Ashton Memorial Read Online Free PDF

dead.
    “Shit, son,” said Park,
reshouldering the rifle. He stepped closer. The teen's head looked
chewed open. Park prodded the teen's leg with his foot. He hoped
the head was damaged deeply enough to keep him down.
    “Well,” said Park down to
the teen. “I guess if you were gonna get up you would have done it
before we got here.”
    The teen's body remained still. Static
blared and the light flickered.
    “I'll be taking some gas
and turning your radio down, if that's okay.” He stared at the
teen, watching for any sign of movement. He wondered if he should
use a bullet to be sure.
    “Okay then. Don't get up on
my account.” Park turned and walked out of the aisle, doing his
best to avoid stepping in any blood.
     
    * * *
     
    Maylee held tight to Dalton's hand, pulling
him along with her.
    “Hurry, Maylee,” said
Dalton, hand on his stomach.
    “I am,” said Maylee.
“Please, just don't shit your pants.”
    “I'm telling Mom you
cussed.”
    “I'll tell her you shit
your pants.”
    “I didn't!” said
Dalton.
    “You will, though. Any
second now.”
    “Nuh-uh!”
    “Hold it, then,” said
Maylee. She stopped as they reached the corner of the station. She
gripped the handle of her bat tightly with her free
hand.
    “Hurry!” said Dalton. “I
have to go!”
    “I know, Dalton, I know.
But we have to be careful.” She peered around the corner, looking
down the side wall where the bathroom was. “These things can be
anywhere.”
    “But you told Mom we could
see them now.”
    “We can't if they're hiding
in the trees.” She scanned the woods behind the gas station. She
saw nothing.
    But was she sure?
    After a moment, she turned
back to Dalton. “Okay, it’s clear. Come on.”
    They hurried along the
side of the gas station. The bathroom was set midway along the
wall. The door was dirty and rusted. Men was printed on it. Next to the
printing were words scrawled with magic marker. And Women. Other One's Busted .
    “Joy,” said Maylee. “Get in
there and hurry before I piss my pants.”
    Dalton ran for the door and pushed it open.
She caught a glimpse of the toilet. It was filthy. Dalton stopped,
looking at it.
    “Gross.”
    “It's that or the woods,”
said Maylee. “Just hurry. And leave the door unlocked in case you
have to get out quick.”
    Dalton scrunched up his nose and stepped
inside. The door shut with a squeak behind him.
    Maylee leaned against the wall, just next to
the door. She could hear muffled sounds of Dalton going to the
bathroom.
    “Gross beyond all space and
time,” she whispered, focusing on her surroundings. The raindrops
came more quickly now. Several pattered at her feet, disappearing
into the dry leaves and grass. She scanned the trees again. Still
nothing.
    She looked up at the sky. Gray and cloudy.
Raindrops fell toward her face. A few hit her cheeks. It would have
been refreshing but Maylee was tired and cold.
    A rustle came from the woods.
    Maylee's breath caught and she looked back
to the trees. She gripped her bat with both hands.
    Just a
breeze , she thought.
    Then she heard it again. A rustle followed
by a crunch of dry leaves or maybe a twig.
    That's no
breeze .
    She froze, staring at the woods. Afraid to
make any sound. It could be an animal. Or it could be a corpse. Or
several corpses. What if she’d led them to the gas station?
    She heard another crunch and a shape moved
through the trees. It looked like a woman, chubby and short. From
between tree trunks, Maylee could see one of her eyes was missing
and her face was coated in blood.
    “Shit,” Maylee whispered.
As far as she could tell, the corpse hadn't noticed her. Hadn't
noticed the gas station at all. Maylee inched toward the bathroom
door. The corpse kept staggering among the trees.
    Her hand shaking, Maylee slowly reached for
the door. Slowly, slower than she'd ever done anything in her life,
she pushed the door inward. She heard Dalton grunt and a
splash.
    “Gross,” she whispered. She
pushed the