the roof, sliding forward in the rain until it came to a stop inches from

  the crowd.

  "Fuck," said Park. "We could probably eat that if it wasn't full

  of tranqs."

  "We gotta get off this roof," said Angie, running to the front

  edge and looking down.

  The paved area in front of the Bites was empty. All the corpses

  were inside. No animals there either. She looked around as Park and the

  others moved up behind her. Then she saw it.

  "There!" she yelled, pointing to a large dumpster to the side of

  the building, obscured by bushes. The top was open and it was stuffed

  with bags of garbage. Angie hoped they were soft.

  "It's too far!" yelled the red-headed young woman in the crowd.

  The one who'd seen the Keepers leave the Bites.

  "I'm working on it," said Angie. She ran back to the skylight

  and grabbed the rope. She turned and ran back to the edge, heading for

  the corner. She tossed one end of the rope to Park.

  "Hold on to this for me," she said, and leapt off the corner of

  the roof. For a few seconds she flew through the air, wondering if she'd

  lost her mind. Then she landed in the dumpster. The bags were wet,

  slimy, and smelled worse than she would have guessed, but they were

  soft.

  She turned over in the dumpster to lie on her back. She put her

  feet against the side of the dumpster and wrapped her end of the rope

  around her forearm. "Pull!" she yelled.

  Park nodded and motioned to a group of nearby people to help.

  They all grabbed Park's end of the rope and pulled. Angie strained as

  the rope pulled her against the side of the dumpster. Park and the others

  heaved harder and the dumpster slid, screeching across the pavement,

  toward the Bites. It came to a stop against the corner of the building

  and Angie let go of the rope. She climbed from the dumpster and

  looked inside the doors. The corpses were stumbling around inside,

  oblivious to her for the moment.

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  "Come on!" she yelled. "Hurry!"

  Park led one person after another to the edge and they leapt into

  the dumpster. Several cried out in disgust as they hit the rotten trash,

  but each one climbed out unhurt. As they jumped, Angie ran around to

  either side of the building to check on those who had fallen earlier.

  None had survived their injuries.

  She ran back to the front as the next to last person climbed from

  the dumpster. She watched as Park looked over to check his aim, and

  jumped.

  She heard him muttering as he hit the trash. He climbed from

  the dumpster and jumped down to stand in front of Angie. "I'm so glad

  I got to smell that," he said.

  "I was too," said Angie, looking over the others. They all

  looked unhurt and still had the weapons she and Park had given them.

  "You know," said Park. "Some day one of your batshit ideas

  isn't going to work."

  "I know," said Angie, nodding and adjusting the rifle on her

  shoulder. She surveyed her arm, noticing rope burns. "I'll worry about

  that once my kids are safe and we have some sort of home again."

  Park nodded. "Speaking of kids, we need to be getting to Lori."

  "That we do," said Angie, nodding. She looked back to the

  Bites. Corpses stumbled around inside, many still staring dumbly at the

  skylight. Angie knew she and the others would have to leave soon or

  the corpses would spot them. She looked back to Park. "That we do."

  Nineteen

  Maylee sat at the long table in the zookeeper breakroom. Her

  bat was on the table in front of her. She held a black marker she'd found

  in another open locker. She dragged the tip of the marker along the

  metal of the bat slowly, deliberately. The smell of the marker stung her

  nose.

  "What the heck are you doing?" said Dalton, coming in from

  the other room. Rain beat down on the roof.

  Maylee considered saying nothing at all. "Naming my bat," she

  said.

  Dalton frowned. "What?"

  "Just leave me alone, Dalton," she said. Dalton frowned bigger,

  made a mocking face, then turned and left the room.

  Maylee made one last line, the marker squeaking as it dragged

  across the metal. She put the cap back on the marker and set it down.

  The fumes from the marker made her blink. She was exhausted.

  She put her head back and stared at the ceiling.

  It is years ago. Maylee is a little girl and can't sleep. Mom and

  Dad are yelling in the front room. The yelling stops and Mom is crying.

  Maylee stares at the dark ceiling of her bedroom, trying to ignore the

  sounds coming from the living room. She can't.

  She sits up and climbs from her bed. She can hear Mom saying

  something, too low for Maylee to make out the words. She hears Dad

  respond. His voice sounds tired, cold. Maylee feels scared and doesn't

  know why.

  She walks to the door of her bedroom. The door leads out to the

  hall. She opens it and hears the front door open at the same time. She

  hears more talking, then the front door shuts. Maylee walks out into the

  hall and toward the front room. The floor is cold on her bare feet.

  She walks into the living room and sees Mom sitting on the

  floor, crying. Mom hears her come in and turns. She wipes her eyes

  and smiles.

  "Hey baby," says Mom. "What are you doing up?"

  "What's going on?" says Maylee. She hears Dalton crying from

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  his crib.

  "Nothing, honey, nothing," says Mom, climbing to her feet.

  Mom wipes her eyes again and looks down at Maylee. Maylee looks

  back. She is little, but she can see the fear in Mom's eyes. Maylee

  wishes she could help. Maylee hates herself for being too little to help.

  Maylee jerked back to awareness when something in her pocket

  buzzed. She sat up straight, blinking and looking around the

  breakroom. "Shit!" she said.

  "What?" said Dalton, coming back in from the viewing room.

  Maylee dug around in her pockets. "I completely forgot."

  "Forgot what?" said Dalton, stepping up to her.

  "Ella's phone," said Maylee, finding the phone and pulling it

  out. "I can't believe it didn't get ruined when I fell in the bear pool."

  "You fell in a bear pool?" said Dalton. Maylee noticed a jealous

  element to his voice.

  "It wasn't fun, Dalton," said Maylee. She flipped open the

  phone and saw a text message from Lori.

  "Lemme see," said Dalton.

  "Shh!" said Maylee, feeling guilty for how harsh she sounded.

  She read the message. It was hurriedly written and full of typos. But

  she got the gist of it. Gregory and Lori were moving. It gave the

  location. It said it would be soon.

  "We gotta call Mom," said Maylee, standing and dropping the

  phone back in her pocket. She grabbed the communicator from the

  table and clicked the button on the side.

  The whole room went dark.

  "Shit," said Maylee.

  "Think you blew a fuse?" said Dalton.

  "I didn't blow a fuse, Dalton," said Maylee. "The power went

  out."

  She clicked the button on the communicator again. "Mom?" she

  said.

  Nothing.

  "Dammit."

  "What?"

  "This stupid thing runs on batteries, but apparently it needs all

  that shit out there to work!" She motioned toward the viewing room.

  "Who designed this shit?"

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  "The crazy man who kidnapped Park's daughter?"

  Maylee nodded, tossing the communicator on the table. She

  stared at her bat. At what she'd written.

  "How's your ankle?" she asked.

  "Better."

  "Good. Don't tell Mom, but we're going to rescue Lori. We just

  became the only ones who know where she's going to be and we have

  to do something."

  She sighed and looked at Dalton. He looked back at her, like a

  scared little boy trying to look brave.

  "I'm sorry," she said.

  "For what?"

  "I'm putting you in danger. I promised Mom I'd protect you."

  Dalton looked insulted. "You aren't that much older than me,

  Maylee."

  Maylee picked up her bat. Ella, it said.

  "Actually I am," she said.

  * * *

  Maylee fumbled with the rifle on her shoulder and looked

  around. Her bat was in her other hand, lowered toward the ground.

  Dalton stood next to her, sputtering in the rain.

  "It's cold," he said.

  "I know," said Maylee. "But now that the power's out it would

  have gotten pretty cold in the office, too."

  "It's wet, too."

  "We have to save Lori, Dalton. Mom doesn't know where she's

  going to be." Maylee pulled a crumpled map from her pocket and

  smoothed it out. She tried to read it despite the dim light and the rain

  pounding down. She didn't have much luck. The rifle began slipping

  from her shoulder. She sighed and lowered the map, moving to readjust

  the strap.

  A loud groan came from behind them. Maylee spun to see a

  large man, with huge dark gouges in his face and arms, stumbling

  toward them. He moaned, gurgling in the rain.

  Maylee dropped her bat and stuffed the map back into her

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  pocket. She unslung the rifle from her shoulder. The corpse stumbled

  closer. She fumbled with the rifle, then sighed. "I hate this stupid

  thing!"

  She flung the rifle away. It clattered to the pavement, sending

  drops of water flying. She picked up her bat and ran at the corpse.

  The man groaned at her, opening his mouth for the approaching

  meal. Maylee screamed at him, slamming the bat across his jaw. His

  head whipped to one side, teeth and bone shooting from his mouth.

  Maylee brought the bat up and slammed downward. She heard his neck

  pop and felt his skull give way. Black gunk spilled from his mouth and

  he fell over backward. He was still.

  "That's better," she said, panting down at the corpse.

  Gurgling came from behind her. Cold arms closed on her

  shoulders.

  "Shit!" yelled Maylee, struggling to turn and face her attacker.

  A woman had her, tangled black hair partially obscuring the oozing

  sores on her face. The woman hissed and leaned in to bite. Maylee

  couldn't get free or bring up her bat. She screamed.

  A "crack" rang out behind her. The woman jerked. Her rotting

  arms slipped off of Maylee and the woman fell to the pavement.

  Maylee turned and looked. A dart was embedded in the back of the

  woman's head. Dalton stood a few feet away, holding the rifle.

  "Not too shabby, huh?" he said, grinning.

  "Well shit," said Maylee. She dug around in her pockets and

  found the box of darts Mom had given her. She handed them to Dalton.

  "Here. Just don't get too close trying to aim."

  Dalton stuck the box in his pocket. He slung the rifle over his

  shoulder and looked around with purpose. Maylee smirked to herself

  and pulled the crumpled map from her pocket. She smoothed it out and

  squinted at it. She looked at their surroundings, then back at the map.

  Finally she nodded to herself and put the map back into her pocket.

  "Through here," she said, heading for a large structure to their

  right and making sure Dalton followed.

  "I know that place!" said Dalton. "That's the sea lion show!"

  "Yep," said Maylee. "I figure as long as we stay away from the

  pool, we'll be okay. I don't think sea lions move very fast out of the

  water."

  "You sure about that?"

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  "Nope. So I hope they just aren't there at all."

  They were. Maylee heard them bleating and splashing furiously

  as soon as she entered the large amphitheater. There were five sea lions

  in the large pool covering one side of the building. They thrashed in the

  water, infuriated at the sight of Maylee. Maylee held up her arms for

  Dalton to stop. He did. Maylee watched the sea lions for a moment,

  making sure they had no way to easily get out of the pool. When she

  was satisfied, she nodded and stepped farther in.

  The sea lions bleated and thrashed louder than before but stayed

  in their pool. Their cries echoed around the empty amphitheater,

  bouncing off the concrete walls and the metal bleachers that lined the

  other side of the building. Maylee and Dalton walked as far away from

  the pool as they could, almost tripping over the first row of bleachers in

  the process. The sea lions bleated and slapped against the thick, high

  glass wall surrounding the pool. She wondered if one could leap up and

  over the wall. Then she saw the high platform sticking out over the

  pool and remembered. A trainer would stand on the platform and hold

  out treats. The sea lion would leap up and snatch the treats from the

  trainer's hand. The board was well above the walls of the pool. She

  tried not to think about that and focused on walking forward.

  Groans came from the far side of the building. "Shit," hissed

  Maylee, stopping. Dalton stopped behind her. A group of corpses

  stumbled in through the exit at the other end of the amphitheater.

  Dalton raised his rifle at the group. Maylee shook her head and

  pushed the barrel down. "There's too many for that and besides, we can

  go around."

  "How the heck do we go around?" said Dalton. The sea lions

  bleated and splashed next to them.

  "We go up," said Maylee. She turned and climbed onto the first

  rung of bleachers. She turned and motioned for Dalton to follow. The

  corpses stumbled farther into the building.

  "Oh yeah," said Dalton. He followed.

  Maylee and Dalton climbed farther up into the bleachers and

  the corpses drew closer. They reached the edge of the bleachers and

  began climbing. They were much slower and clumsier.

  Maylee stopped midway up the bleachers and turned. Dalton

  stopped next to her. "Now what?" he said.

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  "Now we wait," she said, watching the corpses struggle up the

  bleachers. "When they're all good and stuck on the bleachers, we go

  that way." She pointed to her right and down, indicating a path across

  the bleachers and down to the now clear exit.

  "Hmm," said Dalton. The corpses below groaned and the sea

  lions bleated. "Pretty smart."

  "Don't have to tell me."

  Growling came from behind. Maylee's back grew tight. She

  turned, slowly.

  Two spotted hyenas were crouching on the row just above

  them. A third was coming up from the side. They growled and let out a

  laughing noise that sent chills through Maylee.

  "Maylee," said Dalton, sounding very nervous.

  "I see them, Dalton," said Maylee, reaching out and grabbing

  his arm. The corpses below them groaned, climbing closer. The sea

  lions bleated and splashed.

  One of the hyenas leapt, flying straight at Dalton. Maylee

  pulled him aside. The hyena crashed into the approaching group of

  corpses. It thrashed around, trying to regain its footing.

  "Run!" yelled Maylee. Pulling Dalton with her, she ran across

  the bleachers, heading for the far wall. She heard the two remaining

  hyenas pounding along on the metal behind her. They were about

  halfway to the wall when she realized they weren't going to make it.

  Even if they could make it to the wall, they'd still have to climb back

  down the bleachers. And the hyenas would be on them.

  She stopped and spun, putting Dalton behind her. The closest

  hyena was only a few feet away. It lunged, leaping at Maylee. Maylee

  whacked it midair with her bat. The hyena fell, rolling down the

  bleachers as it bounced from row to row.

  Maylee corrected from her follow-through, straightening and

  waiting for the last hyena. It crouched low and growled. Maylee backed

  up a step. Dalton backed up with her. The hyena jumped down to the

  same row as Maylee and Dalton. It crept forward, growling and

  giggling.

  Maylee heard Dalton behind her, fumbling with the rifle. "Not

  now, Dalton. Jump down to the next row."

  "What?" said Dalton. "Why?"

  "Just do it!"

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  Dalton did. The hyena let out a high-pitched bark and leapt at

  Maylee. Maylee jumped up to the next highest row and the hyena

  passed underneath her. She swung her bat down, smashing the hyena in