Glory (Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

kicked at one another. They tore at each other's faces. They spit. They yelled.
    Marianne saw blood. Lots of blood.
    What's going on out there ? she asked herself.
    Marianne wanted to close the curtain, to curl back up against the bed and wait for it to all pass. Yet she couldn't get herself to do it.
    She noticed two men. They were fighting, punching each other over and over again until they both went down.
    Another man came up and joined them. He didn't punch, though. He bit. He tore a piece of flesh out of one of the men's faces.
    Marianne looked elsewhere.
    She saw a group of children fighting. Women. More men.
    Something horrible was happening out there. Somethin g absolutel y horribl e .
    Marianne turned back to her mother. The look of anger was still on the corpse's face. The black eyes continued to stare at her.
    "Mother?" Marianne said.
    It was all that she could get out before she fainted and fell to the ground.

Chapter 6
    Emily sat in the elevator. The lights were still off. She didn't know what had happened. One minute she had been holding her father's hand, looking up at him. The next he had started to growl and attack her.
    Her father had never hit her before, so it had taken her by surprise. Her only reaction had been to curl into the corner of the elevator and remain quiet. And, though she didn't know it, that had probably saved her life.
    The real fighting had started then.
    Emily had heard it through the little hands she had placed at the side of her head. The grunting. The screaming. A few times someone had grabbed hold of her, but she had remained quiet and whoever it was seemed to lose interest.
    After a while, the fighting had stopped. She had heard a few growls and what sounded like crying, but even that had eventually come to an end.
    Emily hadn't moved since . She just couldn't . She was worried that someone was going to reach out and grab her. She had almost all but forgotten that her father was one of these people.
    Her father.
    She built up her courage and reached out her hand. She came upon the body closest to her and hoped that it was him. That he was just sleeping. That whatever had happened to him had passed.
    As she shook at the body, she felt a thick liquid cover her fingers. It didn't even occur to her that it could be blood. The most she had ever seen was when she had fallen off her little bicycle and scraped her knee. That had been bad. But nothing compared to this.
    "Dad?" she whispered. She shook the body again. "Is that you?"
    There was no reply.
    "Daddy?" She shook the body with more force.
    When that had no effect, she began to hit it. Blood splattered onto her cheeks. She felt it land on her skin, but was too concerned to give it much thought.
    "Dad," she cried. "Daddy!"
    Still there was no reply.
    Emily pulled her hand away from the body. It had occurred to her that this might not be her father. Maybe it was one of the other two people. Maybe her father was sleeping somewhere else.
    She reached out and touched one of the other bodies. Her fingers dipped into something warm that made a soft squishing sound. She pulled back, not knowing what it was. She knew enough that she didn't want to touch it again.
    She could feel the tears building in her eyes. She often cried. Her father had always told her to be strong. And she wanted to be. She simply didn't know what else to do.
    "Daddy, please!"
    She reached around and touched another body. She made sure not to touch in the same spot she had last time. She came upon an arm and fumbled around until she grabbed at the hand.
    This was her father . She knew it right away. She had held his hand so many times. The feel was unmistakable. She wrapped her fingers around his.
    She placed her other hand on his wrist and let out a sigh . There was his watch . It was him.
    She crawled over next to her father and began pulling at him.
    "Dad," she said. "Wake up."
    Nothing.
    "Daddy. Wake up, please."
    She started to pull more forcefully. She needed to