Glory (Book 3) (17 page)

Chapter 4

Adam took a few steps forward. Then another few.

Once he got to the back of the store, his heart was racing. His eyes scanned every direction, though couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The clicking continued.

He moved toward the sound, his hands clutching the shotgun. Then he let out a deep breath. It would have been followed by a small chuckle, but he had been too amped up for that.

He saw what was making the noise. It was a bird, pecking at the window.

Adam walked up to the bird. He couldn't believe that he had been so frightened about it. He raised his finger and started tapping on the window. The bird looked at him and flew away.

Finally, Adam started to laugh. He tapped the window a few more times.

Tap, tap, ta
p
.

He laughed again.

Tap, tap, ta
p
.

He couldn't believe that he had been so scared.

Tap, tap...

A face appeared in the window. Covered in blood and looking angry. One o
f
the
m
. It let out a fierce howl and started to bang its fists on the glass.

Adam let out a gasp, then took a few steps back. He held the gun out in front of him, preparing to shoot it if it got through.

The creature continued to scream and hit the window. Deep thuds vibrated through out the area.

Within seconds, another face appeared. And another. They were all screaming, all hitting the window. There was rage in their eyes, blood stains on their teeth. He wasn't sure if his gun would be able to take them all on.

He ran.

Adam quickly made his way down the aisles. Jumped over the bodies and scattered clothing. And as soon as he saw his group, he shouted out: "Run!"

Claire turned to look at him, but didn't need any more convincing. She knew that something was wrong. She ran over to Shelly and grabbed her hand. They both rushed over to Adam.

"What is it?" she asked. "Is i
t
the
m
?"

"Yeah, a whole bunch. They're out back, trying to get in through a window. We need to get out of here."

"What's the matter?" a slurred voice asked
.
Woody
.
He had walked over to where the three were standing.

"It's the creatures," Adam said. "We need to leave. Now!"

Adam turned around to look at where he had just come from. Th
e
thing
s
weren't there yet, but he was sure that they would be soon.

"Where can we go?" Shelly asked.

"Anywhere but here. We need to get out of the store."

"Nonsense!" Woody disagreed. "I've been here all day and I haven't seen a thing."

Adam turned to look at him. He didn't have time to argue. "You don't have to believe me, but we're getting out of here."

Crash.

Adam and the others turned back to look. Th
e
thing
s
had broken through the window.

Adam grabbed Shelly's hand and started to run toward the door.

"What about the clothes?" the young girl asked.

"We can come back for them later."

Adam continued to run. Shelly right behind him. He could see Claire right behind her.

Then, a little farther back, he could see Woody. He was running awkwardly in his heels. His hand was on his hat, stopping it from flying off.

"Come on!" Adam burst through the front door and searched around. He didn't see any of the creatures.

The others came through the door behind him. All panicked.

"Where can we go?" Shelly asked again.

Adam didn't know. He had never been in this town before, so he couldn't just choose anywhere to run.

His eyes searched over the buildings. There were a few stores, a coffee shop. He didn't know if they were locked. And he didn't want to spend a lot of time trying each door.

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 th
e
thing
s
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 thos
e
thing
s
.

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, bu
t
thi
s
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 goo
d
. 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 sh
e
wa
s
."

"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 o
f
the
m
?" 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'
t
gourme
t
. 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. "The
y
nee
d
a rest."

Adam turned his eyes back to the girls. The
y
di
d
look 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
.
Ye
s
, he thought
,
the man was just sa
d
. "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."