and it reversed. Then it paused, showing a single frame of empty street

  just outside one of the back doors into the zoo. Ella knew corpses were

  hiding just out of frame, unseen by the camera, but the single image

  gave the impression that none of this had happened.

  Caleb turned back to face her, leaving the image frozen on the

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  screen. "Now, Ella, this is..."

  "What the hell's that?" said Lee, stepping up and gesturing at

  one of the other screens. Ella turned to look. Caleb and Shelley

  followed.

  The camera showed the outside of Zoo Bites, the zoo

  restaurant. The Keepers who manned it stood outside. A group of

  visitors surrounded them, gesturing and telling. The Keepers looked

  like they were struggling to remain calm. A few of them had already

  started yelling back.

  "Sons of bitches," said Lee. "Those sons of bitches are trying to

  take over the Bites."

  "What the hell do you mean `take over'?" said Caleb, stepping

  over to face Lee. "It's theirs as much as ours. We should be sharing

  with them."

  Lee turned to Caleb. Ella could see his eyes. They reminded her

  of a dog she'd seen once just after it was hit by a car. It had happened

  right in front of her. The dog was injured badly, injured beyond living,

  but it hung on for several minutes. And while it did, the pain in its eyes

  gave it a fury and rage Ella had never seen in a living thing before. That

  dog's eyes then were Lee's eyes now. His eyes scared her.

  "There's no sharing with those people," said Lee. "They will

  take and take unless you keep them in line. That's where we come in.

  We're Keepers. We keep." He nodded to Caleb, then turned and started

  toward the door leading out into the zoo.

  "Where the hell do you think you're going, Lee?" said Caleb.

  Lee stopped, turning back. "To stop them. To save the Bites.

  We run this zoo, not them. If we let them have their way, we'll have

  chaos, looting. More death. And you know damned good and well what

  dead bodies mean now! Are you coming to help or not?"

  Caleb sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "This is crazy.

  Shelley, help me out here. This is crazy, right?"

  Shelley held up her hands and stepped back. "Don't drag me

  into this. I say we just ride things out here. Let the outside do whatever

  the fuck it wants."

  Caleb shot her a look. "Fine. Tom, is this crazy? Tom?"

  He stopped, looking around. "Tom?"

  Ella looked around. They all looked around. Tom was nowhere

  in the room. Ella tried to remember when she last saw him. Had he

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  even been in the room this whole time?

  "Where the hell is he?" said Caleb, walking to the breakroom.

  He shook his head and turned back. "Tom?"

  "Use your thing," said Shelley, pointing to Caleb's belt.

  Caleb looked down at his belt, then pulled off a small handheld

  communicator. Like a walkie-talkie, only much more expensive-

  looking. Stepdad had been proud of those as well. He insisted Ella not

  call them walkie-talkies. They looked like walkie-talkies to Ella.

  "What's Tom's frequency?" said Caleb, turning a small dial in

  the top on the communicator.

  "957, I think," said Shelley.

  "We're wasting time," said Lee, sighing and adjusting the

  tranquilizer rifle on his shoulder.

  "Just hold on for one fucking moment, Lee," said Caleb, still

  turning the dial. He stopped and held the communicator to his mouth.

  He clicked and held down a button. "Tom? Tom? You there?"

  He released the button and they all paused, listening.

  Nothing.

  Caleb clicked the button again. "Tom? Do you hear me?" He

  released the button.

  Nothing.

  Caleb growled to himself and walked back to the bank of

  screens and dials. He switched the screen showing the Zoo Bites to

  another camera. Then another, then another. All showed different

  animals or visitors. No Tom.

  Caleb sighed and clicked quickly through camera after camera.

  Images flew by so quickly Ella barely had time to register any of them.

  Caleb stopped and slapped his palm on the panel. He lifted the

  communicator back up and clicked it. "Tom? Goddammit, Tom?" He

  released the button, sighing.

  "Nothing?" said Lee.

  "Nothing," said Caleb. "I went through all the cameras too."

  "Not all of them," said Shelley.

  "What?" said Caleb.

  "You didn't do the one right outside," said Shelley.

  "Right outside where?"

  "Right outside here. Outside this office."

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  Caleb blinked, looking back to the screens. Ella knew Shelley

  was right. There was a camera just outside the office door. They rarely

  used it. Usually it was easier to just open the door and look outside.

  "If he was right outside why wouldn't he just come in?" said

  Caleb. He turned to look at Shelley. They all fell quiet.

  "Dammit," said Lee. "Again with the time wasting. I'll just go

  open the door and see." He turned and started for the door.

  "Stop!" said Caleb, holding up a hand. Lee stopped.

  Caleb turned to the screens and put his hand on the controls for

  the camera. Lee stepped up and looked at the screens. Shelley followed.

  Ella stayed in the back but kept her eyes locked on the screens.

  Caleb clicked a control and a screen switched to the view just

  outside the building. There was the familiar walkway. There was the

  familiar large tree which the walkway had been built around.

  And a body hung by its neck from the tree.

  All four of them gasped. "Oh god," said Shelley, putting her

  hands to her mouth.

  The body rocked back and forth, swinging as wind shook the

  dry leaves of the tree.

  "Is that Tom?" said Shelley.

  "Who else would it be?" said Lee.

  "Shut the fuck up Lee or I swear to god." Caleb turned and

  headed for the door. The others followed behind him. Ella stayed at the

  back, afraid of what might happen when he opened the door.

  Caleb reached the door and put his hand on the handle. He

  paused.

  "Open it, pussy!" said Lee. Ella looked at him in surprise. Lee

  had never talked like that in his life.

  Caleb glared at Lee silently, then turned the handle. The door

  swung open.

  They all stepped outside, slowly. The cold fall air bit at them

  and a light rain was falling. It was silent except for rustling leaves and

  the slow, methodical creak of the branch the body hung from.

  It was Tom. A rope had been tied around his neck and then to

  the tree. His face was purple and bloated and saliva ran from the

  corners of his mouth. Blood ran from his nose. He hung limp and still.

  His shirt had been torn open, revealing his bare chest. Words were

  carved into his chest, crude and bleeding.

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  For Dad.

  "Those sons of bitches," said Lee. The door to the

  Communications Office opened. Other Keepers filed out, muttering

  among themselves and gasping when they saw Tom's body.

  Tom's eyes opened and his body jerked. He blinked and

  moaned down at them. His hands clutched at them. He hissed and

  gurgled.

  "Dammit Tom," said Caleb, quietly. "I don't suppose that's you

  coming to."

  Tom groaned and kicked his legs, struggling to get to them.

  Lee cocked the rifle, aimed and fired. The dart lodged in Tom's

  forehead. Tom jerked, then was still.

  Caleb looked back at Lee.

  "You see?" said Lee. "You see what I mean? These people are

  animals. We have to stop them. We have to maintain control."

  Caleb was silent for a second. "To the Bites, then."

  * * *

  Angie stepped up to the glass door and looked down into the

  parking lot. The collapse of the deck had, oddly, saved them. The noise

  they'd made in Bobby's apartment would have attracted every corpse in

  the building if the deck hadn't made a much louder noise outside. A

  good twenty to thirty corpses stumbled around the parking lot, rain

  running down their torn, rotting faces.

  Now if only we could get to the car, Angie thought, sighing and

  biting her lip. The corpses from the building were all outside, which

  was good. But they blocked the way to the car, which wasn't.

  Park stepped up beside her. "They'll probably thin out after a

  while."

  Angie nodded. "Yeah." A few stragglers had already wandered

  off, distracted by noises outside the apartment building.

  She turned away from the door and looked around the living

  room. Maylee and Dalton sat on the couch. Maylee rubbed her eyes.

  Dalton's head slowly slumped forward, then jerked up. He blinked and

  looked around, yawning. They both still wore the clothes they'd worn

  to sit at home and eat pizza with the babysitter. They were lucky they

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  were wearing shoes when the corpses attacked. It all happened so fast.

  There had been no time to prepare, no time for anything.

  Angie looked down at herself. Her hospital smock was torn,

  wet and dirty. Her whole body ached, trembling with exhaustion.

  She had to sleep. The kids had to sleep. More than just catnaps

  in the car.

  She looked at Park, who must have guessed what she was

  thinking. He nodded to her.

  Angie turned back to the kids. "Okay, guys. We're spending the

  night here."

  "Oh thank god," said Maylee, slumping back deeper into the

  couch.

  "I know how you feel," said Angie. "Let's also see if we can

  scavenge some clothes from Uncle Bobby."

  Dalton frowned. "Isn't that stealing?"

  Angie blinked. "Well, yeah, I mean, no. Not really. Bobby's

  family. And I'm sure he would have given you clothes if, well, you

  know."

  Dalton nodded, then looked down at the floor. He scratched the

  top of his head and yawned.

  "Alright then," said Angie. "Let's go."

  She led Dalton and Maylee to the bedroom. Park followed,

  leaning against the door frame and watching.

  After a quick search of dressers and the closet, they found

  suitable clothes. Angie found jeans, new socks and a T-shirt of her

  brother's that would reasonably fit. Maylee found jeans, a jacket and an

  Ashton Tigers T-shirt among Bobby's girlfriend's clothes.

  Then they discovered Bobby's girlfriend had a son. Several

  years younger than Dalton, judging by the size and content of his

  clothes, but his clothes just barely fit. Dalton wasn't happy, especially

  when Angie handed him the biggest child shirt she could find. It had a

  smiling panda bear on it and big letters reading Mommy's Big Boy.

  "Mom!" said Dalton, looking at the shirt and frowning at

  Angie. "This is a baby's shirt!"

  "What, you saying you aren't my big boy?" said Angie, smiling

  at Dalton. "Besides, if it fits, wear it. Turn it inside out if you want."

  Dalton looked at her, then sullenly back at the shirt. Park

  smirked, then pushed off the door frame. He walked back into the

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  hallway.

  "Okay, guys," said Angie. "You guys change in here and I'll go

  to the bathroom."

  "Okay," said Maylee, nodding. Dalton nodded, still glaring at

  his new shirt.

  Angie stepped into the hallway, shutting the bedroom door

  behind her.

  Angie carried her new clothes to the bathroom and set them

  down on the counter. She saw Park back in the living room, staring at

  the parking lot. She walked over to stand next to him.

  Down in the lot, the corpses had thinned out further. By

  morning most of them would be gone.

  "You guys won't be able to stay here for long," Park said, not

  taking his eyes off the corpses.

  Angie nodded. "Yeah. I figured we'd head back to Lakewood.

  If we're going to just take some house and live like squatters, we might

  as well do it in our hometown."

  Park looked over at her.

  Angie looked back. "I mean after we give you a ride to your

  ex's."

  Park nodded and looked back to the lot.

  Angie looked at him a moment longer, then turned back to look

  outside. A corpse in the parking lot dragged its broken leg behind as it

  wandered in a perpetual circle. Its ruined foot scraped the asphalt with

  each step. "How old are your girls again?" she said.

  "Fifteen," said Park.

  "Twins?"

  "Yeah."

  Angie nodded. They were both quiet for a moment. A corpse in

  the parking lot had a long split down the center of its chest. Ribs could

  be seen, stained red and black, but slowly washing clean in the rain.

  "How long since you've seen them?" said Angie.

  He snorted. "Fuck if I know. Years."

  "You know where they live?"

  "Yep. I get letters. Court papers. We got joint custody. She's

  required to let me know when she moves."

  Angie frowned at him. "You have joint custody but you never

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  used it?"

  "No," said Park, rubbing his stubble. "Never did."

  "Prick," said Angie, quietly. She looked back to the parking lot.

  "A dad shouldn't leave his kids."

  "They left me." Down in the parking lot, a corpse with no eyes

  reached around aimlessly. Its fingers landed on other corpses, clutching

  at them.

  "At first, maybe," said Angie. "You left them after." She

  walked away, leaving him at the glass door. She moved into the

  bathroom and shut the door.

  She went to the sink and turned on the water. She leaned

  forward on the counter, watching the water run into the basin. She

  cupped her hands in the water and washed her face. Straightening, she

  looked at her dripping face in the mirror. She looked tired.

  Then the weight of the last twenty-four hours hit.

  Twenty-four hours ago she was getting ready for work, and

  Maylee was complaining about Angie's insistence on using a babysitter.

  Maylee was old enough to babysit kids herself. Maylee was right, but

  Angie didn't care. Maylee and Dalton were children, and children

  needed protection. And Brooke, the babysitter, had died protecting

  them.

  Brooke, dead.

  Freeda, Angie's best friend from the hospital, dead.

  All the patients and staff, dead.

  Her brother, dead.

  Dead.

  She wiped her face with her hands and looked over at the

  shower. She sighed. She was exhausted and there was no time for

  luxuries. But she had to. Who knew when she'd get the chance again?

  She stripped as quickly as she could, tossing her hospital

  uniform to the floor. She noticed, for the first time, all the dirt, scrapes

  and flecks of blood all over her arms and torso.

  She turned on the shower as hot as she could stand. She

  climbed inside and washed herself. She moved as quickly as she could,

  but slowed down with each passing second.

  For a moment she cried.

  Then almost fell asleep standing up.

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  * * *

  It is the day before. Lori sits in the car with Mom, driving home

  to get Gregory. "What's wrong with Dad's car?" Lori asks, looking

  over at Mom.

  Mom thinks as she turns the steering wheel, then shrugs. "I

  don't think he said."

  Mom looks like something is wrong. She stares blankly at the

  road as she steers the car.

  "Are you okay, Mom?" says Lori.

  "No," says Mom.

  Later, Lori watches her mother's driving as they turn up their

  street. She observes carefully, so she will be a good driver when it's

  her turn.

  Mom sees her looking and smiles. "What?"

  Lori looks away, embarrassed. "Nothing."

  "Here we are," says Mom, drawing near to their driveway.

  Lori looks at their house as they approach. Their large front

  window is decorated for fall. Big plastic decals, shaped and colored

  like fall leaves, are carefully arranged on the glass. It looks very

  festive. The garage is open. Gregory's SUV is inside.

  Mom pulls into the driveway and pushes the shifter to park.

  "Wait here," she says, leaving the engine running. "I'll go get your

  father."

  Lori watches as Mom exits the car and shuts the door. Mom