Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) by Zach Bohannon

getting back into the hospital when we get back, or they could even join their friends upstairs and bust through that door.”
    Will looked over to Brandon and could see he wasn’t sure about the plan. They were silent, and it sounded like the door could come down at any moment. When he looked at it in the mirror, he could see it starting to give.
    “He’s right,” Jessica said. Brandon looked back at her, and Will’s gaze went to her in the rearview mirror. “We need to let them get through that door and then ease out of here so they follow us outside. It might even keep them out of the garage for good.”
    Brandon sighed and looked back to Will. “I hope you’re right about this. If the garage fills up in front of us, we’re gonna be trapped. Not sure this little thing is gonna be able to pound over too many of them.”
    Will tightened his grip on the steering wheel, and the monsters roared behind them as the door slammed to the ground.

CHAPTER SEVEN

    Gabriel
    A clock above the door leading to the garage ticked with every second that passed, and Gabriel eyed it intently. He’d moved a small table out into the main corridor so that he could wait and listen for his friends to return. At the other end of the hall, near the elevators, Holly and Sarah shared a similar task, manning the door to the stairwell in case the four re-entered the hospital from that direction. A shadow caught Gabriel’s attention, and he turned to see Marcus setting down a cup of hot tea on the table before sitting down.
    They sat in silence for a moment, the ticking clock fighting to be heard above their steadied breaths.
    “You think they’ve even made it out of here yet?” Marcus asked.
    “Hope so.”
    Marcus took no time changing over to a deeper subject. “You still got that same plan of headin’ to D.C. once we go and get the boy?”
    Gabriel simply nodded.
    Marcus took another sip of his tea and was silent.
    Gabriel could see in Marcus’ eyes that he had more to add, so he decided to ask the next obvious question.
    “Why do you ask?”
    “I don’t know,” Marcus said. “Thinkin’ of taggin’ along if you wouldn’t mind.”
    Gabriel furrowed his brow. “You don’t wanna stay here? I assumed you’d all stay in your new little utopia here. Hell, I would if I didn’t have a family to get back to, and the responsibility to get Dylan back to his parents.”
    “Shit, man. Ain’t nothin’ left for me here. I’ve lived in Tennessee all my life. And considerin’ I’m not sure how much life I got left, I may as well go out and see what else the world has to offer.”
    Gabriel turned and smiled. “You’re not dyin’, man. Not anytime soon.”
    “Come pretty close the last few days. Shit gets you thinkin’, ya know?”
    Thinking about his downtrodden relationship with his wife, Gabriel knew exactly what Marcus meant. If he died before finding his family, his final emotion would be regret. And if he made it to Washington and couldn’t find them—or worse, discovered them either dead or turned Empty—he wasn’t quite sure how he’d live with himself. He’d tried not to think too much about either of those two scenarios, but times like these where he had little to do but swim in his thoughts made it all the more difficult not to ponder what could be awaiting   him.
    “Alright,” Gabriel said. “I’m gonna run to my room for a few minutes, then we can go gather the bodies.”
    Marcus nodded. “Go do your thing, brother.”
    Gabriel patted Marcus on the back, then stood.
    On the way to his room, he tried to think of other things he could do to procrastinate having to go move Will’s mother.
    ***
    Jessica
    As the vehicle eased forward, Jessica kept an eye on the large group lumbering behind them, allowing Will to stay focused on getting them out of the parking garage. So far, Will’s plan was going off without a hitch. He’d turned a corner to head down to the next level of the garage, and the creatures had