Open Roads Page 9

  “Did you guys hear that?” Scott asked from the back seat, a tremble in his voice.

  “Yeah,” Will said, confirming the ammunition was secure in his pocket. “Sounds like a lot of ‘em.”

  “Why don’t we wait until we can bring the rest of the group down here?” Scott asked.

  Will said, “Because my group is going to want to leave when I get back.”

  Charlie looked back to Scott and said, “We won’t go in if it looks too dangerous, alright? But let’s at least go up front and have a peek inside. You got that shotgun loaded?”

  Scott bowed his head, looking down at the gun in his hands. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

  “Good,” Will said. “Let’s go.”

  Will led the three men toward the front door. He ducked under the shattered windows that lined the front. As they’d heard from the vehicle, there were many snarls coming from inside the building. They were so jumbled together, like a wall of sound, that it was hard to tell just how many Empties could be lurking in the store.

  Will stopped beside the front door, staying in a squat with his back against the building. He poked his head around the corner and looked inside. Just at the front of the store, around the cash registers, he saw four beasts lumbering around. He also noticed the chewed-up remains of two bodies lying just inside the doors. He jerked his head away, the smell in the air matching what he’d just seen. He looked over to Charlie and reported to them the situation inside.

  “It’s a big store,” Scott said. “No telling how many more of them could be in there.”

  Will looked over to Charlie and said, “So, what do you think?”

  Charlie drew in a deep breath and bit his lip. He reached under his shirt, grabbing something at the end of a necklace and closing his eyes for a moment. He threw the rifle off of his shoulder and set it on the ground, and then he reached into his pocket and came out holding the keys to the SUV. He offered them to Will.

  “Be ready to start that car.”

  Will narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “What are you doing? You’re not going in there alone.”

  Charlie stood and drew his sidearm, a .45. It shook in his hands as he stepped toward the front door. Will reached out and grabbed Charlie’s pant leg.

  “Charlie, wait. Let’s come up with a plan.”

  “Just cover me,” Charlie said, not even looking down.

  He ran inside, and the first gunshot went off.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  As it turned out, the four creatures at the front of the store stood as just an appetizer.

  Will hurried to his feet and turned in front of the entrance to the store. The first gunshot he’d heard had apparently been Charlie taking out one of the creatures, as now only three stood before him. He noticed blood pooling on the floor from the other side of a checkout lane. When he looked past the front of the store, he saw more undead beings lumbering through the aisles. Some of them headed toward the front of the store while others headed for the back left corner of the retail outlet.

  “Scott, I need your help,” Will said.

  When he looked down to Scott, the fresh college graduate sat motionless with his back against the front of the building. Motionless except for the slight quake in his arms and his face.

  “Scott!” Will yelled, and Scott still didn’t move. Will fired his gun at one of the creatures, then kicked Scott.

  “If you wanna make it out of here alive,” Will said, his gun aimed inside the store and his eyes narrowed down at Scott, “I suggest you get to your fucking feet, pump that shotgun, and help me out!”

  Somehow, Scott managed himself to his feet, even on his shaky legs. He staggered to the entrance of the store, and his eyes widened as he saw the group of Empties coming for them.

  “Fuck, man. Fuck,” Scott said.

  Will set the rifle on his shoulder and said, “Just remember to breathe, and try to aim for their heads. But you’ve got enough kick in that thing where, even if you just hit ‘em in the body, it’ll knock ‘em down. Probably even break off a limb, depending on your aim. If you’re not gonna go for their heads, try to take out their legs.” He handed Scott the keys to the SUV. “Stay behind me, and be ready to get back to the SUV and start it.”

  Will stepped into the entranceway of the store, being sure not to trip on the bodies on the ground. Drawing in a deep breath, Will took aim at a creature coming down a checkout lane. Its mouth opened wide as it screamed at him. He waited for the thing to get close enough where he knew he wouldn’t miss, and then he squeezed the trigger and watched as half the creature’s face flew off, and the body fell to the floor.

  Will turned his attention to the next Empty, which knocked down a free-standing display before coming into full view. He shot again, hitting this one in the shoulder. The creature staggered back, but stayed on its feet. Will breathed and then shot again, this time catching the beast beside its eye.

  The time Will lost by hitting the creature in the shoulder with his first shot allowed for the other Empties to move in closer. He moved down to his left in the wide open space that stood between the front of the store and the checkout lanes. Seven more Empties remained by Will’s quick count, and they were all approaching the checkout lanes, getting closer with every passing second. Not helping the situation, Scott had yet to take a shot.

  Will shouted, “Scott, I need you! Now!”

  Moving to his left, Will put the rifle to his shoulder again and aimed at another beast. He was about to pull the trigger when something slammed against a wall and screamed behind him. Will looked back, staring through the small window of a door at the face of an Empty. It appeared to have once been a woman, an employee of the store, and was trapped inside a tiny administrative office.

  “Shit,” he mumbled, breathing heavy.

  Will turned around again, and his eyes went wide as an Empty lunged at him. He instinctively held up his rifle and the thing bit into it, just missing his hand. Will pushed the beast away, but he lost his grip on his firearm. The Empty stood a few yards in front of him, the rifle having fallen down to its feet. The Empty lunged at Will again, but before its slimy hands reached him, its head vanished, and blood splattered all over Will’s face for the umpteenth time in the past two weeks. His ears rang from the blast, and he glanced over to see Scott with the smoking barrel of his shotgun still pointed toward where the Empty had once stood. The boom of the shotgun banging around in his head, Will gained his composure enough to bend over and retrieve his own rifle. As he locked it back to his shoulder, Scott turned and screamed as he fired another slug, catching an Empty in the shoulder and severing its arm clean from its socket. He seemed to be having fun now, as he smiled and laughed.

  Another beast came down checkout lane number eight, and Will used a single shot to send the thing to the ground. After he finished reloading the rifle, he looked up to see that none of the Empties were left. Scott had gone on a rampage to finish them off, and he now stood halfway down one of the checkout lanes, breathing heavily, with the shotgun down at his side.

  “Go!”

  The voice came from the rear of the store. Will looked up, but was at a weird angle where he couldn’t see past a large wall.

  Scott moved to the front of the lane he was standing in, and stared down to the other end of the store. His eyes opened wide.

  “What?” Will asked, moving to the entrance of the store, still unable to see.

  Without a word, Scott hurried out the door, fishing the keys to the SUV out of his pocket.

  Will heard footsteps approaching fast, and walked down one of the aisles to see for himself who or what was coming. He stood in the open space between the checkout lanes and the individual aisles.

  “Oh, shit.”

  Charlie ran, dragging a generator on wheels behind him. Just beyond him was possibly the largest horde of Empties Will had seen yet. It had to be made up of twenty or thirty of the creatures.

  Waving his arms, Charlie yelled, “Go! Get to the truck
!”

  Will turned, stumbling over the leg of a wire display and almost falling to the ground. He managed to stay on his feet and run for the door.

  Just as he exited the store, the SUV came to a halt in front of the building, the tires screeching and the back end fishtailing.

  Will ran around to the backside of the vehicle, opening the rear cargo door.

  “Once we’ve got this generator loaded, just be ready to get us the fuck out of here,” Will said, shouting up to Scott in the driver’s seat.

  “Here he comes,” Scott said, staring out the passenger side window.

  Charlie emerged from the front of the store, and Will waved him to the rear of the truck. Will looked in the cargo area and realized, with all the confusion, he’d forgotten to lower the back seats so that the generator would fit.

  “Shit.”

  He reached inside, looking for the button to get the seats down. Charlie arrived, panting and sweating.

  “We’ve gotta get this inside, now!” Charlie said.

  “I can’t get the seats down.”

  Charlie opened the rear passenger side door and initiated the button that laid the seats down. Snarling came from the front of the store, and the head of the first Empty appeared. Charlie hurried around to the back and squatted down to lift the generator. Will lifted the other side, and they loaded it into the truck.

  Will shut the cargo door, and followed Charlie around to the side of the truck. Charlie jumped into the back seat, but three Empties were too close. Will pulled the rifle up to his shoulder, and unloaded into the creatures. It took four shots, but he took them all down, just before a larger group poured out of the front door.

  “Get your ass in here!” Scott yelled.

  Will loaded into the passenger seat, and Scott raced away from the store before Will could even shut his door.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “But I don’t wanna leave,” Dylan said. He was still sitting in the bed, the covers pulled up to his waist.

  “I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “This isn’t our home. We have to go.” He left the room and headed into the kitchen, seeing what he could find to throw in his bag.

  “I wanna stay here,” Dylan said. He stood in the doorway now, wearing the same shirt and pants he’d been wearing the previous day. “Mr. Larry was gonna teach me how to fish today.”

  “Mr. Larry isn’t your dad,” Gabriel said. “Your dad is in—”

  “Yeah, and neither are you!” Dylan spat back.

  “Yes,” Gabriel said, breathing deep and trying to keep himself from snapping at the boy. “But I’m responsible for you, and I’m going to get you home.”

  “Why? Just because you found me in that plane?” Dylan yelled.

  “Dylan…”

  “I wish I’d just died on that plane!” Dylan slammed the door to the bedroom.

  Gabriel let out a deep sigh, leaning over the kitchen counter. He looked up at the wooden cabinet, and punched it as hard as he could, driving his fist straight through the thin, Chinese-made cabinetry. Glasses on the other side shattered. He pulled out his hand, revealing bloody knuckles. He picked a rag up off the counter, and looked over toward the door to see Holly standing inside the cabin. Her arms crossed, she scowled at him.

  “How long’ve you been standing there?” Gabriel asked.

  “Long enough to hear that poor kid wish that he were dead,” Holly said. “What the hell are you doing, Gabriel?”

  “What the hell am I doing?” Gabriel pulled the rag away from his hand, which had once been white, but now soaked with blood. “You’re gonna pin this on me? I wouldn’t even be in the mood I’m in if it weren’t for that shithead running out of here, making his own decisions without us,” he said, speaking of Will. “I mean, where the hell did he even go?”

  Holly shook her head and started toward Dylan’s room.

  “What?” Gabriel said. “Tell me, where did he go?”

  Holly turned around and said, “Look around you. Stop being so Goddam selfish and try thinking about other people for a change.” She turned back and knocked on Dylan’s door, saying his name. The door opened and she went inside.

  Before the door closed again, Gabriel met eyes with Dylan. The boy’s face was flushed from crying.

  Holly shut the door, and Gabriel leaned over the counter. He rubbed his forehead with his uninjured hand and sighed.

  “Son of a bitch,” he mumbled.

  The sound of tires kicking up rocks sounded outside and Gabriel turned toward the front of the cabin. He walked over to the door and opened it. Brake lights shined on a SUV, and the engine shut off. Others emerged from the cabins across the courtyard as Will stepped out of the vehicle. He looked as if he’d been dropped in the middle of a war, his front side drenched in blood. Behind Gabriel, the door to Dylan’s room opened and he emerged with Holly, both of them hurrying over to the door. Gabriel stepped all the way out onto the front porch, allowing room for Holly and Dylan to come through the door. Holly used her hand as a visor and gasped. She darted down the porch steps and raced over to Will. She hugged him, he picking her up into his arms. Gabriel looked off to his right and saw Jessica staring down at Will and Holly. She looked over, her eyes meeting Gabriel’s, and then she turned around and went back inside.

  Dylan exited the cabin and started for the steps. Gabriel grabbed the boy by the shoulder, and Dylan looked up.

  “I’m sorry,” Gabriel said.

  Dylan shrugged Gabriel’s hand off and continued for the stairs, mumbling, “Whatever.”

  Though the day had brought with it a cool Autumn chill, Gabriel stood sweating. His nerves crawled on his arms like hundreds of spiders, and his head began to throb. It felt like someone pressing the heels of their palms against both of his temples. He’d been so distracted that he’d forgotten about his injured hand. He looked down and saw that he’d dropped the rag onto the porch, and blood seeped from his hand onto the wooden slats. He went back inside the cabin, grabbed another rag, applied pressure to his hand, and then made his way across the front porch.

  Charlie and Scott worked to unload the generator out of the back of the SUV. Like Will, both of the men looked like they’d been through hell. They set the generator down onto the ground, and then Charlie walked over to Will and extended his hand.

  “Brother, thanks again for helping us out.”

  Will laughed. “You’re the crazy son of a bitch that ran into that store.”

  Charlie shrugged. “Gotta do what we gotta do, man.”

  “I guess,” Will said, still smiling.

  Charlie turned around to Scott and said, “Let’s roll this thing over by our cabins for now. We’ll talk to everyone else in a little bit and see where the best place to put this will be.”

  Gabriel approached Will, who turned and smiled at him, as if everything were cool.

  “Morning, man,” Will said. “What’s up?”

  Not slowing his gait, Gabriel sprung his arms and shoved Will in his shoulders, sending him down into the dirt.

  “What’re you doing?” Holly said. She turned to Dylan and said, “Go inside.”

  “No, I—”

  “Now,” Holly said, making sure her tone conveyed to the boy that she wasn’t offering him a choice. Dylan pushed past Gabriel and slowly made his way up to the cabin, taking his time and looking back.

  Will’s expression had turned from a smile to a look of disgust as he jumped back to his feet.

  “What the fuck?” Will said.

  “You’re asking me ‘what the fuck’?” Gabriel said. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Where the hell’ve you been all morning?”

  “Well, considering how these people were nice enough to bring us into their community here and offer us food, shelter, a place where we could all be fucking normal for a change, I thought I’d return the favor and go help them pick up a generator.”

  Gabriel glanced over to see that Charlie and Scott had stopped, standing only about fifteen yards away. They wa
tched the scene unfold. Gabriel refocused his attention to Will, taking a step toward him to cut their distance in half, now standing where their chests almost bumped.

  “You don’t think saving his life at that store yesterday was enough?” Gabriel said, keeping his attention on Will but pointing his finger toward Charlie.

  “You blind, Gabriel? They might’ve saved our lives. Four whole cans of fuel? You think they really have to give us all that?”

  Gabriel scoffed. “Whatever. Just get your shit together so that we can get the hell outta here.” He turned around and started back toward the cabin, looking around the campground to see that everyone was outside now, either standing in the courtyard or watching from the front porches of their respective cabins. Including Jessica, who leaned on the bannister of the front porch, shaking her head as she and Gabriel made eye contact. He looked away and continued his march back toward his cabin to grab the last of his things.

  “I’m not leaving.”

  Gabriel stopped and turned around again, watching everyone’s eyes settle on him as he did. Will stood with his arms crossed, as if he were staking his claim in the land.

  “I’m staying here,” Will said. “I’m tired of running. Tired of chasing some sort of false hope.” He put his arm around Holly, who looked shocked, as if this were news to her, as well. He held her for a moment before letting go and stepping toward Gabriel. “Charlie offered for us to stay. All of us.”

  Gabriel let the words sit in the air for a moment, the anger crawling all over his arms again. Even though the day was cool, it felt as if the sun was baking him. But that was just his internal heat rising.

  He had no response for Will. He simply turned, kicking the gravel as he swung around, and stormed back to his cabin.

  ***

  Gabriel made one last pass through the cabin, making sure he’d gathered all his things. He went into Dylan’s room and began transferring the boy’s few possessions from the bed to a bag. The bathroom door opened and Dylan came into the room.

  “What are you doing?” Dylan asked.