Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation by Zach Bohannon Page B

back and swing the machete. He connected with the thing’s neck before it could bring its arms up to block the blow. It fell forward, and when Will tried to move back, he found that his feet had stuck into the mud. The body slammed into him with enough force to knock him back. Will fell down, the back of his head slamming into the muddy soil.
    Above him, the other standing creature snarled, and aimed for Will’s exposed stomach. Will pointed the machete blade straight up, and the Empty fell on it like a stake. The blade entered under the thing’s chin and came out through the top of its skull. Will lost his grip of the machete handle, and the butt-end of it landed next to him. The Empty’s entire weight fell down onto the blade. It made a sick slurping sound as its head slid all the way down to the handle. The rest of the creature’s body fell on Will, pinning him down.
    “Shit,” Will said, looking up.
    The other creatures had made it to their feet, and were creeping toward Will. They seemed to have no trouble with the sopping ground beneath them.
    Will yelled, “Help!” He tried to look over toward Charlie, but he couldn’t see over the top of the ditch.
    The two beasts, both having been stout males in their living days, were now only a few yards away from Will. He tried to push the weight of the Empty off of him, but it proved impossible. The creature was too heavy, and the butt-end of the machete had sunk into the mud, holding the beast in place. He’d made some progress in pushing the creature off of him when one of the other Empties piled on. Now he had the weight of two creatures on him.
    With the slain Empty as the only barrier between them, the live creature chomped its jaws, trying to find any piece of Will’s flesh that it could. Will squirmed, trying to keep clear of the Empty’s decrepit teeth. Its saliva dripped down onto Will’s arm, and Will continued to call out for help. 
    A loud bang sounded through the air, followed by another. After the second, the standing Empty fell backward, blood shooting out of the side of its skull. The Empty in his face screamed, and then another shot went off, this bullet sinking into the side of its head. Blood splashed down onto Will’s face, and he turned his head, closing his eyes. When he looked up again, he saw Spencer standing over him, a gun in his hand. A thin cloud of smoke floated from the barrel.
    Charlie appeared at the edge of the road and dropped the ax.
    “Shit,” Charlie said. He shuffled down into the ditch and pushed the top Empty off of Will, then helped Will move the other. He extended his hand to his friend, who accepted it. “You all right, man?”
    Will pulled away from Charlie and hurried out of the ditch, coming face to face with Spencer.
    “What the fuck is your problem?”
    “Get the hell out of my face,” Spencer said. “You said not to use the gun unless I had to. By the looks of you down there, I think I needed to use it. You should be thanking me.”
    “Yes,” Will said. “Thank you. Thanks a lot for taking your sweet ass time in getting out of the van.”
    “Fuck you.”
    Will swiped the gun out of his hand and aimed it at his forehead. Spencer raised his arms.
    “Whoa, what the fuck, dude?”
    Karl raised his own weapon, aiming it at Will.
    “Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Charlie said, raising his hands up toward Karl.
    “He needs to put his gun down,” Karl said, speaking to Charlie of Will.
    “No,” Will said. “You need to listen to me, and listen good. Timothy asked me to come here with you all. He did that for a reason. Because I have the most experience out of any of us out here in the world since all this shit started happening. Now, if you’re not going to do what I say, we’re going to have a problem.”
    “You’re not in charge,” Spencer said.
    “You’re wrong,” Will said. “When it comes to how we handle these monsters, I am in charge.”
    “Let’s all just cool it,” Charlie said. “Will,