Lakewood Memorial (20 page)

"How'd they die to begin with?" said
Park.

"Who knows," said Angie. "They've been alone
in here most of the night. Could have been anything."

"Oh god oh god oh god," Kristen kept
repeating into her hand.

"Fuck if that ain't awful," said Park
quietly.

They both looked at the babies in silence.
Smoke built up in the hall outside and the fire alarm blared.

"Come on," said Park. "Let's go."

"No," said Angie, shaking her head. "I can't
leave them like this."

Park looked at her. "They're already
dead..."

Angie snapped her gaze to Park. "Do you have
any children, Parker?"

Park looked at her for several seconds. The
alarm blared and Kristen sobbed into her hand. "Yeah," he said
finally. "Yeah I do. Haven't seem them for a long time, but
yeah."

"Could you leave them in this state?"

Park looked at the cribs, then back at
Angie. He nodded and took the rifle off his shoulder.

Angie shook her head. She felt like crying
but pushed the tears back. "No. We're almost out of bullets,
right?"

Park frowned and re-shouldered the gun.
"Yeah. Just what do you have in mind?"

Angie swallowed and popped the lid off the
remaining jug of alcohol.

"Oh god!" said Kristen from behind them.

Angie looked at Park and bit her lip. He
looked at her and sighed. "Better than just leaving them like
this."

Angie nodded and turned back to the cribs.
The babies thrashed around and kicked their gray legs. They blinked
their clouded eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered down to
them.

Then she poured the alcohol across all three
cribs. The babies showed no reaction to the splashing liquid.

She took out Park's lighter. "We are sure
they don't feel pain, right?"

"Pretty sure," said Park.

Angie took a breath and flicked the lighter
on.

"Oh god oh god oh god," said Kristen.

Angie held the flame to the edge of the
sheet hanging out of each crib. Flames quickly engulfed all three.
The babies showed no reaction. They continued to move around
slowly, chewing with their toothless mouths at nothing.

A few moments later the babies were
still.

Then they were lost in flames.

Angie turned to Park and Kristen. Park's
face was blank. Kristen was looking at her with wide, accusing
eyes.

"Let's go," said Angie, dropping the empty
jug and moving for the door.

Thirty

The woods were darker than Maylee had
anticipated. The headlights of the wrecked car were far behind them
now and the moon did little good through the thick covering of
trees. It was fall, but not enough leaves had fallen to allow much
light.

"It's dark," said Dalton, gripping Maylee's
hand. It had taken a lot for him to agree to hold it.

"I know," said Maylee, stepping over a root
and guiding Dalton around a tree. "That's why we have to stay close
to each other. If we keep walking forward we should get to the road
again soon. Right across from the hospital."

Was she sure about that? She wondered. It
was very dark and they could have so easily gotten turned around
among all the trees. At least it was quiet. No corpses could be
heard groaning.

Of course, in this dark it would only take
one.

Maylee swallowed, tried not to think about
that, and kept walking.

"How much further?" said Dalton after a few
more steps.

"Don't know yet," said Maylee. "We're still
going uphill, so a little ways yet."

"I can barely see anything." Dalton's hand
was sweaty in hers.

"I know," said Maylee, looking around and
gripping the bat with her other hand. "But once we get to the top
of the hill, we should be able to see the lights from the hospital
parking lot. That should help."

Dalton said nothing and they kept walking.
After a few seconds, Dalton stopped.

"What?" said Maylee, stopping with him.

"I heard something."

Maylee fell quiet, listening. First she
heard nothing. Then, a rustle.

"Maybe it's the wind," she whispered.

Then, a moan.

"Shit," she whispered hoarsely into the
dark. "Down!"

She dropped to her knees. Dalton dropped
down next to her.

They both listened intently. From their left
they heard moaning and rustling. The sound of something moving
through the underbrush.

"It's coming!" whispered Dalton.

"Shhh!" whispered Maylee. "We'll just let it
pass, then keep going. It won't see or hear us down here."

Wouldn't it? She wondered.
She
hoped
.

They lay in silence a few seconds longer.
The rustling grew louder. Maylee braced, waiting for the sight of
stumbling, rotten legs.

A rotten face appeared, inches from hers. It
was a corpse missing both legs, dragging itself along on its
elbows.

Maylee screamed. Dalton screamed.

The corpse hissed and reached for Maylee. It
had a rotten, slimy face and it ground yellow teeth at her. The
face was so decomposed Maylee couldn't tell what gender the thing
was.

Maylee tried to jump up but the thing
grabbed hold of her hair. Dalton leapt to his feet and started
screaming. The corpse pulled, stronger than Maylee would have
expected, and she slid across the grass and twigs toward the
corpse's rotten mouth. Maylee swung the bat in her hand, but the
angle would not let her connect with the corpse's head.

"The bat, Dalton!" she yelled, straining her
head back away from the corpse's teeth. "Get the bat!"

She heard Dalton start to move. Then he was
screaming. She heard a second corpse groaning.

"Maylee!" Dalton yelled. "There's another
one!"

"Shit," Maylee muttered to herself. The
corpse pulled harder and she slid closer to the mouth. Maylee
dropped the bat, put her hands in the dirt and dug in her fingers.
She clenched her knees and wrenched herself up. The corpse kept
hold of her hair. Maylee rose up and the corpse rose with her. The
corpse crashed into Maylee's chest and knocked her over
backward.

Maylee landed on her back, the legless
corpse on top of her. It groaned and bit at her. Maylee pushed the
corpse up and away from her. The corpse kept hold of her hair.
Maylee pushed as hard as she could. She felt her scalp strain as
the corpse pulled and tugged.

Somewhere nearby, Dalton was screaming.

Maylee glanced to her left and saw a rotting
log. A sharp broken branch jutted up from it. She put her foot up
underneath her and shoved. She rolled, still holding the corpse,
over to the log. They reached the log and Maylee rolled on top of
it, the corpse under her.

She heard a thick "chunk" noise as the
branch punctured the back of the corpse's head.

The corpse hissed and bit at her.

Maylee grunted and shoved the corpse's head
farther down. The branch shot up through the corpse's eye and
Maylee snapped her head up, avoiding the explosion of thick blood
and muck. The corpse hissed once more and slumped.

Dalton screamed to Maylee's right.

Maylee stood and ran to Dalton. Dalton was
struggling with a corpse, a fat woman with cuts and scrapes all
over her body. He was pushing her back, keeping away from her
mouth.

"Maylee!" he yelled.

"Hold on!" she screamed. She ran over to
where she had dropped the bat and snatched it up, barely breaking
her stride. She was back to Dalton and the corpse in seconds.

Screaming in fury, she swung the bat at the
corpse. The bat barely missed the top of Dalton's head and slammed
into the woman's face. She blinked and let go of Dalton. She
groaned at Maylee and reached for her.

Maylee screamed again and slammed the bat
down on the woman's head. A bloody split appeared in the woman's
face and she staggered back. Maylee let out a feral roar and rammed
the bat down again. The woman's head split and fell to either side.
Brains and blood slid down the woman's front. The woman fell over
still.

Maylee stood, panting down at the woman.

Dalton stepped over. "Maylee?"

She whipped her head over to him. "You
okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Fuck this. We're running."

She grabbed his hand and started running up
the hill. Within a few seconds they could see light coming from up
ahead.

The
hospital
, Maylee thought.
Just over the hill and across the
road.

Almost
there
.

Thirty-One

Angie stepped away from the maternity ward,
heading down the hall. Soon they would be just outside the
emergency room. Then, outside. Hopefully in time for Maylee and
Dalton.

"Hey, we gotta move," she heard Park say
behind her.

She stopped and turned. Kristen was standing
just outside the maternity ward, shaking her head and sobbing.

Angie stepped back over, sighing. "Come on,
Kristen, we have to keep moving."

"No!" she spit, flashing red wet eyes at
Angie. "I can't!"

Park sighed, looking back up the hallway.
The smoke was getting thicker and the alarm kept ringing. Even with
the alarm, Angie thought she heard groans approaching. "Look,
sweetheart, we gotta..."

"You shut up!" Kristen yelled. "Both of you!
You're both awful, awful people! Sam's dead, Dad's dead, and the
whole fucking world is dead!"

Moaning corpses rounded the corner behind
them.

Park saw them and grabbed Kristen's arm. He
started to pull her down the hallway but she wrenched away.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, putting her
hands to her head. "And someone shut off that goddamned
ringing!"

"Kristen!" Angie yelled, hoping to snap her
out of it. "Come on!"

Kristen looked at Angie
with wide eyes.
Oh shit
, Angie thought.
She's
gone
.

"The whole world is dead," Kristen said
again, quietly. Smoke billowed and the alarm clanged. The corpses
drew near.

Kristen noticed the corpses and turned. "Oh
look. Here comes the world now. All of it dead."

She stepped toward the corpses.

"Kristen, no!" yelled Angie, lunging
forward.

Park grabbed for Kristen but she pulled
away, spinning around to glare at them.

"
I said keep your hands off of me
!"
she shrieked, backing away and into the waiting arms of a
corpse.

"Sam?" she said, turning around.

But it wasn't Sam. It was a young man
wearing a t-shirt with a beer logo. And with a huge rip in both the
shirt and his chest underneath.

She screamed as the man bit into her
neck.

"No!" yelled Angie.

Kristen bucked and jerked as her blood
spewed out across the man's face. The man chewed and moaned.
Several other corpse hands closed on Kristen, pushing her
backward.

Her body bent over backward as more corpses
bit into her arms and chest. Her head fell back and Angie could see
her still blinking. Blood ran out of her mouth.

"The whole world..." Kristen said, rasping
through the hole in her throat, "...is dead."

Park ran over to Angie. Angie couldn't stop
staring. The corpses fed as the smoke billowed behind them. The
alarm clanged all around.

"Come on!" said Park, tugging on her.

Angie stared.

"I said come the fuck on!"

Angie blinked at Park, then nodded her
head.

They both turned and ran.

Thirty-Two

Angie and Park ran to the corner and
stopped. Smoke was building up. The screeching alarm drowned out
the sounds of corpses eating Kristen far behind them. The lights
flickered.

Park looked around. "Fuck. Wonder how long
we have until the power goes out completely?"

"There's a back-up generator," said Angie.
"It should kick in about a minute after the power goes out."

Park nodded.

Angie braced herself and peeked around the
corner. A few corpses were wandering just up ahead, their backs to
Angie.

She ducked back. "Got a few up ahead. How
many bullets you got left?"

"Not nearly enough."

Angie nodded, then gasped as one of the
corpses grabbed her throat from around the corner.

"Shit!" yelled Park. He pointed the rifle
right next to her ear and fired.

There was an explosion of sound, then
silence. Then a ringing. A high-pitched whine. She felt Park grab
her and pull her away from the corner. As she spun, she saw the
corpse that had grabbed her. Part of its head was exploded away. It
was sliding down the wall, still. The other corpses were coming
around the corner.

She heard Park yelling something, his voice
muffled and buried under the ringing. Then she could hear muffled
moans and the sound of the fire alarm.

Park jerked her backward and she fell into
the visitor bathroom. Park shut the door. She could hear the door
click and Park cursing, less muffled than before.

She stood and shook her head.

"Dammit!" she said, her own voice echoing in
her head. It sounded like her ears were full of cotton. "Be
careful!"

"You were damned near fucked," said Park,
leaning back against the door. "Plus, you made me waste a
bullet."

She looked at him and he smirked at her.

She smirked back and rubbed her ear. Her
hearing was returning.

"Okay," she said. "We'll need another
weapon."

Moaning and scratching came from behind the
door.