Thirty One

Angie stepped away from the maternity ward, heading down the hall. Soon they would be just outside the emergency room. Then, outside. Hopefully in time for Maylee and Dalton.

"Hey, we gotta move," she heard Park say behind her.

She stopped and turned. Kristen was standing just outside the maternity ward, shaking her head and sobbing.

Angie stepped back over, sighing. "Come on, Kristen, we have to keep moving."

"No!" she spit, flashing red wet eyes at Angie. "I can't!"

Park sighed, looking back up the hallway. The smoke was getting thicker and the alarm kept ringing. Even with the alarm, Angie thought she heard groans approaching. "Look, sweetheart, we gotta..."

"You shut up!" Kristen yelled. "Both of you! You're both awful, awful people! Sam's dead, Dad's dead, and the whole fucking world is dead!"

Moaning corpses rounded the corner behind them.

Park saw them and grabbed Kristen's arm. He started to pull her down the hallway but she wrenched away.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, putting her hands to her head. "And someone shut off that goddamned ringing!"

"Kristen!" Angie yelled, hoping to snap her out of it. "Come on!"

Kristen looked at Angie with wide eyes. Oh shit, Angie thought. She's gone.

"The whole world is dead," Kristen said again, quietly. Smoke billowed and the alarm clanged. The corpses drew near.

Kristen noticed the corpses and turned. "Oh look. Here comes the world now. All of it dead."

She stepped toward the corpses.

"Kristen, no!" yelled Angie, lunging forward.

Park grabbed for Kristen but she pulled away, spinning around to glare at them.

"I said keep your hands off of me!" she shrieked, backing away and into the waiting arms of a corpse.

"Sam?" she said, turning around.

But it wasn't Sam. It was a young man wearing a t-shirt with a beer logo. And with a huge rip in both the shirt and his chest underneath.

She screamed as the man bit into her neck.

"No!" yelled Angie.

Kristen bucked and jerked as her blood spewed out across the man's face. The man chewed and moaned. Several other corpse hands closed on Kristen, pushing her backward.

Her body bent over backward as more corpses bit into her arms and chest. Her head fell back and Angie could see her still blinking. Blood ran out of her mouth.

"The whole world..." Kristen said, rasping through the hole in her throat, "...is dead."

Park ran over to Angie. Angie couldn't stop staring. The corpses fed as the smoke billowed behind them. The alarm clanged all around.

"Come on!" said Park, tugging on her.

Angie stared.

"I said come the fuck on!"

Angie blinked at Park, then nodded her head.

They both turned and ran.