Glory (Book 5) (20 page)

Chapter 15

They stepped onto the road, tired and exhausted.

"Time to take a break," Adam said. He placed his backpack onto the ground. The others followed suit. Their hands were quickly in their bags to take out what food they had brought.

"So which way will we go?" Scooter asked, pointing down each direction of the road. He popped one of Marianne's mini-cakes into his mouth.

Each way seemed as good as the other
,
Adam thought. But instead of saying that, he made a decision. "We should go that way," he said, pointing past the pile of cars that sat in the middle of the road. "Everyone okay with that?"

They were.

"Let's finish eating first," Scooter said, crumbs shooting out of his mouth.

Adam laughed. The others joined in.

Chapter 16

Jane stood on the top of a hill overlooking the road. She could see a group of people walking down it. And, even though she was far away from them, she was certain that it was Adam and the others. She could see that they had picked some people up a long the way too
.
More survivors. More people like them
.
Well, not like her. She didn't think that they'd be like her. They weren't haunted by their family members. They weren't losing their minds. They'd be fine. Normal
.
There was even a dog.

Jane took a deep breath to steady herself. She could feel a wave of emotions coming upon her. And she knew that they'd be difficult to handle.

Lately, her emotions had all but paralyzed her. They came on strong. And they came on fast.

Jane continued to look at the group, but she focused on Charles. He must be having difficulty keeping up with everyone
.
Not that he'd complain about it. He rarely did. He just kept pushing and pushing himself.

With that, she felt an urge to run down and help him. To put her hand underneath his arm and guide him forward.

But she couldn't get herself to move. Not yet. She simply wasn't ready.

She looked at Robert next. There was no wagon. He was walking beside Shelly. The young girl held the little boy's hand.

Jane felt a bit of jealousy over that, then admonished herself for it
.
She had chosen to leav
e.
Robert wasn't choosing Shelly over herself.

But still, she felt a bit jealous.

It would feel so good to run down there and hug hi
m
, she thought. She could picture his little arms wrapped around her neck. She could hear his little voice as he told her that he loved her. She loved him too
.
She really did.

Again, she couldn't get herself to move.

She looked at the other members of the group. She couldn't make out their faces, but she was starting to see their bodies a little better. She could see that there were two new women and a man.

And there was a little girl.

At the sight of her, Jane's heart stopped and she couldn't breathe. She stared at the little girl. Her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders and covered most of her face. One of the women was carrying her.

Jane thought of her own daughter. Not he
r
actua
l
daughter. But the one who had been haunting her. She would be around the same size. Probably the same age.

Jane felt frightened. She felt anger. She felt sad.

Yet, more than anything, she felt longing. She wanted to run down the hill. Wanted to rejoin the group. She was sure that they would accept her back. She had talked to Adam about her problems. He would understand. And she knew that Charles and Robert wouldn't hold anything against her.

Though, once more, she couldn't do it
.
She wasn't ready. Her ghosts hadn't gone.

Jane had only left a few days ago. She had hoped to fight away her nightmares. And she had tried. But she hadn't been able to do much about them. Her dead husband and daughter still came to her. More and more often as well.

She bit her lip and wrung her hands together.

She would give anything to go down there and be with them.

Anything.

She missed them so much.

If she went
,
she told herself
,
they might be able to hel
p
. She wasn't sure what they could do. None of them were trained in this. None of them could even understand what she was going to. But they could try.

Jane felt another rush of emotions.

Desire. Anger. Jealousy. Fear. Sadness.

Unfortunately, she rarely felt happiness. That was one emotion that eluded her. It simply wouldn't come. She tried to think of good memories, but they only brought tears. She tried to think of a positive future, but that only made her worry that she’d never have one.

She felt tears come to her eyes.

No, happiness was a long way off.

Before she knew what was happening, she took a step forward. Then another.

She wasn't anywhere near the group. But she had gotten closer.

If only she could get herself to run! To get down to them as fast as she could. They'd be able to…

"Mommy," a voice came from behind her. "You can't leave me, silly goose. You just can't!"

Jane kept her eyes on the group walking down the road. She didn't need to turn to know that her daughter would be standing there; her husband too
.
Would they be covered in blood? Would their faces be cut and bruised
?
Every time it was different. And every time it made her sick.

"Leave me alone," she said. He voice broke as she talked. She could barely keep the tears from pouring down her cheeks. "Please."

"What was that, mommy?" her daughter asked. "I couldn't hear you. Speak up, please."

"I said, leave me alone." Again her voice broke.

"Oh, mommy, you silly goose, I still couldn't hear you."

Jane didn't want to repeat herself. She knew that it wasn't going to do any good.

She closed her eyes and her tears ran down her face, falling off onto her shirt, onto the the ground. She lowered her head and started to sob.

"Oh, mommy," her daughter called out to her. "Don't cry. Everything will be okay."

"Yes, darling, everything will be okay," another voice agreed
.
Her husband.

She continued to cry.

Her life had fallen apart
.
She was being haunted by her family
.
A family that she had loved so much
.
They had meant everything to her. And she had done everything she could have to make them happy. Now, here they were, making her life a living hell. It was as though they were trying to get revenge on her for something. She wasn't sure what.

"Don't cry, mommy," Becky said again. "Please don't."

Jane ignored her. She had to. She couldn't keep listening to everything they said. It was driving her mad. She wished that they would leave her alone.

She found the strength to open her eyes, but still didn't look behind her. She wasn't strong enough.

She looked once more down at the road at the travellers. She could run to them
.
She could
.
They'd accept her. They'd help her. She knew it. She didn't know if they'd be able to do much good. But that didn't matter.

She watched them walking. They hadn't noticed her yet.

She could raise her hand. Wave to them
.
If they saw her, they'd come and get her
.
She wouldn't even have to move. Not until they arrived. She'd just have to fight off her family's taunts. She'd have to ignore their threats.

She felt her hand move, but it didn't raise high enough to wave. As with the rest of her body, she couldn't get it to do what she wanted.

"See," Becky said from behind her.
"
Yo
u
don't even want to leave. So, please, mommy, stop this. Come with us. We'll take care of you. We're family."

"You're not my family," Jane said quietly.

"What? I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, darling," her husband added. "We couldn't hear you."

Jane heard giggling behind her. Her husband and daughter were laughing at her. That brought more emotions down upon her. And more tears.

"Leave me alone," she said again. "Please, leave me alone."

"What's that, mommy?" her daughter asked. "We couldn't hear you. Speak up. Speak up!" 

More laughter.

"Leave me alone," Jane said. Her voice was a little louder. Though not much.

"What, mommy? What
?
Wha
t
?"

"Leave me alone," Jane repeated. "Leave me alone. Leave me alone!"

Jane screamed the last word. She felt frustration. Felt rage. To her surprise, she wanted to rush over and kill her husband and daughter.

But they were all ready dead. They were only in her imagination. None of this was real.

"Leave me alone." Her voice had gone back to a whisper.

"Oh, mommy," her daughter said. "You're being such a silly goose."

Jane knew that she was being
a
silly goos
e
. Her family wasn't real. They were dead. She had watched it happen. They weren't standing behind her. They weren't talking to her. It was all in her head. Her imagination.

But it was also something that she couldn't control. And that made it a problem. One that she needed to figure it out before she did anything else.

She looked back at the travellers and knew that she couldn't run down to them. She couldn't wave to them, either. Not until she figured this out.

She continued to watch them for a little bit longer. Tears continued to fill her eyes, but she managed to see everyone on the road.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to them. "I wish it didn't have to be this way. I will love you all. Always."

She wiped the tears from her eyes, then turned around. Her daughter and husband were standing behind her. Her daughter was wearing a pretty white sundress. Her husband was dressed in a nice polo shirt and jeans. They were both smiling.

"Oh, mother," her daughter said. "We're so happy that you're going to stay with us."

Jane looked at them for a moment. Then looked past them. She wasn't going to stay with them. She was going to find a way to get rid of them. She knew that it wouldn't be easy. But it was something that she had to do.

She started to walk. Her legs moved freely underneath her. No resistance at all. Jane took a few steps. Then a few more. She walked away from the top of the hill and didn't look back.

Jane came closer to her dead husband and daughter.

"Oh, mother," Becky said again. "I'm so happy! I love you so much!"

Jane didn't look at her. She kept looking past. Then she walked by. She felt her daughter's gaze follow her. She knew that her husband was looking as well.

"Oh, mother," Becky said. "Where are you going? You can't leave us!"

Jane walked on, refusing to respond.

She heard laughter.

And, with that, she realized what her family had really been telling her all of this time
.
You can't leave u
s
didn't mean that they didn'
t
wan
t
her to leave them. It meant that she wasn't going to be able to
,
that they would be with her forever.

She heard more laughter. Laughte
r
a
t
her. At her realization.

It brought fresh tears to her eyes.

Day 29

Chapter 1

It had been a few days since they had left the school. And the farther they got away, the further the memories felt. None of them could deny what had happened. Several dead bodies were back there. People they had killed. But it didn't feel all that real. As though it had been part of another life. One that wasn't theirs.

They hadn't found a place to stay yet. There had been a few spots to grab food and rest, though nowhere they had wanted to be for very long.

On the bright side, they hadn't run into any of the creatures.

Sweat dripped off of their foreheads as the made their way along the barren road. That is, until Charles came to a stop.

"I'm tired," the old man said, wiping his brow. "I don't think I can keep walking."

He had been walking beside Adam. Or, more accurately, Adam had been walking besid
e
hi
m
. Adam had seen that the old man had been having trouble keeping up, so he had gone back to keep him company. The others were all a little bit ahead.

Adam turned to Charles. "You all right?" he asked.

"I don't think so. My legs are about to give out."

Adam looked at the sky. He didn't want to push Charles too much. But by the sight of the darkening clouds, it wasn't going to be long before it started to rain
.
Hard
.
"We should keep pushing on, if you can."

"I really don't know if I'm able to."

Lightning sparked in the distance.

"It's going to pour soon," Adam said. "It'd be better if we found somewhere to take cover before it does."

Charles nodded. "I know. It's just…" He took a deep breath. "I guess I can walk for a bit more."

Adam hated doing that to him, but there wasn't much of an option. "Only a little farther."

*

Against Adam's claim, it wasn'
t
only a little farther
.
And they weren't able to find anything before the rain started to come down.

The first time in weeks since it rained
,
Adam thought
.
The first time since everything changed.

It started as a light drizzle, then quickly began pour. Huge raindrops. Wind. Lightning. Thunder.

"We have to find a place to stop," Claire said. Everyone had slowed down to talk to Adam and Charles, who were still at the back of the line. "The rain is too strong." Claire had to raise her voice to be heard.

"I know," Adam shouted back. "But there's nothing here. There aren't even trees to hide under." All around them were open fields. "We have to keep moving."

"Can't we rest here?" Charles asked. "For a bit?"

"We can't," Adam said. Though he wasn't sure if that was true. Maybe he simply didn't want to. Maybe he wanted to find a place to stay.

"I don't think that I can make it any farther,” Charles said. “I really don't.""

"You can make it." Adam placed his hand underneath the old man's arm. "We’ll do it together."

*

Before long, they came upon an incline in the road.

"I can't make it u
p
tha
t
!" Charles said. "Trust me!"

Adam didn't want to argue with the old man. He wasn't even sure that Charle
s
coul
d
make it. The hill was long, it was steep
.
But they had to try.

"Just to the top," he said. "We'll rest as soon as we get there."

"Even if there is no place to rest?"

"Even if there is no place to rest."

*

They began their walk up the hill. As Julie had with Emily, Claire picked up Robert, knowing that his little legs wouldn't have make it on his own.

The hill was steeper than they had initially thought. And the rain was getting worse.

There was a flash of lightning. Followed by a loud thunder crack.

Adam could hear the little girl crying
.
It must be horrible for he
r
, he thought
.
They needed to find somewhere soon.

Adam kept his hand underneath Charles's arm. Even with his help, the old man was having trouble. His breathing was getting heavier, while his steps were getting smaller.

Charles turned to Adam. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm really sorry."

Adam squeezed his arm. "Don't be sorry. You're doing a great job. Just keep moving." His voice sounded to him like he was trying to encourage a child to do something, and he hated that it had come out like that. He didn't think of Charles as a child. Charles's body simply wasn't what it used to be. “Come on,” he said, trying to keep the condescension out of his words. “We’re almost there.”

*

Marianne went beside Charles to take his other arm.

"Thank you," he said.

By the way he spoke, Marianne knew that he was embarrassed. She supposed that it was understandable. It couldn't be easy for anyone to accept that they could no longer do things they had once been able to
.
It had to hurt
.
But she didn't want him to worry about that.

"It’s my pleasure,” she said, winking in the process.

Charles chuckled softly.

*

The old man continued to walk, though his steps had gotten even slower. He was barely lifting his feet now.

"I don't think that I can make it," he said. "I really don't." 

"Let's rest for a bit here," Adam said. It was the only thing he could think of doing. He couldn't keep pushing the old man. He didn't want to risk hurting him.

"No," Charles said, changing his mind. "If I stop, I might not get going again."

They kept going. And while Charles continued to slow down, they didn't stop. The others had all come back to join him.

Adam looked ahead. "Just a little bit more."

There wa
s
mor
e
than a little bit, but no one pointed that out. They had already come such a long way. So much so that they were closer to the top than the bottom
.
And that was good enough.

The rain continued to beat down on them. And it seemed to have picked up. By now, their clothes stuck to their skin. Their bags were completely soaked. Their shoes squished as they walked.

Yet, they kept pushing on.

*

It took them a while before they made it to the top. But they eventually did. Charles let out a little cheer when the road beneath his feet began to level out.

"See," Adam said. "I knew that we could do it."

"Now we have to rest," Charles said. He went to sit down right in the middle of the road, but Scooter's voice stopped him.

"Over there," the young man said, pointing his axe out in front of him. "There are some houses. See them? We can stay in those!"

They all saw the houses in the distance.

"They're so far!" Charles claimed. "I'll never make it!"

Along one side of the road were some trees. "What about there?" Adam asked. It would provide them a little protection while Charles rested.

Exhausted, Charles nodded.

*

They came upon the trees slowly. But before they had a chance to go underneath them, a voice called out from behind the forest line. "Stop right there!" it said. "Or I'll blow your fuckin' brains out!"

Adam scanned the trees to see where the voice had come from. Within seconds, two men walked out. They were dressed in rain gear. And they were holding two guns
.
Two very big guns
.
They were pointed at Adam and his group.

"Don't fuckin' move," one of the men said. His yellow rain coat billowed around him in the wind as he came closer. "What the fuck are you guys doing in this area, huh? Just turn yourselves around and go back the way you came."

Adam nervously glanced at his group and saw that they were all looking at him, waiting for him to speak. He turned back to the two men and raised his hands. "We're not here to cause any trouble," he said. "We're just looking for a place to rest. We've been walking for..."

"I don't care how long you've been walking for," the man interrupted. "Just take your fuckin'..."

"Clark, that's enough!" the second man said. "There's no need to use that language. Can't you see that there’re women and children here?"

Adam could see the anger on the second man's face as he spoke. He looked older than Clark. Had a faint white beard and moustache.

"It's...well..." Clark didn't finish his reply.

Adam kept his hands raised. "We're just looking for a place to stay," he said. "The rain, it's been hitting us pretty hard. We need to get out of it for a while. We're not looking to cause any trouble."

The older man stepped up to Adam. He kept the gun trained on him. But then lowered it. Clark didn't. "Where are you guys from?" he asked.

"We're from all over. We met up along the road. We were staying at a school when we were attacked."

"Attacked? By thos
e
thing
s
?"

"And men." Adam had to control his voice. The idea of the men brought anger
-
and sadnes
s
- to him. "They wanted the women."

The older man shook his head. "I see. And how did you escape?"

Adam's wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't want to explain what they had done. Yet, he didn't want to lie about it, either
.
Not to a man who was holding a gun pointed at him
.
"We killed them," he said. "We had to."

"I see…and now what?"

"Now what?" Adam hadn't really understood the question.

"Yeah, now what are you going to do?"

He didn't need any time to think about that. "We're going to try to find somewhere to stay. We're going to try to find some survivors like us."

"Survivors like you, eh?" There was a brief pause before the older man placed out his hand for Adam to shake. "I'm James. This is Clark."

"I don't think this is a good idea," Clark said. "We don't know anything about them."

"It's okay," James said. Adam took James's hand and shook it. "So you're looking for survivors? Well, we have a good group of people back at town."

"James," Clark continued. "I really don't think that you should be telling them about this."

"It's okay," James said again. He raised his hand to tell Clark to relax. Thunder cracked loudly over head. The rain continued to pour. "We can't leave them out here like this, anyway," he added.

"But James."

"But nothing. There's women and children here. Are you just going to let them freeze in the the rain?"

Clark's eyes shifted down. "Well, no…but we have to be careful."

"I know. The thing is that I don't think that we have to worry about these folk."

Clark didn't seem so sure, but didn't say any more about it.

James pointed his thumb toward the houses in the distance. "Let's head into town," he said. "The least we can do is get you out of this rain."

Thunder cracked again. Adam would do anything to get into a dry, warm place. He knew that the others felt the same way too. They had been walking for too long.

They followed James toward the town. Adam and Marianne helped Charles once more. Clark walked behind them all, refusing to lower his gun as they went.

"There's a small group of us here," James said as they walked. "A small community. But, like I said, they're all good people. Or, like yo
u
said
,
they'r
e
survivor
s
."

*

As they came upon the town, Adam couldn't see anyone outside. Though he supposed that wasn't much of a surprise. The rain was still falling. No one would want to be out in it.

When they got closer, Adam noticed that the town looked almost normal. There weren't any cars or dead bodies in the street. There were some gardens filled with flowers out front of a few of the houses. The only thing was that there were a couple of bunkers situated on either side of the street.

Still, it looked like a nice little town.

"Welcome to Glory," James said.