He balled his fist and slammed in down on the sidewalk. It didn't stop the images passing through his mind. They bombarded him. Confused him.
He thought of John and Alice. And his failed promise to them.
He thought of Julie. And how she looked in that tight T-shirt.
He thought of Marianne. And his dream.
He thought of Emily. And how he had found her in the elevator with her dead father. He had tried his best to take care of her ever since.
He thought of Buster.
Their faces danced through his head. He couldn't stop them. He wanted to. He put the palms of his hands against his eyes and pressed. But, no, they wouldn't stop.
He wasn't sure when he had started to cry. His tears covered his hands and spilled onto his jeans and boots, darkening the blood that was just beginning to dry. He could barely breathe.
Crying wasn't something that he was used to. He usually did his best to keep those types of emotions at bay. Though this time he didn't care.
He also didn't think he'd be able to stop them even if he wanted to. There was too much going through him. And this was the only way it seemed to want to come out.
*
It took a while for Scooter to stop crying. There was simply nothing left in him. Well, notnothing. He still felt sadness. Emptiness. But there were no more tears.
He raised his head and looked around. He didn't want to be here anymore. Sitting on this street. Alone.
He stood up, axe in hand, and turned in the direction where the others were waiting.
He started to walk back to them.
Chapter 8
They were still sitting on the benches when Scooter returned. He walked straight up to Alice, his head lowered. The axe didn't give him any strength for what he was about to do. It dropped out of his hands as soon as he reached her.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracking. A fresh new wave of tears threatened to return, but he fought to hold them back.
Alice looked at him, but didn't speak. Her eyes were red. Her nose runny.
"I never meant for any of this to happen," he continued.
Still, she remained silent.
Scooter could finally no longer hold back his tears. They rushed out of his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. "I tried," he said. "I really did. I'm so sorry."
Alice kept her eyes on his. Tears had started to build in hers as well. Yet she kept her mouth closed.
It was her arms that opened, instead. Scooter fell into her embrace.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered into the crook of her neck. She rubbed up and down his back. "I'm so so sorry."
"I know," Alice replied. "It's okay."
"He meant so much to me."
"I know he did. You meant a lot to him too."
It was the first time that he had heard that anyone really cared about him. He pressed himself further into Alice's grasp and continued to cry.
Chapter 9
When Scooter eventually lifted his head off of Alice's shoulder, several emotions ran through him. Sadness. Regret. Fear. He even felt somewhat uncomfortable that he had broken down in front of everyone. He had never done anything like that before. Not even after his father had beaten him.
But through it all he also felt a sense of happiness and comfort. He would never forget the words Alice had said to him about her husband.Scooter had meant a lot to him.
"My husband was right," Alice said. "You’re a good man.”
Scooter’s lips curled upward. “Thank you.”
“And I want apologize for what I said to you back there. About you being responsible. It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault. I know that. It just all came as a shock."
Shock?Scooter thought.The last time Alice had been shocked, she hadn't spoken to anyone for days. She hadn't even been able to take care of herself. This whole time Scooter had never even considered that that might happen again. He had been too busy dealing with his own stuff.
"I'm…uh…you…" He stammered over his words.
"What is it?" she asked kindly.
"I…uh…I'm worried about you."
"It's not going to be easy," she admitted. "But I'll get through it. Somehow."
"I don't mean that," Scooter explained. "I was thinking about what you said about shock."
Alice took some time to figure out what he was saying. "You're worried about me changing back to the way I was in my basement?"
Scooter nodded.
"I won't lie. When I saw my husband out there, I wanted to die right along with him."
"Don't say that!" Emily cried, squirming in her seat.
"Oh, darling." She pinched the little girl's cheek. "I don't feel that way now. But it was hard for me. Still is. The thing is that I know my John wouldn't have wanted me to give up."
"And the shock?" Scooter asked.
"I don't know. I have no idea why it even happened the first time. I'm not sure if my John told you, but I'm usually a pretty strong cookie."
Johnhadtold him that his wife could be strong. Except the word he had actually used wasstubborn. Though he had said it in a way that let Scooter know that John loved the woman regardless of it…or maybe because of if.How he missed him.
"Let's not worry about all of that right now," Alice concluded. "We should figure out what we're going to do next."
*
It didn't take them long to decide to keep moving. The sun was still high above them, but it would come down soon enough. They wanted to try to find a safe place to stay before that happened.
Scooter stood and helped Alice get to her feet. Julie took hold of Emily and raised her into her arms. Marianne placed her purse over her arm and scratched behind Buster's ear.
"Everyone ready?" Scooter asked.
They were.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my family and friends for all of their support and encouragement in writing this book. I truly appreciate your kind words of support during this process.
I would also like to thank you, the reader, for giving an unknown author a chance. I hope you enjoyed the book and that you look forward to the upcoming installments. There are five books in total that I plan to release over the upcoming year.
About the Author
Starting with nothing more than the prologue, Michael set off writing his version of the apocalypse. He even quit his job and moved home for a year to do so. The end product is a story which spans five books that he will release over the upcoming year. He is from Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
You can follow him at michaelmcmanamon.com and www.facebook.com/glorythebook for information and updates on upcoming books.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Day 7
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Day 8
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Day 9
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Day 11
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Day 12
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
/> Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Day 14
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Glory (Book 4) Page 11