Ashton Memorial (6 page)

Maylee winced as she took
it. “Shit, this thing is getting hot.”

“I told you,” said Dalton,
rubbing his hands on his shirt.

The door shook so hard Maylee thought it was
opening. She tensed, afraid they weren't ready yet. The door held,
but barely. Dalton squirmed behind her. Maylee watched the water on
the floor spreading from wall to wall, sink to door.

“Maylee,” said
Dalton.

“Hold on,” she said,
waiting. The heater burned her hands. She held it as loosely as she
could. The water covered the entire floor now. It kept pouring from
the sink.

“Maylee!”

“I said wait!”

The door shook and slammed open. Corpses
stumbled into the room. The one in front was a muscular man missing
one arm. Thick blood ran down his side from the stump where his arm
had been. He groaned and came for Dalton and Maylee. His feet
splashed in the water.

Maylee screamed and flung the space heater
to the floor. It hit the water and sparks shot from it. There was a
loud crackling sound and the corpses shook violently. They
convulsed and twitched. Sparks flew from the heater and from the
outlet. Dark fluid oozed from the corpses' mouths.

The outlet and heater gave out one last
spark and the room went dark. The corpses all fell into the water,
still.

For a moment Maylee panted and stared at
them. Her hands smarted. The running water in the sink was the only
sound.

“How did you know that
would work?” said Dalton.

“I didn't. I just hoped
shocking the brain would hurt them.”

Then she heard Mom screaming.

“Mom!” she yelled, leaping
from the toilet. She hit the water and nearly slid into the wall.
She stepped over the still corpses as quickly as she could and got
her bat. Behind her, Dalton jumped off the toilet.

“Come on!” she said. She
ran to Dalton and grabbed his hand. Holding the bat in the other
hand, she pulled him from the bathroom.

* * *

“Dalton!” screamed Angie as
she backed toward the car. Corpses stumbled toward her from both
sides of the gas station. “Maylee!”

Angie backed up until she met the metal of
the car. She had to get to her kids. Her insides screamed at her to
do it. But how? There were too many of them. The cold rain pounded
all around her. Corpses stumbled through it, toward her.

The lights in the gas station flickered,
then went dark. The display on the pump went out.

Angie screamed at the corpses coming for
her. She wanted to rip them apart with her bare hands. One got
close enough for Angie to reach. Angie rushed up and shoved it
backward. It moaned, reaching for her as it fell backward into the
corpses behind it.

“You bastards!” she
bellowed at the corpses. Into the rain. She felt like she was
losing her mind. She heard moans behind her and saw corpses
approaching the car from the rear.

She screamed and ran at the corpses,
stopping when she nearly tripped on the gas hose. A corpse, a woman
with a torn throat and ripped cheek, hissed at her. Angie screamed
back and pulled the nozzle from the tank. She flung the hard metal
nozzle at the corpse. The nozzle cracked against the corpse’s head
and it went down.

“Mom!” she heard from
behind her. She turned to see Maylee and Dalton run from the side
of the station. Maylee let go of Dalton's hand and started swinging
her bat.

“Maylee, no!” yelled
Angie.

* * *

Maylee rounded the corner, pulling Dalton
with her. Cold rain fell everywhere, running into her eyes. Corpses
were everywhere, their backs to Maylee. Mom was at the car. The
corpses closed in around her.

“Mom!” yelled Maylee. She
let go of Dalton's hand and gripped her bat with both hands. She
swung at the head of the nearest corpse. Its skull cracked and it
went down.

“Maylee, no!” yelled Mom,
sounding very far away through the moaning corpses and the pounding
rain.

“Maylee!” yelled Dalton
somewhere behind her.

“Stay close to me!” yelled
Maylee, swinging wildly. “We gotta get to Mom!”

Corpses turned and moaned at her. At Dalton.
Maylee swung as fast and hard as she could, but knew there were too
many. She'd made a mistake.

Maylee swung and Dalton clung to her back.
The corpses closed in.

* * *

Angie screamed in anguish as she watched the
corpses close on her children. She grabbed hold of the gas hose and
pulled the metal nozzle back to her. She ran to the front of the
car and swung the hose to her left. The nozzle connected with three
corpses' heads, one after the other. The corpses fell back.

“Maylee!” she screamed.
“Dalton!” She swung the hose to the right, knocking three more
corpses to the side. She swung the hose over her head, whirling the
nozzle round and round. The corpses groaned and tried to draw near,
but the nozzle slammed into any corpse who got close.

Angie heard a loud crash and looked to the
gas station. The large window in the front of the station exploded
outward and Park fell out into the rain.

“Park!” Angie yelled. She
swung the hose over her head round and round, keeping the corpses
at bay. “The kids!” She felt tears coming, mingling with the rain.
“The kids!”

* * *

Park fell out onto the pavement as the
window exploded around him. He'd had no time to get to the door.
The little girl climbed toward him, over the fallen shelves.

Blinking through the rain,
he saw corpses everywhere. “Fuck,” he said. Then he saw Angie
swinging the gas hose in large circles, using the nozzle to hold
the corpses off.

“Park!” she yelled through
the rain. “The kids! The kids!”

Park looked to his side and saw Maylee and
Dalton. Maylee held the corpses off with her bat but was seconds
away from losing. The corpses moved in close, too many for Maylee
to keep up with.

“Hey!” yelled Park at the
corpses. “Over here!” He yelled as loud as he could, so loud his
throat hurt.

“Hey!” he repeated, running
up and shoving the corpse nearest him. It turned and moaned at him.
It was an old man with exposed ribs and yellow, rotting
teeth.

“That's right dickhead!” he
yelled, shoving the corpse again. “More meat over here! Hey
fuckers! Over here!”

The old man moved toward him, but the others
stayed focused on Maylee and Dalton.

“Shit hell fuck!” yelled
Park. He took the rifle from his shoulder and fired once, into the
air. More of the corpses turned to face him. “That was one, you
dumb-fuck bastards! You better look! Come on!” He took a few steps
backward and they followed him.

“Get to the car!” Park
yelled to Maylee and Dalton, then ran back into the now-dark gas
station, leading the corpses with him.

* * *

Angie swung the hose round and round,
watching as a large group of corpses followed Park into the gas
station. As the group of corpses disappeared into the building,
Angie saw Maylee and Dalton. Maylee was swinging her bat and Dalton
clung to her back. They both looked unharmed.

“Maylee! Dalton!” she
yelled. “Over here!”

Maylee saw her and grabbed Dalton's hand.
They both ran for the car, rain pounding down around them.

Angie heard a moan from her left. She
looked, still swinging the hose, and saw a corpse drawing near. It
was a short man, short enough to get under the swinging nozzle.
Then Angie realized he was missing his legs from below the knee. It
hobbled toward her on raw, bleeding stumps, reaching for her and
gurgling.

Angie screamed and swung the nozzle
downward. It cracked across the corpse’s jaw, sending bloody teeth
flying. The nozzle followed through to the pavement, sending up
sparks as it slammed against it. Angie kicked the corpse back and
swung the hose back over her head.

She grunted, swinging it in a wide arc over
her head. It connected with several corpses' skulls, knocking them
aside.

Maylee and Dalton drew
near. “Duck under the hose!” Angie yelled. They did, joining her in
the circle of protection provided by the swinging hose.

“Are either of you hurt?”
Angie yelled.

“No!” yelled
Maylee.

Angie let out a relieved
sigh. “Good. Now get to the car!”

Angie backed up, swinging the hose round and
round. The kids backed up with her. Slowly, inch by inch, they made
their way to the car. Angie kept swinging, careful to keep the hose
high enough to avoid hitting the car.

“Get inside!” she yelled
when they reached it.

Maylee and Dalton ran to
the back seat and scrambled inside. Angie heard them shut the door.
She gave the hose one last swing then let it go, aiming for the
nearest corpse's head. The nozzle connected with a loud “pop” and
the corpse went down.

Angie ran to the car. She wrenched open the
driver's door and climbed inside. She slammed it shut as the
corpses closed in. Rain pounded on the hood and roof.

She started the engine and pulled the
shifter into drive. She slammed on the gas and the car shot
forward, running down several corpses.

“Mom,” said Dalton. “What
about Mr. Park?”

Angie gunned the engine and turned the
steering wheel.

* * *

Park pushed open the door to the gas station
and ran inside. The corpses behind filed in after him, moaning and
reaching. It was dark inside. The power had gone out and the storm
outside allowed for little sunlight.

He ran for the back of the room, hoping for a back
door, a window, anything. He was quickly lost in the dark.

He felt around the back wall for a door
handle. He found one but it wouldn't turn. It was locked. He heard
the corpses behind him drawing close, moaning and hissing.

A familiar hiss came from his right and he
felt a small corpse wrap itself around his leg. The girl.

“Shit!” he yelled, kicking
her free of his leg. She flew off into the dark, slamming into
something Park couldn't see. The kicking motion twisted Park around
and he stumbled to one side.

The corpses pressed
forward, backing him into a corner. He tried to bring up the rifle
but there was no room. It was dark and their fingers closed on his
clothing.
My girls
, he thought.
Gotta get to my
girls
.

Suddenly the gas station lit up red. Crimson
light from outside backlit the corpses into black groaning
shapes.

The red light focused into taillights,
racing toward the station. There was a huge crash and the wall
exploded inward. Corpses groaned and splattered as Angie's car
hurtled backward into the room. Park pressed himself against the
wall. The car flew past him.

It came to a stop with the front passenger
door nearby. It opened. Angie was leaning across from the driver's
seat, holding open the door.

“Get in!” she yelled.
“Now!”

Park raced to the car and climbed
inside.

* * *

Angie straightened back up in the driver's
seat as Park climbed into the passenger side and shut the door.

“Thanks,” he
said.

“No problem,” said Angie,
pulling the shifter into drive. “You'll just need to pay for any
trunk damage.”

She gunned the engine. The car shot forward
through the gas station. Two corpses stepped into view but were
immediately knocked aside. The car bucked and rocked over debris
and screeched its way back into the parking lot. Rain pounded onto
the windshield and roof. Angie turned on the wipers but they did
little good.

Angie spun the wheel to the right, barely
avoiding the gas pumps. Corpses pawed at the car as it raced by,
leaving bloody stains on the windows. The pounding rain quickly
washed the blood away.

“You okay?” she said,
steering the car back to the road.

“Yeah,” said Park, nodding.
He put one hand on the dashboard for support as the car swayed from
side to side, avoiding staggering corpses.

“Good,” said Angie. The car
reached the road and she banked hard onto it. The back wheels of
the car slid on the wet road and she nearly lost
control.

“Mom, look out!” said
Maylee from the back seat.

“I've got it Maylee!” she
snapped, steering the car back straight. “I told you to stay in the
car!”

She raced toward the exit. The freeway was
close now. A few cars went by through the rain, but not nearly
enough for this time of day. Angie was going close to 80 miles an
hour.

“Mom, the things are gone!
We're okay!”

Angie steered the car onto
the exit, not slowing down. “I'll decide when you're
okay!”

The car roared down the exit ramp.

“Mom!” screamed Maylee,
real fear in her voice.

Angie slammed on the brakes as a semi raced
by, inches from the car. The semi's horn bellowed in complaint. The
car's tires slid in the rain for several more seconds before coming
to a halt.

Angie opened the door and vomited onto the
street. She panted and gasped, letting the rain run over her head.
Her head spun and her body shook.

“Mom?” said
Maylee.

“What is it, Maylee?” said
Angie, still facing the pavement with the rain running down her
cheeks.