Ashton Memorial

by Robert R. Best

  “Which room?” yelled Mom behind her.

  “Follow me!” Maylee shouted, exiting the garage and running back into the front yard. The dog barked viciously at her.

  “Maylee!” yelled Mom from her back.

  Maylee ignored her as she ran across the yard, struggling to do quick calculations in her head. She tried to remember the layout of the house. Based on the window she had climbed out of, the room Dalton was in should have a window somewhere around ...

  Shit, Maylee thought, realizing something. What if the other room didn't have a window? She pushed the thought down and ran around the corner of the house.

  She was overjoyed when she saw a second window. “Dalton!” she yelled, stopping beneath it. She brought her bat up and swung at the window. The overhead angle was awkward and the outside of the window was covered with a screen, but she managed to break the glass.

  “Dalton!” she yelled again, swinging the bat again. More glass broke and the screen came loose, falling into the yard.

  She jumped up and caught hold of the windowsill. It was too high and she struggled to pull herself up. “Dalton!”

  Mom's voice rang out behind her. “Maylee stop!” Maylee felt Mom's hand catch her leg and pull her down.

  “Mom no!” yelled Maylee as her grip came loose and she dropped back to the ground. “I have to get to Dalton! I have to!”

  Mom slapped her across the face. The sting of it silenced Maylee. For a second she stood in the cold rain, staring at her mother.

  Mom was crying. “Goddammit, Maylee, do you have any idea what it would do to me if I lost you?”

  Maylee blinked and put her hand to her cheek.

  Park came around the corner and ran up. “What the fuck?”

  “Park!” yelled Angie. “Come here. Give me a boost.”

  Park looked at Maylee, Angie, then the window. He nodded in understanding then stepped over to Angie.

  Seven

  Ella drew her jacket tight around herself, walking quickly to keep up with the Keepers as they marched through the zoo. Heading for the Bites. Caleb and Lee were out front, arguing. Lee had the dart gun slung over his shoulder.

  Cold and intermittent rain pelted Ella's cheeks as she walked. She blinked and sputtered in the cold water. Why was she even coming along? She didn't care about the Bites. She wanted to find Lori. When she thought about it, it was obvious she was just following because they were adults and she was not. She hated that.

  They passed several animal exhibits as they walked. A llama trotted from one side of his exhibit to the other, stamping his feet a little harder than Ella had ever seen before. Ella called him Tom. Tom was usually happy. Today Tom was not. The same was true of Linda and Bo, a pair of red foxes Ella loved talking too. She could swear they bared their teeth at her as she passed. Their eyes glinted in the gloomy daylight.

  They heard the Bites before they saw it. Many voices, yelling. The animals they passed grew more agitated the closer they got to the noise. A large brown bear Ella called Geoff was on his back legs, front paws pressed against the side of his exhibit. Geoff drew his head back and roared at the sky. Then he slammed his head against the wall. Ella gasped but had no time to stay and comment. The group moved on and she followed. Geoff turned his bloody face to look at her.

  Ella saw the building come into view. Zoo Bites, said a large sign in front. The normally-lit letters were dark, looking hollow and sad in the cold rain. A large crowd of people, all zoo customers judging from their clothes, stood around the front entrance. A small group of Keepers stood in the entrance. Both groups were yelling at each other. The customers made wild, violent gestures as they screamed. The Keepers looked defensive, a few stepping farther back into the protection of the building.

  “Hey!” screamed Lee in a volume Ella had never heard from him. Neither had anyone else. Caleb, Shelley and the other Keepers looked at him in surprise. The customers and the Bites employees kept arguing.

  “I said 'Hey' goddammit!” screamed Lee.

  The crowd fell quiet and looked over to him.

  “Alright then,” he said, holding up the tranquilizer rifle. “I need everyone to disperse.”

  “You fuckers trapped us in here,” said an older woman in the crowd. “The least you can do is give us some fucking food.”

  “Okay, first of all, watch your fucking mouth, grandma. And second of all, we don't have to give you shit.”

  The crowd started yelling again.

  “I said be quiet!” yelled Lee. The crowd quieted down. “Trapped you in here? We saved your fucking lives! Have you seen what's going on outside?”

  “No, we haven't!” said a fat man toward the back of the crowd. “Because you trapped us in here!”

  “Those things trapped you in here!” yelled Lee, his cheeks turning red. “We're protecting your huge ass, so you better be hiding a newfound sense of gratitude under your gigantic fucking stomach roll.”

  “You scrawny little shit,” said the fat man, stepping toward Lee. Lee raised the rifle and the crowd gasped. The man stopped, holding up his hands.

  “You better back off, bubba,” said Lee, cocking. The crowd stepped back.

  “Whoa whoa whoa,” said Caleb, stepping between Lee and the man. He looked at the crowd. “It's a tranq rifle, everyone. It’s just sedative.”

  “You're going to drug us?” screamed a woman, holding her children close to her.

  “No one is drugging anyone!” said Caleb, looking back and forth.

  “No one's feeding anyone either!” shouted a man in the back of the crowd. The crowd yelled their agreement to each other.

  “Let us out!” screamed someone else.

  “No one gets out!” screamed Lee. “We're keeping you safe! We're the Keepers here! We're the Keepers and you will all be fucking Kept!”

  “Fuck you, crazy ass!” yelled someone. A rock vaulted though the air, smacking Lee in the side of the head. Lee jerked and stumbled to one side. The gun went off. The dart flew across the lot and with a sharp “thud” embedded itself in the stomach of the fat man.

  The crowd exploded, rushing at the Bites. The fat man stumbled back, clutching at his stomach. The Keepers inside the Bites backed up hurriedly and slammed the doors shut. Lee yelled obscenities and fired his dart gun into the crowd. Several people fell, clutching at arms or chests.

  “Dammit Lee stop!” yelled Caleb, snatching at the gun.

  “Keep the fuck away or I'll drop you too!” yelled Lee, pulling away from Caleb and aiming the gun back at the crowd.

  Ella backed away, chest pounding. She looked at the people fighting. Customers pounded at the glass doors to the Bites. The Keepers inside pressed their bodies against the doors, keeping them shut. Lee yelled and fired. Other Keepers, behind Lee, started taking their own tranquilizer rifles off of their shoulders.

  Behind Ella, animals howled and screeched from their exhibits. The noise from both sides, the people in front of her and the animals behind, was deafening. It was madness. It sounded like the world coming to an end. The rain picked up, pounding cold water down on her head. Ella drew herself close and tried to look small.

  A woman, at the back of the group of customers, turned to see Ella standing there. For a moment Ella thought the woman looked sad. She stepped over to Ella and opened her mouth.

  “She's with them!” the woman said, pointing. “Get her!”

  Several customers at the back of the group turned to Ella. An older man grabbed her across the shoulders. Ella screamed and tried to pull away.

  “We've got the girl!” screamed the woman, looking crazy as the rain poured down her taut face. “Let us out if you want her back! Give us food if you want her back!”

  Shelley, up toward the front with Caleb, saw and heard. “Ella!” she yelled, running over.

  The old man saw Shelley running up and clutched Ella tighter. “Back off, Keeper bitch!”

  My god, Ella thought, struggling against the man. He's talking like Lee. They're using
Lee's words. Everyone's crazy.

  Caleb, up front with Lee, clutched the front of Lee's rifle, trying to pull it away. He let go when he saw Ella and the old man. He ran toward them.

  Shelley reached Ella and grabbed her arm. “Let her go!” Shelley yelled, pulling at her. The old man held tight. Ella struggled but the man was too strong for her and Shelley.

  “Not until we get some food or get free!” yelled the old man.

  The woman, the one who'd called the others over, grabbed Ella and pulled against Shelley. “Not until we get let out of here!”

  “Let me go!” yelled Ella, twisting side to side, trying to pull herself free.

  “Let the girl go!” Caleb shouted, arriving and grabbing Ella's shirt.

  “Everyone let me go!” screamed Ella. The animals behind her roared and howled.

  Up front, Lee and the Keepers kept firing into the crowd. Crowd members jerked and fell. Those left banged on the doors to the Bites. One door was cracking. The Keepers inside did their best to hold the crowd off.

  A tall muscular man wearing a thin jacket walked over to a large metal trash can. He picked it up and turned to the doors. “Everyone out of the way!” he yelled, lifting the can over his head.

  He jerked as a dart thudded into his back.

  “Put it down!” Lee yelled, cocking the rifle and aiming to fire again.

  The man turned to face Lee, still holding the can over his head. His face was red and the veins in his neck throbbed. Rain pattered on the can, running down his arms and shoulders.

  “I said put it down!” said Lee.

  The man bellowed and ran at Lee, still holding the can.

  Lee aimed and fired. The dart shot from the rifle. The man jerked to a stop and his head snapped back. He slowly lowered his head down. The dart jutted from his eye. The man blinked his one good eye, then fell over. The can clattered to the pavement and rolled away.

  The crowd had stopped to watch. The old man let go of Ella. He and the woman stepped away, staring and open-mouthed in the cold rain. Lee grimly cocked the rifle and readied it.

  Oh shit, Ella thought. That wasn't a mistake. Look at Lee's face.

  He meant to do that.

  The crowd roared and rushed at Lee. Lee and the Keepers fired into the crowd. People dropped as they ran, not clutching anything. Lee and the Keepers were shooting to kill.

  Shelley came up to Ella. Ella realized she was shaking and crying. “Are you okay?” Shelley yelled over the chaos around them.

  Ella nodded, shaking in the cold rain.

  “We have to get out of here!” said Caleb.

  People around them screamed and fought to get to the Bites. Fought to get to Lee. Some of them simply began fighting with each other. Cold rain pounded and the animals roared.

  Caleb helped Ella and Shelley away from the crowd. Once they were clear, they ran.

  * * *

  Dalton lay on the floor, his head spinning. His forehead smarted and his ankle throbbed. The corpse whose head he'd smashed was still, which gave him some solace. He'd been hearing all manner of chaos coming from outside the room, and the thought of Mom or Maylee or even Mr. Park dying out there sent a hot sorrow through him that hurt worse than either his head or ankle. He wondered if he could stand.

  He jerked when the window on one side of the room broke inward.

  “Dalton!” came Maylee's voice from outside.

  “Maylee!” Dalton tried to yell, surprised at how hoarse he sounded. The groans behind him were so loud he doubted she could hear him.

  “Dalton!” came Maylee's voice again. Something hit the window screen and it dropped away.

  Then there was yelling outside the window. Dalton couldn't make it out. The groans behind him were too loud.

  A few seconds later, he heard scraping on the outside wall and two hands appeared inside the window.

  “Maylee!” said Dalton, feeling like he could cry. She was okay. But was she the only one who was okay? “Mom?”

  The figure in the window pulled itself into view. It was Mom.

  “Mom!” yelled Dalton, trying to sit up.

  Mom climbed up over the sill and jumped down into the room. Her eyes went wide when she saw Dalton on the floor.

  “Dalton!” she cried, rushing over. “Oh god, Dalton!”

  “I'm okay,” he said, propping himself up on his elbows. He tried to push himself up farther and fell back down. “I'm fine.”

  “Oh shit,” said Mom, kneeling next to him. That scared Dalton. Mom rarely swore around him.

  “Really, Mom, I'm fine.” Dalton pushed himself up again. The corpses in the hall banged on the door.

  “Hell you are, Dalton,” said Mom, frowning and feeling his ankle and head. He was still a little dizzy and his head throbbed. The pain in his ankle had subsided to more of a dull pulse. “What happened? Were you...”

  “No, Mom. I'm fine. I'm not bit. I just fell. I did that.” He pointed at the corpse on the floor and its cracked skull.

  Mom looked back at the corpse. Then at the bed with its rumpled, dirty sheets. Then at Dalton. She seemed to figure out what had happened. She let out a long sigh. “Okay. Can you stand?”

  Dalton nodded. Mom grabbed his hands and helped him to his feet. He winced when his foot landed on the floor.

  “How's your ankle?” said Mom. “Can you put weight on it?”

  He tried. It hurt, but he could. He nodded.

  “Okay,” said Mom. She looked past him to the door. Dalton could see her picturing the corpses beyond, filling the hall. She looked back at him. “Come on. We'll have to go out the window.”

  * * *

  Maylee stood on her tiptoes, trying to see through the window. She could hear Mom and Dalton talking inside. She strained, but couldn't see them.

  “Hey,” said Park, standing a few feet away.

  She lowered herself down and turned to face him. “Yeah?”

  “Maylee, right?” he said, rain running down his long stringy hair and scruffy beard.

  Maylee nodded.

  “I think they're okay, Maylee,” he said, nodding toward the window. “We can both hear them talking and no one sounds upset.”

  Maylee looked up at the window, then back to Park. She nodded, then crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Her bat was propped up beside her. She knew corpses were crowded on either side of them. She'd left a group of them in the back yard. Another group was crowding the front door. But they seemed to have no memory at all. Once she and the others were out of sight, they were forgotten.

  “Hey Maylee,” said Park.

  “Yeah?” she said.

  “You and your brother saw the hallway, right? The girls' rooms? My girls, I mean?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  He paused to scratch at his beard. He wiped rain from his face. “You didn't see any...any sign of...”

  Maylee understood, and shook her head. “No. Nothing.”

  Park nodded, looking down at the ground. “Well, that's something.”

  Maylee nodded.

  For a few minutes they stood quietly. Corpses groaned off in the distance. Maylee kept glancing at the corners of the house, wondering how long they had before one of the corpses in the front or back yard noticed them. The rain slowed to a light mist.

  Groaning came from above her. She jerked, her hand flying to the bat propped next to her, before she realized the groans were Dalton. Glass crunched.

  “Dalton!” she cried, spinning to look up at the window.

  “What?” said Dalton as he crawled out onto the ledge. He had a purple bruise on his forehead. “I'm fine. Geez.”

  Mom's head appeared in the window, over Dalton. “Be careful.”

  “I am, Mom,” said Dalton, crawling farther out.

  Mom grabbed the back of his shirt. “Park. Help.”

  Park stepped up to help Dalton down. Dalton took a step, limping.

  “You okay there, kid?” said Park.

  “I'm fine,” said Dal
ton, waving him away.

  Groans came from the back yard. Closer. Park looked up at Mom. “We gotta move.”

  Mom nodded, climbing out onto the ledge and hopping down. “Okay.” She looked left and right. Maylee followed her gaze, looking for corpses. “Shit, Park. I'm sorry your kids weren't here.”

  “Yeah, well,” said Park, “the way things have gone here, I'm kind of glad they aren't.”

  Mom nodded, then started for the car. Maylee followed, helping Dalton limp along next to her. Park followed.

  They moved across the yard as quickly and quietly as they could. Corpses still crammed into the front door, still faced away from the street. A few corpses had wandered far off. The dog barked at them as they hurried toward the car.

  Groans came from the porch. Louder than before. The whole group stopped. Tension shot up Maylee's back as she looked toward the porch.

  The corpses had seen. They groaned and stumbled off the porch, toward them.

  “Aaaand shit,” said Park. “Move!”

  They ran for the car, corpses stumbling behind. They yanked open the doors and climbed inside as fast as they could. Mom in the driver’s seat, Park passenger, Maylee and Dalton in the back. Corpses stumbled up the yard, halfway to the car.

  Mom fumbled with the keys and jabbed them into the ignition. She turned them. The engine complained but sprang to life. The nearest corpse reached the car. It was a woman with long stringy hair and blood-covered teeth. She hissed and pawed at the hood.

  “Sorry babe,” said Mom, pulling the shifter to drive and stomping on the gas. The car shot away from the curb, leaving the house and corpses behind.

  “Where are we even going?” said Mom, steering the car up the street.

  “I don't know,” said Park, pounding his fist on the door handle. “The school maybe?”

  Maylee's pocket buzzed. It surprised her so much she jumped a little in her seat. Then she remembered the phone. She fished it out so fast some of the glitter glue scraped off into her pocket.