Lakewood Memorial (18 page)

Angie stepped over to Mr. Paulson and looked
down. The corpses were getting closer.

"What the fuck! You lousy bitch!" He
screamed up at her.

"Dad!" Kristen said, rushing toward the edge
of the table. Angie pushed her back, so hard Kristen almost fell
off the other side and into the waiting arms of the corpses. Angie
looked down at Mr. Paulson.

"
I said any ideas!
" she shrieked down
at him.

"No!" said Mr. Paulson. The corpses were
getting very close now. "No, goddammit, no!"

"Park," said Angie, "help me."

She knelt and grabbed Mr. Paulson's arm.
Park came over and grabbed the other one. They wrenched Mr. Paulson
up onto the platform. He landed in the center of the tables, unable
to stand.

"You be more careful with him!" yelled
Kristen, leveling her gun at Park.

Angie looked down at Mr. Paulson. "I am
sorry. But never say anything like that to me again. Me or your
daughter."

Mr. Paulson glared up at her but said
nothing.

Park kicked at another corpse that was
beginning to crawl up onto the platform. "We don't have enough
bullets for all of these!"

A corpse grabbed Mr. Paulson's legs. He
screamed as the corpse dragged him toward its open mouth.

"Dad!" yelled Kristen, moving her rifle
toward the corpse. She fired just as the corpse leaned in to bite.
The bullet caught the corpse in the temple. The corpse grunted,
then slid off Mr. Paulson and onto the floor.

"Goddammit!" yelled Mr. Paulson. "This is
it, assholes! We're dead!"

Another corpse grabbed Mr. Paulson from
behind. He screamed. Park was busy kicking at another corpse.
Kristen spun and pulled the trigger on her rifle. Nothing happened.
"Oh god!" she said. "I'm out!"

The corpse that had hold of Mr. Paulson
pulled itself further up onto the platform. It moaned ecstatically
and pulled Mr. Paulson toward its mouth.

"Shit!" said Angie. She reached above her
and pushed at the panel covering the florescent lights. She pulled
the panel free and tossed it aside. Mr. Paulson was struggling with
the corpse.

Angie pulled free her belt, letting the jugs
of alcohol tumble to the platform. She wrapped the belt around her
hand and grabbed hold of one of the florescent tubes above her. She
wrenched it free and slammed it into the head of the corpse that
had hold of Mr. Paulson. The glass tube shattered and the corpse
faltered, letting go. Angie screamed and shoved the broken end of
the tube into the corpse's face. It stuck and held. She kicked the
tube and knocked the corpse to the floor.

"How many shots you got left?" she asked
Park.

"Not nearly enough," he said, reloading the
rifle.

She nodded and picked up one of the alcohol
jugs. She turned to Kristen. "Give me your scalpel!"

Kristen said nothing, getting the scalpel
from her pocket and giving it to Angie.

"What are you doing?" said Park, cocking the
rifle.

"Watch," said Angie. She held up the plastic
jug and stabbed it with the scalpel several times in several
different spots. Alcohol began leaking out of the slits.

"What the hell..." said Mr. Paulson.

"Shoot!" Angie yelled, flinging the jug into
the air toward the exit door. Alcohol spilled out of the jug as it
flew. Park followed the jug with his rifle and fired just as it was
suspended over the bulk of the corpses blocking their way. The jug
exploded into a fireball and fell on the corpses below. The corpses
groaned more loudly and started scattering across the room. Flaming
corpses hit other corpses, setting them alight.

"I thought they don't feel pain," said
Kristen.

"They don't," said Park. "But they're afraid
of fire!"

In a few more seconds, the corpses had
scattered enough to clear a path to the door.

"Get Mr. Paulson!" said Angie, kneeling to
get the last two full jugs of alcohol. She ran to the edge of the
platform and leapt off.

Park slung his rifle over his shoulder and
stepped up to Mr. Paulson. He knelt and lifted him up off the
platform.

"Put me down!" yelled Mr. Paulson. "I'm not
a child!"

"Be careful with him!" yelled Kristen.

Angie ran to the wheelchair. The flaming
corpses were stumbling around and groaning. Angie grabbed the
chair's controller and wheeled it around to the front of the
platform. One of the flaming corpses, more decayed than the others,
fell over and was still.

"Huh," said Park. "Fire does kill them
eventually." Then he hopped off the table, Mr. Paulson in his
arms.

"Shit!" said Mr. Paulson as Park landed. "Be
careful."

Park said nothing, putting Mr. Paulson back
in his seat. Mr. Paulson glared at everyone, adjusting his robe and
grabbing hold of the controller.

Angie looked around the room. The flaming
corpses were spreading the fire fast. Soon the room itself would be
ablaze.

Kristen jumped off the platform. "Are you
okay, Dad?"

"All of you fuck off!" said Mr. Paulson.

"We gotta go," said Angie,
leading them to the exit door and back to the
hallway.

Twenty-Six

Maylee drove as fast as she dared through
the dark. Trees appeared and disappeared in the headlights.

"Slow down," said Dalton.

"Can't," she said. "We gotta get there. We
gotta help Mom."

The road they were on was empty. No cars and
few houses. They were almost outside of town now, running along the
back-road shortcut Mom had taken to work before the old bridge
closed. If they could get across the old wooden bridge, then it
would be a short run down another back road to the hospital.

Maylee knew she was
driving too fast. She couldn't help it. Her chest was pounding from
the first bridge.
I almost got us both
killed
, she kept thinking.

She could hear Dalton
squirming in his seat next to her. She could
sense
it. She knew she should slow
down.

"Can't," she muttered again, mostly to
herself. "We gotta help Mom."

She rounded a bend and suddenly the bridge
was there.

Both she and Dalton gasped and she slammed
on the brakes.

The tires screeched and the car slid from
side to side but eventually stopped a few feet from the bridge.
Dalton was leaning as far forward as his locked seat belt would
allow. He sat back and rubbed his shoulder. "Ow, Maylee!"

"Shhh," said Maylee,
looking out at the bridge. A chain was tied from one post to
another, blocking the way. A sign hung on the chain. In the
headlights, Maylee could see that it read
Unsafe, do not use. Future site of historical
marker.

"Crap," said Dalton, looking out the window.
"How are we supposed to get across?"

"It's just a chain, Dalton," said Maylee,
undoing her seat belt. "We're lucky. Mom says eventually there'll
be a big concrete post blocking the way. And there'd be no way we
could move that. But we should be able to move a chain."

Dalton undid his seat belt. "I'll help."

"No, you'll stay here."

"Come on, Maylee. I can do it. It looks
clear out there, anyway."

Maylee looked out the front window and
sighed. It did look clear.

She pressed the control switch and her
window slid down with a whir The cool night air blew in with no
stench of bodies. She listened.

It was quiet except for typical night
noises. Insects chittered. Leaves and grass rustled in the
occasional breeze. No screams. No moaning.

"It's fine," she said after a few moments,
breathing out. "So okay. I guess you can come. Just hurry. Let's
get the chain unhooked, then get across."

She opened the door, leaving the engine
running. Stepping out, she took another look around. Everything
still looked clear.

Dalton got out and shut his door. He rubbed
his arms. "It's cold."

"Yeah," said Maylee. "Come on, let's
hurry."

She stepped over to the bridge, Dalton
following. The chain ran from one wooden guardrail post to the
other. Maylee walked over to one post and looked. The chain was
simply wrapped around it and hooked with a nail.

"Wow," said Dalton, looking with her. "Low
budget."

"Told you," said Maylee, smiling in the
dark. She nodded across the road to the other post. "Go unhook that
one."

Dalton nodded and trotted to the other side.
Maylee grabbed the chain on her side and pulled it off the nail.
She unwound the chain and looked over to Dalton. "Got it?"

"Got it," said Dalton, holding up his end of
the chain.

A corpse grabbed Maylee from behind. Maylee
gasped. She saw Dalton's eyes grow wide.

"Maylee!" he yelled, running toward her.

The corpse behind her groaned and pulled her
into the woods. Maylee screamed and kicked, reaching back to push
at the corpse's head. She felt slimy, cold skin and heard the
corpse moaning and working its jaws. Maylee still gripped the chain
and it dragged on the ground in front of her. She thrashed her head
around, avoiding the thing's mouth.

The chain caught on a thick tree root.
Maylee saw her chance and yanked herself forward, using the chain
as leverage. She slipped from the corpse's grasp and fell to the
ground. She spun around and looked up.

The corpse was an old man with a bloated
belly and rotting skin. A portion of his throat was missing, and
Maylee could see the cords in the man's neck moving up and down as
he gnashed his teeth.

"Maylee!" yelled Dalton, careening out of
the darkness. He screamed as he ran straight into the corpse.

The corpse groaned and wrapped its arms
around Dalton.

Maylee clambered to her feet and looked
around frantically for a weapon. Why had she left the bat in the
car? The chain in her hand would have to do.

The corpse bent in to bite Dalton's throat.
Maylee swung the chain over her head and whipped it at the corpse.
The thick metal links caught the corpse in the cheek. It grunted
and stepped back, letting go of Dalton. Dalton screamed and ran
over to Maylee.

Maylee was mad now. She swung the chain
again at the corpse, this time harder. The corpse grabbed at them
and the chain whacked off two rotten fingers.

"Maylee, come on!" said Dalton, pulling her
back toward the car.

"Not yet," she said. She twirled the chain
round and round over her head. She gave it as much slack as the
tree root behind her would allow. The corpse reached for her. She
grunted and whipped the chain forward.

The chain wrapped tightly around the
corpse's arm. The corpse kept moving toward her, oblivious to the
chain.

"Shit," she said. "Okay, let's go."

They both turned and ran through the trees
toward the headlights of the car. She could hear the corpse
groaning behind her. It sounded further and further away.

Dalton, ahead of her, reached the road and
ran for the car. Maylee reached the road and turned around. The
corpse was still far behind them. It was tugging at the chain,
which was still wrapped around its arm and caught on the root.

She smiled and flipped off the corpse. Then
turned and ran back to the car.

Dalton was already inside and shutting the
passenger door. "Come on!"

Maylee flopped into the driver's seat and
slammed her door. Her window was still down and she could hear the
corpse groaning and the chain rattling.

She put the car into drive and started
forward.

As soon as they hit the bridge she heard
loud groaning and cracking. She stopped.

"Shit," she said.

"Was that the bridge?" said Dalton, looking
around.

"Yeah," said Maylee, swallowing. "Yeah it
was."

Wood cracked underneath them. She heard
something hit the river below with a splash.

"Crap, Maylee," said Dalton. "Let's go
back."

Maylee shook her head. "No, we've lost too
much time as it is. We have to get to Mom."

She eased the car forward. The bridge
creaked and shook, but held.

She eased the car to a stop and looked at
Dalton. "There, see? We'll just go slow and..."

With a groan, the bloated old man appeared
just outside Maylee's window. His arm was missing.

Dalton screamed. The corpse reached its
remaining arm into the car. Maylee fumbled with the window control,
hitting the door handle instead. The door swung open, knocking into
the corpse. The corpse's arm hooked around the door as it swung
out.

The corpse slammed into the wooden
guardrail. The rail snapped and fell away. The wood under the
driver's side rear tire gave way and the car slumped to one
side.

Both Maylee and Dalton screamed as the car
leaned out over the river. The door dangled out over the water, the
corpse hanging from it. The corpse groaned and bit up at
Maylee.

More cracking came from underneath them. The
car rocked. Dalton was still screaming.

Maylee turned in her seat and kicked down at
the corpse's head. It bit at her shoes as she slammed the soles
into the corpse's face. She grunted and kicked down as hard as she
could.

With a horrible tearing sound the corpse's
torso came free of its remaining arm. Still biting up at Maylee,
the armless corpse fell to the river below and vanished with a
splash.

The car shook as more wood fell from the
bridge. Maylee reached out over the water - willing herself not to
look down - and grabbed the door handle. She slammed the door shut.
The corpse's arm snapped as the door closed on it. The remains of
the arm bounced off the bridge and down into the water.

"Hurry!" said Dalton. Maylee heard more
cracking and groaning. Wood was falling into the water so fast
there were almost no breaks in the sound.