Ashton Memorial (33 page)

Shit
, Angie realized.
No she's
not.

“Shit,” Angie said aloud
into the dark.

“What?” said
Dalton.

“I forgot your sister's
birthday was today. I completely forgot.”

“It's okay.”

Angie chuckled. “Not so
sure about that, buddy. I strongly suspect I may be a terrible
mother.”

“There's a lot going on
right now,” said Dalton.

“You got that right,” said
Angie, putting an arm around him and pulling him closer. “Too much.
Way too much.”

She sat silently in the dark. Dalton put his
head on her shoulder and was snoring in less than a minute. Angie
knew how exhausted he must be.

“I'm so tired of running,
Dalton,” she said, quietly.

“Mmmm?” said Dalton, half
asleep.

“Nothing, sweetie. It's
okay.” She leaned over to kiss his forehead. He fell fully asleep
on her shoulder. Angie sighed into the dark.

“So sick of running,” she
whispered, careful not to wake him. “I need to get you guys safe.
Get you guys a home again. I'll build one if I have to.”

* * *

Park stared at the ceiling of the alcove.
The cold concrete hurt his back, but he didn't give a fuck right
now. The girls were outside the alcove, looking down at bears or
some shit. He was glad for it. He couldn't stand to have Ella
looking at him right now. He felt exhausted and embarrassed.

He stared at the ceiling, trying not to
picture the look Ella gave him just before she stormed out.

It is years ago and Park is sitting in his
dirty old recliner. Jennifer, all pulled-back hair and seriousness,
stands before him. Ella and Lori, small and confused, stand to
either side of her.

“You're serious,” says
Park, not bothering to get up. He hopes the gesture is defiant. He
suspects he looks pathetic. He is not sure he cares.

“Of course I'm serious,
Parker,” says Jennifer. “I told you things aren't working. I told
you you need to find work. I told you you need to be more involved.
You won't listen. No, it's worse. You do listen. You just don't
care.”

Park isn't sure she's
wrong. He ignores that part. “Work? I've got my garage.”

“Your garage, Parker? What
garage? You fix maybe one car a month for one of your stupid
friends. They give you fifty bucks if you’re lucky. We can't live
on that. Even with my job, the girls can't live on
that.”

“Fine,” says Park. “So I
haven't actually rented out a building yet. But I still have a
business. Things are slow right now.”

“Things are as slow as you
want them to be. You're lazy, Parker. You're lazy and you don't
care.”

Park stares at her, at the
girls. He's half drunk from a morning full of beer. He wishes it
made him feel better. “You can't talk to me that way,” he says,
hoping he sounds strong.

“I am,” says Jennifer. “I
did. And now I'm going and I'm taking the girls with
me.”

“Fuck you,” says Park. He
pushes himself farther back in his recliner, making a big show of
not giving a shit.

“Hell of a comeback,
Parker,” says Jennifer. She opens the door and steps toward it. She
motions for Lori and Ella to follow.

Just before they go, Lori and Ella look at
him. They are confused, but Park can see the core emotion on their
face.

They are disappointed. In life. In their
father.

They look at him like he is a failure.

Then they are gone.

Park shook the memories off and forced
himself to shut his eyes. Before he fell asleep, he saw the image
of Ella staring at him a few minutes ago. Her eyes had the same
disappointed look.

Then he fell asleep.

* * *

Lori strained her legs against the ropes
holding her to the chair. They were tight and they dug into her
skin. She didn't care. She wanted to be free. She dug at the ropes
with her hands, but they were too tight to get anywhere.

Gregory sat with his back to her at the desk
in the corner of the room. The one monitor showed one camera view,
then another, as Gregory clicked a switch on the desk. The cameras
showed various images of guests fighting, guests running from
corpses, and sometimes guests being eaten by corpses. Lori looked
away when those images went by.

But mostly she glared at Gregory's back,
hoping she could burn holes into him with her eyes.

He clicked a different
switch on the desk and leaned into the microphone a few inches from
his mouth. “Attention guests of Ashton Memorial Zoo.”

“Hope you're enjoying your
stay!” yelled Lori, hoping she was loud enough for the microphone
to pick up.

Gregory clicked the switch off and turned to
look at her. She glared defiantly back at him.

“Please Lori,” said
Gregory, shaking his head. “Don't make me gag you
again.”

Lori flipped him off but stayed silent,
remembering the sweaty taste of the rag across her mouth.

Gregory ignored her gesture
and turned back to the microphone. He flipped the switch to
activate it. “Sorry about that folks,” he said in his best cheery
customer-greeting voice. Lori had heard it for years. Before, she
was mildly irritated by it. Now it made her want to
vomit.

“This is Gregory, the owner
of our wonderful zoo. I want to personally thank you for your
continued patience. Remember that the fine employees of Ashton
Memorial Zoo are working around the clock for your safety during
this time of crisis. We trust that this crisis is temporary and
that authorities are restoring order outside as we
speak.”

He cleared his throat and
continued. “It has also come to our attention that, regrettably,
some of the ... things outside may have found their way into the
zoo. Please do not approach them. Instead, report them to the
nearest zookeeper and we will deal with the problem. Please be
assured that only a few of the creatures have found their way
inside, and we will deal with them all swiftly and surely. Good
night.”

He clicked the microphone off and turned
back to Lori. She tried to kill him with her eyes. It didn't
work.

“Don't look at me like you
hate me, Lori,” he said.

“But I do hate you,” said
Lori. “And maybe you've forgotten since a lot's happened, but a day
or so ago you tied me to a chair, so it's not like I can look much
of anywhere else.”

He scratched at his
neatly-trimmed beard and stared at the floor for a second. Then he
looked back at Lori. “I can't untie you yet, Lori.”

“I bet you could if you tried,” said Lori, straining
against the ropes. “I believe in you, Dad.”

He shook his head, quiet for the moment. Lori was
very conscious of the cell phone in her hip pocket. She wished
Gregory would leave the room so she could text Ella. She wished she
could call Ella, but she couldn't risk Gregory overhearing. She had
no idea how far he went when he left the room.

He smiled, sadly. “Now,
don't be silly like your sister, Lori. You know what I
mean.”

“I know what you
did.”

Something approaching anger flashed across Gregory's
face. His forehead turned red, then it was gone as he visibly
pushed his reaction down. “I had to, Lori. You think I wanted to?
You think I wanted to shoot my wife? Your mother?”

Lori stared at him as he talked. He looked
sad. Most people would believe honestly sad. But Lori had watched
his face for years. She knew how he could be, when he wanted to
impress guests or investors. She couldn't be sure he wasn't
acting.

He sighed and pushed his
chair away from her. “Well, let's try to get some
sleep.”

Good
idea
, thought Lori.
Why don't you go outside to do that
.

He smiled at her, kindly.
Most people would believe honestly kindly. “I'll be in the corner
if you need me.”'

Shit
.

* * *

Lee leaned against the doorway to the kitchen in the
Bites. He held a clipboard in his hand. A handwritten chart was
attached to the clipboard. Another Keeper, a young man with a bald
head and goatee, stood inside the kitchen, looking around.

Lee checked the clipboard.
“Loaves of bread?”

“Um,” said the young man,
turning to stare at the back of the kitchen.
“Twenty-three.”

Lee nodded and clicked the
pen he held in his other hand. He marked a hand-drawn box on the
chart. “The guests will have to eat a lot of bread in the next few
days. The bread will go bad fast.”

The young man rubbed the
back of his bald head. “How long do you think we'll be trapped in
here, Lee?”

Lee shrugged, not looking
up from the clipboard. “Not sure. That's why we have to ration
food. Why we have to keep order. We're the Keepers.”

The young man chuckled softly.

Lee looked up from the
clipboard to stare at the young man. “What's so funny?”

The young man looked out at the other Keepers
scattered around the Bites, then back at Lee. “Well, we
were
Keepers, Lee. I don't think we work here anymore. It's not like
we're getting paid.”

Lee placed the clipboard
under his armpit and crossed his arms. “What in the hell difference
does that make?”

All the other Keepers fell quiet. The bald
man looked around for support, then back to Lee. He rubbed the back
of his head.

Lee stared at him for a
second longer, then pulled the clipboard from his armpit. He looked
back down at it. “Boxes of corn chips?”

The bald man paused, silent
for a moment. “Hey, Lee...”

Lee cleared his throat.
“
Boxes of corn chips
?”

The bald man stared at Lee,
then turned to look around the kitchen. “Um, fifteen. One
opened.”

“How many bags in the open
one?” said Lee.

The bald man counted. “Um,
let's see. Ten.”

Lee frowned at the chart.
“There's supposed to be eleven.”

The man turned red, looking
embarrassed. The other Keepers chuckled. The man coughed.
“Well...”

“Why aren't there eleven?”
said Lee, looking up from the chart.

“I took an extra one at
lunch.”

Lee lowered the clipboard.
“You what?”

The other Keepers chuckled
louder. The man turned redder, scratching his goatee and looking
around. “I didn't see what the big deal was. I was hungry and we
have plenty.”

Lee said nothing. He stared at the man.

The man chuckled, sounding
more nervous than amused. “Look, Lee, it's no big deal. I just
won't have chips tomorrow. Whateve...”

Lee whipped the clipboard up and slammed the
edge into the man's throat.

The other Keepers gasped.
The bald man stumbled back, his eyes bulging as he clutched his
throat. He choked and coughed. “Lee,” he wheezed. “What the fuck,
dude?”

Lee stepped forward and slammed the edge of
the board into the man's neck again. Harder. The man stumbled and
fell over, rolling onto his back. He wheezed and coughed and flecks
of blood flew from his mouth.

Lee knelt to straddle the man. He dropped
his pen and took the clipboard with both hands. He slammed the
board down on the man's throat a third time. The man bucked under
him. Blood shot from his mouth, spattering across the clipboard and
chart. He wheezed and coughed, his breathing thin and gurgling. The
other Keepers said and did nothing.

Lee slammed the board down again and again,
until the man's throat collapsed and the board was hitting the
floor beneath. Lee sat back, panting at the man. Blood pooled from
his mouth and he choked and gurgled. His neck was caved in, bruised
and bloody. The man clutched feebly at the floor. His eyes glazed
over as he stared up at Lee.

Lee stared back, then stood. Dropping the
clipboard, he strode over to the closest counter and grabbed a
tranquilizer rifle placed there. He walked back to stand over the
man. The man gurgled up at him, spit and blood frothing on his
lips.

Saying nothing, Lee leveled the rifle at the
man's forehead and fired. The dart flew from the rifle and thudded
into the man's forehead. The man jerked and was still. Blood seeped
around the point of the dart, running down onto the floor.

Lee lowered the rifle and looked at the
other Keepers. They stared back at him, silent.

“We're Keepers, people. And one of the things we
keep are the fucking rules!” He shook with fury as he yelled the
last part. He forced himself to calm down, looking to each Keeper
in turn.

They all nodded at him, silent.

* * *

Maylee slowly walked out of the alcove. Ella
was staring, arms crossed, down at the bears. The light mist in the
air coated Maylee's face and she blinked. It was almost completely
dark outside. The only light came from a dim bulb inside the
alcove. Maylee wondered how much longer the power would hold
out.

Ella said nothing as Maylee approached. She
stared down at the bears as though no one was there. Maylee walked
up next to her and looked down. The live bear huffed and snorted as
it paced the exhibit. Despite how high they were, Maylee was glad
the bear hadn't noticed them. She looked down at the wall,
wondering if anything could climb it. Then she noticed a short
ladder placed to her right, running from their level up to
something above the alcove.