Glory (Book 5) (9 page)

Chapter 5

Marianne walked away from Scooter and made her way over to Julie. The young woman was sitting by the other young woman, Claire.

Marianne hesitated before she reached them. They were laughing about something and she didn't want to intrude. She also wasn't all that sure that she'd understand what they had found so funny. They were a lot younger than her. They'd have different ideas. Different experiences.

She went over anyway.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

Julie and Claire turned to look up at her. At first, she thought that they weren't going to tell her, that eve
n
the
y
knew that she wouldn't understand.

But then Claire spoke, "We were talking about the movies. We both miss going to them."

Marianne hadn't thought much about going to the movies lately, but now that the women had mentioned it she missed going to them too. It was true that she used to go to them by herself (or sometimes with her mother), but she missed them nonetheless.

She sat down. "What else do you miss?" she asked.

"Television."

"The telephone."

"My bed."

"Make-up," Julie declared, running her finger along her eyelashes.

"Make-up?" both Marianne and Claire asked. Neither of them missed that.

They all broke into more laughter.

Chapter 6

Time passed and the women continued to talk. They had a lot more in common with each other than Marianne had expected. And she was happy about that. She had been worried that she was going to be left out of everything again, like she had in the old world.

"It's great to have Buster," Claire said. "He looks like such a good dog."

"He is," Marianne agreed. Buster had been great. He had always been quiet when those things had come around. He had kept her company before she had found Scooter and the others
.
He was a great dog
.
"Speaking of Buster, I should probably go check on him." She had left him downstairs with Alice and Charles. Emily and Robert had stayed down there too
.
It would be a good idea to check on all of them.

"I'll come with you," Claire said. "I should make sure that Adam's all right as well."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Julie asked.

For a moment, Claire looked like she didn't know what to say. Then she replied, "I think so. We haven't actually talked about that yet. But I know that he likes me. And I like him."

"Sounds like you are."

Claire smiled. "Guess so."

Claire's happiness brought also joy to Marianne
.
It really was great that they had found this new group
.
"Come on," she said before Julie had a chance to ask another question. "Let's head downstairs. Are you going to come with us?"

Julie looked at her, then glanced at Scooter. He was over on the other side of the roof, talking to the young girl. "Yeah, I'll come with you," she said.

They walked to the ladder. Claire when down first.

As Marianne bent down and placed her hands on the ladder, she was reminded of the clubhouse she had stayed in that first night out of her house
.
Climbing into that little room. Pebbles pressing against her ski
n.
Sleeping on the floor.

"I wish we had a slide," she said. "It'd be a lot faster!"

"And more fun," Claire called up to her.

Yes
,
Marianne thought
,
and more fun.

She placed her foot on top of the first rung and began to lower herself. She could feel her body tilting from side to side, feel her weight shift.

"You okay?" Julie asked from above her.

Marianne steadied her feet. Over the past few weeks, her balance was getting better. She was getting stronger. And more confident.

"I'm fine," she said, a slight smile on her face.

She continued her way down. And with each step she took, her smile grew. Though more for herself than to anyone else.

She was proud at how far she had come.

Chapter 7

Scooter continued to look at Shelly as she talked. He couldn't really follow it all. She liked to go on about too many things at once. He couldn't focus on them. Not with all of the things on his mind. But it was nice to hear her voice, to grab onto the few things he could. She was
…
interesting.

"…and that's when I ran."

"Uh-huh."

Shelly hit his arm. "You're not listening to me!"

Scooter grabbed where she had hit and rubbed it gently. "I am," he replied. "I am!"

"Then what did I just say?"

"Well…uh…you said that you liked running."

She hit him again. "I didn't say that! I said that's when I ran."

Scooter grabbed his arm again. This time it had actually hurt a bit. "I know," he said. "That's what I meant to say. That's when you ran."

"And what was I running from?"

"Uh…the creatures?"

She raised her fist.

"Your brother?"

"I don't have a brother."

"Then what?"

"The mouse," she said. "I was telling you about the mouse I saw!"

Scooter couldn't recall her speaking about a mouse, but nodded his head anyway. "Of course, the mouse!"

Shelly grunted and lowered her arm.

"So why do they call you Scooter?" she asked next.

Again, Scooter missed what she said. His attention had shifted to Julie. She was walking over to the ladder with Marianne and Claire, going back downstairs.

There was no denying that she was beautiful. She was kind as well. And braver than he had imagined.

Yet, after all he had seen between John and Alice
-
and even more so after John's deat
h
- he had come to the realization that she wasn't the right person for him. He wanted something more from a partner.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure what tha
t
somethin
g
was. But he was sure that he'd know it as soon as he saw it.

Shelly punched his arm again.

"Ow!" He couldn't stop himself from crying out. "Why did you hit me?"

"Because I asked you another question and you didn't answer."

"I didn't?"

"No, you didn't."

"What was the question?"

"Why do they call you Scooter?"

"Scooter?" he asked. "You want to know why they call me Scooter?"

"Is it your real name?"

He shook his head. "No."

"So it's a nickname?"

"One I've had my whole life."

"What does it mean?"

"It doesn't really mean anything," he explained. "My name is Scott. So I guess people thought that that 'Scooter' sounded close."

Shelly’s head bobbed up and down as though she could relate.

"What?" he asked.

"I kind of have a nickname too."

"You do? What is it?"

"Shelly," she replied.

Scooter didn't understand. "But that's
a
rea
l
name," he argued.

"Well…yeah…I guess. But it's no
t
m
y
real name. It's the short version. My name is Michelle."

"It is?" Scooter had known another Shelly when he had been younger and he had never made the connection before.

"Yeah, it is."

"Well, Michelle," he said. "It's nice to meet you." He put out his hand for her to shake.

"Well, Scott," Shelly said, mimicking his voice. "It's nice to meet you too." She took his hand and shook it vigourously.

She really was interesting.

Chapter 8

Adam and Claire came back up to the roof a little while later.

"What are you two doing up here?" Adam asked. Scooter could hear the concern in the man's voice.

"Nothing," Shelly said. "Just talking."

Adam and Claire walked over and sat down beside them.

Although it was dark, Scooter could see Adam's shotgun. Like his axe, Adam probably never went anywhere without it. Adam placed it onto the ground and stuck out his hand toward him. He took it and shook.

"I'm sorry that I took off so quickly when we met," Adam said. "I
t
i
s
nice to meet you all, though."

"It's nice to meet you too," Scooter agreed. "And you don't have to apologize. I know how tiring it can be out there. Ho
w
stressful
.
"

"Yeah, it can be."

"And there was no sign of her?" From the little Scooter had gathered, the woman had lost her mind and had taken off.

"Not that I could tell. I wasn't able to find her."

"That's too bad."

"I heard that you had a loss as well." Scooter knew that Adam was talking about John. "He sounded like a good guy."

"He was
a
grea
t
guy," Scooter corrected him. He could feel himself starting to get choked up. Most of the time it was hard to believe that the old man was dead
…
that he had been killed.

"Yeah," Adam continued, "I'm sorry to hear about him."

Scooter opened his mouth to tell Adam not to worry about it, but he was cut off by Shelly.

"Is this how it's always going to be?" she asked. "Meet new people, talk about all of the death we've seen?"

Everyone paused to look at her. She was right. It had been a morbid introduction. But then again, these were morbid times. They had all experienced losses. The subject was going to come up.

But maybe it didn't need to. Not right now.

"Sorry," Scooter said, cringing after he said the word. He had never apologized so much before in his life
.
And this time it was to people he didn't even know
!
"Maybe we should save these things for later."

"Or maybe we shouldn't have to talk about them at all."

It was a nice idea, but one that none of them believed could happen. Death was a big part of their lives now.

But, no, they didn't need to talk about it tonight.

"Shelly was telling me about a mouse," Scooter said to change the subject. "It's a great story."

Shelly growled at him, knowing that he hadn't heard anything she had said about it. "I
t
i
s
great story," she said.

Scooter laughed jokingly at her frustration.

"What mouse?" Adam asked.

Shelly told them.

Chapter 9

Adam was lying down in the library. Claire beside him. Everyone else had settled down to go to sleep too.

"Good night," Claire whispered to him.

She grabbed hold of his hand and squeezed it softly. He squeezed her hand back.

"Good night," he said

Adam wasn't sure how good of a night it was going to be, though. He turned to look around the library.

On the far side of the room, he could see the newcomers. Adam was sure that he could trust them
.
Well, to an exten
t
. He didn't know ho
w
muc
h
he could trust them. But at least he wasn't worried about being killed in his sleep.

The real problem was Jane. He hadn't been able to find her. And he didn't even know if she was okay. That was one of the things that bothered him the most. He'd hate himself if she came to harm, especially since he still believed that he could have stopped it
-
if only he had talked to her more, told the others what she was going throug
h
.

He let out a deep breath and rolled onto his back, then stared up at the ceiling. More images floated through his mind. More worries. And he knew that he was going to get to sleep anytime soon.

Chapter 10

Scooter grabbed hold of his axe to make sure that it was beside him. He knew that it would be, but it was always nice to check. He ran his fingers up and down its wooden shaft. He took comfort in the strength that it gave him, the confidence.

The axe had become an important part of his life. And though it might have been a bit of a barbaric choice of weapon, it was the one that he felt best with.

He couldn't deny that having a gun like Adam's might have been better. He had seen that they had a few hunting rifles too
.
This new group was definitely well equippe
d
. But nothing could take the place of his axe.

He continued to lay there, holding it. However, his thoughts quickly shifted from his axe to the library.

He had never been much of a fan of school. Of course, he understood the importance of it, how it would help his future. The thing was the stuff they taught had never spoken to him, never grabbed his attention, never made him want to do more than the bare minimum.

Lying here in the library now though, he felt different. He wasn't sure what it was, but it actually felt like a place that he could enjoy. The whole school did. As though he might actually pick up one of the books tomorrow and read through it, might head into a classroom and try his hand at drawing or some other thing he may have never thought about before.

It was a chance at a new beginning.

Most of all, he liked the people that he had met here. Charles reminded him of John. Robert was a smart kid who made him laugh. Even Adam and Claire seemed like good people.

Then there was Shelly. She was…well
…
interesting
.
It was the only word he could use to describe her
.
He knew that she was a bit young, but that didn't seem to matter too much. He liked talking to her, listening to her ideas.

And that story about the mouse…

He felt himself beginning to chuckle, shaking his head while he did so.