Open Roads (20 page)

"It looks like there's just more coming," Holly said.

Will shot down two more Empties down before his back hit the truck. His rifle ran out of ammunition again, but he didn't have the time to reload. Instead, he tossed the rifle over his shoulder and drew his handgun. One of the thing's lunged at him, and he pulled the gun up just in time to hit the Empty square in the forehead. He then raced around the back of the truck, joining Charlie and Holly.

"Shit," Will said, looking off into the woods. Many bodies lay on the ground, but there were more coming, just as Holly had said. He heard a snarl from behind him. The two remaining Empties from the courtyard had followed him around the truck, and he'd been so distracted by the group near the woods that he'd almost forgotten about them. He fired off two consecutive shots with the handgun, connecting with head shots to both of the creatures.

"We can't take all these things out," Will said. "We've gotta make a run for the cabin."

“It’s burning to the ground,” Holly said. “How’re we supposed to get in there?”

Will shook his head. “I don’t know, but we’ve gotta try. Come on."
 

Will ducked into the back seat of the vehicle and grabbed their bags. He handed some of the gear over to Charlie and Holly, gathered what he could, and then shut the door and headed around the back of the vehicle, starting toward the cabin.

When they'd made it halfway across the courtyard, a guttural scream came out of the burning cabin. It was the scream of a man. It stopped Will dead in his tracks.

Charlie's jaw dropped open and Holly gasped. A figure come running out the front door. He screamed, like a man, not like one of the creatures, and he was on fire. The man was tall, and wore overalls.

"Oh my God," Charlie said, taking another step toward the burning cabin. “Larry.”

Will wrapped his arms around Charlie, who'd started to cry and yell out, wanting desperately to run to Larry. It took everything Will had to hold him back.

"It's too late," Will said. "We can’t help him.”

The flaming figure fell face-first onto the grass in front of the cabin. The flames shooting off his body licked the open air, and the person no longer screamed.

Two more figures came through the front door of the cabin, these lumbering with the same gait as the undead. They were Empties, on fire, and apparently unfazed by their
flames. Meanwhile, the horde from the woods were quickly approaching the survivors.

"We've gotta move, now," Holly said.

“We’ve gotta run to our cabin,” Will said.

“What about the kids?” Holly asked.

“We’ll never make it inside there. His arms wrapped around Charlie's waist, Will pulled back on Charlie. "Come on, man."

Still weeping, Charlie turned and grabbed Will's shirt. Will backed up, and aimed his pistol at the approaching group of Empties and fired.

"Go!" Will shouted at Holly. Charlie pulled away from Will, and both men jogged to the cabin.

When they climbed up the steps, Holly had already opened the front door. Charlie went inside first, and Will stood at the edge of the cabin. He pulled the rifle off his shoulder, reloaded, and aimed down at the horde. He hadn't known Larry that well, but he was tired of seeing good people die from these demons. He fired into the group, again and again. Squeezing the trigger and watching the creatures fall felt good. Every single one of these things deserved to fall. Every one.

"Will!" Holly shouted.

He looked back to her, seeing the worry in her face. The horde moved only about fifteen yards from the cabin now, and four more had come out of the flaming cabin, all of them on fire. Will took one more shot as he backed up, connecting with his target's skull.

Then he disappeared inside the cabin.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Will locked the door and dropped his bag in the middle of the floor. Holly searched the cabin for the children. When she returned to the living room, concern spread across her face.

"Not here?" Will asked, speaking of the children.

Holly wiped at her eyes and shook her head.

"Son of a bitch," Will mumbled.

The sound of marching thundered on the front porch, and the Empties banged on the door. Over and over, they slammed their decrepit hands against the front of the cabin, clogging Will’s ability to think.

“We can’t stay here,” Holly said.

“I know,” Will said. He ran his hands through his hair, gripping it tight. “Maybe we can get out the back door, and have a clear shot to the car with—” Will stopped himself, realizing what he was suggesting.
 

“We can’t leave,” Charlie said. “There could be others.”

The banging continued on the front of the cabin, and there were now creatures banging on the windows.

“I know, I know,” Will said. He looked at Charlie and said, “You got any ideas?”
 

An orange glow appeared at the front of the cabin. Two of the burning Empties had made it up the steps. Just outside the window, Will got a good look at them. All their flesh was burned, leaving nothing but flaming statues of muscle and bone. Yet, somehow, the things still were able to move.

“Oh, shit,” Will said.

The flames licked the roof of the log cabin’s porch, catching it on fire.

Holly put her hands on top of her head, showing her panic. She started to pace and curse under her breath. The glass of the window broke from all the pressure, and Will readied his gun.

"Grab your weapons!" Will yelled. He fired, taking out the creature whose face filled the window.

The horde filled most of the front porch. As they fired at the creatures, Will could see the door start to give way on its hinges. Flames swam in through the window, threatening to catch the kitchen on fire. Staying in the middle of the cabin would soon no longer be an option. He brought down another creature with a bullet, then started to back up as he reloaded.

“We’ve gotta move,” Will said. He grabbed ahold of Holly's arm and started for the rear of the cabin. Charlie ran ahead of them, opening the door to the master bedroom. All three loaded inside the room, and Will shut and locked the door.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Charlie asked. "Either they're gonna break in here, or this place is gonna burn to the fucking ground." The smoke had begun to reek throughout the entire cabin. They had little time.

Will said to Holly, "Grab your essentials. We're gonna have to sneak out the back door."

As Will and Holly began gathering their things, the continuous banging at the front of the cabin stopped. His hands still in his bag, Will turned and looked back toward the door.

"They stopped," Holly said.

Will said, "Shh," putting his index finger to his lip. He was pretty sure he heard something past the crackling of the flames and the muffled snarls of the creatures. It sounded like the voice of a human.

Charlie was the first one to say, “What the hell?”

Someone whistling. Someone calling out, “Over here!”

Will looked out a window, through the flames. The fire had made it into the kitchen, but the Empties had retreated from the porch. Will squinted his eyes, looking through the mirage of smoke to see someone jumping up and down across the courtyard, waving their arms.

"Scott!" Charlie said.

"Quiet," Will said. "He's drawing them over to him so we can get the hell out of here."

Will retreated back into the bedroom and grabbed his things. He threw on the rifle, feeling the strap rub against his neck. He picked up Holly's bag, too, and then he returned to the living room and handed it to her.

"I want you to go out the back with Charlie," Will said. "When you get down to the end of this row of cabins, drop your bag. You two head back to the truck, using it as cover, and flank them from the front."

"What are you gonna do?" Holly asked.

 
"I'm gonna go out the front door."

"No," Holly said. "You can't go out there alone. Besides, you’ll get burned."

Will said, "I'll be fine. There’s still time for me to make it out. With you guys distracting them, they’ll be halfway across the courtyard once I get outside. I'm gonna take as many of them out from behind as I can and draw them away from Scott. You guys should be around the other side of them by the time that happens, and you'll have an opening. There aren't that many of them. We should be able to make this work. But we don't have a lot of time, so you've gotta go."

Holly's face told Will everything he needed to know. She didn't like the plan. Didn't want to leave Will's side. But they didn't have a choice. They couldn't stay here, and Scott had given them the opening they needed.

Charlie grabbed onto Holly's arm and began to pull her. She held her ground, leaning into Will to kiss him on the lips.

He said, "I'll see you in a few minutes."

Will pulled away from her, and headed for the front door. When he turned around again, Charlie and Holly had disappeared to the back of the cabin. The fire had made it into the kitchen, lighting the cabinets aflame. Will thought to salvage any food or medical supplies he could get, but there wasn’t time. The number one focus right now was to clear out this band of creatures so that they could look for Dylan and Mary Beth, and then they’d be able to regroup and inventory all their supplies from the other cabins.

Will went to open the door, but quickly drew his hand away from the metal handle. It was hot.

“Son of a bitch.”

He waved his hand, hoping to bring relief and to cool down the burn. He also started to cough, the smoke quickly filling the cabin. He glanced out the window, seeing that Scott was now having to back up towards the woods, the creatures gaining on him.

 
Will stepped back from the door. He counted down from three, then picked up his leg and slammed his foot into the front door. As soon as he connected, he turned his back to the adjacent wall, clearing the path of the entrance. The door opened with a ‘woosh’, and flames came spilling into the cabin, like pouring lighter fluid over a charcoal grill. The backdraft wasn’t as strong as he’d anticipated, but it had been enough to where it would’ve set him on fire if he hadn’t moved out of the way.

 
After the fire dissipated, Will came off the wall and turned out of the door. Flames engulfed the porch, forcing him to run through a shallow fire, then jump down the three stairs leading to the concrete. The heavy bag on his shoulder, he fell to the ground, his ankle twisting. He landed on the bag, knocking the breath out of his lungs as his ribs slammed into it. He writhed on the ground, safe from the flames, but unsure whether to grab his aching ribs or to clutch his throbbing ankle. He found the sense to look up. He’d apparently made enough noise to lure at least a small population of the Empties back toward him, thus ruining his idea of a surprise attack.

Breathing heavily now that he lay in the fresh, open air, away from the toxic smoke, he tried to make it to his feet, but fell down again when he attempted to put weight on his ankle. From the angle he lay at, he couldn’t see Scott beyond the swarm of Empties. He glanced toward the vehicle, not seeing Charlie or Holly. They should’ve been there by now, and he hadn’t heard any gunshots come from the rear of the cabin. With no other choice, he drew his pistol and fired at the creatures coming toward him.

They moved slow enough and were far enough away where he could take his time and make each shot count. There were only four of the beasts coming toward him, but the shots would sure garner the attention of others. He took aim and fired. The first shot missed his target, but he quickly shot again, taking down the first Empty. He shot again, nicking the neck of the next creature. They had cut the distance on him in half, and if he couldn’t make it to his feet, he knew he might not survive. Will got up to his knees, at least allowing himself to aim better. He shot the Empty he’d grazed again, this time hitting it in the face.

When he aimed at the next beast, the gun clicked.

“Shit!”

He went for his pouch, then quickly adjusted and grabbed his knife instead. Mouth open, the Empty lunged at him. With a yell, Will drew the knife and jammed it into the side of the creature’s head as all its weight fell onto Will. He groaned as the lifeless thing fell onto his aching ribs. He was unable to muster the energy to get the thing off of him. Will lifted his head, and saw more of the creatures heading his way. He mustered every ounce of energy he had, but couldn’t get the creature off of him. In its human days, the thing had been a heavy-set woman, around 240 pounds — far too heavy for him to push her off of him with his injuries.