Glory (Book 3)

by Michael McManamon

  The others joined in. Even Jane.

  "Let's go," Adam said. "I'll help you."

  "All right."

  Adam led Charles over to the edge of the road. Jane walked beside the old man, holding his elbow as they went. All the while, she kept her eyes on the little boy.

  "It's just down here," Shelly said, pointing. "You're going to love it!" With the help of Claire, she helped the little boy get down to the river.

  "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Charles asked, still up top.

  "It'll be fine," Adam tried to reassure him. "We're going to help you."

  "I don't know…"

  "I promise that I won't let you fall." Adam inched the old man closer to the edge. "Ready?"

  "Ready."

  Charles took a step forward and they made their way down.

  Once the got to the bottom, Charles let out a small cheer. "I knew I could do it!" he said.

  Jane rolled her eyes, but Adam knew that she was just kidding.Maybe she was coming around.

  They walked to the stream.

  Shelly, Claire and Robert were already in it by the time they got there. They hadn't bothered to take off any of their clothes. They were splashing the water at each other, at themselves. Robert danced around with his stuffed animal.

  "Come on in!" Shelly called out.

  Adam looked at Charles. The old man was looking at Jane. "You go first," he said to her.

  Jane didn't look as though she wanted to leave him.

  "I'll take him," Adam tried to reassure her. "Don't worry."

  Jane still didn't look certain, but she let go of the old man's elbow and rushed into the water. She picked up little boy and began twirling him around.

  "It's nice," Charles said. "I like seeing everyone so happy."

  "Me too."

  "Especially nowadays."

  "Yeah, especially nowadays."

  Adam looked at the people in the stream. He could see them all playing in the water, having a good time. They were enjoying themselves as though nothing bad had happened in the world, like it was the same as it had always been. "Let's join them."

  Adam and Charles walked over to the stream and kicked off their shoes. As they went into the water, Charles let out a little yell when he felt how cold it was. But that didn't stop him from wading further into it.

  When Charles got to the middle of the river, the others noticed him. Jane let Robert down and they all charged at him. Laughing. Smiling. The started to splash him. He raised up his hands and tried to fend off the attack. But there was nothing he could do other than to get soaked.

  He started laughing. And, with that, he lost his balance and fell over into the water.

  Adam rushed over to help him. He had been worried that Charles had had a heart attack or something. The others stopped splashing, concerned looks on their faces as well.

  ""Are you okay?" Adam asked once he got Charles sitting up.

  Charles couldn't speak. He was winded. But he was still laughing.

  "Of course, I'm okay," he said finally. "Just happy, is all. Just happy."

  *

  They played in the water for a little while longer, then sat around the edge of the stream. They were exhausted, soaking wet. But they felt good.

  "Now all we needed is a barbecue and some beer," Charles said.

  "I have a granola bar and a bottle of water, if you'd like," Shelly said.

  Charles turned to her and broke into a fit of laughter.

  Adam laughed too. He was having a good time.

  Yet part of him also couldn't help thinking that they were making too much noise. That they had already been far too reckless. He didn't want them to attract any of thosethings. He didn't want them to attract any of those types of people that had taken Claire and Shelly, either.

  He looked at the group, not wanting to bring the mood down, but he had to mention his thoughts. "Maybe we should get going," he said.

  "Why?" Shelly asked. "This is fun."

  "I know it's fun, but we're not being smart."

  Shelly didn't respond. He looked as though he had offended her and he hated that.

  "It's just that we're being too loud and I'm worried about that."

  She still didn't say anything.

  He had to remind himself of Shelly's age. No matter how she acted or what he thought, she was still a young girl. "I just don't want anything bad to come along."

  "He's right," Jane agreed. He was shocked that it was her who had come to his defence. She hadn't said much to him since they had met. "Wearebeing loud. And ithasn't been very smart. Those creatures, and who knows who else, are wandering around. If they heard us, they'd come for us."

  Shelly looked at the woman. She seemed to understand Adam's concern a little better now. "Okay," she said. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just that I was having so much fun."

  "We all were." Adam felt sorry for her. He felt sorry for them all. "We just need to be more careful."

  "Maybe we should look for something to eat and a place to stay," Charles suggested. "It'll get dark soon. And, I don't know about you, but I don't like sleeping out in the open."

  "That's a good idea," Adam agreed. "Let's get going. Is everyone okay with that?"

  No one looked like they really wanted to go, but they all knew that they didn't have much of a choice.

  "Come on," Adam said. He stood up first. Next, he helped Charles get to his feet. "We'll find another stream somewhere else."

  He smiled at Shelly. She smiled back.

  They headed back up toward the road.

  Adam and Jane helped Charles again, though it wasn't as hard as the old man had thought. He was a lot more agile than he gave himself credit for.

  Once they got to the top, Adam turned and looked down the direction that led back to Woody's town. Then he turned and faced the other way. "I think we should keep following this road. That's what we were doing before we stopped here."

  "Do you know what's on it?" Charles asked.

  "No, but we were told to follow this one and that's what we've been doing."

  "So, let's keep doing it."

  "And what about Woody?" Shelly asked. "Should we go back and get him? Maybe he's changed his mind. He might come with us now that we've met more people."

  Adam thought that over too, but came to the same conclusion that he had had when they left Woody's house. "We have to leave him."

  Shelly looked as though she was going to argue, until she realized he was right.Woody wasn't ever going to come with them.

  "Woody?" Charles asked.

  "I'll explain it on the way," Adam told him.

  Charles nodded his head, then turned to Robert. "Who wants in the wagon?"

  "I do, I do!" the little boy replied. He ran over to it, dragging Shelly along beside him, and hopped inside.

  Jane walked over and picked up the handle.

  Adam made his way over to the shotgun he had left lying in the road and grabbed it. He already had the bag of guns over his shoulders.

  He turned around to face his new group. "Ready?"

  Everyone nodded their heads. Even Robert, as he swaddled from side to side to adjust himself in the wagon.

  "Then let's go."

  Their footprints left watermarks on the road as they made their way.

  Day 13

  Chapter 1

  They weren't able to find a place to stay until the next day. A small house, just off of the main road.

  "We should stop here," Adam said, smiling at Charles. "Might be able to grab that barbecue after all."

  They both knew that they weren't going to have any barbecue. Meat didn't last this long. Not in these temperatures. And not without refrigeration. But there would be food of some there. Canned goods, bags of chips, crackers. There would also be bottles of water, cans of juice and pop. And beer or liquor…Woody's favourite.

  "It definitely looks like a good place to stop," the old man agreed.

  It wasn't until they got closer that
they realized that it wasn't actually a home.

  "It's a coffee shop," Shelly said. There was a small sign out front that readOlivia's Cafe.Laced curtains hung in the windows. A few decorative plates and figurines stood along the windowsill. The whole front of the house was covered in wood panelling. And there was anopensign on the front door. "We'll find lots of food!"

  "Just no barbecue," Charles added.

  Adam walked up to the door, shotgun at the ready. He told the others to stay back. It looked safe enough, but anything could happen, anyone could be around.

  He raised his finger to his lips.Shhhhh. Then he grabbed door knob and opened it.

  The door swung open, creaking as it pulled against a spring. The sound was loud enough to startle Adam and the others. He stopped pulling at it and waited to see if something was going to attack them.

  Nothing.

  He pulled the door open further and took a step into the cafe. He quickly looked around and saw a couple of bodies lying about. Probably customers. Even though their faces were pressed into the ground, he could tell by the curly white hair on the back of their heads that they were elderly. Puddles of blood had dried around them.

  He took another step forward and noticed a man sitting in a far chair. His throat had been torn out.

  Adam went back to the group. "It's bad in there. I think I should check it out a little bit more."

  "I'm coming with you," Jane told him.

  Of anyone, he hadn't expected her to volunteer. She never seemed to want to leave the little boy alone. "All right," he said and held the door open for the woman to walk through.

  Once inside, she took a glance around and saw the same things that Adam had. He could see that the bodies bothered her. But he also knew that she had seen things like this before. Maybe worse.

  "Smells bad," she said. "But we can air it out."

  Adam looked at the windows.Largewindows.Sure, they could air it out.

  They went inside, the door slamming shut behind them.

  "I think the kitchen is this way," Jane said

  Adam followed Jane to the back of the house. She had been right, the kitchen was there.

  "It's not bad," he said, looking around. There were a few cabinets, some cupboards, a refrigerator and a freezer.

  "There's even a pantry." Jane opened the pantry door. It wasn't all that big, but it was filled with food. "This will last us a while."

  "Should we check out the rest of the house?"

  "We might as well."

  Jane closed the pantry door and followed Adam back out into the main room. They made their way to a staircase that led upstairs. Adam stopped at the bottom step.

  "Stay behind me," he said. He held the shotgun out in front of him so that she could see their protection.

  "Will do."

  The two walked up the stairs. Each creaked loudly underneath their steps.

  Adam hated these small sounds the most. They were much worse than a loud bang. They made him most tense.

  As he came to the top of the stairs, he looked around. There were two doors. One was opened, the other closed. Other than that, there was nothing else. No dead bodies. No blood.

  He stepped up onto the top floor and walked toward the open door. There was a small room on the other side of it. A bed with nothing on it. Not even blankets. A window with no curtains. It looked out onto the main street.

  "I don't think anyone lived here," Jane said behind him.

  Adam agreed. "It's weird, though," he added. "Having a bed up here." It looked strange to him.Eerie.

  It was Jane's turn to agree.

  He turned around and walked out of the room. Then he made his way over to the closed door. He could feel himself starting to get more and more nervous.What was on the other side? Was something going to come out and attack him?He told Jane to stay back again as he grabbed the door knob and pulled.

  Before him was a bathroom with a sink, toilet and bathtub. There was also a medicine cabinet over the sink.None of the creatures.He walked over to the medicine cabinet and opened it.

  "Nothing," he said.

  "At least there's a lot of food," Jane reminded him.

  He closed the door and they headed back downstairs.

  Once outside, Adam told the group that the house was safe. He also mentioned that there were a few dead bodies that needed to be cleared out first.

  "I'll help," Claire said.

  "Me too," Shelly joined in.

  Adam turned to the young girl. He knew that she had already seen similar horrible things. She had even helped him with the bodies back at the farm house. But he wasn't comfortable enough with having her go through it all again.

  "No," he said. He made his voice sound soft. He didn't want her to think that he was disagreeing with her or telling her that this was something that shecouldn't do. "I need you to take care of Robert. I don't want him seeing this."

  "Oh," she said. She wanted to help, but it was a pretty good reason that he had given her. She looked at the little boy. "Okay."

  Charles offered to help next, but Adam refused him as well. He didn't want the old man hurting himself. They had just walked such a long way and this wasn't going to be the easiest job.

  "I'd like it if you watched Shelly and Robert," Adam said to him.

  Charles knew that it was an excuse. But he also knew that the two youngsters needed to be watched. He nodded his head and grabbed Shelly's hand. "We'll go for a walk around back. See what's around."

  "Don't go too far," Adam said, nervously.

  "We won't." He led Shelly and Robert around back.

  "You think they'll be okay?" Claire asked.

  "Yeah," Adam said. He was going to addI hope so, but he didn't think that that was very positive. He needed to remain calm.They'd be fine. He walked to the front door and opened it back up. "Ready?"

  Chapter 2

  Adam and the two women walked back into the cafe. Claire pinched her nose when she got inside.

  "It's horrible," she said.

  Adam led them into the seating area and pointed out one of the three bodies. "Let's start with her."

  They went over to it.

  From the look of it, Adam think that she would be too hard to lift. Her shoulders were narrow, her hips not much wider. He moved to front of her and bent down. Jane and Claire moved to the woman's legs and did the same.

  "Ready?" he asked.

  They nodded.

  Adam placed his hands underneath the woman's arms and started to lift.

  "Wait," Claire said. "We should turn her over."

  "Why?" To Adam, it was a dead body. Face up or down, it didn't matter.

  "I don't know. It's just…"

  "Okay, let's turn her."

  Adam twisted and turned the body onto its back. It was harder than he had imagined. And probably not a good idea after all. Half of the woman's face had stuck to the floor and he had pulled it clean off of her skull.

  "I wasn't expectingthat," he said, trying to control the shiver that ran down his spine.

  He could see bugs burrowing in and out of her skull. They made their way through her eyes, across her tongue. The worst part for him, though, was the woman's hair. It looked normal. As though nothing had changed. Tiny white curls. An old woman's hairstyle.

  He finally looked away and saw Claire staring at the face, just as disgusted by it as he was. Jane, on the other hand, didn't seem as bothered. She stared at it blankly. Her eyes focused on the ripped flesh.

  "Let's hurry this up." Adam reached underneath the old woman. "On the count of three."

  They lifted.

  As they did, the woman's head dropped back at an impossible angle. Adam was sure that he had heard a crack along with it. He shivered again, but didn't drop the body. He took a few steps backward. Then a few steps more.

  He made his way to the screen door, leaned into it and it pushed open. They carried the body outside.

  "Where should we put her?" Claire asked. Her fingers kept graspi
ng at the corpse's legs, unable to get a good grip.

  Adam searched around and saw a little tree in the distance. Far enough away that Shelly and Robert wouldn't easily be able to see it.

  "How about over there?" He motioned his head in the direction.

  Once they got there, they noticed that here was a little ditch behind it. Just a small one. But big enough to conceal the body.

  "On the count of three" Adam said again.

  They threw the old woman into the ditch.

  One down. Two to go.

  *

  The second woman wasn't much different than the first. There had been a few bugs on her as well; though nothing too disgusting.

  It was the old man in the chair that bothered Adam the most. His throat had been torn out, but his eyes remained opened. To Adam, it looked as though the old man was still waiting for his cup of tea to arrive. And, for all he knew, that was exactly what had been happening when everything had changed.

  Adam went behind the corpse and prepared to lift him up. As he did, he stepped in something that made a soft, squishing noise. He stopped and looked at his feet.

  "What's this?" he asked.

  Below him was a puddle of something. Not blood. It was brown and black. It covered the back of the chair and spread from the man's pants downward.

  At that, Adam knew what it was. "Oh, no."

  "What is it?" Claire asked.

  Adam looked at her. He didn't want to be crude, but he couldn't think of the appropriate word, either. "The man shit himself."

  "Oh…"

  "Let's just pick up the whole chair," Jane suggested. "We'll throw them both out."

  Throw them both out?It was a strange way to word things. But that was what they were doing, wasn't it?Throwing things out.Cleaning up.

  "Okay," Adam agreed.

  He reached underneath the back of the chair and put his hand on something slimy. He tried not to worry about it. He'd find some water and wash it off later.

  Jane and Claire each took one of the front legs of the chair.

  They lifted.

  Adam followed the women out of the cafe. He held the man up in front of him as Claire and Jane walked backward.