Thirty

The woods were darker than Maylee had anticipated. The headlights of the wrecked car were far behind them now and the moon did little good through the thick covering of trees. It was fall, but not enough leaves had fallen to allow much light.

"It's dark," said Dalton, gripping Maylee's hand. It had taken a lot for him to agree to hold it.

"I know," said Maylee, stepping over a root and guiding Dalton around a tree. "That's why we have to stay close to each other. If we keep walking forward we should get to the road again soon. Right across from the hospital."

Was she sure about that? She wondered. It was very dark and they could have so easily gotten turned around among all the trees. At least it was quiet. No corpses could be heard groaning.

Of course, in this dark it would only take one.

Maylee swallowed, tried not to think about that, and kept walking.

"How much further?" said Dalton after a few more steps.

"Don't know yet," said Maylee. "We're still going uphill, so a little ways yet."

"I can barely see anything." Dalton's hand was sweaty in hers.

"I know," said Maylee, looking around and gripping the bat with her other hand. "But once we get to the top of the hill, we should be able to see the lights from the hospital parking lot. That should help."

Dalton said nothing and they kept walking. After a few seconds, Dalton stopped.

"What?" said Maylee, stopping with him.

"I heard something."

Maylee fell quiet, listening. First she heard nothing. Then, a rustle.

"Maybe it's the wind," she whispered.

Then, a moan.

"Shit," she whispered hoarsely into the dark. "Down!"

She dropped to her knees. Dalton dropped down next to her.

They both listened intently. From their left they heard moaning and rustling. The sound of something moving through the underbrush.

"It's coming!" whispered Dalton.

"Shhh!" whispered Maylee. "We'll just let it pass, then keep going. It won't see or hear us down here."

Wouldn't it? She wondered. She hoped.

They lay in silence a few seconds longer. The rustling grew louder. Maylee braced, waiting for the sight of stumbling, rotten legs.

A rotten face appeared, inches from hers. It was a corpse missing both legs, dragging itself along on its elbows.

Maylee screamed. Dalton screamed.

The corpse hissed and reached for Maylee. It had a rotten, slimy face and it ground yellow teeth at her. The face was so decomposed Maylee couldn't tell what gender the thing was.

Maylee tried to jump up but the thing grabbed hold of her hair. Dalton leapt to his feet and started screaming. The corpse pulled, stronger than Maylee would have expected, and she slid across the grass and twigs toward the corpse's rotten mouth. Maylee swung the bat in her hand, but the angle would not let her connect with the corpse's head.

"The bat, Dalton!" she yelled, straining her head back away from the corpse's teeth. "Get the bat!"

She heard Dalton start to move. Then he was screaming. She heard a second corpse groaning.

"Maylee!" Dalton yelled. "There's another one!"

"Shit," Maylee muttered to herself. The corpse pulled harder and she slid closer to the mouth. Maylee dropped the bat, put her hands in the dirt and dug in her fingers. She clenched her knees and wrenched herself up. The corpse kept hold of her hair. Maylee rose up and the corpse rose with her. The corpse crashed into Maylee's chest and knocked her over backward.

Maylee landed on her back, the legless corpse on top of her. It groaned and bit at her. Maylee pushed the corpse up and away from her. The corpse kept hold of her hair. Maylee pushed as hard as she could. She felt her scalp strain as the corpse pulled and tugged.

Somewhere nearby, Dalton was screaming.

Maylee glanced to her left and saw a rotting log. A sharp broken branch jutted up from it. She put her foot up underneath her and shoved. She rolled, still holding the corpse, over to the log. They reached the log and Maylee rolled on top of it, the corpse under her.

She heard a thick "chunk" noise as the branch punctured the back of the corpse's head.

The corpse hissed and bit at her.

Maylee grunted and shoved the corpse's head farther down. The branch shot up through the corpse's eye and Maylee snapped her head up, avoiding the explosion of thick blood and muck. The corpse hissed once more and slumped.

Dalton screamed to Maylee's right.

Maylee stood and ran to Dalton. Dalton was struggling with a corpse, a fat woman with cuts and scrapes all over her body. He was pushing her back, keeping away from her mouth.

"Maylee!" he yelled.

"Hold on!" she screamed. She ran over to where she had dropped the bat and snatched it up, barely breaking her stride. She was back to Dalton and the corpse in seconds.

Screaming in fury, she swung the bat at the corpse. The bat barely missed the top of Dalton's head and slammed into the woman's face. She blinked and let go of Dalton. She groaned at Maylee and reached for her.

Maylee screamed again and slammed the bat down on the woman's head. A bloody split appeared in the woman's face and she staggered back. Maylee let out a feral roar and rammed the bat down again. The woman's head split and fell to either side. Brains and blood slid down the woman's front. The woman fell over still.

Maylee stood, panting down at the woman.

Dalton stepped over. "Maylee?"

She whipped her head over to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Fuck this. We're running."

She grabbed his hand and started running up the hill. Within a few seconds they could see light coming from up ahead.

The hospital, Maylee thought. Just over the hill and across the road.

Almost there.