Ashton Memorial (11 page)

Angie moved on.

The rest of the hallway was quiet and all
doors were shut. They crept up to the last door on the right.
Bobby's apartment. Angie looked back down the hallway, making sure
nothing was nearby. There was nothing she could see.

Slowly, she moved her hand up the door and
gently knocked.

The door creaked and moved inward. Angie
blinked at it. The door was unlocked. Unlocked and open.

“Shit,” whispered Park,
behind her.

“Yeah,” she whispered back.
“Shit, indeed.” She looked back to the others, put a finger to her
lips, and pushed the door inward.

Angie stepped inside first. Immediately
inside the door was a small foyer, branching off in two directions.
To the left was the living room. To the right was the kitchen. It
seemed like every light in the apartment was on.

“Bobby?” she whispered,
looking around.

Dalton shuffled in the
hallway behind her. Angie held up a hand, indicating for everyone
to be quiet, and leaned toward the living room. “Bobby?” she
repeated, low and hoarse. She strained to listen.

Nothing.

She walked farther into the foyer, making
room for the others to file in behind her. Dalton first, then
Maylee, then Park. Park shut the door behind them, slowly and
quietly.

A noise came from the
kitchen. A shuffle followed by a crunch. Dalton gasped. Maylee
grabbed his shoulder. “Shh!”

“I got it,” whispered Park.
He lifted the gun over the kids' heads and moved toward the
kitchen. Angie stepped toward the living room and the kids followed
her.

The living room was cluttered, strewn with
clothes and empty food containers. Angie frowned at them. Bobby was
always a slob. The far side of the living room connected with the
kitchen and a separate hallway led to the bedroom and bathroom.
Angie heard Park moving in the kitchen.

“Park?” she
whispered.

Park walked in from the
kitchen, holding a bag of corn chips. “These fell off the
counter.”

Angie smirked.
“Figures.”

A moan came from behind her. Angie spun to
see Bobby coming toward her. His eyes were yellow and blood ran
down one side of his face.

Dalton screamed.

Park leveled the gun at
Bobby. “That's two.”

“No!” yelled Angie,
stepping back from Bobby and whipping her head at Park. “It's just
the one. Don't waste the shot.”

“Uncle Bobby!” yelled
Dalton.

“Shut up!” yelled
Maylee.

Uncle Bobby limped forward, one of his legs
broken and bent beyond human use. His fingers were caked with
something dark. He clutched at Angie but she kept backing away from
him.

“Kids,” she said. “Get into
the hallway. The bedroom or something. Shut the door.”

“Mom!” said
Maylee.

“Uncle Bobby!” said Dalton,
tears coming.

“Maylee!” snapped Angie.
She glared at Maylee, then nodded to Dalton.

Maylee looked over at Dalton. Dalton was
crying and his lip was starting to quiver.

“Get to the bedroom!” Angie
repeated. “Park and I will handle this.”

Maylee took another look at Uncle Bobby,
then reached down to grab Dalton's hand.

“Uncle Bobby,” said Dalton,
his voice breaking.

“I know,” said Maylee. “I
know. Come on. Let's check out the bedroom.” She led him out of the
room and down the hall. Angie heard the bedroom door
shut.

“You think the noise'll
bring any more?” said Park. He stepped forward and shoved the
corpse of Uncle Bobby backward, away from Angie.

“I don't know,” said Angie.
“Let's hope not. Let's just deal with him for now.”

Bobby moaned and came toward her again.
Angie stepped back, toward the kitchen.

“Bobby,” she said as she
walked backward, “I know we didn't get along before. Truth is, we
probably wouldn't be getting along now anyway. But I'm afraid I'm
going to have to bash your head open and I guess I'm a little sorry
for that.”

“Seriously?” said Park,
following behind Bobby as he and Angie stumbled into the kitchen.
The counters were cluttered with food and dirty dishes.

“Well, he is family,” said
Angie, looking around for a weapon. A heavy pan, a knife, anything.
All she found were snack foods and dishes. Bobby'd never cooked a
thing in his life, so far as Angie knew. “There's nothing to hit
him with. Damn it Bobby, why don't you have anything
heavy?”

Bobby gurgled and stumbled toward her,
clutching his crusty fingers at nothing.

“You sure I shouldn't just
shoot him?” said Park, shaking the rifle in his hand as he followed
behind Bobby.

“No,” said Angie. She
backed toward the foyer. “I've got an idea.”

* * *

Maylee led Dalton inside
Uncle Bobby's bedroom and shut the door. Dalton let go of her hand
and started pacing. Tears glistened from his cheeks. “Uncle Bobby
Uncle Bobby Uncle Bobby...”

“I know, Dalton, I know,”
said Maylee. She set her bat in the corner and walked over to grab
Dalton's shoulders. She eased him to a sitting position on the bed.
He gulped and looked up at her.

This is the first
time
, she thought.
The first time he's seen one of those things that used to be
someone he was really close to
. Then she
realized it was the first time for her, too. With the realization
came flashes of visits to Uncle Bobby. Mom didn't like him, so
visits to him had been rare. And there was a lot to do in Ashton.
They'd had fun with Uncle Bobby.

Maylee stopped herself, pushing the thoughts
down. She was being strong. She was being strong for Dalton.

“Uncle Bobby,” said
Dalton.

“I know,” said Maylee,
hugging him.

Dalton cried into her shoulder for a few
moments. His sobbing slowed. Maylee's own eyes stung but she kept
the tears from coming any further. She swallowed them.

Dalton settled down and
Maylee pulled back. She looked down at him. “You gonna be
okay?”

He nodded and sniffed.

Maylee stepped away from the bed, wiping her
own eyes. She looked around the room. It was cluttered, with
clothes on the floor. The bed was unmade. Dresser drawers sat half
open. Maylee noticed a bra hanging from one dresser handle. She
stepped over and picked it up. She showed the bra to Dalton,
raising an eyebrow in question.

Dalton shrugged and
coughed. “Maybe Uncle Bobby has a girlfriend.” He looked down.
“Had.”

Maylee nodded and put the bra back where
she'd found it. She walked past the bed, toward a large open closet
set into the far wall. It was dark inside. She leaned in and found
the chain for an overhead light. She pulled it and the closet lit
up.

A woman stood at the back of the closet,
facing the wall. She was making a sobbing noise.

“Dalton,” whispered Maylee.
“Stay there.”

She stepped into the
closet, toward the sobbing woman. “Ma'am?” she said.

“What is it, Maylee?” said
Dalton. Maylee heard him climb from the bed and come up behind
her.

“Stay back, Dalton,” said
Maylee, taking another step inside. “Ma'am?”

The woman showed no sign of hearing Maylee.
Her back and shoulders moved up and down. Low sobs echoed in the
closet.

“Ma'am,” said Maylee. “Are
you okay?” She reached out and touched the woman's
shoulder.

The woman stopped sobbing and turned. Maylee
let go. The woman's face was gray and covered in blood. She had a
hand in her mouth. It looked like it had been torn from its
original owner’s arm. She pulled the hand free, a tendon stringing
from a finger to her mouth. She pulled the tendon free and sloppily
sucked it into her mouth. She made a grunting sound as she chewed.
The sound was like sobbing.

Maylee jumped back, colliding with Dalton.
They both fell over, Maylee on top and Dalton pinned underneath
her. The woman groaned and fell forward toward Maylee. Maylee put
up her hands, hoping to block.

The woman ground her teeth together and bit
at Maylee. Maylee had one palm pressed against the woman's
forehead. It was the only thing keeping the woman's teeth from
sinking into Maylee's skin.

“Get off me, Maylee!” said
Dalton, muffled underneath her.

“Kinda busy right now,
thanks,” said Maylee. She pushed up as hard as she could, but the
woman was bigger than her. Maylee was only able to push her up an
inch or so. Not enough to escape.

“Maylee!” yelled Dalton,
squirming underneath her.

“One second!” said Maylee.
She used the inch of space her pushing had made to bend her knee
up. She folded her leg against herself, knee and shin against the
woman's chest. The woman bit and hissed, clutching at Maylee's
clothes.

Maylee grunted with effort and repeated the
motion with her other leg. She now had both knees against the
woman's chest and her hand against the woman's forehead. Dalton
writhed beneath her, trying to get free.

“Hope this works,” Maylee
muttered to herself. She let go of the woman's forehead and
extended her legs. She managed to unfold them an inch or two. The
woman balanced on top of them, biting at the air and
moaning.

Maylee looked the woman in
the yellow eye. “Thank god you're an idiot,” she said. She put her
palms flat against the floor beneath her and pushed herself up off
of Dalton. The strain on her muscles was almost unbearable. For the
first time in her life, Maylee was glad for gym class.

“Move!” she yelled to
Dalton.

Dalton squeezed himself out from under her.
Maylee's arms shook, then gave just as Dalton was free. She fell to
the floor, pain shooting across the small of her back as she
connected. The woman rocked on her knees, tipping toward her.
Maylee held up her hands, catching the woman's forehead and
blocking her. Her arms ached from her previous effort, and the
woman gained ground every second. The woman's teeth drew near.

“Get off my sister!” Dalton
yelled from somewhere behind Maylee's head. Dalton's foot flew into
view, cracking the woman across the temple. The woman groaned and
fell to one side, off of Maylee. She collided with the edge of the
closet.

Maylee scrambled to her feet and backed away
as quickly as she could without falling over. The woman groaned and
stood. Maylee and Dalton panted at the woman as she slowly moved
her head, looking at one, then the other of them.

“We need Mom,” said
Dalton.

“Nah,” said Maylee, eyeing
her bat propped against the wall. “I got this one.”

They panted and stared at the corpse a
moment longer. Maylee looked to her bat, then back at the
corpse.

She dove toward the bat. The corpse
responded to the sudden movement with a loud groan. She lunged
forward, reaching for Maylee.

“Mom!” screamed Dalton. He
ran to the door and threw it open.

“Dalton wait!” yelled
Maylee as she grabbed her bat and turned to face the
woman.

“Mom!” Dalton repeated,
running out into the hallway.

“Dammit,” said Maylee,
turning to follow.

* * *

Angie backed out of the kitchen and into the
foyer. The corpse of Uncle Bobby, groaning and clawing at nothing,
followed her. Park brought up the rear, holding the rifle but not
using it.

“So,” said Park from behind
Bobby. “This plan of yours.”

“Yeah?” said
Angie.

“Does it involve leading
him around in a circle until he falls apart?”

“Nope,” said Angie, turning
a corner and backing into the living room. She glanced quickly
behind her, seeing a large set of vertical blinds. Behind that, she
knew, was a sliding glass door. And behind that was a deck
overlooking the parking lot. “It involves that.”

She ran to the vertical blinds and tugged
down on the hanging chain nearby. The blinds opened with a loud
clacking sound. She heard Uncle Bobby moaning behind her, getting
closer. She unlocked the sliding door and pulled it open. Fall air
blew in from the parking lot.

She spun in time to see
Bobby drawing near to her. She stepped backward onto the deck. It
creaked slightly under her weight.
Cheap
piece of crap
, she thought.

Bobby staggered and lurched
after her, onto the deck. “That's right Bobby, come on,” she said.
She could see Park in the living room, stepping over to
follow.

“Mom!” yelled Dalton. He
ran screaming from the hallway and out onto the deck. Angie could
tell by his eyes he didn't really see where he was
going.

“Dalton, look out!” yelled
Angie.

Dalton blinked when he saw
Bobby. He tried to stop but was too late. With an “oof” sound, he
collided with Bobby's back. Bobby moaned and fell forward, onto
Angie.

Angie tipped over backward, her upper back
slamming into the railing of the deck. She pushed back on Bobby's
shoulders. He bit toward her arms and face, close but not
connecting. Thick drool hung from his lips, inching toward her.

“Dalton!” yelled Maylee,
running from the hallway and onto the deck. She bumped into Dalton
and they both stumbled onto the deck. The deck creaked, louder than
before.