Glory (Book 1) (16 page)

Chapter 5

Jane walked down the stairs and came into the living room. Charles was sitting there, reading. He looked up when he heard her arrive.

"Have a good rest?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Thank you."

Jane walked over and sat down on the sofa. She could see that it was still light out, though she didn't think it would be for long. She took a few deep breaths and took the time to think of something to say. The events over the past few days had come as such a shock to her. She needed to try to gather her thoughts. She needed to think of a plan. She needed...

"What are you thinking about?" Charles asked.

"I don't know. There is so much going through my mind. I guess I was just wondering what we should do next."

"I've been thinking the same thing."

"Any ideas?"

Charles closed his book and rested it on his lap.

"I've been thinking of a few possibilities," he said. "The thing is that I seem to always come back to the same conclusion."

"Which is?"

"That we should leave." He said it slowly. Almost painfully. It was obvious that he didn't want to leave. It was also clear that he knew there wasn't any other choice. "I never left because I didn't know if I'd find anyone else," he explained. "It was comfortable here. I felt safe. Now that I've met you...well, I guess I've been thinking that there might be other survivors. We should search for them."

"You don't really want to leave, though."

"Not really," he said, looking around the room. "I've lived here with my wife for over thirty-five years. That's a long time. Now, I know that she's changed. And she's probably dead. I've come to grips with that - well, as best as a husband can. But this is still my home. It's difficult to give that up."

Jane could understand. Although she hadn't considered staying in her own home, that didn't mean that she had wanted to leave it. She had thought about going back there a few times. She had also known that that wouldn't have been a very smart decision. There were too many of thos
e
thing
s
wandering around. She didn't feel as safe as Charles did in his home.

More than that, if she had stayed she'd always have to think about how her husband had attacked her and killed their child. Of course, she'd still always think about it. But it would be harder actually living in the place where it had happened. She was about to voice her thoughts when Charles spoke again.

"And I'm old," he said. He spoke flatly, honestly. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to survive out there; especially if one of those creatures comes and attacks us. I was lucky enough to get away the first time. I guess I've been even more lucky because they haven't tried to get me since."

Jane looked at the man. H
e
wa
s
old. It would be hard for him to get around. She also figured that he wouldn't have a lot of energy, and definitely not much speed. But he was right, they needed to leave. The
y
ha
d
to find others.

"You've go
t
m
e
," Jane said. She knew that it sounded corny, but it was all that she could think of. Besides, it was true.

Charles smiled. "That's nice of you to say so. I wasn't sure that I was ever going to meet anyone else again." He drifted off, thinking.

Jane was thinking too. She had thought that she might have been the only survivor left as well. They now knew that that wasn't the case. Not anymore.

"But you're right," Jane said. "There must be other survivors. We should get out there and try to find them."

Charles nodded his head. He knew that this was what they had to do. There wasn't much choice. Sure, he could stay in his house. But for how long? He didn't know when one of thos
e
thing
s
would find him. Maybe never. Maybe soon. It would be better to find others. They could work together, protect each other. They might even find out what had happened out there. Jane was thinking the same thing.

"Okay," Charles said. "We'll leave. But you'll have to be patient with me. I'm not as spry as I once was."

"I'm sure we'll do fine," she said, unsure if they really would.

"Let's leave in the morning," Charles said. "It'll give us some time to prepare. We can get a good night's sleep too."

"Sounds good," Jane said. She didn't want to leave all too quickly herself. Charles had been right. His house did feel comfortable, safe. One more night wouldn't do them any harm. So she hoped.

Day 6

Chapter 1

Adam and Shelly left the house early the next morning; much earlier than Shelly would have liked. Adam wanted to get out of the city. If not by today, at least by tomorrow. He didn't know how long it would take, even after they found some bikes.

He was glad that they had stayed an extra day, though. They had had a great day. They had found several board games in the basement. Adam had found several shelves of books as well. He and Shelly had spent a long time searching through them, reading bits and pieces to each other. They had reminded him of his own book that he had been writing. When he had told Shelly about it, she had been angry that he hadn't taken it with him. She had even suggested going back for it
.
But that wasn't going to happen.

He didn't bother to take any of the new found books with him, either. He didn't know if he'd have much time to read on the road. Plus, they would weigh him down. He was sure that he would come across some other ones later, anyway.

They walked down the road, away from the house. Both felt refreshed. They were also apprehensive.

Through out the day yesterday, they had seen several more of th
e
thing
s
. They'd scream and shout, raise their arms around wildly in the air. Then something would grab their attention and they would run off. Adam did his best to comfort Shelly, but he too had been nervous.

The sun was coming up quickly and both knew that it was going to be another hot day. That wouldn't be good for the dead bodies lying everywhere. Adam wasn't a biologist, but he was pretty sure that the heat would speed up any disease waiting to strike.

They made their way from house to house. They didn't talk much. They were constantly looking around. For one, they were searching for a bike shop. For another, they were looking out for more of th
e
thing
s
.

They came upon a major street. It was filled with stalled cars and dead bodies. There was blood everywhere. Most of it was dried. But every now and then there was a fresh puddle. Adam and Shelly tried their best to avoid them. It proved to be difficult.

"I can't believe that it's everywhere," Shelly said.

"I know."

"Why hasn't it dried?"

"It has. In a lot of places."

"But not everywhere."

"Because it's fresh," Adam explained. "It just happened."

Shelly eyes opened wide as she looked at Adam
.
He really needed to remember that she was just a young girl.

"We haven't heard any of thos
e
thing
s
, so I think we'll be okay for now," he added.

Shelly nodded her head, even though she didn't seem to believe him. She stepped over a puddle of blood. Then stopped.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked. "What is it?"

Shelly didn't answer. She was too busy looking off down the road.

Adam followed her gaze. Instantly, he was on alert. He squinted his eyes to get a better look, but he couldn't see anything that would raise any concerns.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"I thought that I saw something," Shelly said. "Som
e
on
e
." Her voice was calm, much calmer than Adam knew she felt. Eve
n
h
e
was worried.

"Was it one of those things?"

"I'm not sure. It wasn't running around or anything. I kinda thought it was watching us."

"Where?"

"Over there."

Shelly pointed to where she had been looking. Exactly where Adam had thought. When he had looked he hadn't seen anything. He told her so.

"I know," she said. "It's not there now. But I'm sure I saw something."

Adam didn't know what to do. The street looked safe enough for the time being. He hadn't heard any of th
e
thing
s
around. But if Shelly had claimed to have seen someone, then he had to take that seriously.

"Maybe we should change our direction," he suggested. "We could take one of the side streets."

Shelly shook her head. She didn't think that it mattered where they went. They'd be in danger, regardless. She grabbed his hand.

"Let's just keep walking," she said. "If it was one of those things, it would've attacked us."

Adam didn't know what to say to that. She was right. But, if that was the case, then that meant that she might have seen another survivor, someone like them
.
Or like Sam.

He decided not to bother with it. Not at the moment. He would deal with it if something actually happened.

"Okay," Adam said. "Let's keep walking."

Chapter 2

It was a while before Adam and Shelly came upon a bike store. It had been completely by chance. Adam had stopped to tie his shoe and, out of the corner of his eye, he had seen it a little further off down one of the side streets.

They walked up slowly to the store front. There were bars covering all of the windows. Behind those, they could both see a great stock of bikes.

Adam walked up to the front door. He put his hand on the handle, but was nervous about pulling it open. Yes, he was worried about what might be inside. But he was also afraid that the door might be locked. He didn't want that to be the case. They had come so far, and had felt such excitement at finding the place. Their plan was working and he didn't want to wreck that.

But they needed to find out.

He pulled at the door and thankfully it swung open.

The bells hanging at the entrance way jangled loudly. The sound startled Adam as it usually did. He stopped and looked around, waiting for an attack. He noticed that Shelly was doing the same. After a moment, he spoke.

"I think it's okay."

Shelly didn't disagree. "Let's go in," she said.

Adam snuck in the doorway and looked around. He couldn't see anyone in the shop.

"There's no one here." He was also sure that one of thos
e
thing
s
would have come out and attacked him by now if there was.

He walked in all of the way. Shelly didn't follow. He turned around and saw her staring off down the road.

"What is it this time?" he asked. "Did you see someone again?"

Shelly didn't answer. She didn't need to. He could see by the look on her face that sh
e
ha
d
seen someone. He rushed beside her. There, behind one of the cars, was one of thos
e
things
.
It had come out once it had heard the bells. In its mouth was a large piece of meat. Adam didn't want to think about where - o
r
wh
o
- it had come from.

"Get inside," Adam said.

He grabbed at Shelly's shoulder. She didn't resist. He pulled her into the store just as he heard the creature begin to scream, just as he saw him start to charge toward them.

Adam shut the door. His fingers fumbled on the lock. He managed to snap it into place as soon as the creature arrived and began hitting at the door.

Adam and Shelly took a few steps back. They could see it up close now. The rage in its eyes. Its face was covered in blood. Its fists pounded wildly against the window. Most of the time, it hit the bars. Its fists started to split. Dark lines of blood began to smear the window.

Adam pulled the young girl in toward himself.

"We'll be safe in here," he said. "It can't get through the bars."

"When will it go away? How will we get out?"

"It'll go when it finds something else to attack."

"When will that be?"

Adam didn't know. But it seemed like he was always saying that. "Hopefully soon," he said instead.

The two continued to watch the creature bash its fists against the window. It even tried biting at the bars, pulling at them.

Then, just like that, the creature stopped. It turned around and faced the street.

"See," Adam said. "He's going to go. He's heard something else."

Shelly hadn't heard anything else, but she saw something. She pointed it out to Adam. Standing in the middle of the road was another one of thos
e
thing
s
.

"They're going to fight," Shelly said.

"I think so," Adam agreed. He had seen enough of them to know that this was their pattern. "You shouldn't watch."

"I've seen it before."

Adam didn't say anything to that. He turned back to the window.

The two creatures continued to stare at one another. Then they began screaming and waving their hands wildly. It looked like some bizarre primate ritual.

Shelly grabbed hold of Adam's hand. She knew that th
e
thing
s
were about to attack and was preparing herself for the battle. Adam knew it too. But, to their surprise, it never happened.

Instead, the two creatures approached each other. Closer. They continued to yell. That was all.

When they were inches from one another, they stopped screaming. They lowered their arms and began moving around each other. Checking each other out.

Finally, they stopped. They continued to look at one another. Adam could see them both breathing heavily.

Then their heads shot quickly to the side. They had heard something off in the distance. They screamed again and ran off, side by side.

Adam and Shelly stood staring at the window, at the empty street.

"What just happened?" Shelly asked.

"I don't know," Adam said. But, this time, it wasn't true. He was almost more than positive about what had happened.

The creatures had evolve
d
.