One of the approaching corpses dropped to its knees behind the

  thin man. It was a small boy with tight leathery skin and yellow eyes.

  Dirt clung to his small frame. He snarled and bit into the thin man's

  back. The thin man sucked in a sharp, surprised breath.

  Maylee held back, watching. Ella clung to her shoulder. The

  rest of the corpses drew close to Park. Too close.

  Yelling, Maylee ran up to where Park knelt. She swung her bat

  at an old woman with loose, slimy cheeks. Her head exploded into the

  rain, spreading wet glop across the pavement.

  Park stood. The thin man screamed and clutched at the corpse

  behind him.

  "We gotta go," said Maylee.

  "You're telling me?" said Park.

  They both ran over to Ella. She was staring at the corpses. And

  at the two men as the corpses ripped them apart. The first corpse had

  moved to the fat man's stomach and was pulling loose what looked like

  a liver. The thin man bucked, trying to reach the child on his back.

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  Blood poured from his mouth, mixing with the rain running down his

  cheeks.

  "Come on," said Park, reaching down to grab Ella's hand. Ella

  snapped out of her staring and jerked away. Park looked confused.

  Ella stared at him briefly, then nodded at the mob of corpses. At

  the corner they were coming around. "That's the way we have to go."

  "Fuck," spat Park. "The only way?"

  Ella nodded. "Pretty much."

  "I'm so fucking happy about that," said Park.

  The group of corpses finished coming around the corner.

  Maylee guessed there were fourteen, counting the two eating the two

  men. She glanced down to see the small boy bite into the thin man's

  forehead and wrench free a red strip of skin. The boy chewed, his small

  cheeks bulging.

  Park gripped the handle of his knife and looked back and forth

  between the different corpses. He glanced over at Maylee. "I think I

  might need your help, kid."

  "You kidding me?" said Maylee, clanging her bat on the

  ground then holding it up and beside her head, like a baseball player.

  "I've been doing this for days now."

  Park smirked. "Your mom would kill me for letting you near

  them."

  "So don't tell her."

  "I've never fought any," said Ella, behind them.

  "That's fine, Ella," said Park.

  "I don't think I'd be very good," said Ella.

  "Don't worry about it," said Park.

  "Maybe if I had a gun?"

  "No one's giving you a gun, Ella," said Park.

  A corpse stumbled past the bodies of the two men, heading for

  Maylee, Park and Ella. It was a gangly old man, his withered arms

  working up and down like claws on a pale, dry insect.

  "I got this one," said Maylee, stepping up and readying herself.

  Park stepped in front of her. "Oh no. I said I might need your

  help. Not the other way around."

  He moved toward the old man, knife ready. A second corpse, a

  short woman with red hair and a gaping hole torn in her chest, came up

  behind the old man. Maylee could see part of her dead heart sticking

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  through the hole.

  "Fine," she said, moving toward the woman while Park was

  occupied with the old man. "I got this one."

  Park reached the old man first. The old man noticed Park

  approaching and moaned, opening his mouth to reveal a swollen, gray

  tongue. It reached for him, like a child eager for an approaching treat.

  Park brought up his knife and shoved it deep into the old man's

  forehead. The old man blinked and gurgled, dark fluid spilling from his

  mouth. Park put his free palm on the handle of the knife and pushed

  upward, toward the top of the man's head. The skull cracked as the

  blade ground upward. The old man slumped and was still. Park

  wrenched the knife free and the old man fell over backward.

  At the same moment, Maylee reached the woman with a hole in

  her chest. She swung the bat into the woman's sternum. Bone shattered

  and the bat smashed into the exposed heart. The woman staggered

  back, hissing and grasping at Maylee. Maylee brought the bat up and

  slammed downward on the woman's head.

  The bat crunched down into the woman's skull. She jerked as

  her forehead split. A thin line of fluid seeped out, running down her

  face. The woman hissed, more weakly than before.

  Maylee brought the bat around and smashed the woman across

  the temple. The woman's head crumpled in on one side, forcing more

  fluid out of the split down the woman's forehead. A thick glop

  splattered out after the fluid. The woman stopped hissing and fell over.

  Maylee stepped back, gripping her bat and scanning the

  approaching corpses. She counted twelve remaining. She gauged how

  close they were to reaching Ella, Park and herself.

  She glanced over at Park, who had also fallen back. She could

  tell from his face that he had made similar calculations. "This ain't

  gonna work," he said. "We're either gonna have to run or do something

  faster."

  Maylee nodded, looking around for any ideas.

  Two corpses stumbled against the bodies of the two men, which

  by now had been completely torn open. Red and gray organs were

  splayed out. Rain pattered down on them, streaking red across the

  pavement. The little boy corpse lifted a rope of intestines to his mouth

  and gnawed on it.

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  The two corpses who had stumbled into the men grunted and

  noticed the freshly torn bodies below them. They reached down,

  toppling to their knees and grabbing. They pulled meat and organs into

  their mouths and chewed.

  "I just got an idea," said Park.

  "Me too," said Maylee. "And it's gross."

  "Whatcha gonna do?" said Park. He stuck the knife back in his

  pocket and ran to the bodies of the two men. The now four corpses on

  the ground ignored him, engrossed in eating.

  He knelt down and grabbed an organ that had fallen several

  inches from the bodies. It was a gray-red hunk of meat Maylee couldn't

  identify. He stood, frowning.

  "Goddammit," he said. "Fuck my grandpa with a spoon, this is

  gross." He hauled back and flung the organ into the approaching group

  of corpses. It slapped against the chest of a middle-aged woman

  missing an arm and with two scab-crusted gouges across her face. The

  organ distracted both her and another corpse. They both fell on the

  organ, biting and pulling on it.

  "Mega gross," said Ella. "Plus, I can't believe it worked."

  "Good thing these things are stupid," said Park.

  Maylee rushed over and started to reach for an organ.

  "Whoa!" said Park, holding her back with his left hand while he

  tried to wipe his right clean. "Don't get too close. They're not that

  stupid."

  A young man with a dark hole in his throat drew close and

  came at Park. Park pulled his knife but only got it halfway up before

  the man grabbed him.

  "Look out!" yelled Maylee. She and Ella moved to help.

  "I got this!" yelled Park, struggling with the young man. "Just

  distract more of those fuckers!"

  Maylee frowned. The approaching corpses were too close to

  reach another organ. There were ten left undistracted, counting the one

  fighting Park. Not yet enough to get past.

  Ella ran up. "What can I do?"

  "Shit," said Maylee. "Here, hold my arm."

  Ella did and Maylee leaned out, holding her bat outward with

  her free hand.

  "The fuck you doing?" yelled Park, still struggling with the

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  young man.

  Maylee ignored him and stuck the end of the bat into the pile of

  meat, blood and organs. She leaned until she felt the bat touch

  pavement.

  "Yeah," said Ella behind her. "What are you doing?"

  "Pull!" yelled Maylee. Ella pulled on her arm and Maylee

  leaned back up, dragging the bat along the ground toward her.

  "And dammit!" she yelled as she saw the bat had snagged a

  loop of intestines and not a free organ.

  "Again?" yelled Ella. Park was still struggling with the young

  man. He was holding him back with one hand and trying to bring up

  the knife to strike with the other.

  Maylee looked at the corpses. The remaining undistracted ones

  were drawing closer. "No time."

  She dragged the bat along the ground, pulling the loop of

  intestines toward her and Ella. Either end of the loop ran back to the

  stomach of the thin man's body. He jerked slightly with each tug.

  "Gross gross gross gross!" yelled Ella as the intestines scraped

  along the concrete. Bits of intestines broke off, stuck to rough spots in

  the pavement.

  "I know," said Maylee. The intestine was close enough for her

  to lean forward without Ella's help. She shook her hand free of Ella's

  grip and twisted the bat around until the intestines had looped over the

  top of it.

  "What are you doing?" asked Ella.

  "No idea," said Maylee. She whipped the bat upward. The

  intestines flew up into the air in front of her and Ella. Maylee gripped

  the bat with both hands and brought it up over her shoulder. She

  watched as the intestines arced and started to fall.

  No way in hell this'll work, she thought. As the intestines fell in

  front of her, she swung.

  The bat hit the coil of intestines square on. With a solid

  squelching "thwack" the intestines flew back toward the approaching

  corpses. It draped over four of them, smearing red glistening slime over

  their rotting clothes and bodies. The four corpses lost interest in

  Maylee, Ella and Park and turned on the intestines. They clawed at it,

  shoving it greedily into their gnawing mouths.

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  "Shit," said Maylee, lowering the bat. "I can't believe that

  worked."

  "Me either," said Ella.

  They turned to Park to see him pulling his knife from the

  temple of the young man. He rocked the knife up and down, then

  wrenched it free. The young man slumped, dragging his rotting hands

  across Park's torso. He crumpled on the ground and was still.

  Park turned to look at the corpses. The four Maylee had

  distracted were chewing furiously at the intestines. He looked to

  Maylee and nodded in approval.

  "Damn straight," said Maylee.

  He stepped quickly back over to her and Ella. "What's that

  leave? Two?"

  Maylee looked. Of all the corpses, only two seemed to still care

  about getting to them. "Yeah."

  "I think we can handle two. Let's move."

  The two corpses broke free of the group and came at them.

  One, a thin gangly woman with thick curly hair, came at Park. The

  other, a chubby older man with a gray mustache and no lips, came at

  Maylee.

  Park stood in front of the woman, shifting his weight from one

  foot to the other. Like he was looking for an opening. The woman

  lunged at him. He ducked to one side, grabbing her by one of her

  outstretched arms. He pulled the woman to him, holding the knife out

  and toward her head. She fell forward, driving the blade into one of her

  yellow, pus-filled eyes. The woman growled and gurgled.

  Park grunted and pushed the knife in farther, twisting. The

  woman convulsed, then was still.

  Maylee ran at the chubby older man, screaming. He chattered

  his lipless teeth under his blood-crusted mustache. She swung her bat

  around from her side, smashing it into the corpse's mouth. His jaws

  collapsed and he fell backward, gurgling and choking on his own teeth.

  Maylee brought her bat around the other way, throwing her

  back into the blow. She whacked the corpse across the side of the head.

  It jerked to one side, neck breaking and skull crumpling. It kept falling

  over sideways and was still.

  "Go!" Park yelled and they ran for the opening the two fallen

  corpses had left. It was a small strip of pavement between the walkway

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  and the capybara exhibit to the left.

  They stopped running when they realized what a small opening

  it was.

  "Shit," said Park, looking at the corpses feeding, then back at

  the opening. Maylee followed his gaze. They would have to move

  single file. And pass very close to the corpses.

  "Should we kill a few more?" said Maylee.

  "No," said Park. "Don't want to call attention to ourselves.

  They seem so happy."

  Maylee smirked. The corpses tore and chewed at the two men.

  Soon they would run out of meat. Or they would want to move on to

  something fresher.

  "Okay," said Park. "I'll go first. Take my hand." He held it out

  for Ella.

  Ella took it, frowning at the feeding corpses. "I knew they were

  doing that, but..."

  Maylee looked at Ella and remembered seeing corpses feed on

  Brooke, the babysitter Mom had insisted on the night the world ended.

  Remembered the cold, deadening shock of it. The feeling of nauseous

  imbalance.

  "But it's different seeing it," said Maylee.

  Ella nodded.

  "We going?" said Park.

  Ella sniffed and nodded again. She reached out for Maylee's

  hand and took it. Park stepped slowly toward the opening. Ella

  followed and Maylee went last.

  Park pressed his back against the fence and slowly inched past

  the feeding corpses. The corpses grunted and chewed. The capybara

  snorted and stomped its feet on the ground.

  "Keep it down, fucker," muttered Park.

  "Tara," said Ella next to him. She pressed her back against the

  fence, trying to get as far as possible from the corpses. They tore free

  hunks of flesh and gnashed their teeth, grunting in ecstasy. The

  capybara snorted and huffed, angered by Parks and Ella's proximity.

  "Keep it down, Tara," said Park. He reached the end of the

  opening and stepped out behind the corpses. He kept hold of Ella's

  hand and led her along the fence. Ella pulled at Maylee's hand and

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  Maylee moved into the opening.

  She put her back against the fence and slowly slid along,

  sidestepping past the corpses. Blood and meat trailed from their

  mouths. Grunting and the sound of smacking lips filled the air.

  The capybara behind her snorted angrily. It stamped its feet and

  butted its head against the fence. It did it again, hard enough that

  Maylee felt the wooden fence bow against the small of her back.

  "She's never like this," said Ella. Her hand was wet and

  slippery in Maylee's. "None of the animals are ever like this."

  The capybara gave a loud snort. Maylee heard it turn around

  and run away from the fence. She kept inching past the corpses, hoping

  she was wrong about what was coming.

  She wasn't. With a frenzy of huffing and stamping feet, the

  capybara ran back to the fence and rammed it. The impact of the

  capybara's head with the wood echoed around the area.

  "Shit," said Maylee, slamming her back against the fence. The

  corpses grunted more loudly, slowing their eating.

  "Hurry," said Ella, hurrying along next to her.

  The capybara rammed the fence again, more loudly than before.

  The corpses slowed their eating further, blinking their clouded eyes and

  moaning.

  Maylee moved along as quickly as she could while still

  remaining silent. She couldnt risk drawing any more attention.

  The capybara huffed in frustration and ran away from the fence.

  Maylee sucked in her breath, waiting for the impact. But none came.

  From what she could hear, the capybara was running in circles,

  grunting and growling. The corpses grunted and resumed eating, still

  unaware of Maylee's presence. Maylee let out her breath, chest

  pounding. She kept inching along, about halfway through the opening.

  Then what was left of the dead men sat up and moaned. The

  corpses that had been eating them lost interest suddenly, like a switch

  had been flipped. Maylee felt cold as she realized she'd never seen

  moving corpses attempt to eat each other.

  The corpses looked around, already starting to climb back to

  their feet. Their unsteady gazes fell on Maylee. They groaned.

  "Oh shit," said Maylee.

  The closest corpse, a man with dark black veins showing

  beneath his gray skin, reached for her. She kicked at him, leaning back