her wound, or maybe even both—Will wasn’t sure.

  When she finally made it to her feet, she almost fell over, but then she just laughed, saying that her legs were asleep.

  “You’re still coming to dinner tonight, right?” Timothy asked.

  “Absolutely,” Will said.

  “Looks like you might be able to make it, too,” Timothy said to Holly.

  “Dinner sounds really good.”

  They had put her in a room on the bottom floor of the house, making it only a short trip down a hallway before they arrived at the front door. A cool breeze hit them as the door swung open and instantly began to dry the sweat on Will’s face. It was a cool night which only reminded Will that soon the days would turn cold, bringing with them chilling winds and snowfall. What would this place be like then? The community had already started going out to collect wood, chopping down trees throughout the neighborhood. It was going to be a tough winter for the survivors there regardless. But what would come of Will and the others if they didn’t make it down to Florida in time? Assuming, of course, that was still in the plans.

  “It’s such a gorgeous night out,” Holly said.

  Will held the hand on her good arm as they walked down the driveway to the sidewalk. Most people had retreated to their houses, except for the group still working on the fence.

  Two houses down a door opened, and Dylan and Mary Beth appeared on the porch. Holly smiled when she saw them.

  The children ran toward her, and Jessica came walking out of the house behind them, shutting the door and then crossing her arms as she watched the children race to Holly.

  “Holly!” they each called out.

  Will stuck out his palms to force some distance. “Easy, kids. She’s still in a lot of pain.”

  Dylan made it to her first and wrapped his arm around her. Mary Beth followed, hugging her gently from the other side.

  With the children reuniting with Holly, Will glanced back to Jessica standing on the front porch of the house. Her arms were still crossed and she was forcing a smile, her eyes narrowed.

  “You good for a minute?” Will asked Holly.

  “Yeah,” she said with a laugh as the children continued to hug her. “I think I’m good.”

  Will excused himself from Holly and the kids, walking toward the house. He climbed up to the middle step leading to the porch and leaned on the wooden bannister.

  “How’re you doing?” he asked.

  “Fine,” Jessica mumbled. She leaned against the wall, her arms still crossed, making her look like a recluse.

  “Are you really?” Will asked.

  She shrugged.

  Will walked the rest of the way up the steps and sat down on one of the rocking chairs. He gestured for her to sit next to him, but she just shook her head in return.

  “You’re not going to talk to me?”

  “Other people have been trying to talk to me all day and I’m just not in the mood,” she replied.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not those ‘other people’. I’m your friend.”

  Jessica sighed. “It’s just so strange being here. One moment I’m in a prison, and the next I’m in this place where people are living an end of the world fairy tale.” She looked around to all the houses. Across the street, a woman was pulling weeds from a flower bed. Next door to the gardener, a couple stood outside on a porch swing chatting with each other. A man down the street was hitting plastic golf balls in his front yard. “It’s like this entrapped suburban paradise and these people have no freakin’ clue what it’s really like out there.”

  “They do,” Will said. “They haven’t been
through what we have, but they know more about the outside world than they let on. The trick is that Timothy has done a really good job of masking it. He’s tried to create as much ‘normal’ as possible, and he’s done a pretty good job.”

  “I’d say so,” Jessica added.

  “I can’t even imagine what this adjustment has been like for you,” Will said, a certain warmth in his voice. “I know it’s hard for you and Gabe to try and come back to some kind of reality, whatever the hell that even means anymore.”

  “It’s not this,” Jessica said. “Especially since we’re leaving it.”

  “You know, you don’t have to go with us.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “And what would I do? Stay here with these people? With these suburban housewives?”

  “I’m not suggesting I want you to stay. All I’m saying is that it’s an option.”

  She looked away from him, staring off at something in the distance. “I have nothing left, Will. You, the kids, Gabriel, and Holly: you’re my family now. There’s nothing for me in this place.”

  Will nodded, then changed the subject. “Timothy wants us over for dinner tonight. You gonna make it? I’d really appreciate if you were there.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there. A girl’s gotta eat, right?”

  Will chuckled. “Right.”

  Charlie appeared at the end of the street, wiping sweat from his brow. His white T-shirt was stained black, and he looked exhausted. He smiled as he walked up to Holly and the children, though, placing his hand on Holly’s good shoulder.

  “I’m going to go check in and see what he’s up to,” Will said, standing from his chair.

  “All right,” Jessica said. “You got the kids? I think I’m going to go lie down for a while before dinner.”

  Will nodded. “Of course. Go ahead. They want us there at 7, so don’t be late.”

  “Thank you.”

  Will crossed the porch and gave Jessica a hug before he went down the stairs and headed toward the group. Charlie met him halfway, and Will reached out for a handshake.

  “I don’t think you want to shake my hand,” Charlie said. He stuck out his palms to show Will how dirty they were.

  Will laughed. “You think with all the stuff I’ve done over the past few weeks that shaking your dirty hand is gonna bother me?”

  Charlie shrugged and grasped Will’s hand.

  Will gestured towards the end of the road. “How are things going out there?”

  “Not too bad. We got most of the fence reinforced. I don’t think anything, or anyone, is going to get through there unless we want them to. Tomorrow I think I’m going to go out there with a couple of the guys and see about getting some more firewood. Gonna be getting cold soon.”

  “There’s no guarantee that we’ll still be here tomorrow.” He thought back to his conversation with Gabriel, and knew they would need to leave as soon as Holly was able. If not, Gabriel might fall off the deep end.

  “Yeah, well, if we are, I’d like to help out as long as I can.”

  Will nodded. “Timothy invited us over for dinner tonight. I’m assuming you’ll be there.”

  Smiling, Charlie said, “Wouldn’t miss it. I worked up quite the appetite. Plus, there’s this one fellow working on the fence with me named Gooch who about drove me damn crazy today. It’d be nice to hang around some of my friends.”

  Will chuckled. “Well, you smell like shit. So if you’re going to be coming to dinner with us, you better go ahead and go clean up.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Will wasn’t surprised to find Gabriel and Jessica absent from the table when he, Holly, and the kids showed up for dinner. Charlie was already seated, sipping on a glass of water. He stood when Will entered the room and hugged him, and Will made a smart remark about how nice he’d cleaned up. Timothy entered from another room and shook Will’s hand, greeted the children, and kissed Holly on the cheek.

  “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, sh
e 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.