Free Glory (Book 2) by Michael McManamon

closed the door behind him and ran out into the new corridor.
    Where was he? Where could he go?
    He heard the creature slam against the door a few seconds later.
    "Fuck," Scooter swore out loud.
    He had thought that the creature was going to charge out and get them. It hadn't. For some reason, this door was giving the creature a little more trouble. It continued to beat its fists against it. Scooter could hear its screams echoing in the stairwell.
    It'd only be a matter of time before it figured it out.
    Scooter looked around again.
    Unlike upstairs, this part of the airport looked familiar. At least, somewhat. It was the arrivals area. Not a whole lot different from above. But he was sure that he had come by here once or twice.
    The pounding continued. He heard muffled screaming behind the door.
    The little girl had stopped screaming now, but she continued to weep into his neck.
    "It'll be okay," he said to her. "We just need a place to hide."
    He patted the back of her head again and ran.
    He quickly found a door. It was fo r Authorized Personal Onl y - which he was. There was a keypad on it - which he knew the combination to.
    He pressed his fingers against it and began to punch in the code. His hand was shaking so badly that he messed up a few of the numbers.
    "Shit," he said.
    He pressed the buttons again. And again.
    There was a burst of sound as the stairwell door flew open. The creature came running out and looked directly at Scooter and the little girl. It let out another scream and came at them.
    Scooter turned back to the keypad. His fingers pressed the numbers once more.
    The creature came closer.
    The door clicked open.
    Scooter pulled the door back and rushed through.
    As he did, the creature reached out to grab him. Scooter felt its fingers on his shoulder. But it didn't have enough of a grip on him.
    Scooter was able to yank himself away. He closed the door. It locked automatically.
    They had escaped.

Chapter 6
    Scooter looked out of the little window in the door. He could see the creature banging on it, screaming. Spit and blood shot out of its mouth as it yelled. Its fists started to bleed.
    Scooter knew that he shouldn't stay there any longer. Not with the little girl in his arms. But she didn't do much more than cry into his neck. And he wanted to see what this creature would do next.
    It continued to hit. It continued to scream.
    Then it stopped.
    It turned its head, obviously hearing something else. Something that Scooter hadn't . Another creature? Another survivor ? Scooter didn't know.
    He watched as the creature ran off. Only for a little of the way. The window in the door was small and he couldn't see much that was out there.
    "All right," Scooter said, turning his attention back to the little girl. "It's okay. We're safe for now."
    The little girl pulled her face away from his neck and looked up at him. "What about my dad?" she asked. "He's in the elbator."
    Scooter didn't know what to say to that. He had seen the girl's father in th e elbato r . The man was dead.
    "He's...he's..." Scooter couldn't finish.
    "He's sick," the little girl continued. "We have to help him."
    Scooter shook his head. "We can't help him."
    "Why not?"
    "Because we can't."
    "We have to!"
    Scooter decided to ignore the little girl's plea. He knew that it probably wasn't the best solution, but it was all that he could think of.
    "We need to get moving," he said.
    The little girl didn't bother saying anything else. She simply put her face back into his neck and started to weep again. Scooter tried his best not to pay her any attention. He needed to focus on the hallway, on where they were going.
    As he made his way down the hallway, he noticed that there wasn't as much blood in here as there had been in the main hall. That wasn't to say that there wasn't any . Just not as muc h .
    He came upon a body lying on the ground, but couldn't make out who it was. The person's nose and cheeks had been torn from his skull. He wondered if