Maylee jumped down, landing on the pavement in a kneeling position. The capybara, crazed in its rage, kept running until it hit the faux-rock wall on the other side of the walkway. There was a horrible popping sound and the capybara yelped.
Maylee watched from where she knelt. The capybara turned to face her, looking dazed and weak. Blood leaked from its forehead. It snorted thick blood from its snout.
“Oh god,” said Maylee, feeling sorry for it. The capybara fell down.
The corpses to her right were getting close.
“Maylee!” yelled Ella from just out of sight.
Maylee stood, gripping her bat in her right hand. She ran for the corner, leaving the corpses and the wounded capybara behind her.
Twelve
Angie looked around, frowning. The sky was gray, making it hard to gauge what time it was. But she felt it was getting late it the day. Could they get to the Communications Office before dark? She tried to remember the layout of the map from the night before.
“My head hurts,” said Dalton next to her. He rubbed his head and blinked in the light rain falling around them.
“Mine too, baby,” said Angie, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It's hunger, and I'm sorry we haven't found any food.”
Angie cocked her head as a faint groan reached her ears. Maybe two groans. It was too distant to be sure.
“Hear that?” said Dalton.
“Yeah,” said Angie, biting her lip. “They're far away for now, but who knows for how long. We need to find one of those map things. Double check where we're going.”
“There,” said Dalton, pointing. Angie looked. Across the way from where they stood, partially hidden by a bush, was the back of a map display.
“Shit,” said Angie. “How'd I miss that? Good job, honey.”
They trotted across the pavement, Dalton limping slightly. Angie looked left to right as they moved. No corpses emerged. They reached the display and walked around to the other side. The side the map was printed on. More groaning floated their way. Again, faint. But not quite as faint as before.
A thin layer of condensation coated the plastic of the display. Angie ran her palm up and down, then side to side, trying to clear off an area she could see clearly. Satisfied, she bent forward for a closer look.
The groans sounded again, closer than before. “Mom,” said Dalton behind her. She could hear the nervousness in his voice.
“I know,” she said, meaning to sound soothing but hearing the annoyed edge in her voice. She felt guilty but pushed it down. There was no time for that. She ran her finger along the map, locating where they were and then trying to figure out the best way to get to the Communications Office.
The rain picked up around them, sending cold streaks down the map. Angie wiped them away in frustration. The groans came again, close enough now to send tension up Angie's back. Dalton moved closer to her.
“Okay,” she said, frowning. “We still got a ways to go yet, unless...”
“Unless what?” said Dalton, looking around,
“Unless we cut through the primate exhibit,” said Angie. She pointed across from where they were. A large entranceway loomed there, a big sign next to it. Primates In Person, read the sign in large safari letters.
“But...” Dalton started.
The groans became louder, sounding like corpses were moments from stumbling into the area. Angie grabbed Dalton's hand and pulled him toward the entranceway.
“Mom,” repeated Dalton, looking around. Angie kept her eyes on the door up ahead.
“We need to hurry,” she said. “Those things are getting closer.”
They were a few feet from the stone steps leading into the exhibit. Dalton stopped walking, jerking Angie to a halt.
She turned to look down at him. “What?” she said, again feeling guilty for the edge she heard in her voice. Groans came again, so close Angie could hear the wet gurgles of the dead throats.
Dalton looked up at her. He sniffed and ran the back of his hand under his nose. “Mom,” he said. “The animals.”
Angie realized. “Oh, right. But it's okay. The monkeys are all behind that thick glass, remember? When you were little you'd bang on it, trying to get their attention. I'd yell at you, but the glass was so thick they couldn't even hear you.”
Dalton eyed the steps behind her. She could tell he was thinking of the kangaroos. Thinking of their frenzied rage.
“Remember?” said Angie.
“I...” said Dalton. He stopped when three corpses came around a corner and stumbled into the area. They jerked their stiff rotting bodies across the pavement, groaning and moving toward Angie and Dalton.
“Damn,” said Angie, pulling Dalton toward the stairs. As they ran up them, Angie worried Dalton would slip on the wet concrete. He didn't, but they weren't able to move as quickly as Angie would have wanted. The corpses groaned behind them.
They reached the last step and raced for the glass doors. Cartoon primates grinned from paintings on the glass. Angie's stomach sank when she saw the doors were automatic. They slid open with a “whoosh” sound as she stopped. She looked up at the motion sensor just above the door.
“What?” said Dalton, behind her.
Angie turned, hoping the stairs would keep the corpses away. But the steps weren't steep, and there weren't that many of them. The corpses were slow and stumbling, but they had already begun to navigate the first step. Angie knew they would eventually reach the doors.
“The doors are automatic,” said Angie. “They'll be able to follow us.”
She turned back to the door, looking up at the motion sensor. She looked back to the ground and scanned it as quickly as she could.
“Mom,” said Dalton behind her. The corpses groaned, sounding close.
“One second,” she said, finding a small rock set among some bushes close to the door. She rushed over, picking up the rock as the doors slid shut. She ran back over to the door and reared back with the rock, aiming at the sensor. The doors slid open.
“Mom!” said Dalton.
“What?” said Angie, whipping her head back at Dalton. She still had the rock poised to throw.
“If you break the thing with the door open, they'll be able to get inside.”
Angie cocked her head back at the door. The corpses groaned behind them. Angie stepped back. The doors slid shut.
“But,” said Dalton behind her, “if you break the thing with the door shut, we won't be able to get inside.”
Angie turned to Dalton, dropping her arm to her side. Dalton sniffed in the cold rain and looked up at her. Behind Dalton, the corpses had staggered their way to the second step and were working on the third.
“Dammit,” said Angie. “You may be right. Well shit.” She hurled the rock at the nearest corpse. It smacked into the corpse's forehead, splitting the skin but not enough to kill it. The corpse staggered back to the first step. The other two kept coming.
“Come on!” said Angie, grabbing Dalton's wrist and pulling him through the open doors. They slid shut behind them.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the low light. The room was hot, almost suffocating. The zoo kept the room hot for the primates. Primate body odor hit her nostrils.
“I smell the monkeys,” said Dalton.
“They're behind glass,” said Angie. “And we could always smell them before, remember? It's fine. Come on.”
Dalton looked around, nodded and stepped forward. Angie walked ahead, moving as quickly as she could while still allowing Dalton to keep up with her. As she moved she listened behind her, waiting for the moment the sliding doors opened, letting the corpses in. She waited to hear groans behind her.
A groan came, but from the front.
Angie stopped. Dalton almost ran into her back.
The groan came again. It was faint, but clearly coming from in front of them. From somewhere within the building.
“Crap,” whispered Dalton.
Angie nodded, frowning into the d
im light. The sudden switch from the wet cold outside to the oppressive heat inside was making her head swim. Her stomach churned as she realized that if the corpses behind them could get through the sliding doors, so could any others. The whole building could be full of them.
The doors behind them opened. Angie looked back to see the three corpses stumble inside. The gray overcast sky outside was brighter than the dim hallway. The three corpses were dark, stumbling silhouettes against the door.
“Dammit,” said Angie. “Come on.” She grabbed Dalton and ran, deeper into the exhibit.
Groans came from in front of them, faint but closer. Angie gripped Dalton's arm, waiting for the moment a corpse would appear in the hall in front of them. She would hold Dalton behind her, blocking him with her body. She imagined the pain as the dead mouth would bite into her and rip hunks of her free. She imagined Dalton running to safety as she bled out on the floor. She waited for the moment to come, trying hard not to slow down from fear. She had to be strong.
They stopped when they reached a split in the hallway. Angie remembered now. One way led to a balcony overlooking the large glass enclosure. The other way ran downward, winding along at the bottom of the exhibit for a closer view. The lower way also led to the out door. Two large wooden arrows, painted bright cartoon colors and bolted to the wall, indicated up and down.
Angie turned to cast a quick glance back down the hall. They'd rounded a curve in the hallway as they ran, but she could hear the corpses getting closer.
“Come on,” she said. She pulled Dalton ahead and ran for the hallway leading down.
They made it three steps when a group of corpses came into view. Their rotting smell mingled with the humid BO-filled air. They gurgled and reached for Angie and Dalton. Dalton screamed.
“Back!” yelled Angie, pushing Dalton behind her. She backed up until they were back at the spot where the two hallways split off.
The corpses were drawing nearer on both sides. A few more minutes, Angie knew, and they would be trapped. Pulled down and eaten. She looked around frantically. She didn't have a weapon. Why the hell hadn't she picked up a weapon by now?
Her eyes landed on the large wooden arrows. A small spotlight in the ceiling illuminated their bright happy paint. Angie realized they were the exact same arrows she'd seen when she and Jake first brought an infant Maylee to the zoo. She peered more closely. The wood was splintered around the bolt holding the arrows to the wall.
“Cheap piece of crap,” she said. “Thank God.”
“What?” said Dalton, sounding very nervous. The groaning corpses closed in from both sides.
“Stay close, baby,” said Angie. She stepped over to the arrows and grabbed hold of the top one.
She pulled, leaning back with the effort. The wood cracked around the bolt but the arrow held. The corpses drew closer on both sides. Dalton pressed against her.
Angie put her right foot against the wall and pulled again. The wood cracked further, grinding against the bolt. The grunts and groans around her and Dalton grew louder.
“Mom,” said Dalton. He pressed harder against Angie, clutching at her back. Angie started sweating in the muggy air inside the building. A cold realization came over her. She'd made a mistake wasting time on the arrow. She and Dalton were about to die. She'd hear him scream, yelling for help.
She pulled harder than she thought possible. Her back and shoulders strained with effort. The corpses drew in close. Dalton let out a low whine, like a frightened animal.
The wood around the bolt splintered and the arrow came free of the wall. The momentum of her pull flung her arms and the arrow outward in a wide arc. The large hunk of wood slammed across the heads of the three corpses coming up from behind. All was a blur of speed as her head whipped around, but she saw the corpses had been inches away from Dalton. The three corpses fell to one side. The far one spit dark gore onto the wall and Angie heard its neck pop.
She spun the rest of the way around to face the split in the hallway. The corpses coming up from the lower level were close.
She swung the heavy wood at the head of the nearest corpse. Its head snapped around. Angie heard the bones of its neck pop. It gurgled as it fell against the wall. Its head lolled but it still moved. She brought up the arrow to swing again.
Behind her, Dalton screamed. She spun to see the corpses, coming from behind, were righting themselves and grasping at Dalton.
Angie grabbed Dalton by the collar and pulled him past her, onto the upward-leading hallway. She knew it was a mistake. She knew the hallway was a dead end. She told herself she would beat back all the corpses. She told herself she would win and they would be able to get back onto the lower walkway. She desperately wished it was true.
She turned back to the corpses who'd followed them into the building. The frontmost one, a young woman with thick yellow fluid running from her ruptured eyes, hissed and bit at Angie. Angie jabbed the point of the arrow into the woman's eyes and shoved her backward. The woman fell back as yellow muck spattered out across the wood of the arrow.
“Mom!” yelled Dalton from behind her. She turned, calculating she only had a few seconds before the corpses coming from outside got to her. As she turned a cold hand closed on her shoulder. She screamed and pulled away, almost stumbling as she finished her turn.
The corpses coming up from below were upon her. Her face was inches from a large man with rotten teeth and oozing sores on his cheeks. He lunged and bit at her. Angie jerked her head back as the man's teeth snapped shut a fraction of an inch from her nose.
“Fuck!” she yelled, mostly to herself. She swept her leg wildly from side to side. It connected with the large man's legs. He jerked with the impact and fell to his knees. Angie slammed the point of the arrow downward, embedding it into the man's head. She twisted, feeling the wood grind into bone and pulp. The large man jerked, gurgled and slumped, still.
Dalton yelled to her right. She whipped her head around, conscious of the corpses coming up from below and how close they were. Dalton was backing away, farther up the dead-end hallway. The corpses from outside were following him, grasping and moaning. Angie thought there were more than there should have been. She cast a quick glance down the entranceway hall. More corpses had come in from outside. Raw dread gripped her. She'd made a mistake. She'd made a mistake and gotten her and her son killed.
“Dalton!” she yelled, reaching for him. A corpse coming up from below grabbed her shoulder. She screamed and spun to face them.
“Fuck off!” she yelled, kicking the corpse in the stomach. It stumbled down the hallway, toppling over the corpses behind it. The group stumbled and fell down the incline, groaning and grasping at the walls.
She turned back to reach for Dalton. The corpses had backed him farther up the hallway. Soon he would pass the end of a wall separating the two hallways. Soon he would be out of reach. She strained to the side, grabbing for his hand. “Dalton!”
Dalton saw and reached to her. He grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly, but the corpses coming in from outside were too close to allow him to get to her. Several of the corpses went down the lower hallway, pushing Angie farther down.
“Mom!” yelled Dalton. “I'm scared!” The corpses in both hallways pushed in closer, forcing them both back. Farther away from each other. The wall dividing the hallways drew near.
“I know baby, I know!” yelled Angie, clutching desperately at his hand.
“Mom!” yelled Dalton again. His hand was wet in the muggy air. Their hands began to slip apart.
“Dalton!” yelled Angie. The corpses drew closer. She could hear the ones she'd kicked down the hallway righting themselves. Her wrist hit the edge of the dividing wall.
“Mom!”
Their hands came apart and Dalton was pushed out of view.
Angie screamed in anguish. The corpses drew close, stumbling down the walkway toward her.
Bellowing in rage, she grabbed the arrow with both hands and swung it hard at the heads of
the corpses. It connected with a sharp series of quick thuds and the nearest corpses fell to one side.
“Dalton!” she yelled, starting to run up the hallway, desperate to get to her son. She stopped. There were too many corpses. She would be running to her own death. She heard Dalton screaming above her, calling for her. It broke her heart, but it didn't sound like he was in pain. Not yet.
“Shit shit shit!” she spat, whipping her head around. She felt close to tears. Her head throbbed in the muggy heat of the building. Groans came from both sides.
She gripped the wooden arrow desperately and looked front and back. The corpses in front of her were getting close. There were too many to get past by herself. No way she could get past them and back up the upward hallway to Dalton. The ones behind her were regaining their footing, struggling their way back to a standing position. If she hesitated much longer she'd be trapped.
Dalton screamed above her. He sounded farther away, behind and above her. Like he was being backed toward the balcony. A primal need gripped her. She had to follow Dalton, she had to. She turned and ran down the exit hallway, desperate to keep him above her. To keep as close to him as possible.
The corpses farther down the hallway were halfway to their feet. They looked up, groaning at Angie as she ran toward them. She didn't slow down, more conscious of Dalton's screams than their groans.
Angie reached the corpses. She was still running at full speed. The closest corpse, an old man with stringy white hair and black veins running across his cheeks, hissed at her. Angie screamed at it, more in anger than fear, and flung the arrow toward its head. The arrow, whipping round and round in the air, whacked into the forehead of the hissing corpse. Its head snapped backward, thick black fluid spraying across the ceiling of the hallway, and it fell over. Angie jumped over the prone corpse, the corpses next to the fallen one grabbing for her but missing.
She landed on the other side of the corpse. Her feet slipped and she collapsed to one knee. Pain shot up her leg but she ignored it, forcing herself to her feet, and running. She paused for a second to pick up the fallen arrow, now battered into an indistinct hunk of wood. Then she ran on, leaving the corpses groaning behind her.
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