an infant Maylee to the zoo. She peered more closely. The wood was

  splintered around the bolt holding the arrows to the wall.

  "Cheap piece of crap," she said. "Thank God."

  "What?" said Dalton, sounding very nervous. The groaning

  corpses closed in from both sides.

  "Stay close, baby," said Angie. She stepped over to the arrows

  and grabbed hold of the top one.

  She pulled, leaning back with the effort. The wood cracked

  around the bolt but the arrow held. The corpses drew closer on both

  sides. Dalton pressed against her.

  Angie put her right foot against the wall and pulled again. The

  wood cracked further, grinding against the bolt. The grunts and groans

  Ashton Memorial

  203

  around her and Dalton grew louder.

  "Mom," said Dalton. He pressed harder against Angie,

  clutching at her back. Angie started sweating in the muggy air inside

  the building. A cold realization came over her. She'd made a mistake

  wasting time on the arrow. She and Dalton were about to die. She'd

  hear him scream, yelling for help.

  She pulled harder than she thought possible. Her back and

  shoulders strained with effort. The corpses drew in close. Dalton let out

  a low whine, like a frightened animal.

  The wood around the bolt splintered and the arrow came free of

  the wall. The momentum of her pull flung her arms and the arrow

  outward in a wide arc. The large hunk of wood slammed across the

  heads of the three corpses coming up from behind. All was a blur of

  speed as her head whipped around, but she saw the corpses had been

  inches away from Dalton. The three corpses fell to one side. The far

  one spit dark gore onto the wall and Angie heard its neck pop.

  She spun the rest of the way around to face the split in the

  hallway. The corpses coming up from the lower level were close.

  She swung the heavy wood at the head of the nearest corpse. Its

  head snapped around. Angie heard the bones of its neck pop. It gurgled

  as it fell against the wall. Its head lolled but it still moved. She brought

  up the arrow to swing again.

  Behind her, Dalton screamed. She spun to see the corpses,

  coming from behind, were righting themselves and grasping at Dalton.

  Angie grabbed Dalton by the collar and pulled him past her,

  onto the upward-leading hallway. She knew it was a mistake. She knew

  the hallway was a dead end. She told herself she would beat back all

  the corpses. She told herself she would win and they would be able to

  get back onto the lower walkway. She desperately wished it was true.

  She turned back to the corpses who'd followed them into the

  building. The frontmost one, a young woman with thick yellow fluid

  running from her ruptured eyes, hissed and bit at Angie. Angie jabbed

  the point of the arrow into the woman's eyes and shoved her backward.

  The woman fell back as yellow muck spattered out across the wood of

  the arrow.

  "Mom!" yelled Dalton from behind her. She turned, calculating

  she only had a few seconds before the corpses coming from outside got

  Robert R. Best

  204

  to her. As she turned a cold hand closed on her shoulder. She screamed

  and pulled away, almost stumbling as she finished her turn.

  The corpses coming up from below were upon her. Her face

  was inches from a large man with rotten teeth and oozing sores on his

  cheeks. He lunged and bit at her. Angie jerked her head back as the

  man's teeth snapped shut a fraction of an inch from her nose.

  "Fuck!" she yelled, mostly to herself. She swept her leg wildly

  from side to side. It connected with the large man's legs. He jerked with

  the impact and fell to his knees. Angie slammed the point of the arrow

  downward, embedding it into the man's head. She twisted, feeling the

  wood grind into bone and pulp. The large man jerked, gurgled and

  slumped, still.

  Dalton yelled to her right. She whipped her head around,

  conscious of the corpses coming up from below and how close they

  were. Dalton was backing away, farther up the dead-end hallway. The

  corpses from outside were following him, grasping and moaning. Angie

  thought there were more than there should have been. She cast a quick

  glance down the entranceway hall. More corpses had come in from

  outside. Raw dread gripped her. She'd made a mistake. She'd made a

  mistake and gotten her and her son killed.

  "Dalton!" she yelled, reaching for him. A corpse coming up

  from below grabbed her shoulder. She screamed and spun to face them.

  "Fuck off!" she yelled, kicking the corpse in the stomach. It

  stumbled down the hallway, toppling over the corpses behind it. The

  group stumbled and fell down the incline, groaning and grasping at the

  walls.

  She turned back to reach for Dalton. The corpses had backed

  him farther up the hallway. Soon he would pass the end of a wall

  separating the two hallways. Soon he would be out of reach. She

  strained to the side, grabbing for his hand. "Dalton!"

  Dalton saw and reached to her. He grabbed her hand and

  gripped it tightly, but the corpses coming in from outside were too

  close to allow him to get to her. Several of the corpses went down the

  lower hallway, pushing Angie farther down.

  "Mom!" yelled Dalton. "I'm scared!" The corpses in both

  hallways pushed in closer, forcing them both back. Farther away from

  each other. The wall dividing the hallways drew near.

  "I know baby, I know!" yelled Angie, clutching desperately at

  Ashton Memorial

  205

  his hand.

  "Mom!" yelled Dalton again. His hand was wet in the muggy

  air. Their hands began to slip apart.

  "Dalton!" yelled Angie. The corpses drew closer. She could

  hear the ones she'd kicked down the hallway righting themselves. Her

  wrist hit the edge of the dividing wall.

  "Mom!"

  Their hands came apart and Dalton was pushed out of view.

  Angie screamed in anguish. The corpses drew close, stumbling

  down the walkway toward her.

  Bellowing in rage, she grabbed the arrow with both hands and

  swung it hard at the heads of the corpses. It connected with a sharp

  series of quick thuds and the nearest corpses fell to one side.

  "Dalton!" she yelled, starting to run up the hallway, desperate

  to get to her son. She stopped. There were too many corpses. She

  would be running to her own death. She heard Dalton screaming above

  her, calling for her. It broke her heart, but it didn't sound like he was in

  pain. Not yet.

  "Shit shit shit!" she spat, whipping her head around. She felt

  close to tears. Her head throbbed in the muggy heat of the building.

  Groans came from both sides.

  She gripped the wooden arrow desperately and looked front and

  back. The corpses in front of her were getting close. There were too

  many to get past by herself. No way she could get past them and back

  up the upward hallway to Dalton. The ones behind her were regaining

  their footing, struggling their way back to a standing position. If she

  hesitated much longer she'd be trapped.

  Dalton screamed above her. He sounded farther away, behind

  and above her. Like he was being backed toward the balcony. A primal

  need gripped her. She had to follow Dalton, she had to. She turned and

  ran down the exit hallway, desperate to keep him above her. To keep as

  close to him as possible.

  The corpses farther down the hallway were halfway to their

  feet. They looked up, groaning at Angie as she ran toward them. She

  didn't slow down, more conscious of Dalton's screams than their

  groans.

  Angie reached the corpses. She was still running at full speed.

  Robert R. Best

  206

  The closest corpse, an old man with stringy white hair and black veins

  running across his cheeks, hissed at her. Angie screamed at it, more in

  anger than fear, and flung the arrow toward its head. The arrow,

  whipping round and round in the air, whacked into the forehead of the

  hissing corpse. Its head snapped backward, thick black fluid spraying

  across the ceiling of the hallway, and it fell over. Angie jumped over

  the prone corpse, the corpses next to the fallen one grabbing for her but

  missing.

  She landed on the other side of the corpse. Her feet slipped and

  she collapsed to one knee. Pain shot up her leg but she ignored it,

  forcing herself to her feet, and running. She paused for a second to pick

  up the fallen arrow, now battered into an indistinct hunk of wood. Then

  she ran on, leaving the corpses groaning behind her.

  She ran until the roof above her ended and she stumbled out

  into the main room. A huge glass wall was to her right, the primate

  exhibit behind it. She didn't have time to look, but she knew the room

  was full of faux-trees and ledges, with ropes and sticks and various

  things for the apes to play on. Dalton had loved this exhibit once.

  Dalton screamed above her. Angie whirled around and looked

  up. Dalton was on the overlook that hung out over the viewing area.

  His back was to a small wall that kept guests from falling. He was

  kicking at corpses that groaned and grabbed at him.

  "Dalton!" Angie yelled. A flash of light blinded her for a

  moment, then was gone. Angie blinked in confusion, straining to see

  Dalton. A light hung in the ceiling just above him, glaring in Angie's

  eyes as he moved.

  He didn't hear her, straining and kicking at the corpses. The

  corpses seemed to be farther back than before.

  "Dalton!" Angie yelled again, squinting through the glare. It

  wasn't as bright as the first flash, but she desperately wished she could

  get a better view.

  He spun around and looked down. "Mom! I'm stuck!"

  Angie, terrified she was being ridiculous, terrified she was

  making a huge mistake, held her arms out and up. "Hurry, baby!

  Jump!"

  Dalton looked back at the corpses drawing closer behind him,

  then back down at her. "What?"

  "I'm sorry honey," said Angie. She squinted in the glare of the

  Ashton Memorial

  207

  light above Dalton. His silhouette was fuzzy against it. "There's no

  other way," she said. "Jump!"

  Dalton looked back, then down at her. He looked scared. It

  broke Angie's heart. She almost stopped, almost reconsidered.

  Then the corpses drew up right behind him.

  "Hurry!" she yelled. "Jump!"

  Dalton took a quick glance back over his shoulder. The corpses

  leaned in to bite. Dalton screamed, climbed over the wall, and jumped.

  For a panicked second, Angie stared into the light, trying to

  position herself to catch her falling son. It seemed like forever.

  Then he was in her arms and she was straining to slow him

  down. Her back ached and she almost fell forward, but he settled and

  she straightened.

  For a moment they stood clutching each other. Dalton clung to

  her like a baby. He was heavy but Angie couldn't bring herself to put

  him down.

  "You okay?" she said.

  "I think so."

  "Okay, we gotta..." then a muffled "whump" came from

  Angie's left. It startled her so much she stumbled to the right, almost

  dropping Dalton. He jumped from her arms and landed awkwardly,

  bent over and looking around.

  Angie backed away from the source of the sound, first only

  seeing a dark shape against the glass. Then her panicked mind settled

  and the shape resolved into a chimpanzee. It glared at her through the

  glass and pounded a hairy fist against the barrier. It screeched at her.

  The sound was muffled by the thick glass but still very audible. Angie

  remembered how a young Dalton would bang on the glass and the

  chimpanzees wouldn't be able to hear it. She wondered how loud the

  chimpanzee must be screeching for the sound to come through.

  "Crap," said Dalton. He ran back over to her.

  "Its okay," said Angie, forcing herself to calm down but not

  taking her eyes off the chimpanzee. "The glass is too thick."

  A blur of movement caught Angie's eye. A second chimpanzee

  was running across the exhibit, toward them. It frothed and banged its

  arms angrily on the ground. It reached the glass and pounded at it,

  screeching. It seemed to aggravate the first chimpanzee further. They

  Robert R. Best

  208

  both screeched and pounded. Frustrated, the second chimpanzee ran

  over to a large tire swing hanging from one of the faux-trees. It grabbed

  the tire and, screeching in rage, ripped the tire from the rope that held

  it. The thick rope frayed and snapped away from the tire as the

  chimpanzee ran back to the glass, carrying the tire with it. Screeching

  in anger, it flung the huge tire at the glass.

  Dalton jumped back and Angie flinched as the tire slammed

  into the glass. The noise reverberated around the exhibit. The

  chimpanzees bellowed in rage and pounded on the glass. Moans came

  from both ends of the hallway.

  "Crap," said Dalton.

  "It's the noise," said Angie. "It's attracting them."

  "Think we can get the monkeys to stop?"

  "Doubtful," said Angie, picking up the arrow from where she

  had dropped it. "Just stay close to me."

  Dalton did as corpses emerged from both ends of the hall. They

  staggered toward Angie and Dalton, working their dead jaws and

  groaning.

  One corpse, a middle-aged man in a torn suit with a deep gouge

  running down one cheek, drew close and reached for them. Angie

  grunted and slammed the point of the arrow into the corpse's face. The

  corpse groaned and fell back.

  "Duck!" she yelled to Dalton as she whipped around, swinging

  the arrow around behind her. The arrow slammed across the heads of

  the corpses approaching from behind, knocking them back.

  The chimpanzees behind the glass were furious. The two that

  had already appeared were pounding on the glass, the sound echoing

  around them. A third chimpanzee appeared, slamming its massive arms

  into its chest and shrieking. It tore a branch from a tree and ran to the

  glass. It whacked the branch against the glass, pounding again and

  again until the branch broke. The first two chimpanzees' hands grew

  bloody as they pounded. One started biting at the glass, so hard its teeth

  chipped.

  "Mom," said Dalton, looking at them.

  "They can't get through," said Angie, hoping it was true.

  Chimpanzees were strong and she'd never seen any this enraged. But

  the glass was thick. She hoped it was thick enough. "The only way they

  could get out is through that door with the red light." She nodded

  Ashton Memorial

  209

  toward the door, set far back behind the chimpanzees, as she swung at a

  corpse that had come too close.

  Dalton screamed and Angie whirled to look. A corpse, a young

  woman with large chunks of skin peeled from her arms, had grabbed

  hold of his neck. She hissed and pulled him toward her. Angie

  screamed and slammed the arrow into the woman's face. The woman

  fell back and Angie slammed the wood downward onto her skull. The

  woman jerked and fell, still.

  The chimpanzees howled and pounded. The corpses groaned all

  around Angie and Dalton. Angie bellowed back at them, feeling her

  sanity slipping. She swung and slammed the arrow back and forth,

  round and round. She lost track of how many corpses there were. She

  lost track of how many she'd hit. She was conscious of two things, the

  corpses she needed to put down and the need to avoid hitting Dalton.

  She pounded and pounded, one corpse after another falling as she did.

  Finally, there was only one left still moving. It was an older

  man with no nose and dirt clumped against his face. A worm crawled

  out of the hole where his nose would be and inched along his face. He

  growled and came at Angie. Angie swung the arrow around and

  downward, snapping the man's neck. The man stumbled to one side,

  head bobbing limply. Angie brought the arrow up and slammed

  downward, knocking the man's head into his shoulder. The head caved

  in and thick black muck spilled out of his ears. He fell, still.

  Angie panted. She held Dalton close to her side.

  She heard pounding behind her and turned to face to glass. A

  chimpanzee was inches from her, pounding on the glass with bloody

  hands. It snarled and hissed and bit.