His throat clenched as he heard a groan come from behind him. From floor level. He felt cold fingers grip his foot. He screamed and kicked blindly with his free leg. His foot connected with something, and his other foot slipped free.
He scrambled forward and stood so quickly he almost fell into the nearest wall. He turned and looked down.
A corpse was on the floor, mostly hidden under the bed. It was a lanky teenage boy missing an eye and an ear. Dried blood caked the side of his face and neck. Its head and one arm jutted out from under the bed. It reached at Dalton and gnashed its teeth.
“Crap!” yelled Dalton, backing away from the corpse. He turned and ran to the door, trying to ignore the groaning corpse behind him. “Maylee!”
A young woman with burnt hair and no lower jaw grabbed at him from the doorway. Two other corpses stood behind her, hissing and biting. Dalton screamed and slammed the door. The corpses outside groaned and dragged their fingernails across the wood of the door. Dalton fumbled with the handle for a panicked moment, then found the lock. He pushed it in, his hands shaking.
Groaning came from behind him. He spun, chest thudding. The corpse under the bed was pulling itself out.
The teen boy grabbed the carpet and pulled. He slid a few feet, then grabbed the carpet and pulled again. Flakes of dried blood scraped off of the corpse's skin as it dragged itself along the carpet. The corpse's other arm emerged from under the bed. It was burnt beyond use. A few more tugs and Dalton saw the corpse had no legs, just black charred stumps.
Dalton looked frantically around for a weapon. Something heavy. Anything. All he saw were small knickknacks and stuffed animals. He sighed and braced himself. The corpse kept pulling. He would have to do something.
Mustering his courage, he ran at the corpse. He did his best to build up speed in the small space of the bedroom. As he drew near the corpse, he brought up one foot to kick. He aimed for the corpse's head, hoping it would be enough.
The corpse hissed and bit at his foot. Dalton screamed and stopped mid-kick, almost tripping. He fell forward onto the mattress.
His heart thudded as he drew his legs up to safety. You're not scared, he told himself. You're not a little kid. It didn't work. The corpse moaned from the floor, scraping its body across the carpet. The door shook and corpses groaned from just beyond it. Dalton fought back the urge to shake.
“Mom!” he yelled, hearing only groans in reply.
* * *
Maylee ran into the bedroom and looked around. Dalton was nowhere to be seen. Her heart dropped as she realized she'd picked the wrong room.
“Dalton!” she yelled, turning to run across the hall to the other room. Two corpses moved to block her. They grunted and reached for her, rotten teeth grinding.
“Fuck no!” she yelled at them, knocking them back with her bat. She shut the door and slammed her balled fist against it. “Dammit! Dalton! Mom!”
The corpses outside groaned and ran their hands along the door. “Shut up!” she yelled at them.
She fell silent, panting and putting her forehead against the door. The corpses scraped their fingernails along the wood. Crashes came from the kitchen. The corpses groaned outside the door.
“I said shut up,” she said, quietly. She stepped away from the door and turned to survey the room. It was a little cluttered, but clean. Movie and music posters covered the walls. Books were crammed into a small shelf above the bed. The edge of the shelf had something written on it with what looked like glitter glue. Ella, it said.
“Dalton!” she yelled, trying again. She heard nothing but groans.
Her eyes settled on a window at the far side of the room. She saw gray, overcast sky through the slats of the lowered blind.
Holding her bat ready just in case, she rushed toward the window. She stopped when her foot struck something on the floor. The object flew across the floor a few feet, then stopped. Maylee's back grew tight and she looked down, gripping the bat.
A cell phone sat on the floor, a few feet away from where she'd kicked it. Ella was painted across the outer shell of the phone, apparently in the same glitter glue used on the shelf.
Park'll want this, she thought, reaching down to grab the phone. She glanced at it, rubbing her thumb over the raised glue forming the letters. It lit up when she pressed the button on the side and seemed to be working. She slipped it into her pocket.
She took another look around, having seen too much in the last few days to take anything for granted. The corpses in the hall scraped at the door, but remained outside for the time being. She was alone. Satisfied, she ran the rest of the way to the window.
Holding the bat with one hand, she pulled the blinds up to reveal the side yard of the house. Rain spattered the window and the sky was gray She looked down at the yard and was elated to find it clear of corpses. She set the bat down against the wall and grabbed the window frame. She pushed up but the window wouldn't give. She frowned and pushed again, harder. Still nothing.
The groaning from the hallway grew louder. The scraping of the corpse's fingernails on the door grew louder.
Maylee felt along the middle of the window frame, looking for the lock. She found it. It was open. She pushed a third time. The window gave a little, creaking upward maybe half an inch.
The corpses outside groaned and started pounding on the door.
“Well fuck the shit out of that,” Maylee muttered, picking up the bat. She stepped back and swung for the window as hard as she could. Glass exploded, bouncing off the window screen and back into the room. Maylee let out a little cry and jumped back, feeling stupid.
She stepped back over, her feet crunching the glass, and ran the bat all along the window frame, clearing out what was left of the glass. She jabbed at the screen until it popped free and fell to the yard.
She stuck her head out the window to look around, blinking in the cold rain. All clear. Satisfied, she climbed out the window, doing her best to avoid any glass she'd missed. The corpses from the hallway pounded away at the door.
“Whatever, dumbasses,” she muttered, dropping to the grass below.
A corpse came around the backside of the house and stumbled toward her. It was on her before she had time to regain her footing.
The corpse was the dried husk of what had once been a very old woman. A tattered faded-blue dress clung to her withered frame. Her eyes were gone, long rotted away. She had no lips and her teeth, yellow with streaks of dirt, clacked together as she pulled Maylee close to her.
Maylee dropped to her knees, slipping free of the corpse's feeble grip. She crawled away and stood, turning back to face the corpse and brandishing her bat. The woman bit and reached blindly at her.
Maylee stared at the woman for a moment, almost feeling sorry for her. Then she swung the bat in an upward motion, striking the woman on the jaw. The woman's head whipped back, the dried skin of her neck cracking and splitting open. The woman staggered backward.
Maylee screamed and raised the bat over her head. She brought it down hard, slamming into the woman's lolling head. The woman jerked, grunted, and fell.
Maylee stood, holding the bat and panting, for several seconds. The cold air made her lungs constrict. The corpse at her feet was still. She heard screaming from inside the house.
Human screaming. Mom. Dalton.
Maylee raced up the side of the house, heading for the front.
* * *
Dalton stood on the bed, struggling to keep his balance on the mattress. Part of him felt guilty for getting his dirty shoes all over the sheets. Most of him was concerned with the burnt corpse crawling around on the floor, trying to get to him.
The corpses in the hallway were loud now. He heard glass breaking somewhere nearby. Was someone hurt? Maylee? Mom? He had to get out of the room. He had to get to them.
But first, he had to get past the corpse on the floor.
The corpse craned its burnt and bloody neck around, the skin creaking as it did. It ground its teeth, biting up
at Dalton but unable to reach him.
Dalton sighed and stared down at the corpse. He had an idea for what to do with the corpse. After that, he didn't know what he'd do to get out the door. But first things first.
He did his best to ready himself, watching the corpse crawl around on the floor. He waited until the corpse craned its head to face away from the bed. Then he ran, leaping off the bed and aiming to land on the corpse's skull.
He did, his left foot landing square on the back of the corpse's head. The corpse's head slammed to the carpet, cracking. Dalton's ankle twisted, sending pain up his leg. He cried out and fell forward. For a panicked second he saw the door racing toward his face. Then his forehead smacked against the door. The thin wood of the door cracked and Dalton slid to the carpet.
“Oww!” he said to no one in particular, rolling onto his back. His forehead hurt bad. His ankle hurt worse. To his side, he could see the corpse was still. The corpses in the hall banged on the door behind him. Dalton knew he needed to stand, needed to get out of there somehow. But he was too dizzy to move.
* * *
Maylee rounded the corner into the front yard. A few corpses wandered around, far enough away from Maylee not to be an immediate concern. She ignored them and ran toward the front porch. The SUV's alarm was still wailing, piercing through the moans of the corpses. The dog across the street was still barking, angry and staring at her.
As she reached the porch she saw the front door was jammed with corpses, all facing away from her and into the house. Beyond them, the living room was jammed with corpses. And beyond that, the kitchen and hallway, both jammed with corpses.
Maylee heard Mom and Park yelling to each other. She heard clanging metal and the sounds of struggle.
“Mom!” she yelled. One corpse, a man with a loose eyeball and torn tongue, turned to groan at her.
“Oh go fuck yourself,” said Maylee, whacking the corpse aside with the bat. “Mom!” she yelled, straining to see over the corpses. Several more corpses responded to her cries, turning to face her. They grunted and worked their jaws.
Maylee looked back at them, an idea forming in her mind. “Yeah! Look over here, asshats! Here!”
She whacked the bat against the siding, making as much noise as she could. She backed up across the porch as more corpses turned to face her.
“Yeah! That's it, dumbasses! This way!” she yelled, backing up farther. More corpses turned to groan at her.
Then more crashes came from the kitchen. Mom and Park yelling and fighting corpses. The corpses who had trained on Maylee lost interest, and turned back to continue crushing toward the kitchen.
“Dammit!” yelled Maylee, slamming the bat into the face of the nearest corpse. It fell back, teeth falling from its newly-bloodied mouth. Maylee stomped to the edge of the porch, feeling like she could cry. “Mom! Dalton!”
Her eyes roamed to the garage. She realized it might be attached to the house.
“Mom!” she yelled, running off the porch and toward the garage.
“Shut up!” she yelled at the squealing SUV as she pushed past it, heading for the back of the garage. She grinned when she saw a door set into the back wall. She ran to it.
She grabbed the handle and twisted. She cursed when she found it locked.
“Shit!” she yelled, twisting the handle as hard as she could. “Mom!” She pounded on the door. She could hear Mom's voice inside.
She backed up and readied her bat. The SUV's alarm squealed in her ears. “I said shut up!” she yelled, feeling like she was going crazy. The dog across the street barked furiously.
She yelled and slammed the bat down on the door handle. It shook and the wood around it splintered. Screaming, she hit the handle again, harder this time. It broke free and clattered to the cement floor of the garage. Maylee let out a little cry of triumph and shoved the door open.
Running inside, she found herself in a laundry room just off the kitchen. Looking to her right, she saw Mom in the kitchen. Mom was cracking a corpse's head open with a large metal pot. The corpse jerked from the blow and fell away. Many other corpses crowded the kitchen, reaching for Mom and Park, who stood a little farther away brandishing a skillet.
“Mom!” Maylee yelled, running inside the kitchen.
Mom stopped mid-swing, gaping at Maylee. “Maylee? Where did you come from?”
A corpse came up behind Mom and reached for her. “Mom look out!” yelled Maylee, pointing with the bat.
Mom turned to fight the corpse. Maylee ran to help, but a group of corpses moved to block her. More poured in behind them. They groaned and came at her.
“Ah shit!” Maylee yelled, backing up toward the laundry room.
“Language!” yelled Mom, ramming her stock pot into the corpse attacking her. The corpse fell aside.
“Seriously Mom?” yelled Maylee, backing up farther.
The corpses moved to block Maylee from Mom. Maylee was pushed farther back. The corpses groaned and reached.
“Not again!” yelled Maylee, smacking the nearest corpse with the bat. She rammed it across the jaw, sending blood and thick drool up along the wall.
She cast a quick glance back into the garage. Still empty. Just the wailing SUV. She looked at the corpses. They were still coming for her.
“This way!” she yelled, backing into the garage and waiting for the corpses to follow. They did, stumbling into the garage.
Then a loud crash came from the kitchen. More clanging and Mom and Park yelling. The corpses groaned and turned back toward the kitchen.
“You gotta be shitting me!” yelled Maylee. “I said this way!” She stepped to the SUV and smashed the bat into the windshield. The safety glass cracked and splintered but held. Maylee smacked it again and again, making as much noise as she could. “This way!”
The corpses stopped and turned back to her. They grunted and pawed at each other, trying to get to her.
“Yeah! You know it!” yelled Maylee, backing out of the garage along the side of the SUV. “This way!”
The corpses followed her through the garage.
“Ha!” yelled Maylee, running out of the garage and into the yard. The dog barked crazily at her. “Shut up dog!” she yelled, stopping and looking back to the garage. The corpses stumbled out after her.
Maylee ran across the yard and back to the side of the house. She heard the corpses stumbling after her. Rain pelted her. Her joy at getting the corpses away from Mom began to fade. The corpses behind her groaned and she began to worry she had made a fatal mistake. She ran, her feet pounding on the wet grass. All she heard was the moaning behind her and her own panting.
She raced under the bedroom window she'd climbed out of. She tripped on the fallen window screen, stumbling and almost running into the wall. She paused to regain her footing, gulping air and looking back at the corpses. They were still coming for her, groaning loud and long. Rain stung her cheeks.
She grunted and kept running, clutching her bat in her right hand. She heard the corpses behind her. She reached the corner leading to the back yard. She wished she had time to peek around it. She didn't. She ran blindly into the back yard.
She stopped, almost stumbling when she saw five or six corpses standing around the back yard. They staggered around aimlessly.
“Shit!” she yelled in frustration. She turned to look at the corpses coming up the side of the house. They were close.
She heard moans from the back yard and realized her mistake. She turned back to see the back-yard corpses staring at her.
They groaned and came at her. The closest one was a fat shirtless man, covered in yellow and white boils. He worked his flabby cheeks, splitting one of the boils open. Pus oozed down his ashen face. He reached for Maylee.
Maylee swore under her breath. She swung the bat at the fat man's face, hitting it with such force three more boils broke. Yellow liquid splattered across her bat and onto the lawn. The fat man gurgled and stumbled to one side. Maylee ran past him, doing her best to ig
nore the disgusting liquid coating her bat.
She dodged a second corpse, a woman with most of her scalp ripped off, and was clear of the second group. She heard the corpses from the side of the house round the corner and join the group she had just gotten past. She stopped, wiping the bat against the wall as she cast quick glances back to make sure no corpses drew near. Satisfied the bat was as clean as she could get it, she ran around the corner and along the other side of the house.
Thankfully, this side was clear. She ran as hard as she could. She heard the dog barking and the SUV alarm squealing as she neared the front of the house. Rain pelted her face and her feet nearly slipped several times in the wet grass.
She rounded the corner so fast she nearly lost control. The yard was clear of corpses, save the ones clogging the front door. They still faced inside. She stopped at the corner, heart pounding, and prayed she'd find the garage empty. She had to get back to the kitchen. Back to Mom. Then Dalton.
Oh god, Dalton. What if she'd left him to die? What if she'd failed to protect him? He was the kid. He was just a kid.
Running into the garage, she would have cried for joy when she found it empty, but her lungs burned from running so hard. She hit the cement floor, nearly skidding from her wet shoes, and ran past the SUV. The alarm howled in her ears. She was too tired to yell at it.
She screamed when a figure burst from the door leading into the house. She couldn't stop herself in time. She fell into the figure's arms.
“Maylee!” said the figure as it resolved into Mom. “Are you okay?”
“Mom?” said Maylee, panting. “Oh god, Mom. Mom.” Maylee hugged her tightly. Behind Mom, Park was smacking a corpse across the temple with the skillet. Dark red splattered across the skillet and a nearby wall.
Mom hugged Maylee back. “Where's Dalton?”
Fear and shame flooded Maylee and she pushed away from Mom. “Oh god, Dalton. He's still inside.” She turned to run out of the garage.
Ashton Memorial Page 12
