truck was too far away from the deck for him to be an immediate threat.

  "Some plan you had," said Park.

  "There were complications," said Angie.

  Maylee screamed from behind them. They turned to see a

  female corpse stumbling across the living room. She was nearly to the

  deck.

  "Whered the hell she come from?" said Angie.

  "Bedroom closet," said Maylee, backing away and holding her

  bat in front of her. She bobbed the bat up and down, waiting for the

  corpse to get closer. The deck creaked under her steps.

  "Don't do anything stupid, Maylee!" yelled Angie as the corpse

  stumbled onto the deck. It moaned at them, dragging its feet across the

  wood. It now blocked the door.

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  Maylee grunted and swung her bat hard, nearly hitting Angie in

  the head with her backswing. Angie leaned back as the tip of the bat

  whipped past. She started to fall backward off the deck. Park grabbed

  her shoulder and stopped her fall.

  "Stop it, Maylee!" yelled Angie, using Park's grip to hoist

  herself back up straight. "There's not enough room!"

  The bat smacked against the corpses temple. The corpse's head

  whipped to one side from Maylee's blow. Several rotten teeth flew from

  its mouth and clattered across the deck.

  Its head came to a stop pointed at Dalton. It groaned and took a

  shaky step toward him. Thick blood seeped from its right ear, running

  down its cheek and neck.

  "Sorry lady," said Park, stepping around Maylee and shoving

  the corpse away from Dalton. "Not today." The corpse stumbled until

  her stomach rammed into the right-hand railing. The railing shook and

  cracked. More pieces of wood fell to the parking lot. The corpse

  doubled over. A thick glob of blood fell from her mouth.

  The corpse groaned and straightened, turning toward them all.

  Dalton tried to back away, but was blocked by Angie. Angie tried to

  back up to give Dalton room, but her feet were at the edge of the deck .

  Park aimed the rifle at the corpse's head.

  "Not so close to the kids!" yelled Angie. She grabbed Dalton

  and pulled him sideways across her front. She almost fell off the deck

  doing it, but she managed to jerk him away from the corpse and Park.

  Dalton stumbled sideways into Maylee. Maylee had been

  focused on the corpse and hadn't seen him coming. She screamed in

  surprise and fell backward. Her back collided with the left-hand railing.

  It cracked. "Oww!" she yelled, nearly dropping the bat.

  Park adjusted his aim and cocked the rifle. The deck beneath

  them all creaked and groaned.

  Then it gave way.

  They all screamed as the deck fell to a forty-five degree angle

  and then stopped. The deck hung precariously, sloping downward

  toward the parking lot.

  Time seemed to slow down. Maylee and Dalton grabbed the

  left-hand railing. Park grabbed what was left of the front railing. Angie

  tipped backward, grabbing at nothing.

  Park reached out and caught her wrist. Angie jerked to a halt,

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  straining her shoulder.

  For a second they hung there, shaken and panting. Seconds

  inched by. Maylee and Dalton clung to their railing. Park had one hand

  on his railing and the other hand clutched around Angie's wrist. Angie

  had her feet on the edge of the deck. Her back bent backward, her head

  pointed toward the parking lot.

  Angie slowly looked up and saw the corpse laying on the deck

  next to Park. The corpse groaned, then slid toward Angie.

  Angie gasped and time began to speed up. "Inside!" she yelled

  as the corpse plummeted toward her.

  Dalton and Maylee scrambled off the deck and into the

  apartment. Angie leaned to one side, doing her best to avoid the falling

  corpse. Her wrist, wet with rain, slipped in Park's grip. He clutched

  tighter, his knuckles turning white.

  Moaning and reaching, the corpse bounced off Angie's shoulder

  and fell to the truck below. Angie heard the windshield shatter.

  Park grunted and pulled Angie toward him. Angie reached up

  with her free hand and grabbed the edge of the deck doorway. Time

  returned to normal.

  Then the deck broke free of the wall.

  Angie screamed and pulled herself into the apartment. Park,

  still clutching her wrist, began falling. Angie spun and grabbed Park's

  arm with both hands. She put her foot up on the door frame to brace

  herself. The deck crashed into the truck beneath Park. The side

  windows of the truck exploded, shooting glass out to either side.

  Angie's back strained. Park kicked at the wall, trying to get

  traction. The wood of the ruined deck shifted below, hunks of it falling

  away from the truck. The corpses of Uncle Bobby and the woman in

  the closet appeared underneath. Bobby's face was split from his fall and

  the woman's legs were broken. They moaned, gargling in the rain, and

  reached for Park. Their fingers scraped the bottom of his boots.

  "Shit!" Park said, kicking at the corpses and trying again and

  again to get a foothold. His boots slipped off the wet brick of the wall

  and dangled back over the corpses.

  "Hold on!" yelled Angie. She pulled as hard as she could. Park

  inched up, but not enough. And not nearly fast enough.

  "Kids!" Angie yelled. "Help!"

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  Maylee and Dalton rushed up behind her. Maylee grabbed hold

  of Park's arm. Angie felt cold sweat as Maylee's hands brushed hers

  and knew how scared Maylee was. Dalton grabbed hold of Angie's

  waist.

  Angie readjusted her foot on the inside of the door frame.

  Despite her nap in the car, she was shaking from exhaustion. Her back

  ached. Her knee burned.

  She drew in a breath. "Pull!" she yelled. She and the kids

  pulled. Park moved upward, more steadily than before. Then he

  stopped. Suddenly he seemed twice as heavy.

  Angie strained her eyes downward, not wanting to bend

  forward and lose any of the lift they had gained. "Shit!" she yelled.

  Uncle Bobby was dangling from Park's left leg. He moaned and

  bit at Park's boot.

  "Fucker!" Park yelled, kicking at Bobby with his right boot.

  Park kicked again, harder than before. The motion sent a

  shudder up his arm and into Angie, Dalton and Maylee. Maylee's grip

  slipped off. Park dropped several inches. Angie's back pulled hard and

  Dalton dug his arms into Angie's waist.

  "Shit!" yelled Park. He dropped closer to the corpses below.

  Bobby tried to bite him farther up the leg. Park's kicks were the only

  thing keeping the corpses at bay. The woman from the closet could not

  stand on her broken legs. She reached up, her bloody fingers grasping

  at Park. The legless corpse from the truck bed was climbing over the

  roof of the truck. Angie's whole body shook. She knew she couldn't

  hold on much longer.

  "Sorry!" yelled Maylee. She reached past Angie's hands and

  grabbed hold of Park's arm. "Pull!" she yelled.

  All three of them pulled. Angie's muscles ached. She strained as

  hard as she could. She pushed her foot against the door frame so hard

  the thin metal of the frame bent.

  Park gave Bobby one last hard kick to the forehead. Bobby

  grunted, blood spattering from his mouth, then let go.

  Angie and the kids heaved upward. Park rose to the lower edge

  of the doorway. He grabbed the edge, his fingernails clawing at the

  carpet, and pulled himself the rest of the way up. Maylee and Dalton let

  go. Angie let go, almost falling over backward.

  Park stood up. He spun and slammed the glass door shut. "Fuck

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  me backwards!" he said, panting into the glass.

  "You okay?" said Angie, her back and knee aching.

  "Yeah." Park nodded, then turned to look at Angie and the kids.

  "You guys okay?"

  Maylee and Dalton nodded. "Yeah," said Angie.

  Park nodded. Angie walked over to the glass and looked down.

  The truck was destroyed beyond any hope of driving.

  Park saw what she was looking at and smirked. "So much for

  the truck, I guess."

  "Looks that way," said Angie.

  They fell silent, staring at the truck. A soft scratching noise

  wafted through the apartment. Scritch-scritch-scritch.

  Angie looked around, stepping away from the glass door.

  "What is that?"

  Park looked around. Maylee and Dalton looked around. Scritch-

  scritch-scritch.

  Angie's back went taut. "Shit," she whispered "The door."

  Everyone listened intently. Scritch-scritch-scritch. The noise

  was coming from the front door. From the hallway beyond.

  Angie put a finger to her lips and slowly walked through the

  living room, toward the foyer. Park slipped the rifle off his shoulder

  and followed. Maylee and Dalton brought up the rear.

  Slowly, they all crept into the foyer. Scritch-scritch-scritch,

  went the noise behind the door. It was low, near the bottom. Angie put

  her hand on the handle and looked back at Park. Park nodded and

  readied the rifle.

  Scritch-scritch-scritch.

  Angie drew in a breath and opened the door.

  The corpse of an old woman was on her knees in the hallway.

  The woman they'd seen earlier, in the open apartment down the hall.

  She'd been eating the man's liver.

  Angie pulled back, ready to run or fight. But the corpse stayed

  where she was, scratching at the carpet just inside the door. She

  moaned, softly. There were many rings on the woman's hand. She was

  wearing an expensive-looking top and had long dangling earrings.

  Angie wondered what the old woman had been dressing up for, what

  she'd been about to do with her husband, before the death plague hit

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  and she ate his liver instead.

  "Come on, guys," said Angie, turning around and motioning for

  Maylee and Dalton to back up. "Let's go."

  She led her kids back into the living room. She sat them down

  on the couch and looked back to the foyer. Park stared down at the old

  woman. He rubbed his face with one hand, then aimed the gun down on

  her.

  He paused, then sighed.

  "That's two," he said, softly.

  Then fired.

  Five

  Ella twisted back and forth in a free chair in the

  Communications Office. The breakroom to her left was crammed full

  of Keepers, all talking nervously. Ella ignored them, trying to focus on

  the relative quiet of the room she was in. She stared at the screens, dials

  and buttons. She understood none of them. She'd never cared too. Now,

  she wished desperately she did. She wished she could use them to find

  Lori. She'd set Lori free and then they'd get out of this zoo. This place

  Gregory had built. Stepdad.

  She was still trembling. The look that teenage boy had given

  her, kneeling before the freshly-killed body of his father. The raw,

  bleak hate in his eyes.

  You're dead, bitch.

  Caleb sat a few chairs down. He clicked switch after switch,

  changing the screens to different camera views around the zoo. Every

  so often a camera would catch a visitor, sometimes whole families,

  who'd been trapped in the zoo overnight. Some huddled together, some

  argued with each other. All looked scared and angry.

  "How could we?" Caleb asked, staring at the screens. "How

  could we forget all these people?"

  "We were distracted by the things outside," said Shelley,

  leaning against a chair across the room. She chewed at her nails and

  tapped her foot. Ella thought she looked scared.

  "But what do we do now?" said Caleb, turning to face her.

  "Nothing," said Shelley, dropping her hand and glaring at him.

  "We're only making it worse. They're trapped in here? So are we. We'll

  leave well enough alone and wait all this crap out."

  Caleb shook his head and turned back to the screens. "No. We

  need to get everyone together. Pool our resources. Help. Something."

  Lee stepped up, still holding the tranquilizer rifle. "Are you

  nuts? You can't trust these people. You saw what happened."

  "Please Lee, shut up," said Caleb, gritting his teeth. He didn't

  look at Lee, but Ella saw his back tense. "I'd rather not talk with the

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  murderer right now."

  "Don't you dare!" said Lee, pacing and gripping the rifle.

  "Don't you fucking dare! He attacked us. We're Keepers, Caleb.

  Keepers stick together."

  "The man was scared, Lee."

  "The man was a bully! A goddamned bully who thought he

  could yell and threaten things into his way. He needed to be put in his

  place!"

  "I said shut up, Lee!" yelled Caleb with a force that surprised

  Ella. Caleb turned to glare at Lee. Lee fell quiet and stepped back.

  Caleb slowly turned back to the screens. He reached over and flipped a

  switch. The screens switched to cameras placed outside the zoo. Each

  one showed corpses. "Well let the cops sort it out," said Caleb after a

  moment.

  Shelley started pacing. "I doubt the cops are coming, honey."

  "Somebody, then," said Caleb. "Someone in authority."

  "We're in authority," said Lee, quietly.

  Caleb ignored him. Ella stood from her chair and stepped over

  to Caleb. She watched the corpses on the screens wander and reach at

  nothing. "How did Stepdad get in?" she said.

  "Hmm?" said Caleb, turning to face her.

  "Gregory, I mean," said Ella. "He got in the zoo after the things

  outside had surrounded us. How did he do it?"

  Caleb sighed. "He got lucky. Watch."

  Caleb turned back to the instruments. He flipped through

  cameras until he found one that only showed a small group of corpses,

  four or five at the most. Ella watched them for a moment, almost

  entranced by their jerking movements and silent chewing mouths. After

  a moment, the corpses dispersed, some distracted by something off

  screen, some just carried away by their own jerking. For maybe twenty

  seconds the street in front of the camera was empty. Then, more

  corpses stumbled into view. Some the same as before, some new.

  "See," said Caleb. "Those things just stumble around all the

  time. I sat up all last night, looking for a back door we could get out

  through."

  Ella nodded, imagining escape. The cool air on her face.

  "But," Caleb continued, "every time I'd find a place like this, a

  small break in the corpses, new ones would fill in the gap long before

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  we could have ever made it there. We'd have no way of knowing which

  doors were safe before we got to one and opened it. And even then,

  we'd maybe only have seconds to open it and get out. And once we

  were out, those things would just close in from every side."

  Ella nodded, watching the corpses.

  Caleb flipped to another camera, then back to the first one. "So

  it's almost impossible for us to get out that way. But, if you wanted to

  get in, you'd only have to hide from those things and wait for a gap.

  You could rush through one of those openings and have the door open

  and shut before they could get you."

  "So that's what Gregory did?" Ella asked.

  Caleb nodded. "Yeah."

  "How do you know for sure?"

  Caleb sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I saw it."

  "What?"

  "After your dad called last night, I went back through the

  camera recordings. I saw him sneak in with your sister."

  "I want to see it."

  "Ella, there's nothing to see."

  "I want to see it." Ella stepped closer, using her best insistent

  face. "Please."

  Caleb sighed, looking at her for several seconds. "Fine. Hold

  on."

  He spun in his chair and fiddled with some knobs and switches.

  One of the screens changed to a fast-moving blur of images. Corpses

  stumbled in and out of frame, so fast and jerky it would have been

  comical if things were different. Ella quickly realized she was seeing a

  recording from the middle of last night, going by at high speed.

  "It'll take a moment," said Caleb watching the screen.

  Ella nodded, watching the images race by. After another

  minute, a different blur rushed across the screen, toward the zoo. Caleb

  clicked something on the panel and the image froze. He clicked again