Empty Bodies (Book 2): Adaptation (15 page)

“You alright there?”

David nodded. “Yeah. Just feeling a little ill. I’m not used to eating frozen food. But, I’m better now.”

“Good.”

“Any luck finding gas?”

Lawrence shook his head. “Empty.”

“Damn,” David said, scratching his head. “Hey, uh, did I hear someone else up here?”

Lawrence nodded. “Yeah, there was another group here for just a few minutes. I was hoping you’d get to meet them, but they got out of here pretty quick. They’re looking for gas, too.”

“Hmm. Did they say where they were going?”

“East Coast.”

“We haven’t seen many survivors. How many of them were there?”

“Five. Three men, a woman, and a kid. Poor damn kid. He got separated from his parents. I guess that’s where they’re headed… trying to get that boy back to them.”

“Yeah, poor kid,” David mumbled.

Lawrence was taken aback by David’s sudden urge to carry on a conversation. Then, he looked down and noticed David had fresh blood on him, and he pointed to it.

“That’s not from earlier. That looks new.”

“Yeah. I had a little run in back by the restroom. There were a couple of those things back there.”

“Ah. Well, glad you’re okay,” Lawrence said. “So, uh, you ready to get going and see if we can find some gas?”

David nodded.

The two men loaded into the car, and Lawrence turned out of the gas station and headed away from the interstate.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Will

“Why didn’t you just tell him the truth?” Gabriel asked Will. Gabriel was in the floor of the back seat, tending to Holly, while Will sat up front, looking for his parents’ van.

“Didn’t trust him. After all the shit we’ve been through, it feels pretty difficult to trust
anyone
anymore.”

“I don’t know, Will,” Marcus said. “Sounds like the guy may have had a sweet spot for us to go hang our hats for a bit and regroup. I didn’t get the same vibe you got.”

“And what about that guy at the pawn shop?” Gabriel asked. “Remember the shitty vibe I had about him?”

“Yeah, and how did he turn out? Who was right about that one?” Will reminded Gabriel.

Gabriel started to bow toward Will, but Holly grabbed him.

“Look guys, it’s over,” she groaned. “Let’s just move on and keep our eyes out for the van, okay?”

Will let out a deep breath and he could tell from the aura in the air that both men were frustrated. They were questioning his decision to not trust the man, which in turn, frustrated him. He decided to let it rest.

While he knew he needed to be looking for his parents’ minivan, Will couldn’t help but look back at Holly. He was so thankful that she had come out of her sleep. While he’d only known her a few days, he had a connection to her that he couldn’t see ever having with anyone else. They’d been through more together than he had ever been with any of his past friends. Each time he looked back at her, she smile at him, bringing him at least
some
comfort.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Will said back to her.

“Me, too.” She cleared her throat. “So, what happened to Miranda?”

Gabriel retold the story to her just as it had been told to him. Will only had to interrupt one time to correct him.

“Oh, my God,” Holly said once Gabriel had finished. “That’s horrible.”

“Yeah,” Will said. “It was.”

Will continued to scan the road, hoping that they’d pass by his parents at any moment. There was no guarantee that his mom and dad were even still in Knoxville, and he could only hope that wasn’t the case.

***

David

Lawrence had driven them further away from the interstate and they were now approaching a more rural area. Once they were a few miles down the road, they came across another gas station. This one was very old and, though it looked like it had long been closed down, the gas prices posted on the large sign out front signaled that it had recently been open.

“Guess we can give this one a shot,” Lawrence said.

As they pulled into the gas station, David could see a large house with a barn near it, just a couple of hundred yards behind the convenient store. Lawrence stopped the car right next to one of the gas pumps.

David stepped out, and he felt the same pain in his stomach that he had before.

“Shit,” David said, clutching his stomach.

Lawrence looked over at him. “Again?”

Hunched over, David ran toward the front of the convenience store. This one was much smaller than the last one, and he saw from looking through the window that the bathrooms were inside the store. He reached down to the handle and pulled the door, and to his surprise, it opened.

The various cigarette and beer posters on the front window had blocked him from seeing a lot of the damage on the inside of the store. Like the last stop, this place had obviously been raided, making David think that they’d once again be looking somewhere else for gasoline.

He ran back to the restroom, choosing the men’s room even though it didn’t matter any more. He dropped his pants and immediately sat down on the toilet.

After a few minutes, he pulled his pants up and walked out the door of the restroom, not bothering to flush the toilet behind him.

As the door opened, he heard yelling outside and ducked down as he saw a group of men talking to Lawrence, who had his hands raised in the air. David crouched down low to where he wouldn’t be seen, and made his way to the front of the store. David clutched the gun at his side, then remained still and listened.

“Yes, I’m alone,” Lawrence said.

“You better not be fuckin’ lyin’ to me, nigger.” The man had a deep country accent, common to East Tennessee.

“Take the guns. The car. Whatever.”

“Oh, you better believe we will.” This voice was different.

David’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest.

“This shit’s gonna serve our camp very well, you better believe it.”

“Take whatever you want.”

David heard a loud pop and then a slam. He had his back against a wall of shelving that lay against the window, and he peeked through a gap to see outside. Lawrence was on the ground on his hands and knees, holding his jaw.

“Get the fuck up, darky!” one of the other men yelled.

David watched Lawrence stumble to his feet, only to be kicked in the knee and fall again. David counted six men, most of them armed from what he could tell.

One of the men approached Lawrence with a grin. He chuckled, as if toying with Lawrence, then swung his combat boot right into Lawrence’s jaw. David looked to the sedan and saw that one of the other men was shuffling through the backseat, pulling out the guns and ammo that Lawrence had placed back there.

The man in the middle of the group approached Lawrence’s battered body. He wore a trucker hat and a dirty t-shirt tucked into a pair of faded camouflage cargo pants. He kicked Lawrence, not so hard that it would likely hurt, but enough to where it would be irritating. The man squatted down and slapped Lawrence across the face, again, just enough to annoy him and get his attention.

“Get up,” the man commanded in an even tone.

Lawrence barely moved. He looked like he was trying to get up, but just didn’t have it in him.

“Get his ass up,” the man in the camo pants commanded to the other men. Two of his comrades walked over to Lawrence and grabbed him under the arms, lifting him up to his knees. David could see Lawrence’s face clearly while the men held him up. Blood pooled from his mouth and his left eye was already starting to swell. The men had done a real number on him in a short period of time.

The man in the camo pants, who David presumed at this point was the leader of the group, hinged at the hips to get his face closer to Lawrence’s, and he lifted the paramedic’s chin up.

David could see the man saying something to Lawrence, but he was speaking too softly for him to hear it from inside the convenience store.

Then, the man stood back, pulled a pistol out of his pocket, pressed it against Lawrence’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.

The other men cheered, one even firing two shots into the air with his own gun.

The man in the camo pants pushed the guy firing the gun. “Stop that shit! You wanna attract them monsters?”

One of the other men laughed until the man in the camo pants got in his face. “What? You think it’s funny?” He was speaking just loudly enough to where David could hear him.

“Clear out the vehicle so we can get the hell out of here.”

“I’ve gotta go inside and take a shit,” one of the other men said.

“You can wait.”

“I’m not so sure that I can, Clint.”

David had to think quickly. If the men came in here, they’d surely kill him without question. They’d assume that he was friends with the man they’d just murdered in cold blood, then put the cold barrel to his head, as well. Truth be told, they had only saved David the trouble of killing Lawrence. With Lawrence out of the picture, he could run the hospital the way he wanted. No one there would stop him. But none of that mattered if he didn’t make it back there alive. Would the rednecks really give him the time to convince them that they had done him a favor if they walked in here and found him?
 

David decided to take a gamble.

He crawled over to the door and, still using the shelving for cover, reached over and pushed the door open to where it was slightly cracked.

“I can get you more weapons!” David yelled.

“Who the fuck was that?” one of the men yelled.

David heard rapid footsteps coming his way and, before he could shut the front door to the market, the man in the camo pants was over him, pressing the gun against his skull.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jessica

Since Jessica had spent every second with Melissa since the woman had woken up from her coma, Melissa now encouraged her to get out of the room for a little while. At first, Jessica resisted, feeling bad for leaving the new widow alone. But, Melissa persisted, and did all
but
come out and say that she wanted to be by herself for a while.
 

Jessica walked to the lounge and then to the guest area where she’d gone earlier to do laundry, then decided to go explore parts of the hospital she hadn’t been in yet. There wasn’t anything else to do after all, so she thought she’d have some time to herself and go have a look around. The few people who were at the hospital weren’t roaming the hallways, leaving Jessica alone. She walked down past her room in a direction she hadn’t gone yet.

When she reached the end of the hall, she turned and saw a group of elevators. Lawrence had been very clear about not using the elevators, and there were even signs on them to deter anyone from doing so.

Down the other corridor, Jessica saw a set of double doors. She walked over to them and pushed. She was surprised when the doors opened because of the “Employees Only” sign posted on the door. She let go of the doors and started to leave, but changed her mind and headed through them anyway.

***

Gabriel

The cell phone had the same “No Service” message plastered across the top left corner that it had had every time he’d looked at it. Gabriel’s frustration was quickly mounting. He’d nearly been killed, again, and still had no way of contacting his family. His couldn’t stay still in the seat as his patience continued to deteriorate.