Glory (Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter 3

Adam and Shelly stood at the doorway for a few minutes. He was still shocked at what he had seen. He had never expected the creatures to work together and the idea of it was frightening. If they were travelling in packs, they'd be harder to avoid. And harder to escape. He knew that Shelly was thinking the same thing.

"We'll just have to be more careful," he said. Shelly agreed. "Now, let's look for some bikes."

As the two turned around to search, Shelly put her hand on Adam's arm and stopped him.

"Wait," she said. "Maybe we should check around in here too. To make sure that it's safe."

"I think it is. We would have been attacked by now if not."

"I'm sure you're right. But, like you said, we should still be careful."

"All right. Let's look around."

Adam led Shelly down through an aisle of bikes. They walked slowly and listened for any strange noises. There was nothing. Everything was quiet.

When they came to a counter at the back of the store, Adam peered over it. No one else was there.

"Is there a basement?" Shelly asked.

"I hope not!"

"We should check anyway."

They walked around the store a little more and couldn't find a door leading downstairs. The
y
di
d
come across one that led to a back alley. Adam made sure that it was locked.

"It's okay," he said. "We're safe. We're alone."

Adam led the young girl back to the bikes. There were two aisles. Some bikes were on the ground, others were hanging from the ceiling.

Adam looked at them carefully. Shelly didn't. She didn't have to. As soon as she saw it, she knew exactly which bike she wanted. She rushed over to it. A bright pink bike with huge tires and a wide seat. There was a basket on the handle bars and streamers hanging from those.

"You can't take that one," Adam called to her.

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't practical."

"Sure it is!"

"No, it's not. We need to choose bikes that will help us get out of the city. We're not going out there for fun!"

Adam hadn't meant to speak so harshly her, but he didn't think that that bike was a good choice. They needed to think about their survival, not their comfort.

Shelly's hand came off of the handle bars and fell to her side.

"I like this one," she said, sadly. "It's just like the one Katie Farber has. Except hers was yellow. She used to ride it to school and would never let me try it." She lowered her eyes back to the bike.

Adam felt bad. He didn't want to upset her. She had already been through so much. He walked over to the bike and looked it over. It was heavy, but it was well built. It was bright, but he supposed that the creatures were attracted to anything that moved. It might be hard to maneuver around things or over them. Of course, he could always help her lift it. Though if they ran into trouble, the bike would slow them down. He didn't know what to do.

"It's just that I want to be as practical as possible," he said.

Shelly didn't look at him. She kept her eyes down. He could tell that she was still focused on the bike.

"I know," she said. "It's just that I've always wanted one like this."

Adam couldn't resist her anymore. And, though it was against his better judgement, he said, "Okay, you can take it. But if we run into any problems with it, we'll have to find you a new one. You can't talk me out of that."

Shelly looked up at Adam.

"Really?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not sure. But we'll try it."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said. She hugged him tightly. He hugged her back.

"All right. No arguing with me if I say that you need to get a new one, okay?"

"Okay, okay, okay. I won't argue. We'll try it first. If it isn't good, then we'll get a new one. Only we won't have to. I know that it's going to be great. I just know it!"

Shelly let go of Adam and turned to her bike. She knelt down beside it and ran her fingers over the frame. It felt so good to her. It looked perfect too.

Adam smiled, happy that he had made the young girl feel so good. It felt nice to be able to give that to her. But he had to keep firm about his decision. If the bike was slowing them down, they'd have to look for a new one.

After a while, Adam turned away. He looked at the other bikes. Now he needed to choose something for himself.

Chapter 4

Jane walked to the kitchen to talk to Charles. It was a lot later in the day than she had hoped, but she hadn't wanted to press him. She knew that he was having a difficult time with leaving; even though he had agreed with it. He knew that they needed to find others. That they'd have a greater chance of that if they were outside, walking around. Searching.

She looked at him. He was sitting at the table. He had brewed another cup of tea and was sipping it slowly. His backpack was beside him.

She took a step into the kitchen.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

Charles looked up at her and put his cup down.

"Okay," he said softly. "Let's get going."

He stood up and had to balance himself against the table. This worried Jane. Maybe he had been right. Maybe he wouldn't be able to make the journey. He could see the look in her eyes.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm just sad. It's taken a bit of energy out of me."

Jane nodded. She could understand. "Okay. Let's get moving."

Jane walked over to Charles and lifted up his pack. She handed it to him. He threw it over his shoulders and pulled the straps tight.

"I haven't worn this in a while," he said. "Fiona and I used to go camping a lot, especially when our kids were younger. But we hadn't gotten around to it the past couple of years. You know how it is."

"Of course," Jane said. She didn't really know how it was, though. She hadn't been with her family long enough to experience it.

The two walked to the front door.

"Are we forgetting anything?" Charles asked.

"I don't think so," They had been pretty thorough packing his bag last night. They had gotten a lot of his camping supplies out from the basement too. They were well prepared. "You packed the stove, right?"

"Did it right after I made my tea."

"Then I think we're fine. If we forgot anything, I'm sure that we'll be able to find something like it somewhere along the way."

Charles nodded his head.

"Okay," he said. "I'm ready to leave."

They walked to the front door. Charles put his hand on the door knob to open it. He took a deep breath and turned. The door swung open and he stepped out onto his front porch. This was something he had done for several years. But this would be the last. He stopped to think about that.

Jane put her hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay," she said. "We're making the right decision."

"I know," he agreed. But that didn't stop him from feeling sad.

Jane led Charles off of the front porch. They made their way down the few steps and walked along a little stone path leading to the road.

Once they were there, Charles stopped again. He looked back at his house. Tears were building in his eyes.

"I've had some great times here. I'm really going to miss you." He was speaking to the house.

Jane thought about her own house. Even though she hadn't been there as long as Charles, she had become attached to it too.

"It really is going to be okay," she said, trying to reassure him.

Charles looked back at her and smiled.

"Of course, it will," he said. He didn't sound too convincing. Jane knew that he was simply trying to remain positive. He looked back at the house.

"Good bye," he said to it. "I'll miss you."

They both turned around and faced the road.

"Come on," Jane said.

She put her hand underneath his arm and led him away from the place that, for the past 35 years, he had made his home.

Chapter 5

By the time Jane and Charles got out of his town, the old man was tired and needed to rest. He wasn't as young as he used to be.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Jane turned around. She could see the look of sadness in his face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I can't keep up."

Jane placed her hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to apologize about that. We can take a break."

"But...but..."

"But nothing. Let's stop for a bit."

They were walking along a small country road. Not a lot was out there.

"I guess we could just sit down here," Jane said. She pointed to the shoulder of the road. It was gravel and looked uncomfortable. Unfortunately, there weren't many other options.

She led Charles to the place she had suggested and helped him sit down. Then she grabbed some food and water out of her backpack. They hadn't had any since they had left Charles' house
.
Maybe that's why he was tire
d
. She knew she needed to pay better attention to these things.

She sat down beside him.

"Here you go," she said, handing him a bottle of water.

Charles smiled. There wasn't much happiness in it, though. He felt bad about slowing the young woman down.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

Jane brushed the comment away. To her, there really was nothing for him to feel sorry for. If it wasn't for him, she'd still be alone. She wouldn't trade that for being able to walk faster.

She opened her own bottle and took a sip.

The sun was bright and hot. She hadn't noticed it all that much before
.
Because she had been too focused on moving
.
But, now that she had stopped, she felt it. She wiped away some sweat that had built on her forehead.

"I guess we should have stopped under a tree," she said.

"Or at a bar," Charles joked. "Maybe had a nice cold beer instead of this water."

Jane looked at the old man. She hadn't expected him to say anything like that, but it was nice that he had.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"A little. I'm still pretty tired."

"That's okay. We have all the time in the world.
"
All the time in the world
,
how true that was.

Charles laughed and wiped some sweat off of his forehead as well.

"Do you know where we are?" Jane asked.

"It's a few kilometers to the next town. There isn't much in between."

"So, we might not come across any of thos
e
thing
s
out here." They hadn't seen or heard any of them since they had left Charles' house.

"And if we do?" Charles asked. His voice had turned serious.

"Then we run. As fast as we can."

"I'm afraid that won't be very fast."

She could see that he was starting to get upset again.

"Don't worry. I'll help you," she said

"But I don't want your help!" His outburst took both him and Jane by surprise. "I'm sorry," he added quickly. "I think it's just the heat. And all that has happened."

"I know. It's been a lot to take in."

Charles nodded his head.

"It has," he said. "But that's not all."

"It isn't?"

"No, it's not."

"What's the matter, then?"

"It'
s
yo
u
," he said.

Jane didn't understand. "Me?"

"Yes," Charles replied. "Well, not reall
y
yo
u
. It's just...it's just...it's thos
e
thing
s
."

Charles wasn't making a lot of sense and he knew it. At the moment, it was difficult for him to form his thoughts. The heat kept beating down on him. He was tired. He was thirsty.

He took hold of his water and took a few deep swallows. Then he looked Jane in the eyes.

"I don't want to be the reason that you die," he said finally.

Jane hadn't expected that answer, but she understood his concern. She knew that he felt as though he was slowing her down. She knew that it bothered him that he wasn't stronger, faster, younger. She reached out and put her hand on his knee.

"You're not going to be the reason that I die," she said.

"Yes, I will," he told her. "If thos
e
thing
s
come, you won't be able to escape them with me. I'll slow you down. They'll get you."

"No, they won't," Jane argued. "And even if they do, it won't be your fault."

"I
t
wil
l
," Charles continued. "You won't be able to get away with me hobbling along. I'm too old."

Charles eyes began to fill with tears. The idea of Jane dying because of him was too much to bear. He looked away from her.

"Just like my wife," he said. "I couldn't help her. I couldn't stop it."

Jane shook her head. Her eyes had begun to water too.

"I couldn't stop my husband or my daughter," she said. "Like you said before, there was nothing that any of us could do. We don't know why, but this is what happened. That's all there is to it. So, now, we have to stick together. We have to help each other. Be there for one another."

Charles raised his eyes. He didn't want to give up his argument yet, but there was something in Jane's voice that caused him to second guess himself. She was right. They needed to stick together.

"I won't be able to live if they get you because of me," he said. It was his last attempt at convincing her to leave him behind.

Jane squeezed his knee.

"If they kil
l
m
e
," she said, "you'll probably be dead too."

The logic was dark, but Charles couldn't argue with it. He started to laugh. Jane joined him. Then the two fell into a heartfelt embrace, laughing underneath the hot summer sun.