Ashton Memorial

by Robert R. Best

  “Mom!” came Maylee's voice from the car hood. Something struck the corpse's head, knocking it off course. Angie looked up, blinking in the rain. She could make out the outline of Maylee, kneeling on the hood of the car. She was jabbing downward with the bat. She could see Park too, moving in position to jump down.

  “I got this!” yelled Maylee. She jabbed down again. This time she connected full on. Angie heard the corpse's skull crack. It went limp in her grasp. Angie shoved it upward and spat at it. She pulled Dalton back to her. She heard the car hood creak as Park prepared to jump.

  “We're fine!” she yelled upward. She grabbed Maylee's bat. “Just pull!”

  Park moved to grab Maylee around the waist. Together they heaved and pulled Angie and Dalton upward. Angie braced her feet against the car and pulled Dalton up after her. A few more heaves and they were all back on the hood, panting and crouching in the rain.

  “I told you I had it,” said Maylee, looking back at Park.

  “Well fuck me, I guess you did,” said Park. Angie could see him smirking in the dark.

  “Everyone okay?” said Angie.

  They all nodded. Angie watched their heads bob in the dark. She nodded back. “Come on. Let's get down while we still can.”

  * * *

  Ella drew her jacket tight around herself and walked, head down, against the rain. It was cold. The sun had gone down and while the power was still on in the zoo, no one had bothered to turn on most of the outside lights. It was dark and Ella was scared, but she had to find Lori. If only she had the slightest idea where to look.

  Stepdad had hit Lori. She and Lori were the same age. If Stepdad could hit Lori, he could hit Ella. Could Ella fight him back? She could try, but he was stronger than she was. Just what did she intend to do when she found him? She pushed these ideas down and kept walking, focusing on the sound of the rain and her own breathing. She would go building to building, like Caleb had planned. She would find the building where Gregory was hiding Lori. Then, something.

  Something.

  A hiss came from her left, startling her so much she almost tripped. She stopped and looked.

  An emu was bobbing its long neck up and down at her, behind the fence that separated him from the walkway. Ella recognized the emu. It was Ray. Ray was a nice emu.

  Ray hissed at her, then let out a loud screech. Ella had never heard him make a noise like that.

  Ella took a step toward the fence. The rain pelted down around her. “Ray?” she said.

  Ray screeched and snapped his beak at her. Ella screamed, jumping back. Ray craned his neck around, looking at her with wide, hateful eyes. She'd never seen Ray's eyes like that. Ray's eyes hated her.

  What on earth was going on?

  She backed farther away from the cage, staring at Ray. He jabbed at her, darting his head outward with such force his lower body slammed against the fence. The fence shook. Ray did it again, harder, screeching at her. It was dark, but Ella thought she saw blood seeping down Ray's front.

  “You're hurting yourself, Ray,” said Ella, feeling like she might cry.

  Ray screeched and jabbed at her again. The fence shook and Ray bled.

  Ella turned and walked away as fast as she could.

  * * *

  Angie held her arms out to her sides as they reached the sidewalk in front of the zoo. Park and the kids stopped behind her. Angie looked from side to side, straining to see anything other than dark outlines and rain. To hear anything other than wind.

  “Clear?” said Park behind her.

  “Shit, I don't know,” said Angie, straining to see in the dark. The few lights that were on along the sidewalk only served to make the surrounding darkness worse. In between the few scattered lights were pools of darkness in which she could make out nothing. “I guess. I hope. Let's go.”

  They trotted, almost running, to the front entrance. Ashton Memorial Zoo could be made out on the glass doors. Behind them, all was dark. Rain ran down the glass.

  Angie stepped up to the doors, hoping they would slide open like normal. She wasn't surprised when they didn't.

  “Well, no shock there, I guess,” said Park. He stepped up to the door and felt around the surface.

  “What are you doing?” said Angie, looking around. Were those groans in the distance? Wind? The kids drew closer to her.

  “Looking for some kind of handle or some shit,” said Park, patting his hand along the glass. “Some way to open it by hand.”

  Angie stepped to the side of the door, looking for a button, a panel. Anything.

  “How do people get in?” said Maylee, behind her.

  “I don't know,” said Angie. “We've never tried to get in when they're locked before.”

  “Look!” said Dalton, pointing past Angie. He said it at full volume, loud enough for anyone to hear. For anything to hear.

  “Dalton, shh!” said Angie, trying to keep her voice down. She looked where he was pointing. Far beyond the glass, in the darkness of the zoo, she saw something. A figure moved from side to side. It didn't walk like a corpse. It looked like a young girl, maybe Maylee's age.

  “Someone's in there!” said Maylee.

  “I see them,” said Park. He slammed his palm on the glass. “Hey! Hey!”

  “Park!” said Angie, looking around for corpses. “Those things might hear.”

  “That person might shitting hear!” said Park, pounding on the glass. “Hey! You in there!”

  “Dammit,” said Angie under her breath. She slapped the glass, softly at first but then harder. “Hey! Let us in!”

  Maylee and Dalton joined in, banging the glass and shouting. The glass shook under the force. Their pounding echoed through the lot. Angie thought she heard moaning. Was it from the parking lot? Closer? Her imagination? She couldn't tell.

  Angie strained to see the figure inside. It made no sign it saw or heard. It kept walking, disappearing from sight. Rain ran down the glass, obscuring her view.

  “Hey!” yelled Park.

  “Dammit!” said Angie, slapping the glass so hard her palm stung.

  Groans came from their right, loud and close. Three corpses stumbled from the darkness. The closest one, a skinny man with no hair and a large open sore on his face, groaned and reached for Maylee.

  “Shit!” screamed Maylee, jumping back. Park punched the corpse in the side of the head. It jerked and fell away, collapsing in front of the other two corpses They tripped and fell, slamming into the pavement. Maylee gripped her bat and held it ready. Dalton clung to Angie.

  More groans came from behind the fallen corpses. Lots of groans. Lots of corpses shambling toward them in the dark.

  “We gotta go,” said Angie, pulling Maylee back.

  “Come on,” said Park. “There's more doors along the side. Gates and shit.”

  They ran, as quickly as they dared in the dark. The corpses behind them groaned and hissed. The sidewalk led out of the parking lot and around the zoo. They ran along a dark side street. Angie strained to hear past the sound of their own pounding feet. Were there more groans up ahead? Angie felt colder than the rain would account for. The whole zoo could be surrounded by those things and it was too dark to tell.

  “There!” said Maylee, pointing off to the right. Trusting that her daughter's eyes were better in the dark than hers, Angie turned. A second, smaller glass doorway emerged from the dark. They all stopped, panting.

  This door had a handle. Angie reached out and grabbed it. A corpse grabbed her arm and leaned in. It had come from her left, the way they had been running moments before. If they'd kept running....

  “Fuck me!” yelled Angie, wrenching her arm away and stepping back. The corpse, a biker with a large crack down the front of his helmet and a torn bloody leather jacket, stumbled forward. He groaned, muffled by the helmet, and reached for her.

  Maylee stepped forward with the bat. Angie held her back. She hiked up one foot and kicked the corpse backward. He stumbled back into the door, his helmet slammin
g against the glass. The impact echoed around in the dark.

  The corpse righted itself and came for them again.

  “Shit,” said Park, stepping toward it. “He's just gonna keep coming.” Park reached out and pulled off the cracked helmet. The corpse had long reddish-gray braids and a pale face with a long split running down the center of it. Dried blood coated his mouth and nose. He hissed at Park.

  “That looks nasty, pal,” said Park, flipping the helmet to grip it by the front. “Let me help you with that.”

  Park slammed the back of the helmet into the corpse’s head. It fell back against the door again. The impact echoed. Angie heard groans coming from somewhere.

  Park brought the helmet up and smashed it down on the corpse's skull. Something went “pop” and the corpse fell to the ground, still. Park snorted and dropped the helmet to the sidewalk.

  Groans came from very close. Angie whipped her head around, peering into the dark. “Shit. We don't have much time.” She stepped over to the glass door and strained to make out what was beyond it. She failed.

  “Damn,” she said. She pounded on the glass. “Hey! Anyone! Let us in!”

  Park and the kids joined in, slamming on the glass and shouting.

  The groans became louder. Angie realized they were coming from the street behind them. She turned and saw several outlines emerging from the dark. Then more. Then more.

  “Hey!” yelled Park behind her, pounding on the glass.

  “No time!” yelled Angie, turning back to them. “Next one!”

  “Well shit!” yelled Maylee.

  “Language, Maylee!” yelled Mom, pulling her and Dalton away from the door.

  They ran down the sidewalk, into the dark and rain. Moans came from their left and backs. How long, Angie wondered, until they came from the front? What if she had trapped her kids in the dark with these things?

  The next street sloped downhill. Angie didn't dare slow down. She could hear Park and the kids keeping pace behind her. Moans came from all around. They had to find a door. A door that would open.

  A large shape loomed in front of her. Fear shot up her back and she stopped abruptly, so fast she almost toppled forward.

  “Shit!” yelled Park. She could hear him and the kids struggling to stop behind her.

  The shape resolved into a long flatbed truck, parked longways and blocking the street and sidewalk. Large metal barrels lined the back of the truck.

  “Dammit!” yelled Angie. She looked around, panic creeping in. How far were they from the car? Where the hell was the parking lot now anyway? Rain fell from the dark and pelted her face. Groaning came from all around.

  “Under!” said Park. “Hurry!”

  Angie looked down. Park was right. The truck was high enough off the street that they could easily climb under. “Come on!” she said, pulling Maylee and Dalton into the street. She grabbed them by the shoulders and kneeled, pushing them down with her.

  She crawled forward, under the truck. Maylee and Dalton were right behind her. She made it about a quarter of the way under when a human shape lunged at her from under the truck. No, not a human, Angie realized. Something that was once human.

  “Fuck!” yelled Angie, jerking her head back so quickly she slammed it into the underside of the truck. Pain shot down her neck and spine. The shape lunged at her, grunting.

  “Back!” Angie screamed, crawling backward as quickly as she could. She felt dizzy. She heard Maylee and Dalton scrambling backward behind her. She heard the shape crawling toward her, gurgling and snarling.

  “What the hell?” said Park as Angie scrambled back out onto the street and stood. Maylee and Dalton were standing next to her. Maylee grabbed Dalton and pulled him back away from the truck.

  “That the hell,” said Angie, pointing as the shape emerged from under the truck. It was a young woman with large bloody holes in her arms. Her knees had been reduced to pulp. Somehow, the woman managed to stand. She hissed and lunged at Park.

  “Sorry lady,” said Park, punching the woman in the head. She fell backward, stumbling and waving her ruined arms. Angie shoved her from the side and she fell over, clawing across the wet pavement. She almost immediately started climbing to her feet.

  “Dammit,” said Maylee, breaking away from the group.

  “Maylee!” said Mom.

  “I got this!” said Maylee. She rushed over to the corpse just as it finished standing. Maylee swung her bat in a wide arc, connecting with the front of the corpse's skull. The side of its head caved in and it went down.

  Maylee grinned back at them. “One hit.”

  “Get back here!” said Angie. “You can be proud of yourself later.”

  Maylee frowned and trotted back over.

  “Clear now to go under?” said Park.

  “Fuck that,” said Angie. “Over.”

  “Over it is.”

  Park stepped to the back of the truck. He put his palms flat on the bed and pushed himself up until he could climb onto it. He turned and motioned for the others to follow.

  Dalton limped over and lifted up his arms. Park took hold. Angie came up behind, painfully conscious of the approaching moans behind them. She took hold of Dalton's waist and hoisted him up. Park pulled him up the rest of the way. Dalton limped to stand next to Park, working his way in between two of the large metal barrels.

  Angie looked to Maylee on her right. “You're next. Hurry.” Groans came close. Angie imagined she could hear the wet scrape of dead limbs on pavement.

  Maylee stepped over and set her bat on the truck bed. Park and Angie closed in to help her, but she shook her head. She pushed herself up, picked up the bat and stepped over to squeeze in between two barrels. Angie was surprised at her daughter's strength.

  Satisfied her kids were safely on the truck, Angie moved to climb up, her heart pounding in her ears.

  “Mom!” yelled Maylee from the truck.

  Angie stopped midstep. Groans and the sounds of shuffling feet came from behind her. She spun just in time to see an old man with a scarred face and yellow pus-filled eyes emerge from the dark.

  “Great,” said Angie. She stepped forward and shoved the corpse. He stumbled backward. She turned and started climbing onto the truck. Park and Maylee knelt down to help her. She heard the old man gurgle behind her. His hands closed on her legs.

  Angie kicked her legs, shaking the man free. She spun, putting her back to the truck. The old man recovered from her kick and came at her again.

  “Goddammit, old man,” said Angie. “I don't have time for this shit!” She watched the corpse warily, wondering how hard she'd have to shove him to gain time to climb up. She heard more groaning in the darkness behind the corpse.

  “I got an idea!” said Park from above her. “Get his back to the truck.”

  “What?”

  “Just do it!”

  Angie sighed. The old man lunged at her and she darted to one side. The old man slammed into the truck. Angie stepped behind him. Rain pelted the street around her. The old man turned and gurgled at her.

  Angie looked up to the truck. Park had his back to one barrel and his foot propped up against another. Angie realized what he had in mind and jumped back a few more steps.

  “Shit!” she yelled. “You crazy fucker!”

  Park grunted and used his leg to push the barrel over. It toppled off the truck, slamming the corpse into the pavement. Dark gore shot out from each side of the barrel. Bits of broken pavement scattered across Angie's feet.

  Angie glared up at Park. “Again, crazy.”

  “Just hurry, Mom!” yelled Maylee, kneeling and holding out her hand.

  Angie ran to the truck. Maylee and Park helped her up. The downward slant of the truck on the hill almost threw her off balance as she stood.

  “Whoa,” said Park, catching her. “Steep here.”

  Angie nodded and righted herself. She turned to look back the way they had come. The groans grew louder. More corpses emerged, approaching the falle
n barrel and crushed corpse. Soon, they would reach the truck.

  She turned to look at her kids. Dalton was shivering in the cold. Maylee was clutching her bat and staring at the approaching corpses. The look of determination on her face broke Angie's heart.

  She looked at Park. He nodded.

  “I know,” he said. “We're getting inside. I'm not letting your kids get killed and I'm surer than fuck getting to mine.”

  Angie nodded. “So let's move, then.”

  The four of them picked their way through the barrels until they got to the other side of the truck bed. Angie could hear the corpses closing in behind them. A few of them were already pawing at the truck.

  One by one they hopped off the other side of the truck. They almost stumbled at the downward slant of the hill. Angie peered into the dark. Rain ran down her face.

  “There better be another entrance nearby,” she said.

  “There is,” said Dalton. “There's a gate up ahead.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I love the zoo, Mom.”

  Maylee sniffed in the rain. “I'd love to get inside.”

  The groans grew louder behind them. “Come on,” said Angie. “We gotta move.”

  They took three hurried steps down the hill. They stopped when a groaning mob of corpses emerged from the dark in front of them.

  * * *

  Ella shivered as she approached a small storage building set among some bushes. The trees groaned and twisted in the wind around her. She couldn't shake the feeling the trees were groaning at her. Twisting to grab at her.

  She stepped up to the door and fished the keycard from her jacket. She moved to hold the card up to the reader, then froze. She had a clear image of Stepdad waiting behind the door. Waiting to attack her. To keep Lori from her. Maybe he even had a gun.