Ashton Memorial (23 page)

“No no no no!” said Angie,
shaking the gate. She pounded her palm against the metal. “Let us
in! Please!”

Groans came from behind them. Angie turned
to see corpses approaching from the darkness. A lot of them. More
than the barrels had smashed. More than there'd been in the parking
lot. More than she could even begin to count. If they didn't get
inside and get inside now, this was it.

She turned back and shook
the gate furiously. “Please!”

“Wait,” said Park, stopping
and staring at the girl. He didn't say any more. He just kept
staring.

“Let us in!” yelled Dalton,
slapping the gate.

The girl took a cautious step forward,
watching them. She looked like she was trying to figure out their
intentions.

“Oh my god,” said Maylee.
“I've got an idea.” She let go of the gate and fished around in her
pockets. She pulled out the cell phone she'd shown them earlier.
The one with glitter-glue writing on it.

Maylee held the phone over
her head and shouted at the girl. “Hey! Is your name
Ella?”

The girl took a step backward, looking
confused. She opened her mouth, then shut it. She nodded.

“Ella!” yelled Maylee.
“I've got your cell phone!”

Ella frowned at them. “I
lost that!”

Maylee shook her head. “You
left it at home! We've been there! I've been texting your
sister!”

“Oh my fuck,” said Park, so
low only Angie could hear him. “Ella?”

Ella took a step toward the
gate. “What?”

Angie turned to look behind them. More
corpses had emerged. They were getting closer. The corpses groaned
and jerked toward them. The smell of their dead, wet flesh was
terrible. She turned back to look at the girl called Ella. They had
no other chance now.

“Your sister, Lori!” yelled
Maylee. “She texted your phone when I had it. I've been talking to
her. That's how we knew you guys were here!”

“Ella!” yelled Park. His
voice had a hoarseness Angie hadn't heard before. “It's
Dad!”

Ella frowned.
“Stepdad?”

Park frowned back at her.
“No! Your father!”

Ella's frown straightened.
“Dad-dad?”

Park nodded.

“Let us in!” yelled
Maylee.

Ella ran toward them. Groans came from
behind. The rain picked up, pounding down hard and cold. Angie cast
a quick glance behind them. In less than a minute, corpses would be
close enough to bite and kill.

Ella reached the gate. She
looked wet, ragged and scared. She glanced at each of them, then
saw the corpses coming up from behind. “Shit,” she said, feeling
around in the pockets of her jacket.

“Tell us about it,” said
Angie. “Please hurry.”

Ella kept fishing around in her jacket. The
corpses groaned from behind them. Angie could hear dead limbs being
dragged across wet pavement. She imagined she could hear dead jaws
working, dead teeth gnashing together.

“Hurry!” said Maylee
nervously, casting quick glances behind her.

Ella's eyes lit up as she produced a small
plastic card from her pocket. She stepped to the side of the gate
and held the card up to something Angie couldn't see. The groans
from behind told her the corpses were very close.

There was a click off to the side and the
gate came loose. Park and Angie almost fell forward from the way
they'd been leaning on it. The gate swung open at the middle.

“Hurry!” said Ella,
grabbing the gate and swinging it back. Angie and Park stumbled
through. Angie turned to grab Maylee and Dalton. Maylee already had
hold of Dalton and was rushing him through the opening.

Corpses were inches away. Those at the front
came through the gate before they had any chance to close it.
Corpses lurched into the zoo, biting their rotten teeth at Angie
and the others. Rain pelted off their rotten skin.

“Shut the gate!” said Ella.
“Hurry!”

Park was staring at Ella
like he hadn't heard. “Ella.”

Angie whipped her head over
to Park. “Not now Parker!”

Park shot her a look so
hateful Angie paused for a second. But only a second. “The gate,
Parker!”

Park's eyes said he'd heard her. His face
returned to normal and he gave her a short nod.

Angie ran to one half of the gate. Park ran
to the other. More corpses crowded into the opening. Both Angie and
Park pushed as hard as they could, but the corpses were coming too
quickly to push the gate shut.

“Mom!” yelled Dalton,
running over to help her. He leaned into the gate, adding a little
force but not much.

Maylee was closer to Park's side. She rushed
to join him. She gripped the gate and pushed. The corpses groaned
and continued coming through. With each corpse that appeared at the
gate, it became harder.

Ella ran over to Park and Maylee. She
pushed. Angie and Dalton pushed. The gate didn't budge.

“It's no good!” yelled Park
as the corpses poured between him and Angie.

“Shit!” yelled Angie,
realizing he was right. “Everyone fall back!”

Angie let go and pulled Dalton away from the
gate. She backed up as quickly as she could. Park, Maylee and Ella
let go and backed away. Corpses groaned and shuffled their way
through the gate. They bit and hissed and gurgled.

Angie's stomach dropped when she realized
how many corpses were between their two groups. She and Dalton were
blocked from getting to Maylee, Park and Ella.

“Maylee!” Angie yelled as
she and Dalton were forced farther back by the crush of corpses.
They kept coming. Soon the entire area inside the gate would be
full of them.

“Mom!” yelled Maylee. She,
Park and Ella backed the other way. Maylee swung her bat from side
to side, keeping the corpses at bay. But Angie knew she couldn't
keep it up for long.

Within seconds the two groups were forced
onto different walkways, heading into different sections of the
zoo. Dalton clutched at Angie's side. Angie could only make out
glimpses of Maylee as more and more corpses crowded in to block the
way between them.

“Mom!” came Maylee's voice,
getting farther and farther away.

“Maylee!” Angie yelled,
knowing it was futile. Her throat hurt from screaming. The rain
pounded down around them.

“Get to the Communications
Office!” yelled Ella over the mob of corpses. “I have friends
there!”

“What?” yelled Angie, not
sure she'd heard right.

“The Communications
Office!” came Ella's voice.

“Mom!” yelled Maylee,
almost drowned out by moaning corpses and rain.

Then her voice was gone. All sounds were
gone except the groans of the dead.

“Maylee!” Angie yelled one
last time. She felt like she could cry.

Dalton gripped her side
tightly. “Mom?” he said.

She reached down to grab his hand. The
corpses came for them.

“We need to run, Dalton.”
she said.

They did.

Nine

Angie and Dalton ran until the corpses were
out of sight. There were occasional lights on around the zoo, but
not enough to comfortably see by. In the dark, the zoo only vaguely
resembled the place she took the kids every so often. It was always
a big deal, something the kids looked forward to. Lately, only
Dalton looked forward to such things.

Angie stopped and panted in the rain. Dalton
stood next to her, coughing.

“You okay, baby?” she said,
kneeling down next to him.

He nodded and sniffed. The rain let up,
shifting to a light mist. It was better, but still cold.

“Your foot
okay?”

He nodded, but not very convincingly.

“Probably be better if we
stopped all this running, huh?”

Dalton nodded. Angie stood
and looked around. “We can stop soon, baby. I promise.”

“There's a map,” said
Dalton. Angie looked down to see him pointing off to her
right.

She followed his finger and found a map
display. One of the ones they used on their trips here. To find
where the monkey house was, or the bird exhibit. Or the lions.
Dalton loved the lions.

“Where did the girl say
they were going?” Angie said.

“The Communications
Office,” said Dalton.

Angie nodded. “Come on.”
She stepped over to the map, Dalton limping alongside
her.

There was no light to see
by. Angie squinted, trying to make out the map as best she could.
She located a bright dot labeled
You Are
Here
. She put her finger on it.

“Okay,” she said. “So we're
here.” Dalton nodded next to her.

Angie squinted harder, studying the map for
a long time. Dalton studied with her, leaning in close and moving
his head side to side, scanning the map.

A man's voice boomed from
all directions. “Hello visitors to the Ashton Memorial
Zoo.”

Angie jerked back, looking in all
directions. She realized the voice was coming from speakers set all
around.

“Please try to remain
calm,” said the man's voice. “We are doing all we can to keep you
safe.”

Angie snorted and leaned
back into the map. “Yeah,” she said. “Sure looks like it.” Then she
fell silent, staring at the map. Dalton stared with her.

“Here,” he finally said,
putting his finger on a different spot on the map. Angie looked to
where he'd pointed. She made out faint letters spelling
Communications Office (Employees
Only)
.

“Got it,” said Angie. She
scanned up and down the map, tracing out a path between the two
points as best she could in the dark. It was farther than she would
have liked, but it would have to do.

“Okay.” She sighed and
straightened. “I think I've got it. We just need to
head...”

A rotting hand closed on the top of the map
display. Angie gasped and jumped back, pulling Dalton back with
her.

A bloated old man stumbled from behind the
map. A straw hat hung sideways on his head. His tongue was gone.
Blood coated his chin as he worked his mouth at them. A big chunk
of skin was missing from the back of his right hand. His button-up
white shirt was torn and bloody.

“Run, baby,” said Angie,
keeping hold of Dalton and turning to run. She stopped as a group
of corpses came stumbling at them from the other side.

“Crap,” said
Dalton.

“You got that right,” she
muttered. She looked around quickly. Both paths were blocked, one
by the bloated old man and the other by the approaching group. To
their left was the kangaroo exhibit. There was a glass fence but no
trench. Dalton had always wanted to climb in and pet
them.

“This way,” said Angie,
pulling Dalton with her. She ran for the exhibit.

“Ow!” said Dalton, limping
as they ran.

“I know, baby, I know,”
said Angie. “And I'm sorry.”

They reached the glass fence. Angie looked
around. No kangaroos to be seen. She hoisted Dalton up so he could
climb over.

“I know this place,” said
Dalton, looking around. “The kangaroos.”

“Yeah, the kangaroos.”
Angie looked back to the corpses. The bloated old man had joined
the others and now the larger group was approaching. They moaned
and bit at them. “Hopefully they're all hiding.”

“Are they dangerous?” said
Dalton.

“I have no idea,” said
Angie. She climbed over the fence and dropped down next to Dalton.
“But best to stay out of their way. And hope those things are too
stupid to climb a fence.”

She nodded at the corpses. Dalton looked at
them. He bit his lip and stepped back. Angie took his hand.

“Come on,” she said. “We'll
cut through here and then get to that office.”

He nodded. Angie turned and the two of them
ran deeper into the enclosure. They were about halfway across when
Angie stopped and turned back.

The corpses were butted up against the
fence. They pawed at it and reached for Angie and Dalton. But none
looked capable of climbing over.

“Ha!” said
Dalton.

“Yeah,” said Angie,
grinning down at him. “See? We're gonna be okay.”

She turned to lead him the rest of the way
through the enclosure. She was about to take the first step when a
kangaroo hopped in front of them.

“Whoa,” said Angie. Dalton
let out a little gasp.

The kangaroo looked at them quizzically.

Angie smiled and shook her
head. “You scared us there, buddy.”

The kangaroo ran one paw through the dirt of
its enclosure.

“We're just passing
through, okay?” said Angie, blinking in the light mist falling all
around. “We'll be out of your hair soon enough.”

The kangaroo kept its eyes on them and
lowered its head toward the ground. Like a cat preparing to pounce.
A low keening came from its throat.

“Mom,” said Dalton,
swallowing next to her. “Do kangaroos make that noise?”

“I don't know honey,” said
Angie, her voice almost a whisper. She took a step backward, slowly
and carefully. Dalton stepped with her. “But I think we should go
now,” she said, “just in case.”