Glory (Book 5) (10 page)

Chapter 11

Marianne could hear Scooter laughing to himself. And though she was interested in finding out what was so funny, she didn't want to call out to him. She didn't want to wake the others. Or alarm them.

She wondered if he had had another dream about her.

No
,
she decided
,
he wouldn't have found that funny. She had slammed his axe into his face. After they had had sex. He wouldn't have found that funny at all.

She, on the other hand
,
ha
d
found it funny. For a teenager to think about her that way - even if it was only subconsciously - was hilarious. She couldn't deny that it was also a bit flattering.

But to slam his axe into his face?

She supposed that there was a lot going on in his head for that to happen. Then again, there was a lot going on for all of them.

Especially for Jane.

Claire had told her a little bit more about Jane. From Charles, Claire had found out that the woman had seen her husband and daughter change into thos
e
thing
s
. Her husband had then thrown her daughter across the room and killed her.

After that Jane had been seeing things
,
her family
.
And Marianne couldn't blame her.

Though she had never had a husband or a child, - or really even had a boyfriend before - Marianne could imagine the toll it would take on someone. To make matters worse, there was something about her teenage neighbour and a girl strapped to a bed. Plus, Jane had had to shoot a couple of children in this very school.

It was fuckin' horrible
,
Marianne thought. Unlike the times she had said that with Scooter, this time that expression didn't make her laugh. It spoke too truly to her
.
It was absolutely fuckin' horrible.

It wasn't long before she got thinking about her own struggles - her mother's death, the pharmacist
.
Had she actually sat down beside him and held his hand
?
Then her mind settled on the bag of pills she had taken from the pharmacy. They were still in her purse. Waiting.

She had been so close to swallowing them. They had touched her lips, her tongue. At the time, everything had been so difficult, so overwhelming, for her.

But she hadn't taken them. And she was glad that she hadn't.

She had found Buster. She had found a great group of people.

Things had worked out. Or for the most part they had.

She wished that she could tell Jane about it to give her some sort of hope for the future. And maybe she'd still be able to. Jane might come back. They might have a great chat about it.

Maybe.

One thing she did know for certain though was that she wasn't going to take those pills. She didn't want them in her purse anymore, either.

Chapter 12

Emily's eyes were open. She was looking at Alice, but it was hard to see her in the dark. The old woman's eyes were closed. She knew that much. She couldn't see much of anything else.

She knew that on the other side of the room was her new friend, Robert. She was happy that she had found him. Or that he had found her. It didn't matter either way.

He had told her that his brother had changed into one o
f
the
m
. Just like her father had. He hadn't known what had happened to his parents, though. They had gone out shopping and had never come back.

Emily thought that maybe they had changed. From what she had seen, most of the world had. But a part of her wished that they would return to him. It would be nice for him to have his parents back. She was sure that she missed them. She knew that she missed her own father so much!

And her mother.

She had no idea what had happened to her mother. She had thought a lot about asking Scooter to go and look for her, but she had never actually done it. She knew that he wasn't going to let them going back into the city, to where her mother would have been. Emily wasn't all that sure that she wanted to go back there, anyway. When they had flown over it, she hadn't seen much other than those creatures.

Another big problem was that she didn't know how to get to where she lived. She had never needed to know before.

But one day, she might find her mother. Just like Robert might find his own parents.

It was possible.

Until then, Alice would take care of her. And Julie. And Marianne. And Scooter.

John had taken care of her too. Until he had died. She had seen it happen, the creature rushing out of the grass. She had tried to scream, but it had been too late. She missed him.

There were new people also. They'd take care of her too
.
Bot
h
her and Robert.

Robert
.
They were around the same age. Almost the same height. Though she was a little taller. He was always talking, something she rarely did. Yet, he didn't seem to mind that about her. He'd always ask her questions and she'd try her best to answer. Not that she always could.

Yeah, she liked him.

He had told her that there was a swing set outside, and had promised to take her out there in the morning. Well, not him. He was going to ask Charles, or the pretty girl Shelly. Maybe even both.

She hadn't been on swings for…she didn't know how long.

How long had she been walking
?
She had no idea.

"Time to sleep," she whispered to herself. She didn't think that anyone was awake to hear her but Alice opened her eyes and turned to look at her.

"Good night then, darling," the old woman said.

"Good night."

As Emily closed her eyes, Alice put her arm around her and held her tight.

Chapter 13

Over time, everyone fell asleep. All of their minds had raced, but tiredness had won out. Their bodies gave way. There was nothing any of them could do to stop it
.
Not that any of them wanted to.

As the night wore on, the moon outside continued to shine. Though most of the time of it was hidden behind the clouds.

Day 24

Chapter 1

Claire woke up the next morning. Adam was beside her, sleeping. He grunted something and rolled over. She smiled, knowing she was falling for him.

After all that had happened with her and Big Mike, her feelings for Adam came as a surprise. For a time, she didn't think that she'd ever want to be with a man again.

She had also thought that no one would have wanted to be with her. They would have kept their distance. Branded her a
s
damaged good
s
.

But she knew that Adam didn't look at her that way. If anything, he tried to be supportive.

She reached over and kissed his cheek.

As her lips pressed against his skin, she felt her desire for him stir. Not enough to go much further than a kiss. But it was something. And that felt nice.

He didn't wake.

When she pulled away, her eyes fell on Adam's shotgun. That was one thing sh
e
didn'
t
like about him. It reminded her too much of Big Mike, how he had strutted around with his gun propped over his shoulder; how he had shot her brother in the face with it, not caring at all who the creature had been.

But Adam was nothing like Big Mik
e,
she told herself.

She thought back to the first time she had heard his name. Shelly had just been captured and thrown into the cage with her. The young girl had said that her friend, Adam, was going to come and save her
.
She had dropped her shoes alongside the road to make sure of it.

At first, Claire didn't know what to make of that. Her thoughts had been anything but optimistic. Aside from it seeming next to impossible to track the young girl, Claire had wondered what the man's motivation could be to come and find her.

Yet, things had worked out. Adam had come for Shelly and had freed them both. Claire had found out what a great guy Adam actually was. And the two were growing closer each day.

But that gun.

She thought about telling him how much she hated it, then decided against it. It gave them protection, and comfort. And, at the moment, that was what they needed.

Claire turned away from the gun and sat up. She looked around the library. The others were sleeping. Except Robert. He was looking out one of the windows
.
Probably hoping to see Jane
.
She got up and walked over to him.

Robert didn't turn his head when she approached. He was too deep in concentration. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Waiting for Jane. She's coming back today. I know it."

Claire didn’t know how to respond. She didn't want to discourage him, to frighten him. But, on the other hand, she also didn't want to give him false hope. "We don't know that for sure," she said.

"Oh, I do. And if she doesn't come back, Adam is going to find her. I know it!"

Claire offered him a smile, though there wasn’t much happiness in it. She wanted Jane to come back as well. And yesterday she may have thought Jane would have. But now she wasn't all too sure.

She looked out the window.

“Adam will do his best,” she said. “But that doesn't mean that he'll find her."

"Oh, he will," Robert said.

Claire decided to leave it at that. Of course the boy thought that Jane was going to return. She had been like a mother to him. Maybe one for only a few weeks. But a mother, nonetheless.

She reached over and patted his hair.

Then she turned around. She could hear someone else getting up.

Chapter 2

As soon as Adam lifted his head, Robert rushed over to him. "Are you going to look for Jane today?" he asked. "Are you?"

Adam hadn't had much of a chance to think about what he was going to do today. Yet he had told the boy yesterday that he would. And when he thought about it, it didn't seem like all that bad of an idea
.
Even if a little pointless.

"Give him a chance to get up," Claire said. She walked over to the little boy and pulled him away.

Everyone else woke up soon after. They met in the middle of the library.

"Are you?" Robert asked Adam again. "Are you going to look for Jane? You said that you would."

"I know," Adam replied. "And I will."

"Really? Today?"

"Today." Adam looked at the others. In line with his own doubts, they didn't look like they expected him to find her, either. "There are other things that we need to think about too," he added.

"Other things?" Claire asked. "Like what?"

"Like food. Now that there are more people here, we're going to run out of it a lot quicker. We'll have to think about finding more."

"Does that mean that we're going to stay here longer?" Shelly asked, excited.

Adam shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't really thought much about it. Though he also hadn't thought much about leaving. The school seemed like a good place for them to stay
.
At least for a while.

"What about finding more people like us?" Charles asked next. “Other survivors.”

Adam raised his hands to tell everyone to slow down. "Look," he said. "I really don't know what we we should do. But I told Robert that I'm going to look for Jane today. And that's where I'm going to start."

Alice raised her hand, a little like she was a student in class. The old woman hadn't said much since she had arrived, but no one could blame her for that
.
Her husband had recently been killed
.
She was doing better than any of them could expect
.
Adam nodded his head and told her to speak.

"There's a town a little ways back," she said. "We passed it on our way here. There has to be a market in it somewhere."

"How far away is it?"

"An hour or so."

"Did you hear any of the creatures there?"

"No…But we weren't in it very long. Just enough to get through."

Just enough to get through
?
he wondere
d
Without searching?

From the look on all of their faces, he realized that her husband's death had affected all of them. None of them had wanted to look for supplies.

"Okay," he said, "But you think it's safe?"

Marianne answered the question for Alice. "I don't think any place is safe. Only it's better than nothing."

"You're right." Adam took a moment to formulate a plan. "I'll go there after I look for Jane. Just tell me where it is."

"No," Marianne said.

Adam couldn’t hide his surprise. "You won't tell me where it is?"

"No, it's not that. What I mean is that you won't go there after you look for Jane. I'll go now."

"You?"

"And me," Claire added.

"Me too," Julie said.

Shelly glanced around at everyone before turning back to Adam. "I'm going to go with them as well," she said.

"Like hell you are!" Adam replied. He hadn't meant to sound so forceful, but the idea of her out there without him bothered him. More accurately
,
it scared the hell out of hi
m
. He wanted to keep her safe. And if he wasn't around to protect her, he had to make sure that she was in the best place possible. "You're staying here!"

"Why?" Shelly asked. She sounded angry. Somewhat like a child.

Adam had to tell himsel
f
she somewhat still wa
s
.

"Because you need to help Alice and me with the children," Charles answered for him. "We won't be able to do it on our own."

Shelly looked at the old man. The disappointment was clear on her face. She looked about ready to stomp her foot on the floor. Her hands had balled into fists. But when Robert moved beside her and grabbed at one of those fists, her anger started to dissolve.

"You can push us on the swings," Robert said. "I promised Emily that you would."

"You did?"

Robert nodded. Emily smiled.

Shelly smiled back. "Okay," she said. "I'll stay and take you to the playground."

Now that that had been decided, everyone turned back to Adam. He wasn't sure what to say. He was glad that Shelly wasn't going to be out searching for food, but he wasn't all too happy that Claire would be. His eyes caught hold of hers.

"I don't want you to go, either," he said.

"Why not?" Claire asked.

"Because it's not safe."

"Like Marianne said, nowhere is safe."

"What if you get hurt?"

"And what i
f
yo
u
do?"

"I…" Adam couldn't respond without sounding like a brute. He couldn't force Claire to stay at the school. And he knew that she was capable of taking care of herself. Marianne and Julie were too. His gaze shifted to Scooter. "Why don’t you go with them?" he asked.

"Because I was thinking that I could come with you," Scooter replied.

"With me?"

"Yeah, it'll give us some time to get to know each other. You shouldn't be out there on your own, anyway."

Adam thought about it. He didn't actually mind Scooter coming with him. It would be nice to talk to him, find out more about the newcomers. But that was one less person to take care of Claire.

Claire could see what he was thinking. "We'll be fine," she said. "We'll make sure that we're careful."

Adam knew that he wasn't going to win. "You'll take one of the guns," he said. It seemed like a simple enough request.

"We'll take one each."

Adam couldn't help but chuckle at that. Claire was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"Good," he said. "One each. And what about you?" He had turned back to Scooter.

"I'm fine with this," the young man said, patting his axe.

"Then that's what we'll do today: you three look for food, and Scooter and I will search for Jane."

"And Shelly will push Emily and me on the swings," Robert added.

Adam chuckled again. "Yes, Shelly will push you on the swings."