Lakewood Memorial

by Robert R. Best

  "Hey!" yelled Park. "As much as I love a good cat fight, we really really need to fucking get!"

  Kristen glared at Angie. She rushed her, slamming her into the wall and grabbing her hair. Angie screamed and rammed her knee into Kristen's stomach.

  * * *

  "Come the fuck on!" said Park, yelling at Angie and Kristen. Mr. Paulson watched as his daughter and Angie fought in the hallway. He could feel the heat from the cafeteria behind them, even though it was a good twenty feet.

  He said nothing, looking at Kristen's pale face. He knew the look. She was spent. It was the same look she had when she'd spent all day caring for him. The same look she had when Sam would go off by himself and do whatever the fuck it was he used to do.

  He looked at Angie as she struggled with Kristen. The bitch had almost got him killed. Maybe he was asking for it. Maybe he wanted it. He should have died years ago. Did people think he liked being a tired old man who couldn't even fucking stand up anymore? Did people think he liked sucking away at his daughter's time? He could barely get to the toilet himself anymore. How long before he had to wear a goddamned diaper and lay on the bed while his daughter changed him?

  He heard groaning come from the cafeteria. He wheeled himself around to look. Down the hallway corpses were approaching through the flames.

  He turned back to the others. They were arguing with each other.

  He started to say something, then shut his mouth. Fuck it.

  Fuck this.

  He looked one last time at Kristen. I'm sorry, he thought.

  He wheeled the chair around to face back toward the cafeteria. He pushed the controller forward and moved toward the door. The corpses were just starting to emerge.

  "Here I come, fuckers," he said. With his free hand, he reached behind himself and pulled the tube from his oxygen tank. He heard the slight hiss of the nozzle next to his ear.

  The corpses saw him coming and groaned in welcome. Mr. Paulson reached over his head and twisted the regulator open as far as it would go. The oxygen blasted him in the back of the head, the hiss of it almost drowning out the groaning of the corpses.

  "Dad?" came Kristen's voice far behind him.

  I'm sorry.

  The corpses closed in on him. He fished out his lighter, held it up to the oxygen nozzle, and lit it.

  * * *

  The explosion shook the hallway.

  "Dad!" screamed Kristen, rushing toward the fireball.

  "No!" Angie grabbed Kristen and pulled her back.

  "Let me fucking go!" Kristen screeched, struggling with Angie.

  Flames leapt across the ceiling and walls. Corpses groaned. Kristen fell to her knees, sobbing. "Dad!"

  Angie looked up ahead and her eyes grew wide. "Everybody down!"

  She and Park dropped to the floor. Angie pushed Kristen over to lay flat. "Let me go!" Kristen yelled.

  Mr. Paulson's wheelchair flew over their heads, slamming into the wall to their right. Flames from it coated the wall and shot up over their heads.

  "Come on!" yelled Park, climbing to his feet.

  "No!" yelled Kristen, reaching toward the cafeteria. All Angie could see up there were flames and the outline of corpses. "Dad!"

  Angie grabbed Kristen's shoulders and pulled her to her feet. "Come on!"

  "Dad!"

  Angie turned Kristen around and pushed her forward, down the hallway. She bent to get the jugs of alcohol. One was too close to the flames. She grabbed the one she could safely get and stood.

  "Come on!" she yelled.

  She and Park ran down the hallway, Angie dragging Kristen with them.

  Twenty-Eight

  Maylee guided the car through another bend in the road. It was a little easier than before. She was getting the hang of this. She smiled to herself. See, I'm not a kid anymore.

  Dalton was looking out his side window, watching trees speed by. He turned to her. "How much longer?"

  "Not long at all," said Maylee.

  Dalton nodded. "Okay, I'll get the bat so we won't forget it this time." He crawled around in his seat, reaching into the back.

  Maylee shot a quick look over at him, then back at the road. "Hey, your seat belt isn't on!"

  "So?"

  "Put it on right now!" Maylee turned the wheel, going through another bend.

  "I'm just getting the bat!"

  "Dammit, Dalton!" she said. She took one hand off the wheel and pushed him back into his seat. "Put it on!"

  He glared at her, then started to reach for the back seat again.

  "Now!" Maylee yelled, doing her best Mom impression. Dalton sat back in his seat, looked at Maylee, then reached for his seat belt. He put it on and stuck his tongue out at her.

  Maylee smiled and went around another corner.

  Three corpses stood in the middle of the road.

  Maylee and Dalton screamed as the headlights washed over the corpses. Maylee panicked and wrenched the wheel as far to the right as she could. The car screeched, slid down the road sideways, and flipped over.

  For a moment all Maylee knew was the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass. And Dalton screaming.

  Then her senses were too numb to know anything.

  Then, slowly, they came back. She was upside down in her seat, hanging from the seat belt. Dalton coughed next to her.

  Oh god, she thought, looking upside-down at the glass strewn across the road and smelling the burnt rubber of the tires. I am just a kid. What the hell am I doing?

  She heard the sounds of feet shuffling to her right. The corpses were coming.

  "Dalton?" she said. "Are you okay?"

  "I think so."

  Maylee fumbled with her seat belt. It detached and she fell to the top of the car. Her head banged against the ceiling. It smarted but she did her best to ignore it. The corpses were getting closer. She could hear them.

  She got up to her knees and reached across Dalton to his seat belt. He seemed to be okay.

  "Told you to wear this," she said, quietly.

  She undid the latch and caught Dalton as he slid out of his seat.

  A pair of legs appeared just outside the broken windshield.

  "Shit," she said, easing Dalton down. "We gotta get out of here."

  Moaning came from over the car. With a "pop" and the sound of flesh tearing, the corpse dropped to its knees. It was a woman in a flower-print dress. She moaned through cracked lips and reached for them.

  Maylee turned to her window just in time to see another corpse crawling toward it. It was a man covered in scrapes and cuts. He reached out, clawing at her.

  Dalton screamed from behind her. Maylee turned to see that the woman almost had him. She looked past Dalton to see his window was still shut. The car was too wrecked to even think about trying to get it open.

  "Back seat!" she yelled, pulling him into the back and clear of the reaching corpses.

  The woman at the front of the car climbed into the car after them. Her dress caught on a piece of glass, slowing her down. The woman grunted and tugged, reaching for Maylee and Dalton.

  Dalton picked up the bat and swung it at the woman's hands. Maylee kicked at the back window. The window cracked but didn't give.

  The corpse at the side window stuck its head inside. It bit and hissed at Dalton. Dalton swung the bat into the corpse's face, then back at the reaching woman. "Hurry!" he yelled.

  Maylee kicked the back window a second time. Cracks spread through the glass but the window held.

  The corpses up front and to the side reached back at them. Dalton furiously swung the bat from side to side.

  "Dammit!" Maylee yelled, kicking the back window with all her might. The window gave. The window shattered outward.

  Maylee pulled her leg back and turned to tug Dalton toward her. "Come on!"

  They both crawled for the opening in the glass. Wait, Maylee thought as they crawled, weren't there three corpses in the road?

  A rotten arm reached down from above and into the b
roken window. It caught Dalton by the hair and he screamed. Maylee could hear the corpse groaning from atop the overturned car.

  Dalton pulled free and smacked the hand with the bat, nearly hitting Maylee in the head in the process.

  "Watch it!" said Maylee.

  The woman from behind them groaned and Maylee heard glass break. They looked back and saw that she was free of the glass. She was crawling into the car.

  "Shit!" Maylee turned back to the grasping hand. She grabbed hold of it and pulled it toward her as hard as she could. The arm caught on the glass of the broken back window. Maylee tugged harder and the skin of the rotten arm tore and snapped. She fell back, the arm in her lap. She flung the arm aside and grabbed Dalton.

  "Now!" she yelled, pulling him with her. They crawled out of the car, avoiding the rotten stump where the arm had been.

  Out on the street, they stood and looked around. The car was in ruin. A corpse was atop the car, hissing at them. It had no arms. Apparently Maylee had broken off its last one.

  "Serves you right!" she said.

  "What?" said Dalton, looking around.

  "Nothing," said Maylee, taking the bat from Dalton. She slammed it down on the corpse's head. The rotten head collapsed and the corpse fell forward, still. The other two corpses were crawling around in the car.

  "Now what?" said Dalton.

  Maylee looked around. She pointed the bat toward the woods. "The hospital should be just over the hill that way. If we take a shortcut through the woods, we should still get there pretty fast."

  Dalton looked at the woods, then back at Maylee. After a few seconds, he nodded.

  Maylee frowned down at him. "Are you scared?"

  "No!" he glared at her.

  "Well I am," she said. "But let's go anyway."

  And with that they turned and ran into the woods.

  Twenty-Nine

  Angie raced down the hallway, Park and Kristen behind her. The fire alarm kept up its shrill clanging, all throughout the hospital. Smoke was coming from the hallway behind them.

  "How much further?" said Park from behind.

  "Not much," said Angie. "Just around the corner is the..."

  And she stopped.

  Park and Kristen drew to a halt behind her. "What?" said Park.

  Angie stepped around the corner. "The maternity ward."

  Park and Kristen came up beside her.

  A small room stood just to Angie's right. She stepped inside.

  "I forgot," she said, cold dread creeping over her. "I can't believe I forgot."

  A group of white hospital cribs stood in the room. The three closest ones rocked slowly from side to side.

  Park and Kristen stepped in after her. "Forgot what?" said Kristen, her voice raw and thick.

  Angie stepped over to the cribs and looked down. "The Wilson triplets."

  In the cribs lay three identical infants. All three were gray with clouded eyes. They worked their toothless mouths open and closed. They fumbled at the air around them.

  And Angie couldn't hear it over the loud and constant fire alarm, but she could tell they were moaning.

  "Shit," said Park, looking down over Angie's shoulder.

  "Oh god," said Kristen, stepping back. She put her hand over her mouth. "Oh god," she said again, muffled by her hand.

  "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 loude
r. 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.