The dead were closer. She could hear Sy grunting in thevan, screaming in pain as he tried to pull his arm free. She was reminded ofthe story of the rock climber that had cut off his own arm with a pocketknifewhen it became trapped under a boulder. If he could cut his own arm off with apocketknife, she ought to be able to sever someone else's with garden shears.
She ran to the van, ignoring the slow procession of thedead as they made their way up the hill from the freeway on-ramp. How long hadthe dead been there? Had they been sitting down there this whole time, just afew hundred yards away, waiting patiently on the freeway? She knelt down andcrawled headfirst into the van, the shears held out before her.
"Oh, God," Sy moaned.
"It's the only thing I could find. Lean to yourright. This is going to hurt like a son of a bitch." She undid the claspand the shears snapped open. She maneuvered the blades around the trapped andtwisted skin of Sy's arm, then she closed her eyes and snapped the shears shutas hard as she could. Closing her eyes didn't help. She could still feel theresistance of Sy's skin and then the even tougher resistance of the bonesconducted up the 8-inch blades of the garden shears and into her hands.
Sy cried out in pain. Lila felt warm blood splash herhand. When she opened her eyes, Sy was squirming in his seat, but he was stillstuck by a small flap of skin that she had missed with the shears. She watchedin horror as he pulled with his body, the skin stretched, blood sprayed theinterior of the van, and then that final flap of skin broke free. She thoughtshe was going to throw up.
Quickly she backed out of the van. Re-swallowing herlunch of potato chips and strange animal-shaped lollipops, she turned backaround and helped drag Sy out of the car. He was bleeding badly and looked asif he was going to pass out at any moment. She propped him up against the sideof the van.
The first of the dead was only ten feet away. She couldsee that the person was most definitely dead. The left half of the woman's facelooked like it had been clawed off at some point, and large patches of herscalp were gone. She groaned as she got closer, and bloody saliva dripped fromher mouth.
She fumbled with Sy's belt as his body sagged against thevan. She managed to undo the clasp, avoiding the awkward feeling that sweptthrough her at undoing an old man's belt. In one smooth motion she pulled thebelt free. She wrapped it quickly around Sy's arm, pulling it as tight as shecould. She handed the loose end to Sy and told him to pull it tight.
Lila bent down and ducked under Sy's arm. Shehalf-carried, half-dragged Sy down the street. He moaned in pain, and Lilasuspected that he was quickly going into shock. His footsteps became lesssteady, and soon she was full-on carrying him towards the entrance of the zoo,through the wreckage of the front gate.
She wasn't moving quick enough. When she looked over hershoulder, the woman with the bloody mouth had gained significant ground on her.A clank to her left drew her attention, and she saw that Sy had finally passedout, letting loose his grip on the belt. It had fallen to the ground, thebuckle scraping against the ground. Blood drenched his side as red poured fromthe stump of his arm.
Lila set Sy on the ground and ran to find his rifle. Hehad perched it up against the wall of the gift shop before hopping in the vanto destroy the front of the zoo, a move that might very well cost him his life.She picked up the rifle and pointed it in the direction of the dead woman, ifthat's what she truly was. She pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Thetrigger wouldn't pull.
Looking down at the rifle, she advanced upon the deadwoman. Lila knew nothing of guns. They were simply items that the ignorant usedto kill beautiful animals. The stock of the rifle was wooden, and she lookedfor anything that looked like a button. There had to be a safety catchsomewhere, but she'd be damned if she could find it. Panic filled her, scramblingher brain and the thought processes that were normally her friend. She flickeda small switch, and then aimed the gun at the woman. She was within range of Synow, only moments from dropping down and making a meal out of him.
She put the rifle up to her eye, like she had seen themen in movies do ever since she was a little girl. She squeezed the trigger,and the rifle bucked in her arm, the stock slamming into her shoulder. Therifle clattered to the ground, and a red stain blossomed in the gray shirt ofthe woman, but the woman seemed to take no notice of it.
She bent down to pick up the rifle; the dead woman didthe same, as if mocking her. When she stood back up, the rifle in her hands,she saw the dead woman on her knees. Behind her, more shapes had appeared, asif out of thin air, and they too advanced upon the prone form of Sy.
Lila lined the sight up with the dead woman's head, butagain, the trigger did nothing. The rifle clicked and that's all it did. Shelooked at the rifle, frustration mounting.
