Adam couldn't defend himself. Over and over, Joe kept hitting him. And, before long, he felt as though he was going to pass out.
Right before he did, Joe stopped and got off of him, knowing that Adam wasn't going to be a problem anymore.
Rick was already standing. He brushed himself off.
"That was fuckin' close," he said. "I can't believe this little bitch almost shot me."
"She shot Jim," Joe said.
They both looked at the man on the ground. Half of his face was missing. He was no longer screaming. He was dead.
They turned to the girl. Rick walked over to her quickly and slapped her across the face. He pulled at her hair to make her stand and put his face close to hers.
"You fuckin' bitch," he said. "You killed my friend."
Shelly couldn't respond. She looked over at the man she had shot. She saw his half-face, somewhat smiling at her. Rick slapped her again and turned to face Joe.
"Let's get out of here," he said. "We'll take this little slut with us."
Joe looked over at Adam. He hadn't moved.
"What about this guy?" he asked.
"Fuck him," Rick said. "That gunshot may have attracted one of those fuckin' things
.
Let's just get out of here. He's not gonna to cause us any trouble anyway. We'll go back to the camp. Tell 'em about Jim. And we can show 'em our new prize."
He looked at Shelly. She wanted to recoil from him, but she didn't have the energy.
"Pick up the gun," Rick added. "We should take that too."
Joe did as he was ordered. Then, pushing Shelly in front of them, the two men walked back to their camp, leaving Adam and their dead friend behind.
*
When Adam woke up, his head was pounding. He grabbed it in between his hands, then tried to get up. It was difficult. His head was swimming, his body ached. He rolled over and was able to push himself onto his knees. That was the furthest he could go.
He looked around. It was bright, but it was hard for him to make out much of anything. His eyesight was blurred.
He needed to find Shelly. That much he knew. He needed to make sure that she was okay. He remembered her shooting that one man. Then he had attacked Rick. He couldn't remember much of what happened after that.
He squinted his eyes. Still too bright.
He gave up looked and started to shout out for her instead.
"Shelly! Shelly!"
The sound hurt his head, but he had to keep trying.
"Shelly!"
Eventually, his eyes started to adjust. Adam could see the man, Jim, lying on the ground beside him. Half of his face was missing. He couldn't see the other two men. Shelly was nowhere to be seen, either.
"Shelly!" he shouted again. "Shelly!"
He needed to find her. He needed to know that she was okay. He was supposed to protect her, keep her safe.
He tried to stand, but couldn't. He still didn't have the strength.
"Shelly!"
There was no answer.
"Sheeeeeellllllyyyy!"
He continued to scream out her name. Over and over again.
But, deep inside, he knew that it was in vain.
Shelly was gone.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my family and friends for all of their support and encouragement in writing this book. I truly appreciate your kind words of support during this process.
I would also like to thank you, the reader, for giving an unknown author a chance. I hope you enjoyed the book and that you look forward to the upcoming installments. There are five books in total that I plan to release over the upcoming year.
About the Author
Starting with nothing more than the prologue, Michael set off writing his version of the apocalypse. He even quit his job and moved home for a year to do so. The end product is a story which spans five books that he will release over the upcoming year. He is from Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
You can follow him at
michaelmcmanamon.com
and
www.facebook.com/glorythebook
for information and updates on upcoming books.