Glory (Book 5)

by Michael McManamon

  She wanted to try it herself, but couldn't get herself to.

  Not yet.

  *

  Scooter grabbed his axe.What the hell was going on? This was ridiculous!He looked over at Alice's corpse, lying on the library floor. He couldn't believe that her life had ended so quickly.

  And, as with her husband, he hadn’t been able to do to stop it.

  “Fuck,” he said, grabbing his axe tighter. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  *

  Even though Adam was more than confident that there wasn’t anyone else on the second floor, his heart beat picked up its pace. There was something about the silence. Something about leaving Shelly to guard the door. Something about Claire staying behind in the library.

  They'll be okay, he told himself, unconvincingly.

  As he stepped into the second floor hallway, his nerves continued to get the better of him.He was that much farther away from everyone. That less able to help them if they needed it.

  He forced himself forward.

  His footsteps seemed to echo against the walls.

  His throat threatened to close on him.

  He stopped when he noticed the blood on the floor.Damn,he thought,the janitor!He remembered the set of keys that had been hanging off of the man's belt.He could've used them to lock the doors!It was a stupid mistake, and he couldn't believe that he had made it.Now the janitor was lying in a ditch outside…

  He shook his head and tried not to dwell on it.There was nothing he could do about it anymore. He needed to think of a solution.

  The idea of putting a chair in between the doors' handles occurred to him.It would be better than nothing.He'd do it when he went downstairs.

  Having that decided, he walked down the hallway and went into one of the classrooms. Then he went to the window and took a deep breath.He had to be careful.

  When he thought he was ready, he pressed himself up against the wall and glanced around the edge.

  He could see a few men, all holding guns.One. Two. Three…He counted up to five.Five men. He knew that didn't mean that's all that there were.That was simply all he could see.

  He moved back from the window and, at that exact moment, heard a crack. Someone had shot at him. The bullet burst a hole through the window and slammed into the ceiling.

  Adam dropped to the ground as a few more shots came at him, exploding the window into a shower of glass that fell all around him. He put his hands over his head and crouched into a ball.

  A few seconds passed before he could hear laughter.

  The men outside had almost killed him. And they were laughing about it.

  *

  Marianne heard the gunshots and stopped walking. She looked around, not knowing where they were coming from. It didn't take long for her to realize that they weren't anywhere near her.

  She looked back at Shelly to see if everything was all right. Though there was a startled expression on the young girl's face, she waved to tell her that the shots hadn't come from the library.

  But where had they come from?

  Marianne got to the end of the hall and peeked around the corner.

  Nothing there.

  Adam had told her not to any farther than where she was, but something in her wanted to push on.To make sure that the men hadn't gotten into the front of school. It wouldn't be hard for them to do. None of the doors were locked. A lot of the windows were broken.

  She had to know.

  She rounded the corner and motioned to Shelly not to worry. Then she walked out of the young girl's sight.

  *

  Scooter heard the shots and dropped a little closer to the floor. To his amazement, nothing had come into the library.

  He looked over at Claire and could see that she was thinking the same thing. He shrugged his shoulders. She did too. Then her mouth dropped and her eyes widened.

  Adam,Scooter could see she was thinking.They had shot at him.

  Knowing that she was about to run out of the library and search for him, Scooter raised his hand and told her to stop. He didn't think that it was a good idea for her to go. She would be too frantic. Might make a mistake.

  "I'll go," he said.

  Claire pulled away from her spot, ignoring him.

  "You have the gun," he added. "You should stay here to protect everyone." He pointed at Julie, Charles, the children. "I'llgo."

  Claire's eyes shot between him and the others. When it settled back on him, she nodded.

  Scooter got up and ran to the library door. Shelly jumped when he approached.

  "It's only me," he whispered. "I"m going to check on them. Where did they go?"

  "Adam went upstairs. Marianne went down the hall." Shelly pointed in each direction.

  "They didn't stay together?"

  "No."

  He decided that this wasn't the time to question that. "All right, do you think you know where the shots came from?"

  Shelly took a few seconds to think about it. "They must've come from upstairs."

  "Upstairs? Why?"

  "Marianne was at the end of the hall when they went off. She looked at me, wondering if they had come from the library." As the meaning of what she had said dawned on her, Shelly took a step forward as though she was about to run upstairs.

  "Hold on," Scooter said, grabbing her arm.

  "It's Adam. They shot at him. That had to be it. I have to check on him!"

  "Stay here. You need to guard the door. I'll go upstairs."

  "Do you think they shot him? Do you think he's okay?"

  "I think he's okay." Scooter said, unsure of what he really thought. "Just wait here."

  With that, Scooter turned and ran to the stairwell. He tried his best to be quiet, but his boots weren't the best for that. The plopped upon the floor and echoed as he hurried up the stairs.

  "Adam," he called out once he got to the top. "You up here?"

  Immediately, Adam responded, "I'm in here."

  "Where?"

  "First classroom on the right."

  Scooter charged into it and found Adam lying on the ground, shattered glass spread all around him. "You hit?"

  "No, I'm all right."

  "What happened?"

  "I was looking out the window. They must've seen me."

  "Did you seethem?"

  "I saw at least five. There might be more."

  "Five?" It sounded like a big number. Especially if they were all armed. And it only made matters worse if, like Adam had suggested, there might be more. "You think there are?"

  "Could be."

  "Is that why Marianne went to the front of the school?"

  Adam cocked his head and squinted his eyes. "Front of the school? I told her only to go to the end of the hall. Just to have a quick look."

  Scooter tutted. "I don't think she listened."

  Adam sat up. "She didn't? Why not?"

  "Doesn't matter. I'll go and check on her."

  "Okay," Adam agreed. "I'm going to stay here and try to figure something out. I want to get another look at the guys out there. This time without getting shot at."

  Scooter rushed out of the room and made his way to the other end of the hallway. He rounded the corner and followed it until he came to another staircase. As much as he wanted to call down to Marianne to see if she was all right, he didn't want to alert any of the men that might be around.

  He went down the stairs, his boots thumping with each step.

  When he got to the bottom, Marianne was nowhere in sight.

  *

  Marianne didn't know what she was doing. She had come much further that she was supposed to have, and she should probably turn back. Yet, even knowing that, something still wanted her to push on.To make sure that the school was safe. That those men weren't inside.

  She made her way up to the front of the school and saw the big glass window that led out to the main road. She crept down and made her way closer to it.

  Once there, she tried to peek outside. She saw one man. But aside
from him, she couldn't see anyone else.

  But what if there were others?

  She tried to get closer.

  *

  Adam looked out of the window again. This time, he kept the side of his head pressed against the wall and did his best to stay out of sight.

  The five men remained out there.Make that six.Another man walked into view. They all had guns.

  Adam looked at his own gun and realized that it probably wouldn't do much good from where he was. From what he had seen, his gun sprayed its shot. He wouldn't be able to aim it on anyone.

  Though that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

  He placed the barrel of the gun against the broken window and, without much preparation, pulled the trigger.

  There was a loud blast. And the gun nearly flew out of his hands.

  He grabbed at it quickly and pulled it in from the window. His ears rang, but he could still hear. He hoped that there would be screaming. Or maybe a groan.

  He heard more laughter.

  *

  Marianne was bent down as far as she could, but she could still only make out that one man. And there wasn't much more that she could do without being seen.

  She didn't want to risk that.

  She started to back up.

  At least they're not in the school yet,she told herself, keeping her hand on the wall to steady her.That was a good thing.

  She backed up more.

  And more.

  Then Marianne felt something connect with her back. It gave her a sharp pain and forced her forward onto the floor. Her gun went flying across the tiles. It knocked the wind out of her as well.

  Sprawled on the ground, she turned around and saw a man standing over her. He smiled before kicking her in the ribs.

  She gasped.

  "What the fuck to we have here?" the man asked. His shirt was ripped off at the sleeves and he flexed his muscles as he spoke. Except it wasn't the muscles that Marianne noticed. It was the rifle he had trained on her. "You're a bit fuckin' old, aren't you? I was told that there was a bunch of young pussy here. You're not the only pussy here, are you?"

  Marianne didn't reply. Her breath had yet to come back to her. And, even if it had, she wouldn't have told him anything. She wished that she could grab her gun. Wished that she could shoot him and run back to the library. But she didn't know where he gun had gone. And she couldn't look around for it.

  "What's your name?" the man asked.

  Marianne still didn't answer. Instead, her eyes glanced at his gun.If only she could find a way to take it from him.

  "Fuck," the man said, "gonna be like that, are you?"

  With a quick raise of his foot, the man kicked Marianne's face. The pain exploded in her nose, in her cheeks. She let out a little cry as her head slammed against the floor.

  "So youcan make a fuckin' sound,” the man said. “Now what's your name?"

  Marianne didn't know why he wanted to know her name.There had to be more important things than that. But he had asked her it as if he needed to know.

  "My name?" she asked.

  "Yeah, your fuckin' name!"

  She spit at him.

  He kicked her again.

  Then he pressed the gun to her face.

  Marianne had been afraid since the first kick, but now she was petrified. She knew that he was going to kill her if she didn't answer. Like he had said, she wasn't theyoung pussy he had come from. Her life meant nothing to him.

  He pressed the gun closer to her face. "I should just blow you the fuck away, you know that? Just take this fuckin' gun and…"

  He didn't finish his sentence. There was a deep thud and he fell on top of Marianne. Blood started to drip from his mouth and onto her face.

  She pushed him off without knowing what had happened.

  Scooter was standing beside her. "Are you all right?" he asked. He pulled his axe free from the man's skull. A burst of blood accompanied it.

  "I…uh…yes, I'm fine."

  He put out his hand for her to grab. It was covered in the dead man's blood, but Marianne took it anyway. Scooter helped her to her feet.

  "How did you know I was here?" she asked.

  "Doesn't matter," the young man replied. "I'm just glad that I found you when I did."

  "Me too. Thank you." Marianne went and got her gun. Then she picked up the man's and handed it to Scooter. This time, he took it. "Let's get back to the library."

  *

  When Scooter and Marianne got to the library, Shelly was still at the door, waiting. She went forward to greet them. "What happened to you?" she asked. "Are you all right?" She glared at the blood dripping off of Scooter’s axe.

  "Someone attacked Marianne," Scooter said.

  "They did?"

  Marianne nodded. "One of them snuck up behind me and…I think he was going to kill me. Scooter got to him first."

  "I'm glad you're okay." Shelly turned back to Scooter, "Both of you." She stepped back so that they could go into the library.

  Once inside, Scooter saw that Adam wasn't back yet.

  Claire was still up near the window. She couldn't hide her surprise at the blood on his axe. "What happened? Where's Adam?" she asked.

  "He's all right." Scooter crept up to the window and sat against the wall. "I saw him upstairs. He's…"

  Adam walked in.

  *

  "I saw six of them out there," he said.

  "Six?" Scooter asked. "I thought you said you saw five?"

  "There're six."

  "And there's at least another one out front," Marianne added.

  Adam shook his head. "That's not good." It was then that he noticed Scooter's axe, and the new gun he was holding. "What happened? Where did you get that?"

  Scooter recounted the story.

  "So they're already in the school," Adam said, his words bordering between statement and question.

  "One was," Marianne said. "But maybe they'll think twice when the see what happened to their friend."

  Adam wasn't so sure about that. But he didn't want to argue about it

  "What should we do?" Claire asked.

  Adam didn’t know.

  "Can we leave without them seeing us?"

  "I don't think so."

  "Then we have to fight!" Scooter said, anger in his voice.

  Adam agreed. They didn't have a choice. "We could go up to the second floor - or maybe even the roof - and try to shoot them from there. It’s our best shot.”

  Everyone agreed.

  *

  "What the fuck are you guys doing in there?" the man outside yelled. "You gonna send your women out or what?"

  "Fuck you," Scooter replied.His usual.

  However, instead of the usual laughter, the man responded, "No. We’ll fuck your women. And if you don't come out nice and peaceful, we might just fuck the lot of you guys too."

  Scooter opened his mouth to shout back once more, but Adam told him to be quiet. "It's not worth it," he said. "Leave them alone. We'll deal with them soon enough."

  Chapter 3

  Adam grabbed a chair as he went into the hall with Scooter and Marianne. He walked over to the door leading to the outside of the school and wedged the chair’s legs in the door's handles. He didn't think that it would keep them out forever. But it would take a lot of force and make a lot of noise - enough for him and the others to get back downstairs.

  "Good idea," Scooter said behind him.

  The three walked upstairs.

  *

  Marianne went into the first room. Adam didn't follow. Neither did Scooter. Adam planned on going to another room to get a different view. Scooter was going to go to the roof.

  She took her place by one of the windows, making sure not to draw any attention to herself. As had happened with Adam, she didn't want the men to start shooting at her.

  She moved closer to the window. And closer still. Enough for her to be able to look out. Barely.

  Immediately she saw a group of men over at t
he other side of the school. Adam had been right. There were six of them.

  Marianne crouched down beside the window and raised her gun to it. Luckily, the window was broken so she wouldn't have to worry about opening it.That would have drawn too much attention.

  She placed the gun against the window frame and moved into a position so that she could aim it at the men.

  This was the first time she was ever going to shoot at anyone. The first time she was ever going tokill anyone.

  She took a deep breath and waited. She wanted Adam and Scooter to be in position before that happened. That way they could all start shooting together.

  *

  Adam took the last room in the hallway. It had two windows. Both were shut.

  "That's not good," he whispered as he went to them.He'd need to open them.

  Of course,it occurred to him,he could go to another room.

  No, he'd stay and try to open the window. This was a good room. He had a clear view of everyone. Was almost right on top of them. If they saw him, he'd run to the other room. That was the plan.

  Adam rested his gun against the wall. This time, it wasn't his shotgun. He had given that to Claire and had taken her hunting rifle. He needed something with better aim.

  He grabbed at the bottom of the window and tried to push it up slowly. Unfortunately, the window was stuck. He tried again. And again. Pushing harder with each attempt.

  Finally, it moved.

  And, as it did, it made a loud noise.

  Adam could feel his heart race and wondered if the men down there had heard it, or if they had seen it.

  He looked through the window. The men weren't looking in his direction.

  He pushed it the rest of the way.

  *

  Scooter made it to the roof. Though the sun hadn't been beating down on the gravel up here for all that long, he could feel the heat coming up from the stones. He didn't like the idea of having to lie down on it. But he wasn't going to walk up to the edge, either.