Glory (Book 3) (10 page)

Chapter 8

Rick was sure that Carl was going to jump out at any moment. Though he didn't know if his leader was going to tell the travellers to surrender or if he was just going to start shooting. He could feel the energy around him. The nervousness.

He waited a moment longer.

Then he heard a scream.

At first he thought it was Carl's war cry, but the man hadn't opened his mouth.

He heard another scream. And another.

Creatures
.
They were in the forest.

Rick could hear them charging toward him. He quickly forgot about the travellers and turned around to point his gun at the trees.

Feet cracked branches, thudded on the ground.

More screaming. The creatures' high-pitched angry wails echoed through the forest.

Then he heard more screaming. This time, from his own group. Big Mike was shouting on the other side of the road. Carl's screams sound more like delight than fear.

Without waiting for any signal, Rick stood up and ran to the road. He thought he would have a better chance fighting in the open. His feet plodded on the pavement as his eyes scanned area.

He saw the travellers flee in the direction the had come from. But, other than that, the road was empty.

"Joe," Rick called out, looking for his friend. "Joe!"

"Rick," his friend answered. "Over here!" Joe came out of the forest a little farther down the road.

Rick felt better as soon as he saw him and made to run toward him.

It was then that one of the creatures charged out of the forest, right beside his friend.

Rick had his gun in his hand and aimed it at the creature, but he wasn't a good shot. He would probably end up shooting his friend, instead. He couldn't take the risk. "Joe, behind you!"

Joe turned. But it was too late. The creature jumped on him and knocked him to the ground.

Rick heard Joe's head smash upon the pavement. Then he saw Joe thrashing around, trying to fight back.

Joe called out. He needed help.

Rick froze. He couldn't shoot th
e
thin
g
from where he was. He'd hit his friend
.
He didn't know what to do.

"Rick!" he heard Joe call out once more.

Finally, Rick ran to him. Ideas of what he could do when he got there rushed through his mind
.
Kick th
e
thin
g
off. Tackle it
.
His feet raced along the pavement as the creature continued to hit Joe. His friend kept trying to fight back, but he wasn't having much luck.

"Rick!"

Rick watched as the creature bent down and took a bite out of Joe's cheek. He saw the flesh rip from his friend's face, the spurt of blood splash across the road. It coated the creature's face in dark red.

Joe continued to shout, but the sound was weak now. Somewhat muted.

Rick stopped, back to not knowing what to do. He couldn't save his friend. Not anymore. Even if he got the creature off, what could he do? Half of Joe's face had been ripped off.

He took another few steps forward and raised the gun. He called to the creature
.
Maybe if it looked up he could blow its head off.

Unfortunately, the creature didn't pay him any attention.

It went in for another bite. And another. There was blood everywhere.

Eventually, Joe's hands stopped their protest. They flopped down onto the road and Rick knew that his friend was dead.

At that, he pulled the trigger.

The bullet slammed into its shoulder and rocked it back. Though the shot wasn't enough to kill it.

The creature turned toward Rick. Blood covered its face. A strip of flesh hung from its mouth
.
Part of his friend's face.

Rick felt sick at the sight of it, but he felt a surge of anger too.

He pulled the trigger a second time. The bullet slammed into the other shoulder. The creature fell to the pavement.

Rick knew that it hadn't been enough to kill it. It might not have even hurt it. Maybe h
e
couldn'
t
hurt these things.

The creature got back onto its knees and hissed at Rick. Rick had never heard a sound like that before. It was enough to get him running.

Chapter 9

Rick ran back into the forest. He didn't think that he'd be able to do anything other than hide. He had tried to kill the creature, but hadn't even hurt it.

He felt the tree branches tear at his face. He could feel them pull at his arms and legs. Then, after a while, he stopped, out of breath.

He pressed his back against a tree and listened.

It was hard for Rick to hear anything over his breathing. His heartbeat was loud too. But he managed to calm himself down enough to get an idea of what was going on.

He could hear gun shots. The ones that shook the forest must have been from Big Mike's shotgun. The little ones that sounded almost like fireworks must have come from Carl.

He grabbed hold of his own gun and pressed it to his chest. He didn't know how many bullets were left in it. That was probably something he should have checked when he took it from the young girl. Yet, he hadn't.

There was nothing he could do about it now, either. It would make a sound if he started opening things. And he needed to be quiet.

He held his breath.

He continued to hear shots. He heard screaming. He heard running.

Rick told himself that he simply needed to wait until it was all over. Could be that Carl and Big Mike would kill all of the creatures. Or the creatures would kill them. Either way, if Rick stayed here, stayed quiet, they'd probably leave him alone.

As he waited, he thought about Joe. He could picture his friend's face being ripped from his skull. He could also see his hands dropping to the ground once he had died.

He wished that he had been able to help.

Rick pushed that thought out of his mind as he heard a new set of footsteps running through the forest. And screaming. It was one of those things. Getting closer. He let out a breath, though it had become harder to breathe, and squeezed the grip of the gun.

The footsteps continued. Closer and closer.

He decided to point his gun toward the sound. It didn't make any sense holding against his chest. He needed to be ready. He had to start shooting once tha
t
thin
g
arrived.

He held out the gun in front of him. Toward the creature. And he waited.

It wasn't long before the creature burst through the trees.

Rick wasn't sure if it was the same one that had killed his friend. His mind wasn't able to think about such things at the moment. All he could do was glance at its eyes, shift to its blood-stained mouth, listen to its screaming.

Then Rick shot. Again and again.

The bullets slammed into the creature's chest and left holes that Rick could see. None of which stopped it from coming forward.

He shot once more. Another hole.

It wouldn't stop.

Rick raised the barrel of the gun and focused on the creature's head. He pulled the trigger.

The bullet entered the creature's eye and blew a hole out the back of it. Nothing could withstan
d
tha
t
.

The creature fell right in front of Rick. Blood sprayed across Rick's face as it did. But, instead of being sickened by it, he felt relief.

Rick looked at the body
.
It had taken so many bullets
!

He pulled the trigger a few times to make sure that the creature was dead, but nothing came out. That thought frightened him. He had no more protection.

Luckily, the creature didn't move. It was dead.

Now, he just had to wait.

*

When the gunshots died down and the screaming stopped, Rick knew that the fight was over. But he didn't know who had won. He hoped that it was Carl and Big Mike. Although he hated them, they seemed like the best choice at the moment.

He stood up and placed the gun into the back of his jeans. It wasn't going to do him any good, out of bullets, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to find some more eventually. Plus, it was a part of hi
s
priz
e
. He wasn't going to throw it away.

He walked slowly through the forest, trying not to make much noise. A few branches cracked underneath his feet. They pulled at his clothes and either whisked by or snapped.

He continued along his way.

*

Before long, he stopped.

He thought that he could hear something up ahead. It sounded like rustling in the leaves. And whimpering.

Rick bent down and approached the sound.

He probably should have turned around and run the other way, but he couldn't. Some part of him said that it could be one of his guys. And they might have a gun that was loaded with more than wishful thinking.

He crouched down and continued to walk slowly.

After a moment, he saw someone up ahead lying on the ground. The person was pulling himself along. Obviously injured. Rick could hear the little cries of pain.

He came up upon him from the side.

"Hey," Rick called out. He was prepared to run if it was one of the creatures. "Hey!"

The person raised his head and turned to look at him.

It was Carl.

"Well," his leader said. "Wasn't that a fuckin' fight?"

Carl was covered in blood. His pants were ripped, as were the legs underneath them.

Rick moved closer. "You okay?" He didn't really care. He simply wished that he could take off. But Carl might have a gun. And it was better to have a companion. Someone to help protect him.

Carl chuckled. "Yeah, I'm okay. Those fuckers only got my legs. What a fuckin' fight!"

Rick bent down beside the injured man. He wanted to ask him if he still thought that those creatures were beautiful. Instead, he asked, "What happened to Big Mike?"

Carl eyes focused on Rick's. He concentration didn't seem to be all there. "Huh…well…yeah, fucked if I know. One minute we were in the trees. The next, we were fighting.
I
di
d
see that guy get his fuckin' face ripped off, though. What a fuckin' sight!"

Carl was talking about Joe. And that pissed Rick off. He didn't want Carl to talk about his friend. Especially since he sounded excited by his friend's death. He glared at him.

Carl didn't seem to notice. He continued to talk. "Yeah, that poor fucker really got it. I couldn't believe it! Face off. Three bites. Woo-hoo!"

Rick's anger continued to rise.

He looked down at Carl's legs. They were torn up pretty bad and gave Rick confidence, made him feel stronger than this so-called leader. He couldn't have Carl talking about Joe that way. Not his friend.

"Shut up," Rick said.

Carl looked up at Rick, amused. "What was that?"

"I said
,
shut u
p
."

Carl continued to stare at Rick. Then he smiled. "Oh, shit," he said. "I forgot. That was your boyfriend back there. The one who got eaten by those things. Sorry about that, man."

Rick didn't respond. He couldn't find the words. He simply raised his hand and covered Carl's mouth. He pinched the man's nose closed as well.

Carl tried to fight back, but he didn't have the energy. He had been through too much. He had lost too much blood.

Rick watched him try. Carl's tattooed arms grabbed at his own. He saw the snakes slither around his skin. Yet, Rick wouldn't let go. He couldn't let him talk about Joe that way. Joe was a good guy. His friend. He didn't deserve to die out there. Not with his fuckin' face ripped off.

Rick pressed his hand harder down on Carl's face and, eventually, Carl's hands soon loosened their grip. He kept pushing for a while longer to make sure that he was dead.

When Carl's hands dropped, they thudded on the dirt floor
.
Just like Joe's ha
d
.

It was only then that Rick let go.

"I told you to shut up," he said to the dead body. Then he laughed, feeling good.

Rick had killed Carl. Now he could get back to camp and take the girl away. They could run. They could hide. Nothing could stop them.

Rick leaned over Carl's body and began searching for a gun. His fingers passed over the corpse. Carl's blood smeared his fingers.

He couldn't find one.

"Fuck," he said and pushed himself off of the ground.

He looked down at the dead body
.
His fearless leader
.
The sight of Carl made him sick. And the way he had spoken about Joe!

Rick leaned over and spit on him. Blood was in his saliva and splattered over Carl's face.

"Fuck you," he shouted. "Fuck YOU!"

He turned to leave.

Standing there behind him was Big Mike. He had his shotgun raised, pointed at Rick's head.

Rick didn't know how much Big Mike had seen. Maybe he hadn't seen anything. He'd just tell the guy that he'd come across Carl, that thos
e
thing
s
must have killed him.

But, before Rick had a chance to open his mouth, Big Mike pulled the trigger and shot him in the face.