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

Then, just yesterday on another run, Lawrence picked up a man named David, who he found wandering down the side of the road just before he fell into a ditch. At first, Lawrence thought the man might be one of
them
, based on the way he was favoring his left leg when he walked, creating a sort of limp and sway similar to how the creatures moved. Lawrence pulled up close enough to realize that it was, indeed, a man that he saw, and rushed out of the ambulance to the man’s side once he saw him fall.

David had acted a little strange ever since Lawrence picked him up, which Lawrence just assumed was because the man was exhausted. The new world had quickly become accustomed to draining people of energy, and even hope, and David looked like he had run out of both.

Unfortunately, Lawrence himself had little to be hopeful for anymore, as well.

***

His most recent run had lasted about an hour and a half. Again, he’d chosen to go alone, a decision that made others in the group uncomfortable. They wanted to help him, but Lawrence was still grieving from things he’d witnessed and done over the past five days, and he used these runs as a type of therapy.

 
With the hospital in his sight now, Lawrence reached down and grabbed the radio.

“I’m back, over,” he said.

“Great, we’ll be ready for you.” The voice was Sam’s, a hospital janitor in his late thirties.

Lawrence pulled through the entrance of the parking garage, where a group of creatures were loitering. He heard their snarls as he drove by, and did his best to avoid eye contact with them as he continued up into the garage and headed for the top level.

He had to climb eight levels to the top level of the parking garage where the group had found a way to block themselves in. They used large boards left over from a construction project to create a barrier between themselves and the creatures. Not many of the creatures loitered there, so the group lived with only minimal worry that the things might be able to bust through and get to them.
 

“I’m almost there,” Lawrence said.

“We hear ya coming,” Sam replied.

Lawrence took the final turn around the corner to the eighth level, and he saw three of the creatures walking around near the makeshift gate.

“Can you see how many there are?” Sam asked.

“Just three.”

“We’ll get ‘em.”

The large board in the middle moved, and two men came out from behind it and fired at the beasts. It took a few shots, but the three bodies were down and Sam waved Lawrence through the fence.

***

“Thanks, Sam,” Lawrence said.

“Don’t sweat it, man.”

Lawrence shook his hand as Sam clipped the two-way radio back onto his belt. He and Trevor, the man that Lawrence had found on day one of the new world, had been manning the gate to allow Lawrence back inside.

“Find anything?” Sam asked.

Lawrence shook his head.

“Damn.”

“I’m gonna go on and head in,” Trevor said. Like Sam, he also looked disappointed that Lawrence had come back empty-handed.

Lawrence nodded at him. “Thank you.”

Trevor nodded back and then opened the metal access door into the hospital.

Lawrence grabbed a small duffle bag out of the back of the ambulance, one that he kept some supplies in specifically for runs, and then shut the double doors before turning around to face Sam.

“It’s getting worse out there. I saw more of those things, and I only saw a couple of other people driving.”

Sam shook his head. “You’ve got to quit going on those runs by yourself, man.”

Lawrence put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and patted it. “I know.”

And he did know. Lawrence was pushing his luck going out on his own, and knew that it was time for him to do the right thing and quit using the runs as his chance to get lost in his thoughts. There were plenty of places in the wing of the hospital they’d secured where he could be by himself to think.

Lawrence let his arm slip off Sam’s shoulder and moved it around the top of his back.

“Come on. Let’s head on in.”

***

The door from the parking garage led into a narrow access walkway that had windows to the outside. Lawrence tried to avoid looking out, but it was impossible. Every time he walked by, he looked down and saw the creatures limping around the area. Each night stuck in here, he stood on this bridge for at least half an hour, watching the things walk mindlessly around under the light of the moon and the few remaining street lamps. This time, he kept walking, though he still looked down.

At the end of the bridge, they opened another door that led them into the hospital.

Lawrence and Sam entered a corridor with two elevators on each side of the hall. The nurses’ station was just past that, and then a collection of rooms down hallways on either side of the desk. The group had isolated themselves in this area of the hospital, which had once housed postpartum care for new mothers and their babies. Now, the area was a refuge for the small group that had managed to get past the first wave of creatures.

“I think that everyone is having an early supper. You gonna join us?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Lawrence responded. “Let me just get settled in. I wanna wipe myself down and wind down for a few.”

“No problem.”

Sam headed over to what was once the nurses’ break area, and now being used as a kitchen and dining room for these survivors.
 

Lawrence walked to his room to clean himself up.

***

Lawrence laid the duffle bag down on the bed. He opened it and took inventory of what was there. He still had plenty of ammo for his Glock, the first aid kit was fully stocked with everything he needed, and he still had two full bottles of water.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his hand over his forehead. For the past few days, he’d had headaches on and off that were reaching a near-migraine level of intensity. One was flaring up now, as he could feel the vein on his left temple pulsate under his fingertips.

On the bedside table, there was a small plastic container of ibuprofen that he’d snagged from the medical supply a few doors over, and he popped two of the pills into his mouth, swallowing them without any water. He noticed the 4-by-6 photograph sitting on the table next to it, but ignored it.

Lawrence instead walked over to his table and picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels. He unscrewed the cap and drank straight from the bottle before walking over to the bedside table.

He picked up the picture, taking another swig of the whiskey as he did, the first shot still burning inside his throat. When he turned the photograph over, he began to tear up.

The photograph showed Lawrence with his wife, Bailey, and their son, Carter. The picture was only a few months old, taken at Six Flags Over Georgia. Lawrence was old-fashioned, and still liked collecting printed photographs, even in the digital age. He’d only just recently been convinced by Carter to switch to a digital camera, and bought a nice photo printer so that he could print out photos and still collect the physical prints he was so accustomed to. The photograph he held in his hand was the last one that all three of them had taken together.

Lawrence took another swig of the whiskey before setting the photo back on the bedside table, face down. He stroked it with the back of his hand, as if to try and comfort his family the only way he could now.

“I love you,” he mumbled, before he changed into a different t-shirt, and then headed out the door.

CHAPTER TWO

Will

It’d been raining for hours. Driving down Interstate 40 was difficult enough as it was with all the Empties staggering around and all the vehicles left abandoned by their owners, cluttering the path; but trying to navigate through all the obstacles during a downpour proved even more difficult. The past two days had been hell even before the rain, but the group kept on going.

The only thing that Will wanted was to find his mother and father. The group had been trying to reach Knoxville for the past two days, but had only made it just over halfway. They’d gone on and off the interstate, trying to find a back road that might provide a less treacherous path to travel, but they hadn’t had any luck. It seemed like every exit they tried, the narrow back roads would be blocked by Empties. After a few attempts, Gabriel convinced Will to just stay on the interstate.

Many times, Will contemplated separating from the group. They were only slowing him down from getting to Knoxville and finding his parents. Between hauling a man recovering from a gunshot wound, a child, and dealing with other people who had their own ideas of what the group should do and where they should go, Will was frustrated. But he knew he couldn’t leave Holly and, in the end, he always came back to the same conclusion:
I have a better chance of surviving if I stay with the group.

They had many confrontations with Empties, which depleted most of their supply of ammunition, and they were now sidetracked again, trying to find somewhere to obtain more bullets for their guns.

“If we run into another large group, we might not make it out. We can’t just depend on a baseball bat to kill these things. We’ve got to find more ammunition, Will,” Gabriel said.

Will took his hands off the wheel and put them up. “No shit, dude. Wanna point me to the nearest armory?”

“Quit being an asshole,” Gabriel replied.

“Guys!” It was Holly. “Both of you, shut up. Arguing isn’t going to do us any good. Let’s just chill out, and we’ll figure something out. Together.”

Both men sighed.

Will gripped the wheel tight, trying to contain his frustration. Everyone in the group was exhausted. They’d fought through horde after horde, and it was taking its toll on all of them, especially Will, Gabriel, and Holly, who were the ones fighting off all the creatures. Marcus was in no position to help, Dylan was just a child, and Miranda didn’t know how to use a gun; her medical skills were far too critical to the group’s survival for them to put her on the front line anyway.

“Guys, look,” Miranda said, pointing down the road.

Will was focused on maneuvering through yet another group of Empties, and hadn’t looked far enough down the interstate to see they were fast approaching an exit that had a small shopping center just off of it.

“Try this exit?” Gabriel asked.

Will nodded, and a mile down the road, he took the exit.

***

As they approached the shops, Will had his eye on only one of them.

In between a small convenience store and a discount shoe store, there was a pawn shop. These stores were old and run down, which made them fit perfectly into the new world. He wondered if eventually every building would look like these, or worse. There were Empties in the parking lot, but not more than they could handle. The town looked very small, and the simple shopping center they were approaching might have been the only place for the residents to shop.

“There’s no way that place hasn’t already been picked apart,” Gabriel said of the pawn shop.

Will shrugged. “Maybe. But we’ve gotta at least check it out.”

“Okay, so, what’s the plan?”

“It doesn’t look too bad. I think you and I can go alone. We’ll just take a couple of the handguns. And be sure you’ve got a knife.”

“Fine by me,” Gabriel replied. “Pull as close as you can to the door.”

There were only about seven Empties in the parking lot, but they all limped toward the SUV as it approached the front door of the pawn shop.

“Holly, can you cover us?” Will asked.

“Of course,” Holly replied.

“I can help, too,” Marcus added.

“You sure?” Gabriel asked.

Marcus nodded. “I’m feeling a lot better. I got this.”

“Alright,” Will said. “Just keep these damn things off us. We’re gonna be in and out as quick as we can.”

“I wanna help,” Dylan said from the back of the SUV.

“You can,” Gabriel said. “Keep an eye out for any Empties that Holly and Marcus don’t see, alright?”

“But I wanna shoot them.”

“They need you to watch for others, okay? Can you do that?”