Empty Bodies (Book 2): Adaptation (18 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

David

Two of Clint’s men loaded into the vehicle with David. The man in the camouflage cargo pants had instructed them go to the hospital with David to get the weapons that he claimed were hidden there somewhere. They patted David down, making sure he didn’t have any knives or firearms hidden somewhere on his body, and pushed him into the driver’s seat.

One of the men sat in the front seat, and the other sat in the back with a shotgun fixed at his hip, aimed directly at David. If David made one wrong move, the man could easily blow a hole through the back of the seat and kill him. The man in the front also held a gun, keeping his finger on the trigger of the pistol and the barrel pointed toward David. This man, who wore a white t-shirt and a pair of dirty jeans, and had a goatee and mustache on his face, whistled as he watched outside, glaring over at David from time to time.

“You know, you don’t have to keep those guns pointed at me,” David said.

The man in the back seat scoffed. “Yeah, okay.”

David shook his head.

“Just drive, asshole,” the man in the front seat added.

They were just a few miles from the hospital now, and David did just as the man asked and kept moving.

“Felt good to kill your friend back there,” the man in the back seat said. “I only wish I had got to do it instead of Clint.”

“I bet it did feel good,” David said, looking at the man in the rearview mirror.

“You’re not gonna fool us and try to make us think you’re on our side,” the man beside David said. “We know you were friends with that nigger.”

David chuckled. “You don’t know shit.” He waited for one of the men to hit him, but it never happened.

“You got a lot of balls for a dead man,” the man in the passenger seat continued. “What’s your name anyhow?”

“David.”

“Well, David, I’m Trent. And this fella back here, his name is Cody. You just do as we tell you, and we’ll make this whole experience a lot less painful for ya. You got that?’

David hesitated, not sure how to respond. He felt like his stiff attitude might be getting through to the men, so he kept it going.

“Yeah, whatever. You do what you gotta do. But, if you kill me, you’re making a grave fucking mistake.”

“Yeah?” Cody asked from the back seat. “And why’s that?”

“Because I can help you with more than getting you some fucking guns.”

“And how the fuck can you help us?” Trent asked.

David pointed outside. “I survived two days out there, alone. And that’s after being left to die in a fucking warehouse surrounded by those things outside. You got anyone who’s done that?”

Trent and Cody were silent.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. And, just so you know, I almost killed that piece of shit earlier today, but one of those things attacked me right before I could get the shot off. I was planning on taking over this damn hospital, soon. Guy you shot was a weak leader, not worth trusting for shit.”

“And you
can
be?” Trent asked.

“I didn’t say that, did I?”

“Well, what are you saying, then?”

“I’ll help you get the guns from this place, but before you kill me, you should let me have another chat with Clint.”

Trent looked back to Cody, and David saw Cody shrug in the rearview mirror. Then, Trent looked back over to David.

“You just get us what we need, okay?”

They passed over a hill and the top of the hospital came into view.

Trent pulled the two-way radio from his waistband. It would be the only way for him and Cody to communicate with their camp.

“Clint, you there?”

“Yeah,” the man said through the radio.

“We can see the hospital.”

***

Gabriel

While the others conversed in the break room, Gabriel sat up against a wall in the hallway. The group had decided to give Will some time alone with his mother, and the survivors in the hospital had offered food to Gabriel’s group. While he was hungry, he had too many things on his mind for him to want to be around the others right now.

He had Will’s cellphone in his pocket and pulled it out to try yet again to reach his family. Gabriel pressed down the power button and waited for it to turn on. When it did, he saw on the screen that there was no service, just like every other time he’d looked, but dialed anyway.

And like every other time, nothing happened.

Across from him was a welcome counter for people visiting the hospital. Gabriel stood up and walked to it. He saw a phone on the desk and picked it up, but the line was dead.

Gripping his hair with his fingers, Gabriel worked to hold in his frustration. When he closed his eyes, he saw his daughter as one of
them
, just as she had been in his dream earlier, and it set him over the edge.

Gabriel grabbed the phone with both hands and threw it against the wall. He then knocked the computer off of the desk, sending it crashing to the floor.

The group emerged from the kitchen, but Gabriel continued his enraged destruction of the desk, throwing all its contents off and onto the ground.

“Gabriel!” Marcus yelled.

He ran over to Gabriel and grabbed him. Gabriel pushed him off, and then just looked over to him, breathing heavy.

“Calm down, bro,” Marcus said in a more even tone. “What’s the matter, Gabriel? Talk to me.”

As everyone looked on, Gabriel walked over and hugged Marcus, crying into his shoulder.

***

“Are you sure this is what you want, man?” Will asked Gabriel. He’d come out of his mother’s room when he heard the crash down the hallway.

“It’s what I want,” Gabriel replied.

Marcus, Holly, and Rachel, one of the survivors from the hospital, were there as well.

“What about Dylan? Can you keep him safe by yourself?” Holly asked.

“I did before I met you guys. I don’t see why I can’t now.”

“D.C. is a long way to go,” Marcus said.

“I know. But I have to try.”

“Don’t you wanna wait here a little bit longer? Get your head straight and make sure it’s the right decision?” Holly asked.

Before Gabriel could answer, Will did for him.

“No,” Will said. “He has to go, and he has to take Dylan. If anyone here gets it, it’s me. I know the feeling of finding someone you love in all this mess.” Will looked at Gabriel. “I get it, man. You gotta go.”

Gabriel nodded.

“We should be able to spare a vehicle for you,” Rachel said. “Also, I’ll throw you some food. I can’t let that boy go without knowing he’ll have something to eat.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel said. He stood up. “I’m going to go let Dylan know so that you guys can say your goodbyes.”

“You’re leaving now?” Holly asked.

Gabriel nodded, and headed for the kitchen to get the boy.

***

David

Across the street from the hospital, David Ellis came to a stop.

“Go ahead and pull up in there,” Trent said.

David could feel the fire creep up inside him and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Parked at the entrance to the multi-level parking garage was the fire truck he’d seen at the gas station earlier. He could see the number “14” emblazoned on its sides, and knew for sure that it was the same one. He swallowed the lump in his throat and gripped the steering wheel tightly, his palms beginning to sweat.

“We can’t,” David mumbled.

“What the fuck you mean ‘we can’t’?”

David pointed toward the fire truck. “I know those people. They’re the ones who left me for dead back in Nashville.”

“So the fuck what?” Cody said from the back seat. “All the more reason for us to go in there and fuck ‘em up.”

Shaking his head, David said, “It’s not that simple. I wish it was, ‘cause I’d blow every one of their God damned brains out. But, they’ll be armed.”

The two men looked at each other, and David looked in the rearview mirror to see Cody nod at Trent.

Trent pulled his gun back out and pressed it right against David’s temple.

“You playin’ us here?”

“What?” David asked.

Trent leaned toward David and punched his face. David spat toward the window and held his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, blood was on his palm. Trent pressed the barrel back against David’s head. In the back seat, Cody had the shotgun pointed toward David again.

“Did you set this shit up? Tell them to come here?”

David laughed. He touched his hand to his mouth again, feeling the wet blood around his lips. When he saw Trent take his eyes off of him again to look back at Cody, he saw his chance.

David swiped the handgun out of Trent’s hand and grabbed the man’s arm, holding him in the best armlock he could in the small space. It was effective, as Trent cried out. David pressed the gun against Trent’s temple and looked back at Cody, who was trembling there with the shotgun in his hands.

“Put it down!” David demanded.

Cody just sat there, stunned.

David cocked the hammer. “Put the God damn shotgun down, or I swear to Christ, I’ll blow his brains out!”

Out of the corner of his eye, David could see Trent nodding toward Cody.

“Put it the fuck down!” Trent pleaded with a tremble in his voice.

The redneck abided, setting the shotgun down in the floorboard behind the passenger seat.

“Now, listen to me you East Tennessee hillbilly fucks,” David started. “I’ve about had it with your shit, okay? I can’t begin to tell you how bad I want to kill the assholes who, by the looks of it, I can assume are inside that hospital. I’m not sure how many ways I can tell you that. I’m going to put down this gun, but here is what I want. Are you going to listen?”

David waited for each man to acknowledge that they heard him, then continued.

“We’re going to do this smart. We can’t barge in there with the few weapons we’ve got. I know what they are packin’, and it’s not light. So, we’re going to drive a mile or so away and think this through. Probably gonna need to get on that radio and get some back-up.”

He cleared his throat before he continued.

“When we’re done with all this, I want a meeting with Clint. I’m not gonna wander around out here alone anymore and I’m sure as fuck not gonna let you pricks kill me. I want to become a part of your community, and help you survive. Understand?”

“Y-y-yes,” Trent said.

Cody nodded.

“Alright, then,” David said. He pulled the pistol away from Trent’s head. The man gasped, catching his breath. David turned the gun around, holding it by the barrel, and handed it back to Trent.

Reluctantly, Trent put out his hand and took the weapon. It was a risk for David, but he knew that he’d gotten his point across and felt that he had gained their trust.

“So, what are we gonna do?” Cody asked.

Before David could answer, he looked over toward the parking garage. A red Ford Escape was pulling out and appeared to have two figures inside. When he squinted his eyes, he saw a man and what looked like a child in the front seat.

A smile came across David Ellis’ face.

He put the car into drive, and followed the small red SUV.

***

Gabriel

Clouds were forming in the sky, again signaling rain. To Gabriel Alexander, it seemed fitting. He and the boy were alone once again, and he felt as if it made for a much darker road ahead, but one that he needed to travel. There was no way he could go another moment without trying to get home to his wife and daughter and, though it had been a difficult decision, he felt as if he’d left the hospital with Will and the group fully understanding why he had to leave.

Dylan was a different situation.

The boy had stopped sobbing, but sat in the passenger seat in utter silence. Gabriel took his eyes off the road every now and then to look over at the boy, and could see how red his eyes and face were from crying. After a few glances, Dylan turned his head where Gabriel couldn’t see his face any longer.

Gabriel sighed and shook his head. He knew that leaving the group was hard on the boy, but also knew that the feeling would pass. There was no way he could leave him behind with Dylan’s home being so close to his own. Whether the child liked it or not, he needed to be back home with his parents who, if still alive, were sure to be worried sick about him.

There was a bag in the back seat with some food in it that Rachel had given them. Gabriel reached into the back and grabbed a sandwich that was wrapped in a plastic bag, and offered it to Dylan.

“Hungry?”

Dylan didn’t respond.

Again, Gabriel sighed. While he knew the boy would eventually talk again, his patience with Dylan was already starting to wear thin. More than his patience, it was his guilt he couldn’t ignore.

“Come on, Dylan. You can’t do this forever. At least eat this sandwich.”