Glory (Book 1)

by Michael McManamon

  That didn't matter anymore, did it? Anything went nowadays.

  And what was to say that the girl hadn't been going to like it?

  Yeah, sure. It would have hurt. She would have bled. She would have cried. But, after a few more times, she might've liked it. It was possible.

  And now that stupid fuck came up and ruined the whole thing!

  Sam wanted to march back into the room and beat the fuck out of him. He even stopped a few times before he walked down the stairway. The guy didn't look so tough.

  Then again, you never knew. He might've been trained in that ninja-shit. Could've done some kind of chop to good ol' Sam. Fucked up his face or something. And that wouldn't have been good. Especially if the guy didn't stop with his face. He could've broken his arms or legs. Then what would good ol' Sam have done?

  Plus, he had that knife.That fuckin' knife!

  Shit, it just wasn't fair. Shelly was beautiful. Sam needed someone to spend his nights with. Why shouldn't it have been with her?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah -she was a little young, but who was going to judge him? He hadn't seen anyone, aside from her (and now that fuckin' prick!) for the past couple of days.

  Sam took a deep breath. He thought again of Shelly, of how she looked. Her long black hair. Her round cheeks. Her small eyes. She didn't have much of a body on her at the moment, but he knew that she would one day. He could see her breasts beginning to grow, her hips starting to curve.

  If only that stupid fuck hadn't shown up.

  Sam got to the bottom of the stairs and wanted to march back up them. He wanted to show that little dick who was boss. He wanted to bash the fuck out of his face. That would show Shelly who the real man was. She'd probably evenwantto fuck him after that.Who wouldn't?

  Sam looked down at his arms. He tried to flex them. He wasn't necessarily a big guy, but he wasn't all that small, either. He probably could have taken that young ass prick.

  But if he couldn't...that wouldn't have been good.

  Sam opened the door to the stairwell. It led out onto the street. The sun was shining brightly. He had to close his eyes from the glare. He raised his hand to cover them and walked out onto the street. The door closed behind him. He looked around.

  Now where can I go? he wondered.

  Once more, he thought of charging back up into the building and taking Shelly for his own. Deep down, he knew that it wasn't going to happen.And that just wasn't any fuckin' fair!

  Sam started to walk down the street. He couldn't get the little girl out of his head. And that was a problem because he didn't hear one of thethings up ahead. It was in front of one of the cars, eating from the arm of a corpse.

  Sam came upon it and froze. Thething looked up at Sam. Flesh hanging from its mouth. Its face covered in blood. It growled.

  The sound snapped Sam out of it. He turned and ran. Thething followed close behind.

  Chapter 5

  Jane walked on through the forest. She was lost deep in thought. It probably wasn't the smartest thing for her to be doing. She should have been listening for sign of the creatures. But she couldn't. She was too busy thinking about her family and how they had changed.

  She didn't know what had happened. There was no way that she could have. All that had taken place in the past little while had been impossible for her to even imagine.

  She knew enough to understand that her husband and daughter were dead.Phil and Becky. But even that was a bit difficult to believe.

  They had all been such a happy family with the future in front of them.

  Now all of that was gone.

  Jane thought about her husband. Not the one she loved, the one she remembered spending her life with; but the one who had come after her, the one who had intended on killing her.

  She pictured the look of anger that had been on his face.The hatred.His dark eyes had glared at her as she had rushed back into her daughter's room. He had run toward her. Screamed. Broken down the door.

  He had killed their daughter. Their precious Becky.Her silly little goose.He had picked her up and thrown her across the room. He had slammed her against the ground. Over and over.

  She thought of the little girl. Evenshe had changed. Before her husband had come into the room, Jane had seen her daughter trying to get out of her crib, her little fingers clawing its side. Then clawing at her!

  Becky had been screaming too. There had been anger in her eyes. She had even bit Jane. And if the little girl had been a bit stronger, a bit bigger, she would have tried to kill her too. Jane was sure of it.

  Her own daughter.

  Then there had been Harold. Her neighbour's son had charged at her. She had killed him with a shovel. Battered his face. To the point where he was barely recognizable.

  She couldn't believe it. She would never have thought about killing anyone before, especially in that way. With a shovel. It seemed so barbaric.

  But she hadn't had a choice. The boy had been trying to kill her. He had changed. Just like her husband. Just like her daughter. He would have killed her if she hadn't done so to him first. That was all there was to it.

  The reporter on the television had said that this had been happening all over the city, maybe all over the country. Then he had changed, too, and attacked the cameraman. The screen had gone black.

  For all Jane knew, the change had happened all over the world. And to everyone. She still couldn't help but wonder if she was the only one left. She hoped that it wasn't true, but she hadn't seen anything to the contrary. Everyone near her home seemed to have changed, all of the neighbours. She had heard them screaming and fighting each other,killingeach other.

  She just didn't know.

  Jane continued to walk. These thoughts continued to bombard her.Her husband. Her daughter. Harold. The reporter. The neighbours. The world. Being alone. None of it made any sense.

  She felt herself getting overwhelmed. She felt dizzy. She felt sick.

  She knew that it was something that she needed to fight her way through. She couldn't let herself keep thinking about these things. They didn't do her any good. It was the past. What happened happened. She strengthened her grip on the baseball bat.

  What happened happened.

  What happened happened.

  What happ...

  Jane heard a noise and stopped walking. Something was up ahead. She could hear it moving through the trees.

  Without pause, Jane raised the bat. She was preparing herself for an attack. Something was coming at her. The branches rustled. A twig broke.

  Then Jane saw it.

  Standing before her was a deer. It had walked in front of her path and was chewing on the leaves of a tree. Its mouth moved lazily up and down.

  The deer froze when it noticed Jane. Its eyes locked onto the woman. Jane could see it thinking, determining if she was a threat.

  Jane lowered the bat and stretched out her hand.

  "It's okay," she said softly. "I won't hurt you."

  The deer continued to look at her.

  Jane wanted to search through her bag. She wanted to give the deer something to eat. But she knew that any more movement could scare the deer away. She didn't want that to happen. Something about the deer brought her a sense of hope and comfort. She kept her hand out in front of her.

  "Don't worry," she said.

  The deer breathed out loudly, like it was contemplating Jane's words.

  In the end, it ran away.

  Sadly, Jane watched it go. Once more, she was left on her own.

  Day 4

  Chapter 1

  Jane met Phil on her first day of school. She had been out of teacher's college for a few months when she received the position. She was going to be teaching Grade 1. She had never taught her own class before. She hadn't had much experience with such young children, either. But she knew that she was going to love it. Everything was going to be great.

  She walked into the teacher's room. The principal noticed and stood up to greet her. He was a big man
with a big smile. She had met him earlier. She could only describe him asjolly.

  He walked over.

  "Jane!" he said. "How are you? Are you ready for your first big day?"

  "Hi, Mr. Bensworth. Yes, I'm very excited to be here. I can't wait."

  She was smiling. Maybe a little bit too much. She knew that it made her look young and eager, even inexperienced (which she was), but she couldn't stop.

  "Well," Mr. Bensworth continued, "let me introduce you to some of the other teachers."

  He led her around the room and introduced her to each and every one of them. They all seemed polite and nice enough. Though one really grabbed her attention.Phil. He was one of the grade six teachers.

  He was sitting at the back of the room, reading a book. He had stopped and looked up at the interruption. At first, he had looked annoyed. But Jane knew that as soon as she saw her his attitude changed. He liked what he saw and wanted to make a good first impression.

  He stood up, put his book down and held out his hand toward her.

  "Nice to meet you," he said.

  Jane lowered her eyes. She was beginning to blush. There was nothing really embarrassing or awkward about the introduction, but she felt her face redden, anyway.

  She put out her hand and grabbed his. It felt nice. Warm and strong.

  She looked back up at him. "It's nice to meet you, too."

  "If you need anything," Phil continued, "be sure to ask. I'm just across the hall from you, I think." He looked at Mr. Bensworth.

  Mr. Bensworth nodded his head. "Yes, you two are right across the hall from one another, so please speak to him if you have any trouble."

  Jane said that she would. Shehoped that she'd have to. Not that she wanted any trouble in her class. It would simply be nice to have a reason to talk to Phil again.

  Phil let go of her hand. Mr. Bensworth grabbed her by the elbow and led her around the rest of the room.

  *

  When Jane walked into her classroom, there was only one child was there. A young girl. She looked nervous.

  Jane went up to her. Again smiling.

  "What'syour name?' she asked.

  "Christine," the little girl replied.

  "And today is your first day in elementary school?"

  Christine nodded her head.

  "Well, that's a big deal. And you're the first one here!" Jane said it excitedly. The little girl didn't seem to feel the same way.

  "Yes," Christine said, her voice low, soft. "My mother dropped me off early."

  "Did your mother have to work?"

  "No."

  Jane had known that the little girl was scared. Now she knew that she was also sad. She could tell that Christine had wanted her mother to stay with her for a little while. At least until she had gotten settled.

  "Well, I'm glad that you're here early," Jane said.

  Christine looked up at her new teacher. "You are?"

  "Of course! You can help me prepare for class. I have a lot to do before the other children get here."

  Christine smiled, even if just a little bit.

  "How about you help me with those books over there," Jane said as she pointed to a bunch of books in the corner of the room. There wasn't anything really wrong with them. She simply wanted to give the little girl something to do. She wanted to make her feel important. Special.

  All of the other students arrived shortly after and soon Jane's class was underway. She started asking them questions about themselves. What things they liked to do. What they liked to eat. Then she asked them questions about their parents, brothers and sisters. Even their pets.

  The children all loved it. They enjoyed talking about themselves, telling her stories. It brought them all closer to each other and closer to their teacher.

  Jane continued to smile.

  This was going to be great.

  *

  At the end of the day, Jane finally managed to run into Phil. She had tried to talk to him over lunch, but he had looked too busy reading. Little did she know that he had wanted to talk to her as well. The problem was that it would have been too obvious to the other teacher's if he had put down his book. He was always reading at break time. He had been too embarrassed to stop now.

  They walked out of class at the same time and looked at each other.

  "How was it?" Phil asked.

  "It was great. I had so much fun! The children are absolutely wonderful."

  "Maybe at that age. Wait until they get a bit older."

  Jane cocked her head and glanced at him, taken aback. It wasn't a comment she had expected. She was so happy with the way that her day had gone. She couldn't imagine them ever causing any trouble. At least, not anyreal trouble.

  Phil saw the look on her face and knew that he had said the wrong thing. He needed to try to recover from it.

  "Don't get me wrong," he said. "I like teaching them. It's just that by grade six they start to develop their personalities. And some of them don't get the best coaching at home. Of course, I'm not blamingthem for that. It can just get a bit frustrating at times. Especially with a student that you think has a lot of potential."

  Jane thought of Christine. She was such a lovely child. At the beginning of the day, the little girl had been so nervous. She had also been so sad. Her mother had just dropped her off. Not even because she had had to go to work. Through out the day, Christine had become more confident and happy. She told several stories. She loved to talk. Jane didn't want anything to change in her.

  But her mother had just dropped her off. Jane couldn't hide her sadness.

  "Look," Phil said. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking about one of my own students. I really want the best for him, so I get a bit worked up when he acts badly. Today was a pretty rough day for him. I didn't mean to upset you. I really shouldn't have said anything."

  "It's okay. You got me thinking of one of my own students, that's all. I don't want to picture her turning out that way."

  "Maybe she won't. I mean sheprobablywon't. I...I...I mean shewon't."

  Phil grabbed his hands and wrung them together as he spoke. She could tell that he was was nervous. She could also tell that it was a strange emotion for him. He looked too confident to ever feel nervous. She supposed the she managed to bring it out in him.

  "It's okay," she said. "Let's forget about it."

  "Okay," he said, weakly.

  "Let's try this again. My day today was great. The children are fantastic!"

  Phil nodded his head and picked up his cue. "That's great!" he said. "I'm glad that everything went so well. Kids are wonderful, aren't they?"

  Jane smiled. Then laughed. They walked together to the teacher's room.

  When they left the school, both looked forward to seeing each other again.

  *

  A few months later, they were sitting on a park bench together. Phil had asked her to go for a walk. The weather was beautiful. It had sounded like a great idea.

  The two had started dating not long after they had met one another. The other teachers used to joke about it with them. Nothing serious. Just little comments here and there.

  Jane and Phil enjoyed spending time with one another. That was all that mattered.

  Things were going great between them. They talked to each other constantly. They spent their break times together. At night, if they weren't together, they'd talk on the phone.

  Yes, everything was great.

  Phil grabbed Jane's hand and placed it between both of his.

  "Jane," he said, softly. She looked at him. "I love you."

  Jane gasped. She hadn't meant to, but she couldn't stop herself.Love was not a word that she took lightly. She knew that Phil looked at it the same way. She hadn't expected him to say it.

  She had wanted to say it herself a few times, only she wasn't sure that they had been dating long enough. It felt like a funny thing for her to base her feelings on. She did, nonetheless.

  "I love you too," she said.

  He
kissed her.

  They were in love.

  *

  Jane stood in front of the doors. When they opened, she would be led down to her future husband. She looked at her father. He was watching her. She could see the pride in his eyes.

  "You look beautiful," he said. "Phil is very lucky to have you."

  "Thank you," Jane replied. She kissed her father on the cheek.

  The doors opened. Everyone stood up. They all wanted to see her walk down the aisle.

  Jane felt her heart begin to flutter. In a few minutes she'd be married to the man that she loved. They'd be able to start their life together.

  They could even think about having children!

  Jane's father squeezed her hand.

  "Are you ready?" he asked.

  She smiled, then nodded her head.

  The music started. Jane and her father began to walk down the aisle. Her bride's maids were already at the front waiting for her.

  She kept glancing at all of the faces around her. Family and friends. They had all gathered to see her on the happiest day of her life.

  She looked down the aisle. Phil was standing there, faced toward the altar. She wanted him to turn around and look at her, but she knew that he was feeling too emotional. He had said that he knew he'd start to cry once he saw her. He wanted to wait until she was right there, standing in front of him. Then she could hold his hand and get him through it. Jane had said that she would. Still, she wished that he'd look. Even just to take a little peek.

  She approached the alter.It felt like it was taking forever to get there! Each step was well controlled even though she wanted to run up there and throw her arms around him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted them to be together. Forever.

  Her father continued to walk beside her, smiling. He nodded his head at all of the guests, his eyes wide with happiness for his daughter. He liked Phil. He thought that she had made a good choice. He'd be a good husband.