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shield for
his hand, Park pushed the girl's face back until he had enough
leverage to shove. When he did, he flung her to the floor next to
the ruined body she'd been eating.
    “Just be happy with what
you got there,” Park said, turning to climb up the fallen shelf.
“Looks delicious.”
     
    * * *
     
    “Get out of here, Maylee!”
yelled Dalton from the toilet, drawing up his legs and covering his
lap.
    “Shh!” said Maylee, as
quietly as she could. “There's one of those things out there!” She
spun to face the door, looking for the lock. She found it and
pushed it closed.
    “What?” said Dalton behind
her, flushing. “Get Mom!”
    “There's no time!” said
Maylee. Moaning came from outside. Then a scratching noise as the
corpse ran its fingers up and down the metal door.
    “What are we going to do?”
said Dalton. Maylee heard him zipping up his pants and she
turned.
    “I don't know.” She
remembered the bat in her hand. “I guess there's just the one, and
we got the bat. If we can get to Mom...”
    A second groan came from behind the door. A
different voice. Something slammed against the door so hard it
shook.
    “Shit!” said Maylee,
spinning around. The door rattled. The old lock would give before
long.
    “Maylee,” said
Dalton.
    Maylee scanned the room, panic creeping
through her. She saw the toilet Dalton had been on, a sink and an
old rusted space heater.
    She pointed to the heater.
“Plug that thing in.”
    “Why?”
    “Just do it!” yelled
Maylee. A third moan came from the door. The metal door shook
again, harder than before.
    Dalton went to the space heater and,
kneeling down, plugged it in. The coils hummed and started to
glow.
    “Pick it up!” ordered
Maylee. She ran to one wall and set her bat against it. She'd need
both hands for what she had in mind.
    “It'll get hot!”
    “Don't touch the hot parts,
dumbass!” Maylee ran to the toilet paper dispenser. She unrolled as
much as she could as quickly as she could. She tore the mass free
and ran to the sink. She shoved the paper into the drain until it
was completely clogged.
    “What are you doing?” said
Dalton, gingerly holding the space heater.
    Still standing at the sink,
Maylee used her foot to kick the lid of the toilet down. “Stand on
the toilet!”
    “What? Why?” said Dalton.
The door shook and rattled hard. Any second now, Maylee knew, the
lock would break. Groans and hissing came from outside.
    “Just do it!” Maylee turned
on the water in the sink. Both taps, full blast.
     
    * * *
     
    Angie whipped her head from side to side,
looking for the source of the moans. They seemed to come from
everywhere. The gas nozzle clicked off behind her. The tank was
full. The rain started full strength. Cold, hard and fast.
    Corpses stumbled from the right side of the
gas station. Five of them, maybe. The rain made it hard to
tell.
    Angie looked to the station. Park struggled
with a corpse inside. Moans came from the left side of the station.
From where the bathrooms were.
    Angie's chest tightened and
she ran toward the bathrooms. “Maylee! Dalton!”
    Corpses stumbled around from the left side,
blocking her way.
     
    * * *
     
    Park climbed up the fallen shelf, heading
for the shelf behind it. Bags of chips crunched underneath him. The
girl's fingers closed on his leg from behind.
    “Dammit, girl! You could
have attacked me when I didn't have my fucking gun on my fucking
back!” He considered reaching for the rifle, but if he let go of
the shelf he would slide down to her waiting hands and mouth. He
kicked blindly with his free leg. He connected and heard a wet
crunch. The girl let go and Park clambered to the next shelf.
Magazines. Cars, musicians and porno. He climbed up the shelf but
the slick glossy paper gave him no footing. He slipped and fell
back toward the first shelf. He turned, struggling to reach the
gun. His hand found the barrel but it was again pinned between his
back and the shelf. He saw the girl coming for