Dead Tropics by Sue Edge Page B

boy and two girls of about ten years old, running as fast as their young legs could take them. In their wake, a horde of about forty zombies. For all of their lack of coordination, the zombies as a group covered a lot of ground and seemed to be closing the gap.
    I could see the children's terrified faces. They weren't aware of us but, nevertheless, they were bringing the zombies straight to us. I pulled back, pulse pounding and heart aching. They would be on us in seconds. What to do, what to do?
    "Quick! Under the caravan!" I whispered urgently as I fell to my knees and, pushing the bat in front, scurried under the van. Emma and Lucas speedily joined me. A few seconds later, the children's feet flew past the caravan. Crawling forward, I watched in horror as the scene continued to unfold before me.
    As the children ran towards the exit, I had a moment of hope that they would escape. They were young and fast; if they kept their heads, they might just make it! Then, coming from the playground side of the park, another group of zombies moved towards the children. Their trajectory would soon block the children's escape route. Dammit, dammit, dammit!
    The taller of the girls spotted the second group closing in on them. For just a few seconds, she faltered. I watched helplessly as the most agile of the following zombies succeeded in wrapping his fingers around her arm. She screamed in terror and tugged in a desperate attempt to escape his clutch. But within seconds, she was sucked from sight into the horde. For several seconds, her terrified cries rang in my ears. Tears streamed down my face as I turned my eyes away.
    The boy swung away and headed for the pool with the girl in tow. Yes , I silently screamed in excitement, get inside the gated area ! The boy struggled to reach the magnetic lock on top of the gate as the zombies neared them. Come on! Suddenly, the gate swung open and the two children fled inside, slamming the gate shut behind them. They clutched each other as they waited to see if the zombies could get in.
    The creatures gathered around the pool gate, arms pawing through the gate as they tried futilely to reach the children. The kids were safe for the moment.
    Shaken, I whispered to the others. "I think we'd better keep under the vans. There are just too many zombies around."
    They nodded nervously. Checking first, we kept low as we made a dash for the next caravan and threw ourselves under it. In this manner, we made our way to the edge of the caravan park. There, across the large paved courtyard, stood the front office.
    Just as Lucas had indicated, in the car park across from it, were several jeeps with the resort's logo emblazoned across the sides.
    Two zombies banged on the windows of the office. Someone still alive in there!
    "What's the plan, Lori?" Lucas asked.
    "We run for it." I replied.
    Silence followed. "You know, Lori," Emma said in a conversational tone. "You really need to make new plans. This one is getting really old."
     
    ****
     
    We scrambled out from under the van and raced across the paved area to the door. The zombies at the window immediately lurched towards us. I grabbed the door handle and turned. It was locked. "Hey, in there!" I called softly but urgently. We didn't need to attract attention, if we could help it. "Let us in!"
    I shook the door handle to reinforce the fact that there were people out here. Nothing. Only silence greeted us. I guess I was mistaken about someone being in there.
    Lucas readied his bat as the zombies stumbled up the wooden stairs. He looked nervous but determined. I moved across to a window and peered inside but I couldn't see any movement. Nothing for it but to break the window, I decided reluctantly. That was bound to attract unwanted attention.
    A grunt behind me drew my eye and I saw Lucas and Emma slam their bats into the faces of the two zombies, sending them flying off the stairs. From their uniforms, they must have worked at the resort.
    Using my bat as