Glory (Book 3)

by Michael McManamon

  He turned to look at Woody. "What do you think?"

  Woody thoughts didn't seem to be working as well as they should have been, but an idea eventually came to him. "Follow me."

  Woody started running down the sidewalk. Adam wasn't all so sure about following him. The drunk guy hadn't said where he was taking them. He didn't want to go anywhere blindly. But he also knew that he didn't have much of a choice. He could see thethings at the back of the department store, running toward him.

  "Let's go," he said.

  They followed Woody down the street. The man's dress flapped wildly in the wind. He kept one hand on his hat and almost fell once or twice. Luckily, stayed on his feel.

  When Woody came to a stop, he was standing outside of a door. He fumbled with the knob and opened it.

  "Are you sure we should do this?" Adam asked over his shoulder to Shelly and Claire, even though he wasn't all that sure that they had another choice. He could hear the creatures screaming behind them.

  "I think it'll be okay," Claire said.

  "Me too," Shelly added.

  Adam could hear a little fear in the young girl's voice, but he didn't think it was about Woody. It was about the creatures. They were getting closer. He squeezed her hand and led her through the doorway.

  Woody quickly closed the door behind them. Out of breath, he leaned against the wall. Then he took a sip of his vodka. The last sip.

  Adam couldn't believe that the man hadn't dropped it. He had been running for his life, but he managed to keep his liquor bottle safe.

  And his hat!It flopped down around Woody's face.

  Adam turned away from him to get a better look at where they were. They were at the bottom of a stairwell.

  "Where are we?" he asked.

  "My home," Woody said. But he didn't seemed too pleased about it.

  Chapter 5

  They waited at the door. There wasn't much sound other than Woody's breathing. They were all a little winded, but Woody sounded like he was going to collapse.

  "Sit down," Shelly said. She motioned toward the stairs.

  Woody waved her off. "It's okay. I'm…I'm…as right as rain."

  They continued to listen.

  It wasn't long before they heard the screaming. It got louder and louder.

  Adam squeezed hold of the shotgun, ready in case the creatures burst down the door.

  They got closer. And closer still.

  Then, almost as quickly, their screams began to trail off. As did their footsteps.

  The creatures had passed by.

  "I think we're okay," Adam said after a moment longer.

  The others looked at him. They were all frightened. But they agreed.

  Woody tried to take another sip out of his bottle, but there was nothing left in it. He let it drop to the floor. It bounced, then rolled to a stop.

  Adam shot him a look, wishing that he hadn't done that. If one of those creatures had hung around outside, it would have heard.

  Woody didn't seem to mind. He pushed himself up off of the wall and walked up the stairs. He had a hard time getting up them. He kept leaning on the walls and tripping on the steps.

  It was hard for Adam to believe that Woody had even been able to outrun thosethings.

  Eventually, the drunk man got to a door at the top of the stairs and opened it. He didn't use a key. It had been unlocked. Just like the downstairs one had been.

  Woody led everyone into his apartment.

  As soon as Adam entered, he could see that the place was a mess. It looked like someone had tried to destroy it. Or that there may have been a fight.

  Woody made his way through the mess. He stepped over things. Kicked some out of the way. Then he walked over to a cabinet. He opened it and pulled out another bottle of vodka.

  Woody unscrewed the top and took a big swig. His throat bobbed up and down.

  When he stopped, he held the bottle out for everyone else. Adam declined, as Shelly and Claire.

  "Well," Woody said, "welcome to my home." He took another drink.

  Adam didn't feel comfortable. He was happy that they had escaped the creatures, butthis didn't feel a whole lot better. There was something wrong with the man, something unsettling.

  He looked at Claire. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders.

  Shelly didn't seem to mind. She had been more frightened by the creatures and wasn't all that worried about Woody. She grabbed Adam's hand and brought him closer into the room.

  Woody walked over to a chair and sat down heavily on it. "Home, sweet home." He said this more to himself than anyone else. Another sip.

  Adam looked around the room again.

  "What is it?" he asked Claire. He noticed her looking at something on the wall. He let go of Shelly's hand and went to see.

  Claire motioned toward a photograph. Adam stepped closer to get a better look.

  In the photograph was a man and woman. They were on a boat. And looked happy. Adam knew right away that the man was Woody. The woman must have been his wife or girlfriend.

  Claire raised her finger and pointed at the picture. Adam hadn't noticed it at first, but the woman in the picture was wearing a white hat. The same one that was on Woody's head.

  This wasn't good. Adam turned to look at Woody. The drunk man wasn't paying any attention to him. He was too busy with his bottle.

  "We should go," Adam whispered to Claire.

  Claire nodded. She had started to get a bad feeling about this too.

  They both turned to look at Shelly. The young girl was sitting down on the sofa. Near Woody. On her lap was a photo album. She was looking through it.

  "Who's this?" she asked.

  Woody looked at her. He didn't look at the picture. Adam could see that he didn't want to. Shelly must have known that it was hard for him as well.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have asked."

  Woody took another sip from his bottle. Then he sat forward. He looked at the photo album. At the picture.

  "That's my wife," he said. "Or shewas."

  "I'm really sorry."

  Woody shook his head. "Don't be. You didn't do anything."

  "I know. But..." Shelly's words trailed off, unsure of what to say.

  Adam came over and sat down beside her. "Maybe we should go," he suggested.

  Woody sat up. "No, don't go. I'm just being silly. You don't need to worry about me."

  "Did she become one ofthem?" Shelly asked.

  Woody eyes locked on her own. His upper lip trembled. "Yes. And for all I know, she's still out there. I've been looking for her. But I haven't seen her."

  This was getting too much for Adam. He stood up. "We really should go."

  Woody appeared hurt by his words. Yet, instead of saying anything about it, he took another drink.

  "Don't go," he said when he had finished swallowing. "Not yet. Let me make you something to eat. Just a little bit. Of course, most of it has gone bad. But I'm sure I can find you something." He tried to smile Though his face didn't seem to work properly at the moment and his smile came out as more of a sneer. "Please."

  Adam turned to Shelly and Claire. They both seemed willing to stay. "Okay."

  They all walked over to the kitchen table. The kitchen wasn't as bad as the rest of the place. There were only a few bottles scattered around. They sat down.

  Woody stumbled over to the refrigerator. "It doesn't work anymore, but there's some juice. I think it'll be okay."

  He opened the refrigerator and searched for it. There wasn't much left. Only enough for one. Woody held the bottle up in front of him, surprised.

  "Oh, my good friends," he said. "Sorry."

  "That's okay," Adam told him. "Do you have any water?"

  "Yes, yes, I have water. But let's finish this off first." He looked at Shelly. "How about it? You want it?"

  Shelly looked at the others. She didn't want to take the last of the juice. They were all thirsty.

  "We can share it," she
said.

  Woody laughed. "We can't share it! There's not enough for that! Let me fix it for you." He walked over to the kitchen cupboard and pulled out a glass. He nearly dropped it as he took it out, but his fingers caught hold of it before it fell. "Close one."

  He placed the glass in front of Shelly and filled it. "Drink up." He turned his back and walked over to the kitchen counter. He placed the jug on the table. Then he grabbed his bottle of vodka and took another big sip. "You sure you don't want any of this?" he asked holding the bottle up for Shelly. He started to laugh before she had a chance to answer.

  Shelly looked down at the glass of juice. It was orange. She was thirsty. But she still wanted her friends to drink as well. "How about a sip each?"

  Adam and Claire smiled.

  Then Claire reached out her hand and put it on the young girl's. "It's okay. You should have it."

  Shelly still wasn't sure. She felt guilty. So she raised the glass to her mouth and took a small sip. After, she handed the glass to Claire. Claire raised her hand to protest, but Shelly kept the drink in front of her.

  "Okay." Claire grabbed the juice and took a sip of her own.

  When she finished, she held the drink toward Adam.

  "I'm fine," he said. "Honestly." He knew that the girls needed it more than he did. They had been trapped in a cage for days.

  "You're thirsty too," Shelly argued.

  "It's okay," Adam continued. "I'll manage."

  "Please."

  Adam didn't want to take the last of the drink from them, but he couldn't argue with her. He took the cup and drank from it. He placed it back onto the table. "Thank you."

  They all turned to look at Woody. The man was fumbling with something at the counter. They couldn't see what.

  "Do you need any help?' Claire asked.

  "Oh, no," Woody said over his shoulder. "It'll just be a few more seconds. Of course, I should warn you that it isn't anything gourmet."

  When Woody walked up to the table, he was holding a plate filled with crackers covered in honey. It definitely wasn'tgourmet. But it would be good.

  Woody placed the plate onto the table. A little too forcefully. "Sorry about that," he said quickly after. "Like I said, my balance seems to be a little off."

  Shelly and Claire grabbed a cracker and shoved it into their mouths. First, one. Then another. And another.

  Shelly looked at Claire, both of their mouths full, and started to laugh. Bits of cracker started to fly out of her mouth. Claire started to laugh too. Adam joined in.

  Woody sat down beside them, a bag of chips in one hand. Along with his vodka, he had also brought a few bottles of water. "Here you go."

  Shelly and Claire ate a lot. Adam only had a little. He wasn't all that hungry. Though he did finish off one of the bottles of water pretty fast.

  Then, unexpectedly, Woody stopped drinking. He placed his bottle onto the kitchen table and stood up.

  "I'm sorry, my fine friends," he said. "But I must go to sleep."

  Adam looked at the girls. Then he turned back to Woody. "That's okay. We should probably get going anyway."

  "Nonsense! You must rest. Look at these two." Woody pointed at Shelly and Claire. "Theyneed a rest."

  Adam turned his eyes back to the girls. Theydidlook tired. Especially Shelly. She had seemed fine this morning, but they hadn't had a lot of sleep. And they had been through a lot.The cage…

  "Okay," Adam said. "Just for a little while."

  "Good man," Woody said, hobbling off to bed.

  "Are you sure that we should stay?" Adam asked once they were alone. "I don't like it here. I don't trust that guy."

  "I think he's okay," Claire said.

  "Just sad," Shelly added.

  Adam thought back to the picture he had seen hanging on the wall. The one of Woody and his wife. Woody was dressed as her now.Yes, he thought,the man was just sad. "So, what should we do?"

  "Let's just stay here for a bit," Shelly said. "We need some rest."

  Adam led her into the living room. Claire followed.

  Once on the sofa, Shelly laid down and rested her head in Adam's lap. Claire stayed standing. She had pulled back the curtain and was looking out of the window.

  "Get some sleep," Adam said to the young girl. "And what about you?" he asked Claire.

  She looked over her shoulder at him. "Not yet."

  Chapter 6

  Adam woke up. He had fallen asleep, even though he hadn't planned on it. He hadn't even known that he had been tired. Except as soon as he closed his eyes, he had drifted off.

  Now, he had heard a noise and was sure that it had come from the kitchen.

  His eyes searched around. The place was nearly dark. Claire had fallen asleep on a chair near the window. Shelly's head was still on his lap.

  Adam heard the noise again and felt a rush of panic run through him.

  He lifted Shelly's head up so that he could get out from under her. Slowly. Softly. He didn't want to wake her. Then he got up and placed her head back down. He walked to the kitchen.

  He approached it cautiously. He had been through so much in the past week, seen so many horrible things. He never knew when thosethings were going to show up. And some of the people that he had met weren't all that much better.

  He came to the entrance to the kitchen. Standing in front of him was a man, his back faced toward him.

  Adam felt another surge of panic.

  "Who are you?" he asked forcefully.

  The man turned around. His face was familiar. The clothing wasnot. "It's Woody, my friend. That's all."

  Woody wasn't wearing the dress and sun hat anymore. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. It took Adam by surprise. He had come to see Woody dressed as a woman. Not like this.

  "Woody? Sorry about that. I…well…"

  "Expected me in my dress?"

  That was exactly what Adam had been thinking, though he wasn't about to say so.

  Woody didn't seem to mind. He pointed toward the kitchen table. "Sit down. Let's have a drink."

  Adam sat at the kitchen table. Woody walked over to it, the bottle of vodka in his hand.That, at least, looked like Woody. He placed two small shot glasses onto the table and filled them up. Woody picked one of them up and motioned for Adam to take the other one.

  Adam looked down at it. He wasn't much of a drinker. Even back inthe old world he hadn't liked to drink. It just didn't make him feel good. But it was obvious that Woody really wanted him to join him. He owed the man at least that much.

  He had saved their lives, after all.

  Adam picked up the shot glass. "Cheers," he said.

  Woody smiled, then swallowed the drink.

  Adam took the drink in one shot as well. He wasn't used to the burn. It seared his throat and caused him to cough.

  Woody loved that. He slapped his hand down on the table. "One more?"

  "Why not?"

  Adam finished his drink. And that was enough. He was already starting to feelwarm. His head was getting a bit fuzzy too.

  Woody refilled his own glass and went to pour Adam another one. Adam covered it with his hand.

  "You sure?" Woody asked.

  "Positive."

  Woody nodded his head and drank his third glass. When he finished, he filled his glass yet again. Before he drank it, he spoke. "You don't have to be worried here."

  "I'm not worried." Adam knew that his voice wasn't convincing.

  "And you guys can stay as long as you'd like."

  "I was thinking we might leave in the morning."

  "In the morning?" Woody sounded shocked. Maybe even a little hurt. "Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?"

  "We'll leave this town," Adam explained, "and look for more survivors."

  "Survivors?"

  "People like us."

  Woody thought about this over another drink. And another.

  "You're welcome to come with us," Adam offered. He hadn't known that he had been going to say t
hat until the words came out of his mouth. He still wasn't all that comfortable around Woody. But he was one of them,a survivor. Not like Sam or Big Mike. As Shelly had said, Woody was just sad. That might be all there was to it.

  "Come with you?" He took another drink.

  "Sure. We don't know where we're going, but there have to be other people out there. We'll keep walking until we find them."

  "I'll need to think about it." One more drink.

  "Of course."

  They sat there in silence afterward, until Woody finished the bottle. Then Woody stood up.

  "Back to bed," he said.

  Adam watched him leave.

  *

  Adam walked back into the living room. He made his way over to the window and looked outside.

  The stars and moon shone brightly overhead. He could see the usual dead bodies on the ground. And the blood underneath them. There were a few car wrecks too.

  Luckily, the creatures were nowhere to be seen.

  He walked to the sofa and sat on it. Claire and Shelly were still sleeping.

  He lifted the young girl's head and placed it back onto his lap. He pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face.

  Then he closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.

  Day 12

  Chapter 1

  Adam couldn't believe that he had slept the whole night. He shook Shelly's shoulder. The young girl stirred. He got up and walked over to Claire and patted her knee.

  "Good morning," he said to both of them.

  "Is it morning all ready?" Shelly asked. "How long did we sleep?"

  "I have no idea," Adam admitted. "But the sun is up already."

  Woody wasn't. And they didn't want to go in and wake him. This was his house and they were his guests.

  "What should we do?" Claire asked. "Should we just sit here?"

  "I think we can get something to eat," Adam said. "Woody had a lot to drink last night. He might not be up for a while."

  Claire and Shelly exchanged looks.

  "You saw him last night?" Shelly asked.

  Adam nodded his head. "I woke up. He was in the kitchen. He finished off a bottle of vodka."