Ashton Memorial (30 page)

“Keep it down, fucker,”
muttered Park.

“Tara,” said Ella next to
him. She pressed her back against the fence, trying to get as far
as possible from the corpses. They tore free hunks of flesh and
gnashed their teeth, grunting in ecstasy. The capybara snorted and
huffed, angered by Park’s and Ella's proximity.

“Keep it down, Tara,” said
Park. He reached the end of the opening and stepped out behind the
corpses. He kept hold of Ella's hand and led her along the fence.
Ella pulled at Maylee's hand and Maylee moved into the
opening.

She put her back against the fence and
slowly slid along, sidestepping past the corpses. Blood and meat
trailed from their mouths. Grunting and the sound of smacking lips
filled the air.

The capybara behind her snorted angrily. It
stamped its feet and butted its head against the fence. It did it
again, hard enough that Maylee felt the wooden fence bow against
the small of her back.

“She's never like this,”
said Ella. Her hand was wet and slippery in Maylee's. “None of the
animals are ever like this.”

The capybara gave a loud snort. Maylee heard
it turn around and run away from the fence. She kept inching past
the corpses, hoping she was wrong about what was coming.

She wasn't. With a frenzy of huffing and
stamping feet, the capybara ran back to the fence and rammed it.
The impact of the capybara's head with the wood echoed around the
area.

“Shit,” said Maylee,
slamming her back against the fence. The corpses grunted more
loudly, slowing their eating.

“Hurry,” said Ella,
hurrying along next to her.

The capybara rammed the fence again, more
loudly than before. The corpses slowed their eating further,
blinking their clouded eyes and moaning.

Maylee moved along as quickly as she could
while still remaining silent. She couldn’t risk drawing any more
attention.

The capybara huffed in frustration and ran
away from the fence. Maylee sucked in her breath, waiting for the
impact. But none came. From what she could hear, the capybara was
running in circles, grunting and growling. The corpses grunted and
resumed eating, still unaware of Maylee's presence. Maylee let out
her breath, chest pounding. She kept inching along, about halfway
through the opening.

Then what was left of the dead men sat up
and moaned. The corpses that had been eating them lost interest
suddenly, like a switch had been flipped. Maylee felt cold as she
realized she'd never seen moving corpses attempt to eat each
other.

The corpses looked around, already starting
to climb back to their feet. Their unsteady gazes fell on Maylee.
They groaned.

“Oh shit,” said
Maylee.

The closest corpse, a man with dark black
veins showing beneath his gray skin, reached for her. She kicked at
him, leaning back as she did. She lost her balance and started
sliding over the fence.

“Maylee!” yelled Ella,
letting go of Park's hand and grabbing Maylee's with both of hers.
Maylee slid downward into the capybara exhibit. Her legs were
hanging on the fence and her head hung toward the ground. The bat
in her right hand scraped along the dirt of the exhibit.

The corpses groaned, sounding closer than
before. Ella screamed, clutching at Maylee’s left hand. Maylee
heard huffing and pounding footsteps behind her head. She craned
her neck back to look, upside-down, into the exhibit. She saw the
capybara running straight for her head. Its eyes were crazed and a
fine mist blew from its snout as it pounded along toward her.

Maylee screamed. Ella pulled on her hand,
wrenching her upward. Her head moved up as the capybara passed
under it, missing her by inches.

She sat up straight on the fence. Ella
pulled at her arm, her eyes wide and worried. Park rushed in from
the side, knife out and aimed at the nearest corpse. The corpses
crowded behind Ella, almost close enough to grab and kill.

“Look out!” Maylee
yelled.

A tremendous cracking sound came from
beneath her as the capybara smashed through the wooden fence and
came out the other side.

Snarling and grunting, the capybara ran into
the legs of the approaching corpses. The corpses stumbled and fell
forward. The capybara thrashed around, like it was trying to get
clear of the corpses so it could come back at Maylee. The capybara
showed no interest in the corpses and the corpses showed no
interest in it.

At the moment the capybara smashed through,
Ella jumped to one side, out of the way of the rampaging animal.
She clutched Maylee's wrist as she jumped, but the awkward angle
made her hand slip. Maylee slid backward on the fence, struggling
to maintain her balance but unable to.

“Maylee!” yelled
Ella.

Maylee's hand slipped from Ella's
completely. She fell backward into the exhibit. Air rushed from her
lungs as her back slammed into the dirt. Her bat clattered from her
hand.

She blinked, dazed, at the rain falling from
the gray sky above her. She heard Ella screaming and Park shouting.
She shook herself out of her daze and climbed hurriedly to her
feet.

Looking out over the fence, she saw Park
pulling Ella away from the throng of corpses. They both looked
unhurt.

“Kid!” yelled
Park.

“Here!” she yelled. She ran
over and grabbed her bat from the ground. “I'm okay!”

Park saw her and nodded. He
brought up one of his legs and kicked back the group of corpses.
“We're going that way!” Park nodded behind him, the direction the
corpses had originally come from. He grabbed Ella's hand and backed
hurriedly toward the next corner. The corpses stumbled after
them.

Maylee turned to her left and ran along the
exhibit, parallel to Park, Ella and the corpses. She got out in
front of the corpses and curved back toward the fence. She pulled
one foot up and started to climb over.

The child corpse was waiting on the other
side. He hissed and grabbed her leg with blood-caked fingers.

Maylee let out a little scream of surprise
and fell backward off the fence. She landed on her back in the
exhibit. Pain shot up her tail bone and into her spine.

With a sharp, loud “crack”
that sent bits of wood flying into the exhibit, the capybara broke
back through the fence. It rushed blindly forward for a moment,
huffing and grunting at nothing. Blood, bright and red, ran from
its forehead. Its angry panting sent a fine mist of blood into the
cold damp air.

Maylee struggled to climb to her feet. She
knew she didn't have much time before the capybara corrected its
course and came at her. Her tailbone and back were killing her. She
could hear Ella and Park yelling, getting farther away as the
corpses pursued them.

The capybara turned and came at Maylee just
as she finished standing. She ran, trying to ignore the pain.

The capybara pounded its feet into the dirt
behind her as Maylee ran as hard as she could, heading for the far
end of the exhibit. She wanted to put distance between herself and
the capybara before she attempted to climb the fence. She quickly
wondered if she'd made a mistake. The capybara behind her sounded
faster than she would have expected. It snorted and grunted,
sounding enraged as it ran.

She drew near the far end of the exhibit and
started to curve right, toward the fence. She could see the mob of
corpses. Ella and Park backed around the corner. Ella looked around
frantically. The corpses shuffled toward them. Another minute and
the corpses would block Maylee's escape.

The capybara sounded close as she drew near
the fence. Too close for her to stop and climb. She jumped,
surprising herself at how well she did. Her foot caught the edge of
the top of the fence. She pushed herself up with her leg, doing her
best not to slow down.

As she crouched on the fence, mid-run and
about to come down the other side, the capybara hit the fence
beneath her. It broke through, coming out the other side. The
approaching corpses tripped over it as it raced in front of
them.

Maylee jumped down, landing on the pavement
in a kneeling position. The capybara, crazed in its rage, kept
running until it hit the faux-rock wall on the other side of the
walkway. There was a horrible popping sound and the capybara
yelped.

Maylee watched from where she knelt. The
capybara turned to face her, looking dazed and weak. Blood leaked
from its forehead. It snorted thick blood from its snout.

“Oh god,” said Maylee,
feeling sorry for it. The capybara fell down.

The corpses to her right were getting
close.

“Maylee!” yelled Ella from
just out of sight.

Maylee stood, gripping her bat in her right
hand. She ran for the corner, leaving the corpses and the wounded
capybara behind her.

Twelve

Angie looked around, frowning. The sky was
gray, making it hard to gauge what time it was. But she felt it was
getting late it the day. Could they get to the Communications
Office before dark? She tried to remember the layout of the map
from the night before.

“My head hurts,” said
Dalton next to her. He rubbed his head and blinked in the light
rain falling around them.

“Mine too, baby,” said
Angie, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It's hunger, and I'm sorry
we haven't found any food.”

Angie cocked her head as a faint groan
reached her ears. Maybe two groans. It was too distant to be
sure.

“Hear that?” said
Dalton.

“Yeah,” said Angie, biting
her lip. “They're far away for now, but who knows for how long. We
need to find one of those map things. Double check where we're
going.”

“There,” said Dalton,
pointing. Angie looked. Across the way from where they stood,
partially hidden by a bush, was the back of a map
display.

“Shit,” said Angie. “How'd
I miss that? Good job, honey.”

They trotted across the pavement, Dalton
limping slightly. Angie looked left to right as they moved. No
corpses emerged. They reached the display and walked around to the
other side. The side the map was printed on. More groaning floated
their way. Again, faint. But not quite as faint as before.

A thin layer of condensation coated the
plastic of the display. Angie ran her palm up and down, then side
to side, trying to clear off an area she could see clearly.
Satisfied, she bent forward for a closer look.

The groans sounded again,
closer than before. “Mom,” said Dalton behind her. She could hear
the nervousness in his voice.

“I know,” she said, meaning
to sound soothing but hearing the annoyed edge in her voice. She
felt guilty but pushed it down. There was no time for that. She ran
her finger along the map, locating where they were and then trying
to figure out the best way to get to the Communications
Office.

The rain picked up around them, sending cold
streaks down the map. Angie wiped them away in frustration. The
groans came again, close enough now to send tension up Angie's
back. Dalton moved closer to her.

“Okay,” she said, frowning.
“We still got a ways to go yet, unless...”

“Unless what?” said Dalton,
looking around,

“Unless we cut through the
primate exhibit,” said Angie. She pointed across from where they
were. A large entranceway loomed there, a big sign next to
it.
Primates In Person
, read the sign in large safari letters.

“But...” Dalton
started.

The groans became louder, sounding like
corpses were moments from stumbling into the area. Angie grabbed
Dalton's hand and pulled him toward the entranceway.

“Mom,” repeated Dalton,
looking around. Angie kept her eyes on the door up
ahead.

“We need to hurry,” she
said. “Those things are getting closer.”

They were a few feet from the stone steps
leading into the exhibit. Dalton stopped walking, jerking Angie to
a halt.

She turned to look down at
him. “What?” she said, again feeling guilty for the edge she heard
in her voice. Groans came again, so close Angie could hear the wet
gurgles of the dead throats.

Dalton looked up at her. He
sniffed and ran the back of his hand under his nose. “Mom,” he
said. “The animals.”

Angie realized. “Oh, right.
But it's okay. The monkeys are all behind that thick glass,
remember? When you were little you'd bang on it, trying to get
their attention. I'd yell at you, but the glass was so thick they
couldn't even hear you.”

Dalton eyed the steps behind her. She could
tell he was thinking of the kangaroos. Thinking of their frenzied
rage.

“Remember?” said
Angie.

“I...” said Dalton. He
stopped when three corpses came around a corner and stumbled into
the area. They jerked their stiff rotting bodies across the
pavement, groaning and moving toward Angie and Dalton.

“Damn,” said Angie, pulling
Dalton toward the stairs. As they ran up them, Angie worried Dalton
would slip on the wet concrete. He didn't, but they weren't able to
move as quickly as Angie would have wanted. The corpses groaned
behind them.

They reached the last step
and raced for the glass doors. Cartoon primates grinned from
paintings on the glass. Angie's stomach sank when she saw the doors
were automatic. They slid open with a “whoosh” sound as she
stopped. She looked up at the motion sensor just above the
door.

“What?” said Dalton, behind
her.