Glory (Book 1) (13 page)

Chapter 8

Adam came through the doorway into the bedroom. He was wearing an expensive tuxedo and a top hat. He was also holding a cane. They had found a closet full of clothing and had thought it would be fun to try them on.

"What do you think of this?" he asked.

Shelly laughed. It wasn't that he looked bad. She just didn't think of him as the tuxedo-type.

"What's the matter?" he continued. "I think I look great!"

"Yeah, well…"

"Well, nothing. I look fantastic!"

Shelly laughed again.

"And what about wha
t
yo
u
're wearing?" Adam pointed at Shelly's clothes.

She was wearing an expensive evening gown. Even though it was far too large for her, she had wanted to try it on. It had looked so elegant. Like something she had seen celebrities wearing at an award show or gala
,
something for the red carpe
t
.

Shelly looked down at her dress. "There's nothing wrong with this. It's just a little bit big."

"A little big? You look like you've been dropped in by parachute."

She was lying on the bed, the dress fanned out around her. The corners of her lips dropped and Adam could see that she didn't like his comment. He felt guilty for making it.

"I was only joking," he said. "You really do look beautiful."

Shelly looked up. "I do?"

"Of course! Now stand up and let's get a better look."

Shelly got off of the bed. She had to hold onto the top of the dress to stop it from falling off of her shoulders. She held it tightly. Then she spun around a few times. Adam smiled. He could tell that the dress made her happy. He definitely felt bad at telling her that it was too big for her - even though it was.

"Come here," he said. He held out his hand. Shelly went over to him and grabbed it. He bowed. "May I have this dance?"

Shelly looked at him. It was one of the very few times that he had seen her look nervous.

"There's no music," she said. "We can't dance without music."

"That's not a problem."

Adam began singing a song. It wasn't one that Shelly had ever heard before, but that didn't matter. He had a nice voice and it sounded sweet.

Shelly accepted.

As he put his hand around her waist, Adam realised how small Shelly really was. And how young. Although she acted mature for her age, she was still somewhat of a child. He almost pulled away from her at the thought of it, but he knew that this was making her happy and, right now, that's all that he wanted to do. He kept his hand there and began swaying back and forth. Shelly followed his lead. He even spun her around a few times. He could tell that she loved it.

When he finished singing, Shelly sat down heavily onto the bed.

"I've never really danced with anyone before," she admitted.

He looked down at her. He still couldn't believe that she was so young.

She hadn't even danced with anyone before!

And that man had been going to...

Adam stopped thinking about it. He smiled at Shelly.

"Well," he said. "You're a wonderful dancer."

Shelly blushed. It was hard to see because the room was nearly completely dark by now, but Adam could make it out.

"Thank you," she said.

Adam bowed.

"No," he said. "Thank you."

Shelly giggled and laid down, staring up at the darkened roof.

*

Later, Adam got out of his tuxedo and changed into his own clothes. Shelly kept laying there in the evening dress. He knew that she didn't want to take it off just yet. And there wasn't a problem with that. Sh
e
woul
d
have to take it off when they left, though. That much was for sure.

"You okay?" he asked.

Shelly raised her head. "Yeah," she said. "Just thinking."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not tonight. Maybe another time."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Adam didn't really want to leave it at that, but he didn't want to force her to speak either.

"I'm going to go to bed," he said. "I'll be right down the hall if you need me."

There were a few rooms on the top floor of the house. Adam had chosen to taken the one at the back. Shelly had chosen the one at the front. It was the master bedroom and had a huge Queen-sized bed.

She sat up.

"Really?" she asked. "So soon?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty tired. And we have to get going pretty early."

Shelly lowered her head. "I guess you're right. We..."  She stopped speaking.

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothing."

"Tell me."

Adam could tell that she was trying to build up the courage to ask him something. He waited for her to talk.

"I know that it makes sense to leave, but couldn't we stay here a bit longer?" she eventually asked.

Adam felt that this was what she was going to ask him. He had thought of it himself too. But he knew that it wasn't a good idea. They needed to get going. The city wasn't safe. Soon it would be overrun with disease.

"We can't," he said. "I'd like to stay here too, but it isn't safe."

"Wouldn't it be okay if we stayed only a day or two longer?"

"I don't think it's a good idea. We really should get out of the city as soon as possible."

Shelly breathed out heavily. She sounded defeated. "I know. It's just..." Her words were cut off from some screaming outside.

Adam rushed to the window to see what the commotion was. It was one of th
e
thing
s
wandering around the street. He could see it in the moonlight.

Shelly came up behind him. She put her hand on his shoulder and wanted to look out of the window as well.

Adam turned. "Don't move," he said. "You have to be very slow. It probably can't see us, but you never know. We have to be careful."

"Can I see?"

"It's just one o
f
the
m
," Adam explained. "You've seen them before."

The creature screamed again. Shelly clutched tightly onto Adam's shoulder. He turned around to face her. "It's okay. It doesn't know that we're here. Let's just try to get some sleep."

Adam started to lead Shelly back to the bed. But, before he was able to, he saw her glance outside of the window. He could see her face in the moonlight. She had seen the creature. Her wide eyes conveyed her worry. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the window.

"Come on." He led her to the bed.

Once they got there, he pulled back the covers and she got underneath. She didn't bother to remove the evening dress. Adam pulled the covers overtop of her. The creature screamed again.

"We'll be safe in here," he assured her.

She looked up at him as though she wasn't sure.

Adam wasn't all too sure himself, but he had to keep positive for her sake. He nodded his head. Then he patted down the blanket and turned to leave.

"Do you think there are many of us left?" Shelly asked, stopping him.

He turned back to face her. She had the blanket pulled up to her neck.

He wanted to lie to her, tell her that he thought they'd find a lot of survivors soon. Unfortunately, he honestly didn't know. He wasn't sure how many of them were left. And, that being said, he didn't know how many would survive even if they had. There were the creatures to worry about. There would soon be a wave of disease spreading through the city, and possibly the country. Plus, there were some bad people out there
(
people like Sa
m
) who would end up killing a lot of the survivors.

"I hope so," he said
.
Tha
t
, at least, was the truth.

"Me too."

The creature screamed again and they both looked toward the window.

"Do you think it's getting closer?" Shelly asked.

"Try not to worry about it. I don't think it'll come into the house. We'll be fine. Just get some sleep. I'll be in the other room."

He made to leave again, but Shelly stopped him once more. She reached out and grabbed his hand.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Can you stay with me tonight?"

"Where? In here?"

"Yes."

The suggestion surprised Adam. Shelly had been so mature during the day, so strong. He couldn't imagine her asking such a thing of him. But, as he looked at the young girl, he could tell that she was scared.

"Okay," he said.

He got into the bed with her and felt a bit strange doing so - as though he was doing something wrong. But he wasn't about to tell a frightened girl that he wasn't going to help her, that he was going to leave her alone because he felt a little weird about it. He simply couldn't do that.

The creature screamed one more time. Shelly shivered and pushed herself against Adam's body. He put his arm around her and held her closely. She felt so small and frail up against him and he felt the urge to protect her.

"Don't worry," he said.

"I won't," she replied.

"Now try to get some sleep."

"I will."

Adam kept his eyes open. He looked out of the bedroom window even though he couldn't see down onto the street.

He felt Shelly push closer against him and kiss the side of his cheek. There was nothing sexual about it. If anything, it simply made Adam feel the need to keep her safe all the more.

Chapter 9

Adam stood in his bedroom. It was his birthday. He was seven years old. He didn't want to do anything, but his mother wouldn't hear of it. She wanted to have a nice big party for her growing boy. She invited all of the children in the town to come over. They did. They all brought with them lots of presents.

It wasn't that Adam didn't like the people in his town. He just didn't have much in common with them. They were interested in cars and trucks and television. He was interested in poetry, colours, description and plot.

He had heard all of the children arrive and felt a little apprehension toward it.

His sister walked into the room. "Don't worry about it," she said. Adam looked at her, a corner of his mouth raising slightly through the worry. "Just try to have some fun with it. They'll all be gone soon enough. Then you'll have a lot of presents!"

Adam didn't find it a very uplifting speech. He knew that his sister was trying to be helpful, but it wasn't working. He didn't really want any of their presents. He knew what they'd be anyway
.
To
y
trucks
,
to
y
cars
,
to
y
monsters
,
to
y
army figures. He didn't care about any of that stuff.

"And Ashley will be there," his sister said, smiling. She knew that Ashley had a crush on him. She always teased him about it. The thing was that he had a bit of a crush on her too. Out of all of the children that he knew, Ashley was the only one who actually asked him about his writing. He began to blush. His sister punched him lightly on the arm.

"Oh, come on," she said. "Let's get it over with."

"Okay," Adam replied. He followed his sister out of the room and downstairs.

All of the children were sitting around the living room table. It was covered in presents. They started to clap and cheer when he arrived.

He looked at his mom. She was smiling brightly, so proud of her young boy. He stood up straighter and waved to his friends.

"Happy Birthday!" they all screamed.

He smiled. A bit forced.

Then he saw Ashley. She was smiling at him too. That made him feel a bit better. His sister noticed and punched him in the arm again. He turned to face her and scowled. Only in jest.

He walked into the living room and looked at all of the faces
.
They were all so happy
!
He'd never understand them. They couldn't even tell that he didn't enjoy this type of thing
.
He was so different.

His mother stepped forward. "Would you like to open your presents?" she asked. The children all cheered.

"Okay." He sat down in front of the table. Presents were stacked up on top of it.

His mother handed him one. "This is from Bobby," she said. Adam acknowledged the boy and unwrapped his gift. It was a toy car. Adam smiled politely.

"Thank you," he said.

His mother handed him another and another. He had been right. They all turned out to be toys. None of which Adam wanted to play with.

The final gift was from Ashley. She handed it to him. He could feel his face redden as he took it from her. And though he tried to control it, he knew that it was only getting worse.

He looked down at the present and started to unwrap it. It felt light in his hands. He was sure that it wasn't a toy. He pulled at the wrapping paper. It peeled neatly back underneath his grip. Then he pulled the present loose.

Adam couldn't take his eyes off of it. It was a beautiful writing journal with a dark blue cover. It even came with a pen that slid into its binding.

"Thank you," he said to Ashley. This time he really meant it. Ashley looked pleased, knowing that he'd appreciate this gift more than all the others. "It's so nice."

Adam looked back at the writing journal. It felt perfect. The weight. The size
.
It was great
!
He knew that he'd easily fill the pages with countless stories
.
And it was from Ashley
.
He felt his crush develop into something more. Something he couldn't put a name to.

He sat the journal on his lap and opened it. Then he began leafing through the pages. But he stopped when he came upon something in the middle of the book. There was a red blot. He didn't know what it was.

Red ink?

He dipped his finger into it.

The red liquid stuck to his finger and came up as he pulled it away. It dripped heavily back onto the page. His finger coated. He rubbed it in between his finger and thumb. It felt thick. He wiped it on the edge of the page.

As he did, the page ripped out and fell softly to the floor.

Adam could see more of the red stuff on the next page. He touched it too and that page fell out.

Soon all of the pages began to come out of the book - each one covered in red.

He didn't know what was happening. He heard laughter.

Maybe this was some type of joke that Ashley and the other children were playing on him
.
He didn't understand it.

What h
e
di
d
know was that it wasn't nice. He felt sad as the pages continued to come out of the book. The red liquid continued to spread.

He looked at his hands. There were now covered in red. So were his pants. His lap was completely soaked. The laughter continued. Louder.

Adam didn't know what to do. He wanted to run into his room, but he didn't want to look like a baby. He wanted to cover his face with his hands, only he didn't want the red stuff on him.

Before long, all of the pages had fallen out of the book. They spread around him like over-sized rose petals. Only the blue binding was left. Though that too was stained in red.

Finally, he looked up. He needed to know what kind of joke this was. He had to know why everyone found it so funny.

Sitting around him were his friends. They continued to laugh. They were all staring at him. Even his mother and sister were in on it. Adam couldn't take it anymore.

"What's so funny?" he screamed.

Everyone began to laugh harder. Though, this time, red liquid began to drip from their mouths.

At first, he had no idea what it was. Then it dawned on him that it was blood. He looked around at all of the faces. Blood continued to flow everywhere. They continued to laugh.

He looked at Ashley. She was laughing too; blood spilling from her mouth.

Adam threw the book cover onto the ground.

More laughter.

He stood up. Everyone got up as well and surrounded him. He tried to push his way through the crowd. They wouldn't let him go. He was scared. He pushed harder. They pushed back. Then they started to close in on him.

Soon he was caught tightly in between the group. Ashley was right beside him, blood still spilling from her mouth.

Then the laughter stopped. Everyone was silent.

Adam looked around. His family and friends were standing around him, staring. Their mouths were still open, blood dripping. By now the blood had splattered across their faces. Almost completely red.

He tried to move. Couldn't budge. They had tightened themselves around him.

"What are you doing?" Adam screamed. "What's happening?"

No one replied.

"This isn't funny! Let me go."

No one moved.

"LET ME GO!!!"

Finally, Ashley moved. She was already close to him, but she moved closer. She pushed right up against him. She ran her tongue slowly across her teeth. He could tell that she was tasting the blood and enjoying it. She peered at him through the corner of her eye.

"Ashley," Adam said. "What are you doing? What's happening?"

She gurgled something. Blood bubbled out of her mouth. Adam tried to pull back but there was nowhere for him to go.

"Ashley," he said again. "Stop. Please."

She gurgled once more. Then she put her hand onto his arm. He felt her grasp him tightly. It hurt. He tried to pull away. She wouldn't let go.

Ashley brought him closer. She put her face right next to his. She gurgled in his hear. Then she stuck out her tongue and ran in along her neck.

Adam tried to pull back again.

"Please," he said.

No one was listening to him. They were too busy laughing again as Ashley bit greedily into his cheek.

*

Adam awoke. He was breathing heavily, his heart racing. He had just had a horrible dream, the details of which were quickly disappearing. His parents and sister had been in it. He hadn't thought of them much over the past few days and he felt bad about that. With all that had happened though, it had probably been just too much for him to contemplate.

He hoped they were safe. Though he knew that they probably weren't. They had likely changed. Just as Shelly's parents had. They had probably ripped themselves to pieces. He shuddered at the thought.

Maybe that's why he had blocked it out.

Then there was Ashley. He wondered what had happened to her. He hadn't thought of her in years.

He looked down at Shelly. She was nestled underneath his arm. Still asleep. Breathing softly against him.

He couldn't believe that she had seen her parents change into those creatures. She had to hear them kill each other. He didn't know what he would do if he were in that same situation. He couldn't imagine it.

He rubbed his hand up and down the young girl's back. She had been so strong and brave over the past few days.

He had told her that they needed to be up early, that they had to get out of the city as soon as possible. But she had already been through so much.

One more day wouldn't kill them.

He rubbed her back again. She nestled closer into him. It felt nice having her here. She gave him strength. And courage.

"Okay," he said quietly. "We'll stay one more day. But that's all."

Shelly didn't hear him. She was still fast asleep. Adam felt good about his decision anyway. Shelly needed a rest. Maybe he did too. At least this way he could think things through a little bit more. He knew that they needed to leave the city. That much was certain. Though maybe there were some things that he was forgetting.

Yes, they'd take one more day
.
He knew that Shelly would be happy about that.

He bent his neck and kissed her on the top of the head before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.