Glory (Book 1) (19 page)

Chapter 8

Adam and Shelly came upon a house. It wasn't actually the first one that they had seen. It was simply the first one that looked okay to approach. The others had been destroyed. Broken windows, smashed doors, bodies lying out in the yard. There had even been a house that had burned down, almost completely.

"I think this one will be okay," Shelly said.

Adam wasn't sure, but he was definitely going to check it out.

They pulled off the road and rode up the gravel driveway. Adam kept looking around, expecting to be attacked. Shelly looked a little more comfortable.

They came to the front of the house.

"Let's leave our bikes here," Adam said. He pointed to the wall near the steps leading up to the front door. He wanted to be able to grab the bikes quickly if they needed to. He placed his bike against it. Shelly followed.

"Now…"

"I know," Shelly cut him off. "Be careful."

She smirked, then added a laugh. Adam couldn't get himself to join her. He walked up to the front door.

"Stay behind me."

Shelly did as she was told, the laughter fading.

Adam opened the door. It creaked loudly as he did. Instead of thinking about it, though, his thoughts had focused on something else.

"The gun," he said. "We should have the gun out and ready."

It was a good idea. And it had been his own
.
He was getting the hang of this stuff.

Shelly reached into his backpack and pulled it out for him. She took out the ammunition too and loaded it.

"Here," she said, handing it back to him. "Now it'
s
you
r
turn to be careful."

This time she wasn't joking around. He took the gun back from her.

"Stay behind me," he said again.

They walked into the house. Adam held the gun in front of him. Maybe a little bit too far out in front of him. If any of those things were hiding around a corner, they'd be able to knock it away from him. But he felt more comfortable with it out there. As though it were guiding him.

Adam took a few more steps into the house. It smelled. Bad. It wasn't hard to figure out that there were some dead bodies somewhere around.

"Over there," Shelly said. She had smelled it too and then seen the corpses in the living room.

Adam looked to where she was pointing. Two dead bodies. One man, one woman. They were covered in blood, torn apart.

"Looks like they killed each other," Shelly added.

"I guess so."

Adam didn't want to talk much. He wanted to keep quiet. He wasn't sure if there weren't any more of thos
e
thing
s
around. They needed to keep searching.

They walked through the rest of the house.

"There's no one here except for those two," Adam said when they got back to the living room. He pointed at the dead bodies.

"Are we going to stay?" Shelly asked. This house wasn't as nice as the one that they had stayed at in the city, but it would be getting dark very soon and they needed a place to spend the night.

"I think so. But we can't stay with those two in here. We'll have to take them out.
"
Another idea that was his
.
Then he changed his mind. "Actually, you don't have to help me. I can take them out on my own."

"No, it's okay. I'll help you with them."

Adam felt the urge to argue with her, to protect her from having to deal with these things, but she wanted to help. And she had already seen much worse
.
Her parents.

"Okay," Adam said. "You take the feet."

Adam and Shelly walked over to the corpses. He placed his gun on the floor beside them. As he did, he saw Shelly scrunch her nose. It wasn't that the smell was any worse here, but they could see the damage that had been done all that much more closely.

"Try not to look at it," Adam said.

Shelly nodded her head and bent down into place.

Adam bent down too. He wrapped his arms around the first corpse
,
the man
.
Adam could see the gouges in the man's face done by the finger nails of the woman lying next to him.

"On the count of three," he said and tried not to look down as he counted. "One, two, three."

They lifted the body. It was much heavier than either of them had expected, but they managed to carry it over to the front door. Adam placed his back against it and pushed it open.

"Where should we take it?" Shelly asked once they were outside.

"How about over there?" Adam motioned to a spot far away from the house.

It took them a while to get there. Both Adam and Shelly had to keep shuffling, moving their weight to hold the body. When they finally arrived, they dropped it heavily onto the ground. Both were winded.

"That was hard," Shelly said.

"And we have another one."

They two went back to get the woman. She was a lot lighter than the man, but she was still difficult. She was also in a lot worse shape. Her face was covered in black and blue splotches. Her left cheek had been smashed in, her nose broken. Her arms felt as though they had been broken in several places as well. But they were able to get her outside. They dropped her beside the man.

Adam looked at Shelly. He hated that she had to be a part of this.

"Let's go inside," he said.

Shelly nodded her head, grabbed his hand and followed him back into the house.

Day 7

Chapter 1

Adam woke up early the next morning. Shelly was leaning against his chest. She still didn't feel comfortable sleeping on her own. Adam couldn't blame her. After what they had experienced, he also didn't want to be by himself all that much.

As he lay there, he thought about waking her up. But, really, he knew that there wasn't much of a reason to. They were out of the city. They had escaped the disease. Even the two bodies that had been in the house had been put far enough away not to cause much trouble.

All they needed to do now was to find others like themselves
.
Other survivors
.
They knew that whatever had happened hadn't affected everyone. Neither of the two of them had changed. And there had been Sam. So it only made sense.

But that could wait. They weren't in any immediate danger. He could let her sleep. He figured that they could actually stay there for a few days if they wanted to
.
Get rested. Then start looking again
.
He knew that Shelly would be happy about that.

Plus, there was a barn outside that he hadn't had a chance to check out yet. He wanted to spend some time in there, looking for things to take, things to scavenge.

There might be a lot that they'd find lying around.

He patted the young girl's head and slipped out of her grasp. He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen. There, he fixed himself something to eat.

He would check out the barn shortly.

He was curious to find out what was in there.

*

When Adam stepped out of the house, he knew that it was going to be another beautiful day. He took a deep breath. The air was fresh. It smelled good. He couldn't even tell that there were two corpses rotting nearby. He pushed the image of them out of his mind.

The barn. That's what he needed to think about.

He started to walk toward it.

On his way, he noticed their bikes leaning up against the house. The bright pink cruiser that Shelly had begged him to let her have. It really hadn't been a bad choice. And it had made her so happy. He pictured her riding down the roads, bobbing her head, singing. He ran his fingers through the handle bar streamers. They crackled underneath his touch.

He thought of Shelly. He was really growing fond of the girl. No, h
e
ha
d
grown fond of her. She was like a little sister that he wanted to protect
.
Ha
d
to.

He walked over to the barn.

As he got closer, he slowed his pace. He didn't think that there was anyone inside, but he needed to be careful.

He slowed down even more until he came to a complete stop. He listened for any sounds, anything unusual.

Nothing.

Adam opened the barn door. There was a loud creaking sound as the rusty hinges turned against each other. Once more, Adam stopped. Loud sounds always put him on alert. He waited to see if anyone - an
y
thing
-
had heard him. Again, there was nothing.

He walked into the barn.

Adam looked around. He could see several things. Shovels. Rakes. A tool cabinet. A work bench. There was even a tractor and one of those seated lawn mowers. Adam felt excited. Surely he'd be able to find a lot of useful things in here - things that would help himself and Shelly on their way.

He walked over to the tool cabinet. There were several types of screwdrivers and hammers. He turned a few of them around in his fingers. He wasn't sure what each one was used for. Though that didn't matter at the moment.

He made his way over to the tractor. He couldn't actually think about taking it. There were too many cars crashed or stalled along the roads. It simply made him laugh imagining it. He pictured himself driving along, going a few miles an hour, Shelly sitting beside him.

He turned away from the tractor and began exploring again. He found several more things that would be helpful. He couldn't wait for Shelly to wake up to show her.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something else: a cabinet.

He walked over to it and pulled the doors open. Before him were several guns. He wasn't positive, but he thought that a few of them were hunting rifles. And he was sure that one of them was a shotgun. He couldn't believe it. He quickly grabbed at one of them.

Unfortunately, it didn't move. It was locked in place.

Adam figured that they key must be somewhere. He searched around and came up with nothing. He thought of the dead bodies
.
Maybe the key was somewhere on them.

He looked back at the guns. He still didn't know much about them, but he knew that they'd be important to take. Especially if he was going to protect Shelly. He didn't think that they'd be too hard to learn how to use anyway.

Point and shoo
t
, he thought
.
Simple.

Adam turned to leave. He had seen enough. He knew that there were several things that they could take. He was starting to feel a lot better about their situation. He wanted to rush back to the house, wake Shelly and show her everything that he had found. And he wanted to check the dead bodies. He hoped that the key to the gun cabinet would be on one of them.

He walked to the barn door and and stepped outside.

But, as soon as he did, he saw something that forced him to pause. His mouth dropped open. Panic set in.

He could see three men walking around the house, searching. From here, he couldn't tell if they were thos
e
thing
s
or not. Except it didn't really matter. He was worried regardless. He needed to figure out what to do. He needed to keep them away from Shelly.

Adam grabbed hold of the door and closed it. The hinges squeaked again before it slammed shut. The three men stopped and looked in his direction. Adam waited for them to start screaming and charging.

They didn't. They regrouped and approached him.

"Hello," one of them said. "We wondered if someone was here."

They came closer. Adam felt better knowing that they weren't creatures. Yet he still felt a little apprehensive. He didn't move toward them.

"You alone?"

Adam nodded his head. "It's just me," he said.

"Then why the two bikes?"

Adam looked over at the house. "They're not mine. They were here when I arrived."

The three men nodded their heads as though accepting his answer.

"So, you're not from here?"

"No," Adam said. "You?"

They all shook their heads.

"Just checking it out. A few of us are camped close by. We came out to check the area for supplies."

Adam was nervous. He didn't want the men to know about all of the things he had found. Especially the guns.

They came closer.

"Anything in there?" the man asked next, pointing to the barn.

"Not really," Adam lied. "A few shovels. That's about it."

"Hmmm."

"And a tractor," Adam added. He figured that it would make his lie more believable. And he knew that they wouldn't have any need for one of those.

The three men stopped, right in front of Adam now.

"What's your name?"

"Adam."

"I'm Rick. And this is Joe and Jim." The man pointed at the two others.

After getting a closer view, Adam didn't like the look of any of these guys. Something about them told him to be cautious. It also told him to remain calm. He didn't want to give anything away.

"So, who are you travelling with?" Rick asked.

"I told you that I'm alone," Adam said.

"Oh yeah, that's right."

"You know," Jim said. "It isn't safe to be on your own out here."

Adam looked at Jim. He was a large man. Looked like he had been in more than a couple of fights in his life. Adam had to steel his nerves against him. He didn't want to appear weak.

"I didn't have much of a choice," he replied. "You guys are the first people that I've met."

"Is that so?" Jim asked as though he didn't believe him.

"Yeah, that's so."

Rick raised his hand and placed it on Jim's chest. "Easy, now," he said. "No need to get all worked up. This here is our friend. Aren't you, Adam?"

Adam nodded his head. He didn't want anything to do with these people. He definitely didn't consider them friends. But he needed to play along with them for now. He needed to make sure that they left without any trouble.

Jim took a few steps backward. He looked like he was trying his best to calm down.

"You'll have to excuse my friend," Rick continued. "He'd been through a lot since...well, you know...since everything happened."

"I understand. It's been a rough week."

Rick laughed. "
A
rough wee
k
," he repeated. "That's it!"

Adam didn't join in the laughter. He knew that this man and his friend were toying with him.

"Now, you're sure you're alone?" Rick asked again.

"Yes."

But, at that exact moment, Shelly came out of the house. All of their heads turned in her direction. Rick laughed. The others did too.

"Holding out on us, eh?" Rick asked. "Tryin' to keep all the goods for yourself."

"She's eleven years old!" Adam shouted. "Don't talk about her that way!"

"Well, beggars can't be choosers, right?"

Adam regretted shouting out her age. He knew right away that age didn't mean anything to these three guys. He raised his hands to the side of his mouth and shouted, "Get back in the house!"

Rick turned and punched him in the stomach. Adam fell down hard onto the ground, winded. H
e
di
d
had enough energy to look up to see if Shelly had run away, though. She hadn't. She was still walking toward them. He wanted to call to her again, but he couldn't manage it. She came closer.

"Well, well, well," Rick said. "What do we have here? You're a nice looking thing, aren't you?"

Shelly stopped a few feet away.

"Let him go," she said. She spoke calmly. Adam was amazed to hear such control. The three men found it interesting as well.

'Un-
f
ucki
n
'-believable," Jim said. "She's got a set of fuckin' balls on her!" He took a few steps toward her. Then Rick stopped him. He was the first to see her pull out the gun. Shelly pointed it at them.

"Let him go," she said again. She continued to hold the gun up in front of her. Now, it was focused on Rick. She could tell that he was the leader of the group.

"Fuck you!" Jim said. He spat at her. Shelly didn't bother to pay him any attention. She kept looking at Rick. "Let's get this bitch."

Rick patted him aside.

"Now, little girl," he said. "You're going to hurt yourself with that gun. Why don't you give it to me?" He held out his hand. Shelly didn't move.

"Let him go," she said one more time.

Adam had started to get his wind back. He looked around at the three men. They weren't paying any attention to him. He got onto one knee. He needed to think about what to do. And fast.

Rick laughed once more. This time, everyone could tell that it was because he was nervous. Even he knew that his laughter sounded weak.

"Give me the gun," he said. He tried to sound more forceful this time. It didn't faze Shelly.

"No," she said. She kept the gun trained on him.

"Give...me...the..."

Without waiting any longer, Jim reached out and tried to grab the gun. Shelly pulled away and turned the barrel toward him. She pulled the trigger. The bullet rushed out of the barrel and slammed into his face. It tore half of it away and he fell down onto the ground screaming.

Adam took this time to attack. He stood up and charged into the back of Rick. They both fell forward onto the ground. He began hitting him.

Adam wasn't a fighter. He had never even punched a man before. But he could feel his fists pounding against the back of the man's head. He could feel all of his frustration coming out. He kept hitting and hitting.

Shelly stood there for a moment, shocked. She couldn't believe that she had just shot a man. And it was this pause that allowed the third man, Joe, to attack. He reached out and knocked the gun from her hand. Then he punched her in the face and she fell down heavily.

Seeing that the young woman wasn't going to be a problem, Joe turned and ran over to help Rick. He brought his knee up heavily and rammed it into Adam's side.

Adam felt it connect with his ribs. He fell off of Rick and onto the floor. He grabbed at the pain. Joe jumped on top of him.