"But now the power is out."
That's right,Scooter thought.There's no more electricity. The machines wouldn't work.
"Maybe we could break into them somehow," Julie continued.
Scooter looked over at the vending machines. He could barely make them out in the dark. He knew that they wouldn't have the best food, though they had to be better than nothing.
The problem was that he didn't know how to break into them. He said as much to Julie.
"We could smash the glass," she suggested.
Scooter almost laughed out loud. Not in a good way. It bordered on rude, condescending. "Smash the glass? That'll make too much noise. Thosethings will come."
"The door is locked. They can't get in."
Scooter looked back over at the door. As with the vending machines, it was difficult to see as well. But he knew that she was right.
"I'll try it," he said.
He stood up and walked over to the machine. Julie came with him and took Emily when he handed the little girl to her. Emily didn't want to let go, but Scooter told her that she had to. He was going to try to get them some food and couldn't do it with her hanging onto him.
"I'll be fast," he told the little girl. "Don't worry."
Emily wrapped her arms around Julie. Then Scooter took a closer look at the machines.
"Smash the glass?" he asked again. "You think that's going to work?"
"We might as well try."
Yeah, they might as well try.
Scooter grabbed a chair and stood with it in front of the machine. He wished that he had his axe, but he couldn't remember what he had done with it. He figured he must have left it at the elevator.
The chair will do fine.
"Point the light over here and stand back."
Julie did as she was told.
Scooter took a few steps back. Then a couple more.
"Here goes nothing!"
He rushed forward and threw the chair at the glass. It flew through the air and smashed against the machine.
The glass didn't break.
The chair came bounding back and crashed into Scooter's shins.
"Fuck!" he screamed. Pain ripped through his legs and he nearly fell. "Fuckin' shit, fuck!"
He looked over and saw the Julie and the little girl staring at him. Both of their eyes were wide open. He knew that he shouldn't have sworn in front of the little girl, but he couldn't help it.
"Sorry," he said after a moment. The word sounded strange coming out of his mouth. He wasn't one to apologize for things; even if he was in the wrong.
He walked back up to the vending machine.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to break it," he said. "It's not glass. It's some kind of plastic."
"Are you sure?" Julie wasn't trying to argue. She simply didn't want to give up.
"I'll try again."
Julie kept her flashlight pointed at the machine and Scooter picked up the chair once more. He positioned himself in front of the machine and readied himself. He took a few deep breaths. Then he charged.
As he threw the chair, he screamed. As it came back to him, he screamed again.
"FUCK!"
It narrowly missed him.
This time, he didn't think about the little girl. Instead he felt a surge of anger run through him. He felt panic and fear. Hopelessness too. He ran over and picked up the chair. With all of his strength, he slammed it against the vending machine window. Over and over again, he hit the plastic, trying to break it. The sound reverberated through out the room. As did his screaming.
"FUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!"
He dropped the chair only when he realized he wasn't going to be able to break into the machine. He had barely even caused it a dent.
The chair clanged against the floor. Then all was silent. Except for crying.
It was Emily. He had frightened her with the sound, with his actions. He rushed over to her and pulled her from Julie's arms.
"I'm sorry," he said. He placed his hand behind the little girl's head and started rocking her back and forth. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
He really needed toget a grip.
Chapter 9
Emily stopped crying after a while. Scooter brought her back over to the table and sat down. Julie followed.
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
Scooter didn't know. He also didn't know whyhe had to come up with the solution. He was only seventeen. And it wasn't like he was taught how to deal with this type of thing in any of his classes.
Then again, he knew that it didn't make sense to think that way. He shouldn't feel angry at being put into this position. He simply had to deal with it.
Besides, Julie was only a couple of years older than him. That didn't make her any better at making decisions.
"We have to think of a way out of here," Julie continued. "We need to think about what to do next."
"I know," Scooter said. He raised his hand to tell her to stop. "Just give me a minute."
Several thoughts flew through his head.
He thought about all that he had seen. The dead woman in the car. The creature that had almost found him at the coffee stand. The one who had chased him and Emily into the stairwell.
He thought about the danger of running into another one of those things.
Then there was Emily and her father. And even his own father. He wondered if he was still alive...or if he had changed into one of thosethings.
He shook his head. He couldn't worry about all of these things now. He had to come up with a plan.
His eyes opened wide once he thought of one. "We have to get out of here," he said. As simple as it was, that was what he had decided.
"Okay," Julie agreed. "But how? And where do we go?"
Scooter hadn't thought about that part yet. All he knew was that they had to leave. Probably soon as well. Who knew if those creatures had heard him trying to break into the vending machine? They might even be on their way at this very moment.
"I don't know where we'll go," he said. "But we have to leave. Now."
"Are you sure?" Julie didn't sound so certain. "Maybe we should wait until we find out more about what's happening out there."
"How will we do that?" Again, he hadn't meant to sound rude, but it was true. There was no way from them to find out what was going on from inside this little room. There was no power. No lights. No food. No radio.Nothing. "We can't stay here."
"I guess you're right."
"It'll be okay," Scooter added. "We have the flashlight. We can make it through the halls. We just need to get outside." That was a new idea that had just come to him.Get outside. They could think about what to do after that.
"Okay," Julie said, still sounding unsure. "Let's do it."
Scooter stood up from his chair. Emily kept her arms wrapped around him. He didn't mind. He had gotten used to it. Plus, there was something comforting in the fact that the little girl needed him.
"Emily," he said. "We're going to try to get out of here."
He felt Emily nod her head. She didn't say anything.
They walked over to the door.
"Flash the light through the window," Scooter told Julie. "We need to make sure that none of thosethingsare out there."
She came up behind him and did as he asked. The flashlight didn't light up much of the hall, but at least they were able to see that there was nothing right outside the door.
"Okay," Scooter said next. "I'm going to open the door. You look out and make sure that there are none of those creatures out there."
At first, Scooter thought that Julie was going to argue with him.He might have if the roles had been reversed. But she simply nodded her head and prepared the flashlight in her hand.
Scooter unlocked the door and opened it a little. Julie poked her head through the crack and shone the flashlight up and down the hallway. He heard her gasp. She must have seen the dead bodies scattered through out the area.
Julie pulled her head
back into the room. "It's all clear," she said. "It's safe for us to go."
Scooter followed her out. He was nervous and wished that he still had his axe. At least that would have given him some kind of a chance to fight off an attack. He made a mental note to look for one along the way. And, this time, if he found one he wasn't going to leave it behind anywhere.
Julie stopped once they were in the hallway. She turned to face him. "You want to get out, right?"
"Yeah," Scooter said. "We can think about what to do when we're outside."
"Should we look for something to eat first?"
Scooter shook his head. "No. If we find something on the way, then we'll take it. For now, we've just gotta get out."
Julie nodded. "Follow me."
She led them down the hallway. Slowly. She knew that it was hard for Scooter to make his way over all of the dead bodies while holding a little girl in his arms. She also didn't want to trip over any of them.
She flashed the light around and saw blood, body parts, death. Once or twice, she wanted to scream, but she kept her fear hidden.
They came to a corner.
"We have to go left," she said.
Scooter hadn't been in this part of the airport before. At least, he didn't know it that well. His work was in the opposite direction.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Of course, I'm sure," Julie said. "We have to go left."
"Then let's go."
They started to walk. Then they heard a noise. It was off behind them, down the hall. Julie turned to look at Scooter.
"Did you hear that?" she asked.
Scooter nodded.
"What was it?"
Scooter wasn't sure. He tried to listen for it again.
He heard a scream. It was one ofthem.
"We have to go," he said. "Now!"
"What about the flashlight?" Julie asked. "Should I turn it off?"
"No."
"What if it sees us?"
"It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here!"
Julie started to move. She didn't run. She knew that Scooter was still going to have trouble carrying the little girl. But she started to move quickly.
Scooter followed behind her. He could still hear the creature. Though he wasn't sure if the screaming was getting closer. He tried not to worry about it.
One thing at a time.
Julie had to hop over two dead bodies. They were lying on the ground in front of her.
"Be careful," she said.
Right after the words left her mouth, she slipped on a pool of blood and fell heavily on top of the bodies. She let out a breath, winded.
She looked up at Scooter.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She was. Just a little shocked.
"Let me help you up."
Scooter lowered one of his hands for Julie to grab. She reached out for it, but stopped before she took hold. The screaming behind them had continued. This time they knew that it was getting closer.
"Come on!" Scooter said. She quickly grabbed hold of him and he pulled her to her feet. "We have to get out of here!"
Julie led them down another hallway. And another.
Finally, she saw the door that led outside. She hoped that it wasn't locked. She also hoped that nothing was going to jump out and grab them before they got there. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to.
"Let's go," she said. "We're almost there."
Both of them were out of breath. They hadn't run much, but they were both frightened. That took as much of a toll on the body as anything else.
They got nearer to the door. They simply had to make their way over a few other dead bodies.
When they arrived, Julie turned around to look at Scooter. "Should we check what's on the other side first?"
It sounded like a good idea to Scooter. He hadn't thought of it. He was just going to march out of the hallway and into the unknown. But, no, it was better to look.
"That's smart," he said. He heard the screaming behind him again. "Hurry."
Julie pushed on the door. It didn't move. Her heart began to race.
"It's locked," she said.
"What?"
"It's locked."
"Are you sure?"
Julie pressed again. "It's…"
It clicked open. She let out a sigh of relief. Though it was short lived.
They heard the scream again. Louder than ever. Both Scooter and Julie turned to look. They couldn't see anything down the dark hallway.
Julie lifted the flashlight and shone it down there. A little ways away, they could see a person - one ofthem.
It screamed again and charged in their direction.
"Go," Scooter said. "Go, go, go!"
Julie hadn't looked out of the door. She didn't know what was on the other side. But it didn't matter. They knew what was onthis side. And it was coming right toward them.
Julie pushed the door open again. This time, it had little trouble budging. It swung open and Julie and Scooter ran through it.
Right away, the sunlight blinded them. They squinted their eyes. Other than that, they didn't think too much about it.
They closed the door behind them and pressed their backs up against it.
They squeezed their eyes shut again. Then they heard banging on the door behind them.
"That was close," Scooter said.
He opened his eyes and tried to let them adjust to the light. Julie did the same.
Chapter 10
Marianne continued to walk. She didn't know where she was anymore. She had left the pharmacy in somewhat of a daze. Actually, she had left her house in the daze. It had simply gotten worse since she had left the pharmacy.
At least she hadn't killed herself. That was something.
Or was it?
Marianne dropped her hand into her purse. She felt around until she came upon the bag of pills. They were still there. She could take them whenever she wanted. It would be so easy. Such a simple thing to do.
That thought weighed on her.She could end it all now. But was that really what she wanted?
Marianne had never had a great life. She wasn't extremely unhappy, but she wasn't all that happy either. If anything, she was lonely. She didn't have many friends. Never had. Even as a child. It had only gotten worse as she had become older. She'd spend most of her time reading or watching the television. Other than to go to work, she'd rarely leave her house. Of course, she had her mother. Except that wasn't a friend. And, in the end, her mother could barely even move.
The problem was that she didn't know how to communicate with people all that well. She got nervous around them, struggled for the right things to say. She always felt as though she was being watched, being judged.
Yet, in all that time, Marianne had never thought of killing herself. Even after her mother had died, the thought hadn't really gone through her head. Not seriously. Not in any detail. Maybe as a passing thought. If that.
But, just a while back, she had been willing to do it. After seeing Darren, she had been going to take the pills.
After seeing Darren?
She wasn't delusional. She knew that much. Sure, she had been attracted to the pharmacist. Sure, she had wanted to ask him out. But she hadn't been able to do anything about it. She just wasn't that type of girl. So to kill herself over him? It didn't make any sense.
Marianne touched the pills again. To her surprise, they felt comforting to her.Death felt comforting to her.
Could she do it?
She had been so close to taking them. She couldn't feel the bitter taste on her tongue anymore, but it had been there.
She sighed.
She didn't know what was happening anymore. Her mother had died. Everyone had gone crazy. She was alone. And it was hard.
She kept her hands on the pills. Blue ones. Yellow ones. Red ones. She didn't wonder what each one was for. It didn't matter. They'd work all the same.
Should she?
H
er fingers danced around the pills.
No, she shouldn't,she decided. Though she wasn't sure why. All she knew was that it wasn't the right thing for her. At least, not yet.
She kept touching the pills and continued to walk. Her mind continued to reel.Her mother. Darren. The pills. Death. Suicide. Everyone thought about it sometime, didn't they?
When she came upon a park bench, she decided to sit down. Her feet were tired. In fact, her whole body was exhausted. She still didn't now where she was, nor did she know where she was going. She had never been in this part of town before. She didn't actually know if she was stillinher town.
She looked around. The sun was high in the sky, but she didn't think that it would remain there for much longer.
Then it would be dark.
She didn't even want to think about the night. She'd deal with it when the time came.
Right now, she just wanted to rest. It was good to take a load off of her feet. It was good to sit down.
She settled her purse in her lap, her fingers still on the pills.Those damned pills. Or maybe they weren't damned. They might save her. Take her out of this place.
The thoughts in her mind continued to spin.
Marianne looked around. There was no one in sight. Well, no oneliving. There were a lot of bodies. She could see men and women scattered about. Even little kids.
That hit her hard. She had always wanted kids. Except first she had needed a husband. And that hadn't happened.
Instead, she had ended up taking care of her mother. She supposed that that was like taking care of a kid. But it wasn't really the same thing. Kids developed. Her mother only got worse.
The pills. They were a good option. Though not just yet.
Why not?she wondered.
She still didn't know.
Marianne continued to look around. The blood was almost black. It stained the ground, covered the grass.
She looked down at her own shoes. They were black, along with her pants. But they were probably stained too.
She continued to stare as her mind was bombarded with more thoughts. She started to feel numb. Blank. She couldn't make much sense out of all that she was thinking, all that she was seeing.
She was tired. She knew that much.
She raised her feet and placed them on the park bench. Then she took off her sunglasses and laid down. She rested her purse underneath her head.
Glory (Book 2) Page 8