Read Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation for Free Online Page A

a doctor back at our camp. It’s only a couple of miles down the road from here.”
    “You can help him?” Holly asked.
    Karl shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I’m not the doctor, and I’m not sure we even have the proper tools to do what needs to be done to help him. But we’re going to take you there to try.”
    Will rubbed his forehead and then shook Karl’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you, so much.”
    “Our group isn’t going to like us bringing someone else in,” Laurie said. “There’s no guarantee that they’re going to agree to let you stay, or that they’re going to help him.”
    “How could they not help a child?” Charlie asked.
    “Do you want us to try, or not?” Karl asked.
    Will and Charlie looked at each other, and Will said, “Yes, of course.”
    “Then get in your vehicle and follow us.”

    ***
    Karl and Laurie led them through a rural area, passing nothing but trees on a country road. The group hardly spoke any words to each other. Holly sat in the back, cuddling up to Dylan and running her hands through his hair. Over and over again, she told him, “We’re getting you help.”
    After several miles, Karl turned into a suburban neighborhood. The concrete sign outside the subdivision read: Lake Forest Estates. The entrance was blocked with a rod iron gate. Large slabs of wood covered the openings between each rod.
    “Damn,” Charlie mumbled.
    Karl stepped out of the vehicle and looked back to the SUV. Staring at Will, he held up his index finger, signaling that he needed a moment, and then he walked to the fence.
    “I wonder how many people are here,” Charlie said.
    “They sure could house a lot of people, I’ll tell you that much,” Will said. Houses lined either side of the street beyond the gate.
    “You think they’re going to help us?” Charlie asked.
    Will glanced into the rearview mirror at Holly. She wasn’t paying attention to the conversation in the front seat. She continued to run her fingers through Dylan’s hair, keeping the boy calm. In the cargo area, Mary Beth remained silent, but she stared at Will in the mirror.
    “I hope so,” Will said.
    Ahead, Karl stood at the gate talking to someone on the other side through a square opening. He made different hand gestures, and several moments passed with no movement.
    “What’s taking so long?” Charlie asked. He was hardly able to get the words out before Karl stepped back from the fence and gave Will a thumbs up.
    “Thank God,” Holly said.
    The gate opened, and Karl pulled forward.
    Will sighed. “Here we go.”
    Two men guarded the rod iron fence, each armed with assault rifles. As the SUV passed through the gate, each man kept their eyes glued on Will and the others.
    “They didn’t look too happy,” Charlie said.
    “Your group wasn’t too happy when they first saw us, either,” Will reminded him.
    Houses lined either side of the street. Some of them looked as if they’d been unaffected by mankind’s fall, while others appeared to barely be standing. Blood stained the doors on some of the homes, the grass on others. It didn’t look like any people were currently living in any of these houses. Karl continued down the street until he came to a stop sign and turned onto Chapman Drive. He drove down Chapman for three blocks before turning onto Mallory Court.
    That’s when other humans appeared.
    Ten houses lined the road on either side, funneling into a cul-de-sac at the end of the road. In front of one house, a man and woman stood in front of a barbecue grill. Two houses down, a man kneeled in front of a generator, looking up as the SUV passed by. On the other side of the street, three kids played in the front yard of a two-story house. A woman sat on the front patio, watching the children.
    Charlie said, “It looks…”
    “Normal,” Holly said, finishing his sentence.
    Karl stopped in the middle of the road, at the end of the cul-de-sac. He didn’t bother to pull up next to a curb or