Open Roads (2 page)

Will approached the fence and handed Gabriel the plastic red gas can. He secured the bag on his shoulder, then looked up to the top of the fence. Will grabbed onto the rods, and pulled himself to the top. Once there, he sat with a leg on either side, and handed the bag down to Holly.

“Give me the can,” Will said down to Gabriel.

Gabriel handed Will the gas can, which he in turn gave to Holly. Then Will hopped down from his perch at the top of the fence.

Gabriel pulled himself up, and joined the group on the other side.

Reaching into the bag of weapons, Will pulled out two handguns, handing one each to both Jessica and Holly. He threw one of the rifles to Gabriel, and grabbed a shotgun for himself.

 
“Let’s look around,” Will said. The sun had hidden behind the horizon, so he kneeled down to one of the other bags and pulled out the three flashlights they’d found in the farmhouse. Will kept one for himself, then handed one to each of the women.

“Do I get a gun?” Dylan asked.

“You don’t need a gun, buddy,” Gabriel said. “We’ll watch after you.”

“But I can watch after myself.”

 
Will half-smiled, a gesture which the group hadn’t seen in what seemed like a millennia. “I know you can, buddy.” He signaled Dylan to follow him and they stepped away from the group. He leaned down to the boy and whispered, “You need to look after Mary Beth. She’s scared, and you having a gun would just scare her more. We are all strangers to her except for you. So, you need to help her stay calm. Can you do that?”

Dylan nodded.

“Good,” Will said, rubbing the boy’s shoulder.

They re-joined the group, and Will looked to Gabriel and said, “Alright, let’s do this.”

CHAPTER TWO

Tar Heel Storage was made up of three buildings. Two of them had blue metal doors every few feet, for the entire length of the structures. These were the outdoor units. The third building had a single glass door, and a sign on the outside read: Climate Controlled.

Gabriel slipped the rifle’s strap over his shoulder and headed toward the two buildings of outdoor units. He stood in the middle of the lot, rows of doors on either side of him. Pointing the flashlight at the doors to his right, he noticed that all of them were closed. Each unit he focused the flashlight on still had a padlock in tact. The others in the group approached him from behind.

 
“Isn’t it a little bit strange that all these doors are closed?” Holly asked. “Wouldn’t you think that some of these people would have, at least, come by here?”

“It’s kinda out in the middle of nowhere,” Jessica said. “Maybe none of the tenants could make it here.”

“Or maybe they just didn’t need anything from here,” Will added.

“It sounds like no one is here, but let’s look around to make sure,” Gabriel said. He looked over to Jessica. “Stay back with the kids; Will and I will take the lead. We’ll head straight down here, and check behind the back.”

Jessica nodded and holstered her gun in the back of her pants.

“Come on, guys. Stay close to me,” Jessica said. She put her hands out and each of the children grabbed hold.

Moving a few yards in front of Jessica, Holly, and the children, Gabriel and Will started down the middle of the two buildings. Gabriel shone the flashlight back and forth between the two buildings, as well as in front of them. The moon provided some light, but not enough to give them much assistance. Each unit he shone the light on looked untouched. They seemed destined to each be their own time capsule, not to be opened for years.

 
They came to the end of the row and reached the fence again. Gabriel looked to Will and whispered, “Take Holly and head around the far side of this unit.” He pointed to the building to his right. “I’ll go this way with Jessica and the kids, and we’ll meet you at the door of the climate controlled building.”

Will nodded, and he put his hand on Holly’s back to lead her around the side of the building. Will pulled his hand away from Holly and readied the shotgun, pointing it in front of him, as Holly used the flashlight to illuminate their path.

“Where are they going?” Dylan asked.

“Shh,” Jessica whispered, her finger to her lips. “They’ll be right back.”

Gabriel put his hand out toward Jessica, signaling her to hang back with the children. Checking to make sure it was clear, he peeked his head around the corner of the building, flashed the light down the back side of the structure, and saw nothing. He looked back to Jessica and nodded for her to follow.

They moved around the back of the building and the main office came into view. It was connected to the climate controlled storage building, but sat at the back of the property where they now stood. Gabriel narrowed his eyes. He put his hand back again, urging Jessica to hold the children back.

“What’s the matter?” Jessica asked.

Gabriel turned back and whispered, “There’s a car parked over here. Stay back with the children.”

He crept toward the vehicle. It was a large SUV, parked in one of the spots near the office. He pointed the flashlight at it and saw that it still had the dealer tags on the back, and then he shone the light through the back window. Aside from some clothes in the back seat, the truck appeared to be empty.

Gabriel heard footsteps at the end of the row and quickly turned away from the SUV.

“It’s just us,” Holly said from the front side of the property.

Gabriel relaxed and waved them toward him. Jessica must’ve heard Holly because she came around the corner with the kids and walked over to the SUV.

“Anything inside?” Jessica asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “Doesn’t look like much. We’ll give it a better look later.”

Will and Holly arrived at the truck, and Holly stroked the side of it.

“Damn, this is nice. Too bad we can’t get that gate open and drive this outta here.”

“There’s still a chance that whoever owns this is here,” Gabriel said. “We’ve gotta stay on our toes and check inside this building. If someone is inside, they could very well already know that we’re here.”

“I checked the door to the climate controlled units on the way over here,” Will said. “It’s locked. We could easily break in, but we should check inside the office first. Maybe we can find a key.”

“Good idea,” Gabriel said. “You and I will check the office. Jessica and Holly, you two keep a look out here and stay with the children.”

The group nodded in unison.

Will walked over to Holly and handed her his shotgun. “Take this and give me the handgun.”

“You sure?” Holly asked.

Will nodded. “If you guys get into trouble, it’ll be better for you to have this. Gabriel has the rifle. We’ll be fine.”

Holly nodded.

Will looked over to Gabriel. “Let’s go.”

***

The glass shattered as the butt-end of Gabriel’s rifle slammed through the office’s front window. He reached around, unlocked the door, and opened it. Will snuck by him and entered the office first, aiming his gun in front of his face.

“After you,” Gabriel mumbled, and used the flashlight to illuminate the room.

The office was simple. A desk sat in the middle of the room with all the essentials on top: a computer, phone, notepads, scattered papers, and pens. The wall nearby displayed various packing supplies that the facility sold, such as boxes and tape. There was a coffee machine and microwave sitting on top of a small table on the other side of the desk. Behind the desk, there was a single door. Will went to the desk.

“Come ‘ere and give me some light,” Will said. “Maybe there’s keys in one of these drawers.”

Gabriel hurried over to the desk and pointed the flashlight as Will opened up the top drawer and rummaged through it. He searched each drawer, throwing papers and other things all over the ground. When he’d looked through each drawer, he sighed and looked down to the ground.

Gabriel furrowed his brow. “You doin’ alright, man?”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

Will narrowed his eyes. “Let’s just keep looking around.” He turned toward the door behind the desk.

Gabriel shook his head and shined the light onto the door as Will pushed down the handle. It clicked, and Will pushed it open, entering the room. Gabriel shined the light inside the space.

To the left was a set of stairs. Gabriel shone the light to the other side of the room and saw just how small it was. A cleaning cart with a mop and bucket sat against the wall, but that was it.

“You hear that?” Will asked.

Gabriel stood still and listened.

“Hear what?”

“Come on,” Will said, and he started up the stairs. Gabriel reached out and grabbed onto Will’s shoulder.

“Easy,” Gabriel said. “If there’s someone, or
something
, up there, we need to be quiet so they don’t hear us coming.”

Will stared at Gabriel for just a moment, then nodded. Gabriel entered the room behind Will, and pointed the flashlight up the stairs.

“Holy shit,” Gabriel said.

Blood stained the wall in the shape of human handprints. Gabriel moved the beam up the wall, and the same stains decorated it every few feet. He shone the light down onto the stairs, which also had blood on them. He whipped his head toward the top of the staircase when he heard a snarl.

“Hear it that time?” Will asked.

“Let’s just be careful.”

Will nodded in agreement, then turned to move up the stairs. The steps were made of metal, making them easy to mount without making much of a noise. Eight stairs up came to a landing, and then five more stairs to the right led to a door. The familiar hiss was prevalent now.

“Sounds like it’s just one of ‘em,” Gabriel whispered.

Will crept up the stairs and gently turned the handle. He looked back to Gabriel and said, “It’s locked.”

“Let’s just turn back and leave it in there. It’s trapped in that room.”

Will shook his head. “It’s probably the live-in tenant. I bet we’ll find the keys in here, and maybe some other goods.” He moved back down the steps and joined Gabriel. “Stand back and give me some light.”

“Will, no,” Gabriel hissed.

But Will had already decided on his next move as he charged up the stairs and threw his shoulder into the door. Gabriel darted up the stairs behind him, and shone the light inward as the door fell into the room, and Will with it. It must’ve gone down easier than Will thought it was going to, because his momentum carried him all the way to the ground.

The beast snarled, but Gabriel couldn’t see where it was.

“Here!” Will yelled.

Gabriel pointed the light down and saw the hands coming up from each side of the door.

“Shoot it!”

Gabriel saw Will’s pistol had fallen onto the ground near him, and he hurried to pick it up. He positioned himself at the top of the door where he could see the creature’s head peeking over the top. Gabriel used one hand to point the light down at the beast’s head, and aimed the gun with the other; then he pulled the trigger. Blood shot up as the bullet entered the thing’s skull.

Will rolled off the door, onto his back. “Thanks,” he said, gasping for air.

“Pretty lucky that he was right on the other side of the door,” Gabriel said.

Will reached over and moved the door out of the way, and Gabriel directed the light to the Empty’s face.

“
She,
” Will said, correcting Gabriel.

Downstairs, the door to the front of the office creaked opened, then slammed shut.

“Are you guys okay?” Jessica called. “Where are you?”

“Up here,” Gabriel replied. “Through the door behind the desk.”

They heard footsteps come up the stairs, and the two women and children appeared in the doorway.

“Will,” Holly said, and she rushed to his side.

“I’m fine. No worries.”

Gabriel moved the door the rest of the way off the Empty, and tilted his head. He pointed the flashlight at its waist and he smiled. Kneeling down, he grabbed something off the creature’s pants.