Glory (Book 5) (12 page)

Chapter 7

They came upon the town a little before midday and stopped to listen for any sign of danger. Aside from a slight rustling as the wind blew through the streets, there was nothing that caused them any alarm.

"You think it's safe?" Julie asked.

"It seems all right," Claire replied.

They both turned to Marianne.

"I think it looks okay," she said.

"But…" Julie wasn't ready yet. "You've gotta remind me how to use this again." She held up her gun for Claire to see.

Claire didn't know how to use a gun all that well, either. She had had a few little lessons from Adam, but not much more than that. She had never actually used it. She held up her gun to demonstrate what little she knew. "Raise your gun and point it at whatever's coming at you," she said. "Then shoot. Just make sure that that switch is off before you fire." She tapped her finger against the gun's safety.

"How do I load it?"

Adam had showed them all how to do it earlier, so Julie only needed a quick reminder.

Claire turned to look at Marianne next. She wished that she had a gun with her too, but the older woman had chosen not to take one. She had said that she would feel more comfortable with her knife
.
It was also good to leave a gun at the schoo
l
, Marianne had argued
,
in case they need it
.
So that was what they had done.

"I think I've got it," Julie said. She had checked her gun, looked at the safety. She held it firmly in her hands.

"Now don't shoot the first thing you see," Claire warned her. "You have to make sure that it's one o
f
them
.
Or someone who's going to hurt us. We don't want to hurt anyone we don't have to."

"I'll be fine," Julie assured her.

They walked into town.

As they made their way along the streets Claire and the other two women glanced at all of the houses that they passed. They checked all of the cars. They looked over a few of the bodies that lay on the ground.

Marianne led them down the street that her group had come down before. When they came to an intersection, they stopped.

"We should go down this road," Marianne said. “There might be something on it.”

It wasn't long before they came upon a small store. Unfortunately, it wasn't as big as they had hoped.

"It's better than nothing," Claire said.

"Maybe," Julie agreed. "But it looks pretty bad."

Most of the windows had been smashed. They could see a few of the store's items laying out on the street. The front door had even been ripped off of its hinges.

They took a step toward it. Julie raised her gun. Claire didn't, though sh
e
wa
s
ready for an attack. Marianne had her knife in her hand.

They stopped at the door.

"Can you hear anything?" Julie asked.

Claire was closest to the entrance. She put her head to the opening to hear if anyone was moving around inside.

"I don't think so," she said.

"You don't think that you can hear anything or you don't think that there's anything in there?"

Claire looked at Julie and jokingly rolled her eyes. "I don't think that there's anyone in there," she clarified.

"Should we go in?"

"Yes."

Claire gathered her nerve and marched forward. Julie and Marianne followed close behind.

Chapter 8

Scooter laughed, but more out of admiration than anything else. "That's amazing!" he said. "You made all of that up yourself?"

"I did."

Since he had started writing, Adam had had no idea if his story had been any good. He was happy that Scooter had enjoyed it.

"But you left it in your apartment?"

Adam nodded. H
e
ha
d
left it in his apartment. And there wasn't anything that he could do about it. He didn't plan on going back to the city
.
But, like Scooter had said, he could write it again…if he wanted to.

"Well, I really liked it," Scooter concluded.

"Thanks," Adam replied, pride swelling his chest.

*

It wasn't long after that they came upon the field that Adam had found yesterday. They both raised their hands over their eyes and looked out into the distance.

"Looks like it goes on for a while," Scooter said.

"It does."

Scooter lowered his hand and looked at Adam. "What's on the other side?"

"A road. A few cars crashed on it. Not much else."

"No houses?"

"Not that I could see."

"No places for her to hide?"

"Not that I noticed."

"Hmm…"

The two turned back to look out over the field once more.

"So should we go out to the road?" Scooter asked.

"It wouldn't hurt," he said. "But…"

"But what?"

Although Adam had set out to find Jane, he had become less and less hopeful that he was going to find her
.
And he hadn't had much hope to begin with
.
He had also started to think that Jane didn't want to be found
.
She easily could have come back at any time.

The real problem, however, was Claire. As he had made his way through the forest, his concern for her had gotten worse.

"Maybe we should go to the town to make sure Claire and the others are all right," he said.

"You're really worried about them?"

"Of course!" Adam had a quick vision of some of the things that could happen to her out there. "Aren't you worried about Julie?"

Scooter smiled, knowing what Adam was getting at. "I'm worried about her," he admitted. "But not in the way you're thinking." He explained a bit about how much he had admired John and Alice's relationship, how he wanted to find something like that for himself.

"I get it," Adam said. He thought about how strongly he felt toward Claire. Those feelings were based on much more than her looks
-
which, he had to admit, were beautifu
l
. There was her strength. Her humour. Her kindness.

"You know, I never felt that way before I met John," Scooter continued. "I rarely even thought about love before."

"Sounds like this guy had a big influence on you."

"He did."

Scooter paused to think about John. And though he tried his best to stop them, tears started to form in his eyes.

"You know, it wasn't your fault," Adam said, resting his hand on the young man's shoulder.

Scooter avoided his gaze. “I know, but...”

“But nothing. It wasn’t your fault.”

"You weren't there,” Scooter said, struggling to control his voice. “You didn't see what happened. I could have stopped it. I should have checked around first."

Adam squeezed his shoulder. "I know that I wasn't there. But it wasn't your fault. You did the best that you could. That's all that we're doing. None of us are to blame for any of this."

"I know. It's just…hard. He was such a great guy."

"Don't blame yourself."

Scooter finally looked at him. "Thanks."

While he sounded as though he appreciated his words, Adam knew that it wouldn't be so easy for the young man to accept. It would take time. And strength.

"Come on," Adam said. "Let's keep going."

"Back through the forest?"

"No, let's walk along the edge of it, in the direction of the town. Marianne said it was that way, right?"

Scooter nodded.

"And as we go," Adam said, "we can keep an eye out for Jane."

To his surprise, he realized that he some hope still remained.

Chapter 9

The store was a mess. Boxes were strewn all over the floor. Shelves had been knocked over. Yet, even with all of that, Claire didn't think that there were any creatures around. She walked over and picked up a box of her favourite cookies. "I love these!" she said.

Julie came up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "Let me see…oh, I love those ones too!"

"And what about these?" Marianne called from a little way down the aisle. In her hand she was holding up a box of mini-cakes.

They giggled like children.

"We have to find some nutritious food too," Claire reminded them, once their laughter had settled down.

Julie opened a box of the cookies and put one in her mouth. "Oh yeah," she said, crumbs falling. "I forgot about that."

Claire giggled again, then took a bite of her own cookie. She offered one to Marianne, but the woman had already bitten into one of the mini-cakes.

"Come on," Claire said. "Let's keep looking."

They made their way through the store. There was more damage down each of the aisles. And blood. But there weren't any bodies.

"Whoever was in here must've run out," Marianne suggested.

"Let's hope so," Julie replied, another cookie in her mouth.

They kept searching.

*

It didn't take them long to collect a good amount of food. Nutritious stuff, along with some junk. They crammed it into their backpacks, and Marianne's purse.

"This is heavy!" Julie cried, picking her bag up off of the floor. Cans of milk and jars of spaghetti sauce clanged together.

"Maybe you should eat a few more cookies to lighten your load," Claire said, laughing.

"That's a great idea!" Julie replied. But she didn't actually eat another one. Five had been enough.

Marianne lifted her purse without any trouble. "Should we look for anything else?" she asked. "Matches or blankets; something like that?"

Claire nodded. "It's always good to have flashlights or candles."

"Oh, and wouldn't it be great if we found some good CDs!" Julie added. "I never looked at the school, but I'm guessing that they only have nursery rhymes." She started singing Old MacDonald.

Claire rolled her eyes again. "They have CD players. But none of them worked. We never thought of getting batteries for them."

"Then let's find batteries!"

"We'll look a little longer," Marianne said. "I'm sure there's more stuff we can use."

*

Claire and Julie made their way over to the far side of the store and found a rack of CDs. Beside them were several batteries. Claire grabbed every kind possible, while Julie flipped through the music.

"Find anything good?" Claire asked.

"A few things. Nothing great. But better than nothing." Julie put the CDs happily into her backpack. Then she turned back to Claire. But, as she did, her expression changed. She looked scared.

"What is it?" Claire asked, turning to look at what Julie had seen. Marianne was standing there, fear across her face as well. "What's wrong? Is it one of them?"

"I don't know." Marianne replied.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I heard something in the back."

"Something? What?"

"I don't know
.
Somethin
g
."

"Let's get out of here," Julie said.

It sounded like a good idea to Claire. But Marianne had a different opinion. "What if it's someone who needs our help?"

"It isn't," Julie claimed.

"It could be."

Now Claire wasn't sure what to think. "What did it sound like?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I didn't hang around long enough to find out. It sounded like a squeaking sound, I guess."

Squeaking? That didn't sound like one of the creatures
.
"Maybe we should check it out," Claire said. "We haven't been the quietest, so I think one of those things would've attacked us by now if one was here. Plus, we have our guns if there's a problem."

"I don't know," Julie said, shaking her head. "You really think it's a good idea?"

Claire didn't answer the question. "Come on," she said instead. She motioned at Marianne to lead her to where she had heard the noise.

As they walked, Claire held up her gun in front of her. There was a soft click as Julie released the safety on hers.

You really think it's a good idea?

Claire didn't know.

Chapter 10

Adam and Scooter walked to a road that cut through the forest.

"I think this might lead to the town," Scooter said. They had been walking straight for a little over thirty minutes. "It seems far enough."

"Maybe we could find the name of it," Adam suggested. "That might help."

Scooter brushed that idea aside. "I don't think I was looking at the names of the roads. There didn't seem like much point."

"But you think this could take us there?"

"
I
think
.
" Scooter wished he could have offered more than that.

"What do we have to lose?" Adam asked. It had been nothing more than a common expression. But it caused the two of them to worry about Claire, Julie and Marianne.

That'
s
what they had to lose.

*

As they made their way along the road, they kept a look out for any sign of the creatures. There were the crashed cars and dead bodies they had come to expect. Other than that, there wasn't much else.

But while the silence should have made him feel better, knowing that there wasn't any danger around, it had the opposite effect.

Everything wa
s
to
o
quiet.

"I don't feel good about this," Adam admitted. He was trying to remain positive, but his fears about something happening to Claire had continued to grow.

"I know what you mean," Scooter agreed.

The two picked up their pace.

*

Even going quickly, it took them a while to reach the edge of town. Scooter recognized it as soon they arrived.

"You sure this is it?" Adam asked. Although he didn't think that there would be many other towns in the area, he wanted to be certain.

Scooter pointed to a car that had driven into the side of a house. "I remember that," he said. "I kept thinking how nice this town would've been before the change."

Adam looked at the houses that lined the streets. There weren't many. But the few that were there were nicely painted, front porches and all.

He turned to Scooter. "You think the store is somewhere nearby?"

Scooter had no idea. "We didn't walk through the town. We came up this road and kept walking. None of us were in the mood to search the area."

"I know," Adam replied. "I'm sorry. I was just wondering."

"But it shouldn't be too hard to find them."

"I hope you’re right.”

*

It didn't take them too long to find the store. And, as soon as they saw it, they noticed the damage that had been done to it.

"Doesn't look good," Scooter said.

Adam agreed. "We'd better get in there and check it out."

*

Adam stuck his head in through the front opening and had to fight the urge to call out to Claire. He hadn't heard anything to cause him worry, but that didn't mean that there weren't any creatures around.

"They might have already gone back to the school," Scooter said closely behind him.

Adam hadn't thought of that, but he had to admit that it was possible. "Still," he said, "we should check a little more. They might…"

His words caught in his throat when he saw the backpacks of food sitting in the middle of the floor. He pointed them out to Scooter.

"Then where are they?" the young man asked.

Adam didn't know, but several horrible possibilities came to him in answer. "Come on," he said, raising his gun to his shoulder and going into the store.

*

As they made their way down one of the aisles, Adam and Scooter kept looking at each other to see if they had found something.

There was nothing…until they got to the back.

"Do you hear that?" Scooter asked.

Adam did. It sounded like screaming.

*

Adam and Scooter rushed to a closed door at the back and heard another scream. This time it was more of a squeal.

"What the fuck is that?" Scooter asked. With Emily nowhere around he wasn’t worried about the language he used.

Adam didn't know. And he didn't care. "We have to check it out," he said. "You ready?"

Scooter gripped his axe tighter and nodded his head.

Adam turned and grabbed the door. Then he pulled it open and charged inside.

*

The women spun to look at Adam and Scooter as they came through the door. They were sitting together in a circle on the floor.

"Claire?" Adam shouted. "Are you okay?" He could tell that she was startled.

"Am I okay?" Claire asked. "What are you doing here?"

Adam lowered his gun. "We wanted to make sure you were all right. We heard screaming."

He took a step forward. Claire got up to meet him.

"Everything's all right," she said. "There's nothing to worry about." She reached up and kissed his cheek.

"Nothing to worry about? What's happening in here?"

"Come over here and see what we've found."

"See what you've found?"

Claire led Adam over to Marianne and Julie. Scooter followed. Immediately, they saw something in Julie's hands.

"A kitten?" Adam asked. "You found a kitten?"

"We found a few of them," Claire said. "But this was the only one that was alive."

Adam looked at the other side of the room and saw the dead kittens Claire was talking about. Their tiny paws and tails saddened him. "Did they starve to death?" he asked.

"We think so."

"How did this one survive?"

"We don't know."

"Was the mother around?"

It was Marianne that replied. "She's outside," she said, pointing to a small window in the back wall. "But she's dead. She was probably going out to get her babies some food when she came across one of thos
e
thing
s
."

One of those things
?
Adam thought
.
So that meant that they were still around
.
He didn't like the sound of that, not with the women were being so loud, playing with the kitten.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer," he said.

"Come see Cookie first," Claire said.

"Cookie?"

"That's what we named her."

Julie and Marianne laughed at the name.

Obviously some type of inside jok
e
, Adam figured. He didn't bother to ask them about it.

He went over to the kitten. Scooter was already there, poking at it playfully with his finger. The kitten tried to bite at him with its little teeth.

"Wanna hold him?" Claire asked. It took Adam a moment to realize that she was talking to him.

"What? Me?" he replied. "No. I think we should get going."

"Oh, come on," Claire persisted. "Cookie wants to meet you."

Before he had a chance to say anything else, Claire picked up the kitten and placed it in his hands. He felt the ribs poking through the side of its body and knew that it must have been close to death before the women had found it.

*

They decided to leave not much longer after. Cookie was safely put away in Marianne's purse. Adam could see its head sticking out, looking around at everyone.

"How's Buster going to like having her around?" Adam asked. A quick look had told them that the kitten was female.

"He's going to love her," Marianne replied. She looked down Cookie and started talking as she would to a baby. "That's right, you're going to love your big brother. He's a dog, but I know he'll love you too." She poked at the cat's nose.

They went into the store to pick up the backpacks they had left there.

"Let me take that," Adam told Claire as she reached for one.

"Think I'm too weak?" Claire asked.

"I didn't mean that. I…"

She smiled. "I know you didn't. But don't worry, I'll be fine carrying it."

Adam smiled back. "Let me know if you change your mind."

He turned to Scooter. The young man was carrying Julie's backpack and he felt the urge to point it out.

He didn’t bother. That type of argument wasn't going to have much of an impact.

"Let's go," Claire said, strapping the backpack over her shoulders and walking toward the front door.

Adam and the others trailed behind her.