Glory (Book 4)

by Michael McManamon

  "I will."

  Scooter closed the door behind him, yet didn't move away from it. He knew that he was blowing this all out of proportion. Marianne hadn't done anything wrong. She was trying to be helpful. Trying to be a friend. And he had to accept and appreciate that for what it was.

  He looked down the hallway toward where the little girl with the bottle in her neck laid in a pool of blood.

  Nowthat was something to worry about.

  Chapter 4

  Marianne stared at the closed door. She didn't know what had gotten into Scooter, but she had the feeling that it had something to do with her.The way he had looked at her. How he had almost pulled away at her touch. She didn't know what she could have done to make him feel that way.

  She thought about their time together yesterday. They had gone into the hotel with Julie. Then it was just the two of them in the restaurant. There had been that horrible stench.No, thatfuckin' horriblestench. They had had a laugh overthat.

  But there wasn't anything that she thought of that could have made him so uncomfortable.

  She walked over to the bed.

  "That was strange, wasn't it?" Julie asked. "He looked sick."

  "Hedid look sick," Marianne agreed. "But I'm not sure that he was."

  "What do you think it is?"

  "I'm not sure."

  "He said that he didn't have a good sleep. Maybe that's all that it is."

  "Maybe." Marianne sat down on the bed beside Buster. The dog had jumped onto it and was being petted by Emily. The little girl ran her hand slowly down his back. Marianne scratched behind his ear. "I guess we should get going soon."

  "I guess," Julie said. She still didn't seem happy about their decision.

  Marianne understood. If it wasn't for the dead bodies in the hallway and the smell that came out of them, this would be a great place to stay. There was food. There was protection. But there was no way that they'd be able to clean up the place. It was too big of a job.

  She turned to the little girl. "Want to help me get ready?"

  Emily nodded.

  "We'll pack up the food. Take everything out of the fridge."

  Emily's head continued to bob up and down.

  "Let's get a move on."

  Marianne got up from the bed and started to pack. Emily joined her. Julie as well. Buster didn't do much other than try to eat the food they put into their bags.

  When they finished, they took one more look around the room.

  "It was nice here," Marianne admitted. "It's too bad we have to leave."

  They walked to the front door, then headed to John's room.

  Chapter 5

  John answered the door and welcomed them in. "Good morning," he said. "Just in time for breakfast!" He laughed.

  "Oh, really?" Marianne asked. "What are we having?" There wasn't much else for them to have beside the cans of food they had found yesterday.

  "Bacon. Eggs." They all walked farther into the room. Scooter was sitting at the small table. Alice was sorting her things on the bed. "My wife is even going to brew some coffee for us!"

  "Oh, John," Alice exclaimed. She hit her husband's arm as he passed. "Don't joke like that! It'll make it that much harder for us to go without."

  John grabbed where his wife had hit and pretended to be hurt. "Ow, the pain! I need to lie down. I don't think I can make it with you all today."

  She hit him again. "Don't say things like that, either!"

  "Ow, the pain, the pain!" He laid down on the bed and pulled the blanket over top of him. "Just a quick rest, that's all I need."

  Alice pulled the blanket back down. "No, you don't. You said that we should leave today, so that's what we're going to do. Now get up out of that bed and stop fooling around. You need to get ready."

  John did as he was told. He laughed as he did. The others joined in. Except Scooter. He still couldn't get himself to stop thinking about all that had happened the night before.

  Chapter 6

  It didn't take them long to pack. They didn't have much with them. They gathered their food and drinks. They took some of the toiletries and towels. John mentioned taking the bathrobes, but his wife wouldn't hear of such a thing. There would be no reason for them to use them.

  When they finished, they opened a few of the cans and ate.

  "Now it's time for a rest," John said. As he started to lie down, his wife swatted him once again. He screamed out in pretended pain.

  "Why are you being like this?" Alice asked. "It's not helping."

  He wasn't sure that that was true. With all they had seen, he figured laughter might do them some good.

  "All right, darling," he said. "No more jokes." He winked to show her that that was yet more of his humour.

  Alice rolled her eyes. She turned to everyone else. "Are we all ready?"

  "I think so," Marianne said.

  "Yeah," Scooter replied softly.

  They all stood up and grabbed their things. John led them to the front door.

  Chapter 7

  As they approached the lobby, Scooter told them to hold back. He wanted to make sure that none of the creatures were around. He held up his axe and walked to the front window. There wasn't a sign of them. There wasn't a sign ofanyone for that matter. A big part of Scooter had been hoping that they were going to walk out of the hotel and see a group of travellers waiting for them.

  "It's clear," he said.

  He raised his hand and motioned for them to come to him. They walked over the broken glass and into the sunlight.

  Marianne came last. Her purse was strapped over her arm. Her sunglasses over her eyes. She cast him a smile as she passed.

  This is stupid,he told himself.Marianne is a sweet woman. She didn't do anything to him. It was just a dream. And one that he had to get over.

  He forced himself to smile back and followed her out of the hotel.

  Chapter 8

  They walked for a while before Marianne slowed down to talk with Scooter. He was at the back of the line. And he still looked uncomfortable.

  "What is it?" she asked him.

  "What do you mean? Did you see something?"

  "No, it's not that." Through out their time on the road, none of them had seen any sign of the creatures. They hadn't seen any sign of survivors, either. "I"m talking aboutyou."

  "Me?"

  "What'swrong?"

  Scooter looked at the woman, then diverted his gaze. A slight look of uneasiness passed across his face.

  "There!" she said. "That's what I mean!"

  It was hard for Scooter to get the images from his dream out of his mind. They continued to plague him, bother him. Yet he pretended not to know what she was talking about.

  "You knowexactly what I'm talking about," Marianne continued. "Tell me!"

  Scooter could hear the frustration in her voice. He also thought there was something that resembled concern. But he still couldn't get himself to tell her. It was too embarrassing. Made him too uncomfortable. "It's nothing."

  Marianne let out a deep breath, realizing that this was going to be harder than she thought. "Is it me?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

  Scooter looked back at the woman. Guilt joined the other emotions that were running through him. He didn't want to make her feel bad. "No, it's not you. Well…not really."

  "Not really? What does that mean?" She stopped and grabbed hold of his arm. "What did I do?"

  "You…" He couldn't tell her. It was just a dream, anyway. He'd get over it soon enough.

  She waited for him to speak.

  "It's nothing, really. I'm just being stupid."

  "But you said it had something to do with me."

  "It does…sort of."

  "Sort of?"

  He knew that he wasn't going to be able to make her feel any better about it until he told her. And he didn't want her to worry. He bit his lower lip and steadied himself.He'd have to tell her. "Okay," he said. Except he didn't know how to tell her, where to start. "I
had a dream. A very real one. And you were in it."

  "I was in your dream?" Marianne asked. "That's what this is all about?"

  "I told you it was stupid." He turned to walk away.

  "No, it's not stupid." She grabbed his arm again. "I was just surprised. What happened in the dream?"

  What happened? Scooter really didn't want to tell her. But he had come this far. "You killed me."

  "I killed you? And that's why you feel uncomfortable around me?"

  Scooter wished it was that simple. "There was something else."

  Again, Marianne waited for him to continue.

  "It was after we had sex."

  Marianne's mouth dropped open. Her eyes widened. Then she broke out into laughter.

  Scooter didn't know what to make of it. Though it did make him feel worse than he already felt. He broke eye contact with her again and saw the others up ahead turn around to see what was happening. His face reddened.

  "I'm sorry," Marianne said. "I shouldn't have laughed." She brought her hand to her mouth to try to help her stop.

  "I told you it was stupid," Scooter said once more.

  "No, it's not that. I'm actually flattered. It's just a surprise for me. I don't think I've ever been in anyone's dreams before. At least, not like that."

  "It…it was just a dream. It…well, it doesn't…"

  "I know, it doesn't mean anything. But I'm still flattered." She took a moment to revel in it, then she added, "Though I'm not so happy about killing you. How did I do it?"

  Scooter held up his axe. "With this? You slammed it into my face."

  "With your axe?"

  Scooter nodded.

  Marianne laughed again. "I guess you weren't as good as I had expected."

  At that, Scooter laughed as well.

  Chapter 9

  Scooter and Marianne continued walking and got to know each other better. Scooter still felt moments of nervousness when he thought of the dream, but that began to wear down as time went on. Marianne would laugh every so often when she thought of it as well.

  They found that they actually had a few things in common. They liked some of the same music, watched some of the same TV shows. And though Scooter wasn't much of a reader, they had even read a few of the same books.

  It was when Scooter brought up the dream again to apologize for it that Marianne opened up about her run-in with the pharmacist. "You're not the only one who has had strange dreams," she said. She told him about the ideas she had had, the bag of pills in her purse.It was best to get these thoughts out,she decided.Not only would it make Scooter feel better, but it would probably help her too.

  "We've all been put into a pretty fucked up situation," he claimed.

  "You're right. It's no wonder we have these strange thoughts."

  "Yeah, no wonder."

  They walked for a moment in silence, thinking that over. And, to Scooter, any apprehension he had about the dream left him.

  He turned to Marianne. "I'm sorry about your friend."

  She smiled at his sincerity. "Thanks."

  Chapter 10

  When Scooter and Marianne eventually caught up to the others, John asked what they had found so funny."We heard you two laughing all the way up here."

  Scooter looked at Marianne and felt his face redden once more. He didn't want to have to explain his dream to the group. It had been hard enough telling Marianne.

  "Scooter told me a joke," Marianne said. "It was pretty funny."

  "Really? What was it?"

  Scooter's face darkened further. He didn't know any jokes. People had told them to him, but he could never remember them.

  "Oh, you had to be there," Marianne said. "It wouldn't be so funny now."

  Quick thinking. Maybe a little lame, but John didn't push the subject.

  Scooter smiled at Marianne. She smiled back. Though she did have to put her hand back up in front of her mouth to stifle the laughter that threatened to come out.

  Day 14

  Chapter 1

  The group continued their journey. They had yet to come across any other survivors, nor a place they had wanted to stay in for very long. Everywhere they had gone had been littered with corpses, putrid with smell.

  They slowed down down as they approached a pile up of cars strewn across the road. It looked to be more of the same thing.

  "Is this ever going to get better?" Julie asked. Although she had been having trouble with it all from the start, things had gotten worse for her since they left the hotel. She started to speak less. She jumped at every little sound. "It's not, is it?"

  "It'll be okay," Alice said. She put her arm around the young woman and held her close.

  Scooter took a step toward the cars. "There might be some stuff we can use in them," he said.

  John wasn't as certain. "We still have some food left over," he said. "We should probably keep pushing on."

  Scooter thought about it, then figured that looking couldn't hurt. "Just give me a minute."

  He went to the closest car and looked in the window. As he had expected, there was a body in it. A man. Black hair peppered with white. A gold watch on his wrist. An eyeball hung out of its socket. His tongue had been pulled from his mouth.

  He walked to another car. Another body was in it. This time a woman. He didn't bother looking at her in any great detail.

  He turned back to the others. "Maybe you're right."

  "Is it bad?" John asked.

  "It's bad."

  They decided to keep as far from the crash as possible. It meant that they had to walk down a ditch, into tall grass. But that didn't pose much of a problem.

  When they got to the other side, Scooter looked back.Fuckin' horrible.He thought about Julie's question.Was this ever going to get better?

  Chapter 2

  They hadn't gotten far from the crash when Scooter hear a sound. He looked at the others, but none of them seemed to have noticed anything. He raised his hands and told them to stop. He placed one of his fingers to his mouth to tell them to be quiet.

  "What is it?" Julie asked nervously. "Did you hear something? One ofthem?"

  Scooter wasn't sure. He pointed to his hear.Listen.

  Nothing.

  They waited.

  The sound came again. Screaming.

  "Shit," Scooter said. He had tried his best to keep from swearing in front of Emily, but it didn't seem all that important at the moment. "It'sthem."

  "Do you know where they're coming from?" Julie searched around, trying to find an answer to her own question.

  Scooter shook his head.

  "What should we do?"

  Scooter looked back at the cars they had just passed. He thought about going back to them and finding one to hide in. Then he realized that they were too far. John wasn't the fastest at the best of times. There is no way that they'd make it in time.

  He looked to the side of the road. "Into the grass," he said, pointing at the long reeds. "Hurry."

  They all did as they were told.

  Scooter took hold of John's elbow and helped him lower to the ground once they were hidden. The old man had some difficulty with bending his knees and keeping his balance. Yet Scooter had to admire him for trying his best. He also had to admit that they could be in serious trouble if the creatures attacked. There was no way that John was going to be able to get back up quickly enough.

  Don't think of that,he told himself.He'd deal with it if it happened.

  The others were crouched down as well. Their heads swivelled from side to side as the creatures continued to scream.

  "Are they close?" Julie asked, panic rising in her voice.

  Scooter mouthed that he didn't know. Then he motioned for her to keep quiet. She looked ready to ask someone else, but didn't. She lowered her eyes and wrapped her arms around Emily. The little girl held her back.

  All Scooter had in his hands was his axe. But that was enough.If those creatures came, he'd give them one hell of a fight. There was a lot dep
ending on him.

  Only Marianne looked ready to fight with him. She had her knife pulled out of her purse. She had taken her sunglasses off. She kept her head cocked, listening to the sound.

  More screaming.

  Scooter could hear something else as well. At first, it was hard to make out. But once he caught a hold of it, it was impossible to miss. Heavy breathing. Grunting. It reminded him of animals searching for their prey.

  The creatures were definitely close.

  He tightened his grip on his axe and wished that he could lift it up over her head. The problem was that he couldn't move. He didn't want to risk being seen.

  He'd deal with it if it happened…

  The grunting continued, as did the screaming.

  Then it all came to a stop.

  All that could be heard was a faint breeze blowing over the top of the grass. Scooter couldn't even hear his own thoughts. Or his pounding heart, for that matter.

  Silence.

  They waited.

  Another scream filled the air.

  Scooter was sure that they had been found. It would only be a second before the creatures pounced. And it was only him and Marianne who were going to be able to do anything to hold them off.

  He didn't hesitate. He raised his axe over his shoulder and stood up slightly straighter, one foot behind him for support. He gathered all of his strength and readied it for his first swing.

  It would happen any moment now. They'd burst through the grass and attack. He'd do everything he could to protect everyone…

  Nothing happened.

  The screams picked up their intensity. Though they also began to grow faint. The creatures footsteps followed suit.

  They're leaving, he told himself. He didn't lower his axe until he was certain.

  When the screams faded further, his tension eased and he seated himself to the ground.

  "That was close," John said.

  He was right. Itwas close.

  Too close.