World Memorial

by Robert R. Best

  "Stop!" the man repeated.

  "Dalton," said Maylee, her voice flat on the cold air, "run when he shoots me."

  "What?"

  "When he shoots me, he'll have to cock the rifle afterwards. Run when he does."

  "Maylee..." Dalton started. She took another step.

  "Stop!" yelled the man, the rifle rattling in his hands.

  "Do it!" yelled Maylee, taking another step. "Do it! Kill me, fucker!"

  "Shut up!" said the man, the rifle still shaking. His eyes fell on Dalton. "Wait a minute...."

  "Not him!" yelled Maylee, loudly. Trying to pull the man's attention back to her. "Me! Do it!"

  Fear began to cloud her. Her resolve was fading. Her chest began thumping.

  "The boy," said the man, not taking his eyes from Dalton. "I recognize him!"

  "No you don't!" yelled Maylee. "Shoot me!" She was sweating now, despite the cold. She took another step. The man was too focused on Dalton to notice.

  "From the drawings!" yelled the man, now addressing Dalton. "You're one of the children!"

  "No he's not!" yelled Maylee. The snow fell so thick it obscured her vision. The large wet flakes were cold against her hot cheeks. She took another step. She was very close now. The man remained focused on Dalton.

  "You both need to come with me!" said the man, his voice filling with wonder. "Brother Joel will need to see you!"

  More flashes hit Maylee. Dalton torn apart in that church. Dalton screaming as the flock tore into him. The blood streaming down, hot and stinking. Dalton's shrieks as they pulled out meat and viscera.

  "Dalton!" she yelled. "Run!"

  She lunged forward, grabbing randomly at levers on the tractor. She pulled and wrenched everything she could. The tractor lurched and rolled forward. Maylee realized she'd found the brake.

  The man fell off the tractor, landing on his back, the gun skittering a few feet across the snow. The tractor rolled slowly across the field. Maylee snatched up her bat as the man climbed to his knees. Dalton ran forward to stand at her side.

  "I said run!" said Maylee, brandishing the bat.

  "Not without you!"

  The man found his gun and scrambled to pick it up. Still on his knees, he pointed it back and forth between Maylee and Dalton. "The Lord has brought you both to us!"

  More flashes. Dalton dead and pale, his guts strewn across the flock. They sang hymns as they tore into his organs with their clean, live teeth.

  Maylee ran up to the man, knocking the rifle away with the bat. He screamed, blood flying from his hand and spattering across the snow.

  "Stay the fuck away from my brother!"

  She whipped the bat down into his stomach and he doubled over, blood spilling from his mouth. He rolled onto his back as she brought the bat over her head. He held up his hands. Blood pooled across his stomach and streamed down his hand.

  "Maylee!" yelled Dalton.

  Maylee stopped mid-swing, panting down at the man. Rage pounded in her ears. Flashes of the man eating Dalton. Flashes of Zach and how he had screamed.

  The man stared up at her, wide-eyed and shaking. Maylee heard groaning and was only then aware that the corpses who had been behind the tractor had noticed them. They stumbled toward them. Maylee looked back to the man.

  She spat down at him and shoved him with her foot. He slid across the slick snow and into the corpses. The corpses groaned, falling on him, tearing and ripping at his face. He screamed as they tore free strips of flesh and shoved them into their mouths. Two men, one young and one old, grabbed ahold of each arm and pulled greedily. The man screamed as first one, then the other arm came free. Blood shot out across the snow and the man shrieked. A little girl with no eyes shoved her face into his torso. He screamed as her head bobbed deeper into him, gurgled out a spike of blood, then fell silent. The corpses tore at him silently, chewing and moaning.

  Maylee watched all of this, her chest pounding. She wanted to see it. She wanted to see all of it.

  Finally, she was done. She turned to Dalton. He stared at her.

  "We gotta move," she said.

  Twelve

  Angie stepped to the wooden table in the farmhouse's kitchen. To one side stood a small door, seldom used, that led outside. To the other side stood a worn set of French doors that opened to the living room.

  Her limp shook the old whiskey bottle in her right hand, sloshing the liquid inside.

  "I get the good stuff?" Park asked, sitting at one of the table's chairs.

  Angie snorted and twisted off the cap. "Don't get excited. It's just water. We reused the bottle." She poured water into a scratched, well-used but clean glass in front of Park.

  "Well that's all manner of suck," said Park.

  Angie poured some water for herself. She sat across from Park. "Give this crap a few more years and clean water will be more precious than booze."

  Park picked up the glass. "Got that right." He took a drink and set it down. "So is it true?"

  "Is what true?"

  "Is Dalton alive?"

  "He is. He got bitten and didn't die. I couldn't believe it."

  "Where is he now?"

  "With the doctor. Him and the other kids. They're all immune like he is. Doctor's trying to isolate a cure or something."

  Park took a sip of water. "The church fucks had a picture of Dalton. Bunch of other kids too. I assume the other kids you mentioned."

  "What do they want?"

  "Beats me. But they gave me the creeps. And I'd bet if they knew where this place was, they'd be right fucking here. Thought I should warn you."

  Lilly walked in and frowned her little face at them. Her clothes were more torn and dirty than usual and her hair was a smeared mess.

  "Lilly?" said Angie.

  "Go fuck yourself," said Lilly, walking into the room.

  "Now, Lilly," said Angie, giving a smirk across the table to Park. "You don't mean that."

  "Fuck I don't." Lilly walked to the table and stood on her toes to look over the top. "Where's dinner?"

  Angie pushed away from the table and stood. "You know it's not time yet. Why aren't you with Dr. Graham?"

  "Fuck Dr. Graham," said Lilly, easing back down to her heels. "He's a dick snorter."

  "Did any of the other kids sneak out with you?" said Angie, walking over to Lilly to inspect her. She looked unhurt.

  "Ass if I know. I'm not their fucking mom."

  Angie looked to Park. "Ignore her. She came here alone and has been through a lot..." She trailed off when she saw the bemused look on Park's face. "Well since you've found a kindred spirit, I'm going to take a quick look to see if any of the other kids are here."

  Using her cane for support, Angie walked through the French doors. The living room was empty. The wind howled outside. If the kids had left, they would have come back here. She walked back to the kitchen.

  Park was looking at Lilly, leaning back in his chair and smirking. "You go fuck yourself."

  "You go fuck yourself," said Lilly, staring back up at him.

  "You go fuck yourself."

  "You go fuck yourself."

  Lilly stopped, frowning.

  Park's smirk grew. "Gonna have to try a lot harder than that to shock me, sprout."

  Lilly smirked back at him. She left, seemingly satisfied, pushing past Angie on her way out.

  "I gotta take a shit," she said as she disappeared from the room.

  Angie watched her leave, then turned back to Park.

  Park frowned as she walked back to her chair across from him. "You got working toilets?"

  Angie shook her head as she sat. "Working chamber pots. Well, things we made into chamber pots."

  Park took another sip of water. "Cute kid."

  Angie chuckled. She looked at Park for a few seconds in silence. "So, how did you find this place?"

  "You wouldn't believe me if you saw it happen."

  Angie took a sip. "Try me."

  "I dreamed about it. I dreamed it every night an
d I recognized the landscape."

  Angie stared at him.

  "See?" said Park. "That's some crazy shit right there."

  Angie leaned in. "Park, for the past year all those children have been finding their way here. And they all say they dreamed about this place. The first one, I thought he'd just gotten lucky. A kid stumbling around in the snow dreams of a warm safe place. When he found this town, he assumed it was the place he'd dreamt of. But there's nearly a hundred of them now. And every single one says they dreamt it."

  Park snorted. "Well fuck. Add me to the list of crazy, I guess."

  "Some guards are saying you weren't alone when they first saw you."

  "Frankly, I was hoping I was hallucinating her. Said her name was Beulah."

  Angie frowned. "Beulah? The guards said she was young. ‘Beulah's’ a grandma name. Shit, a great-grandma name."

  "She implied she was older than she looked."

  "So where'd she go?"

  Park shrugged. "She vanished. Like we were in a fucking movie or something. Just poof, gone."

  "What was she doing with you?"

  "Couldn't get rid of her. She followed me the whole way, taking all manner of crazy shit."

  "Like what?"

  "Most of it was too crazy to follow. But here's the thing you should know. She claims she's going to kill a bunch of kids. I assume she also means the ones you got here."

  "And Dalton."

  Park nodded. "And Dalton."

  "How would she do it? And why?"

  "Who the fuck knows? She seems to have people set up to do it. She wanted you out of the way because she knew you wouldn’t do it. She talked about it like she could arrange it all as easy as she could take a shit. And she seems to think doing it will get rid of the walking corpses. The crazy animals, too. Save the world."

  “You think she has something to do with the church weirdoes?”

  “Nope. Said they were different. Mind you, they want to kill these children too, just for a different reason.”

  Angie leaned back in her seat, staring at Park. "You think she's just a crazy woman wandering around in the snow?"

  Park smirked. "Oh, I have no doubt she's crazy. But I saw her do some shit, Angie. Some crazy, impossible shit. But fuck, maybe I've gone crazy too. Maybe two crazy people just wandered here and she scurried off before you showed up. I just don't know."

  They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Park took a sip of water. "So you got the whole town-mamma-bear thing going on?"

  Angie chuckled. "I guess. And you've got the whole scary mountain man thing going."

  Park scratched his tangled beard. "Shaving and haircuts didn't come up on my itinerary."

  Angie set her glass down and looked at Park. Several seconds passed. "I'm sorry, Parker."

  "For what?"

  "What happened at the zoo. I told you we'd save your daughters."

  "Not your fault. You didn't eat Ella and you didn't shoot Lori."

  "I know," said Angie. "I'm still sorry."

  Park took another drink and set his glass down on the table. "You need to stop thinking you can control everything."

  "People depended on me, Park. You depended on me."

  "Don't flatter yourself. I tagged along for my own reasons."

  Angie gave a wry smile, then let it fall. "When you left you said you were going to kill yourself."

  "And I tried. Every fuckdamn day."

  "What happened?"

  "Beats me,” Park said. “It just never worked. The gun jammed, the rope broke, whatever. Something always went wrong."

  "Weird."

  "Whole fucking world is weird."

  "And getting weirder," said Angie, taking the bottle from the table. She unscrewed the cap and poured more water for her and Park, screwed the cap back on and set the bottle down.

  “So what now?” said Angie.

  “What do you mean?” said Park, sipping the water.

  “You still looking to kill yourself?”

  Park paused, considering her question. “Maybe. Who the fuck knows? For now, though, I’m sticking around.”

  “Good.”

  Park set the glass down. “Here’s the thing. This Beulah woman also said she…‘arranges’ things. Claimed she can control how shit happens. If she’s right, she could have saved my kids and didn’t. So I’m gonna help you do whatever you can to take a big shit on her grand fucking design.”

  Angie didn’t know what to do with that statement. It was too much. It was all too strange.

  Park looked at Angie for a moment. "So what happened to your leg?"

  "My leg?"

  "I saw you limping. What finally got the invincible Angela Land?"

  She smiled. "It's a funny story, actually. I—"

  Noise came from the living room: the door opening, the wind outside howling, shuffling feet, and then the door shutting. A few seconds later, Carly walked in.

  "Ms. Land," she said, looking over her clipboard, "I've got to ask you something..." She noticed Park for the first time, startled at the sight of someone else in the room. "Oh, hello."

  "Park, this is Carly," said Angie. "She helps out with the running of things here. And Carly, this is Park. He's an old friend."

  "Nice to meet you," said Carly, holding out her hand to shake.

  "Um, back at ya," said Park, taking her hand and shaking it. He looked very awkward, telling Angie he'd had very little human contact for years.

  "So what's up?" said Angie.

  "Oh yeah," said Carly, looking at her clipboard. "Lilly left after the doctor took some blood. I followed her back here as quickly as I could but the little thing’s fast."

  "She made it here fine," said Angie.

  "Good," said Carly, making a note of it on her clipboard. "So there's just one more thing. Dr. Graham was wondering when Dalton would show up. He hasn't been in all day."

  "What?" said Angie, standing.

  "Dr. Graham—"

  "I thought he was with Dr. Graham," said Angie, taking her cane and heading for the door.

  "Guess we're going out there now," said Park, standing behind her. Angie heard him pick up his rifle. Carly followed after and they all hurried into the living room. Angie stepped around the various mattresses and cots, all empty at the moment.

  "Are all the other kids with Dr. Graham?" said Angie.

  "I think," said Carly, flipping through pages. "Let me look here—"

  "Dammit, Carly, are they?"

  "Yes," said Carly, checking some papers. "Except for Lilly, they are all there."

  "Okay, thank you," said Angie, heading to the front door as quickly as her cane would allow. She heard Park follow behind her. She twisted the old, loose handle and wrenched the door open. It groaned and frigid air blasted in. Angie ignored both. She limped outside and scanned the area hurriedly, not bothering to close her coat around her.

  It was late afternoon, judging from the light. It would be dark soon. She heard movement behind her and turned. Park and Carly were walking from the house. Park was frowning. Carly looked concerned and scared.

  "Carly, go back to the medical shed and make sure the kids stay there."

  Carly nodded and headed off.

  Angie and Park watched her go, then turned back to the front. Park stepped up next to her. "So what's the plan?"

  "We look for Dalton," she said. "But don't panic and don't draw attention to it."

  Park turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you give a fuck what people think?"

  "It's complicated."

  Shouting came from the front gates. Groaning and creaking in the wind, the gates swung open. Maylee came in, bracing herself against the wind. Behind her was Dalton, bundled up and looking very shaken. Actually, they both looked shaken. Angie couldn't remember the last time Maylee had looked shaken.

  Angie headed toward the gates as fast as she could. Park followed behind. They reached each other and stopped. Groans came across the field outside. Angi
e looked to see two corpses stumbling in the snow, heading for the gate.

  "I got them," said Park, pushing past Angie, Maylee and Dalton. Maylee noticed him for the first time, frowning as he passed.

  Angie grabbed them in a combination of hug and punishment. "What the hell, you two?"

  "He followed me, Mom."

  First one, and then another shot rang out from outside the walls. Park marched back in, rifle over his shoulder. He stepped over and nodded to Maylee and Dalton.

  "Kid," he said to Maylee, then looked to Dalton. "Buddy."

  "We thought you were dead," said Dalton.

  "Believe me I tried," said Park.

  At the sound of footsteps, Angie looked over her shoulder to see Elton approaching, yet again with a group of townsfolk in tow.

  Park must have seen the way Angie looked at Elton. "I'm guessing here comes complicated," he said.

  Angie turned back to Maylee. "You couldn't come back?"

  "We had to find Zach, remember?" said Maylee. "And we were too far out."

  "So," said Elton as he drew closer, "having trouble keeping things together? What a shock."

  Park frowned at him. "Who the fuck are you?"

  Elton looked at Park, apparently noticing him for the first time. "Who the fuck are you?"

  Angie ignored Elton and focused on Maylee and Dalton. "Are you guys alright?"

  "Mom," said Dalton, "I just wanted—"

  Angie looked at him hard. "We will talk about this later." She looked back to Maylee. "Are you guys alright?"

  Maylee nodded, looking down. The shaken look returned. Angie didn't like it. "Yes, yes. But Zach—"

  Elton snorted. "More people lost?"

  Park took a step toward him. "You'd best shut up, or I'm going to take that ridiculous fucking pony tail and stick it up your pecker-hole."

  Elton looked between Angie and Park. "Who the fuck is this asshole?"

  Angie ignored him and looked back to Maylee. "What about Zach?"

  Maylee kept looking at the ground. "They ate him."

  "The corpses?"

  Maylee looked at Angie. Looked her in the eyes. And what Angie saw there shook her more than anything she could possibly say next. "No. Oh shit, Mom. I wish it had been."