Less Than Human by Tim Meyer

“If you want to stay, lady, then fucking stay. I don't care. As for the rest of you, I suggest you come with me. Before whatever happened down at the lake happens here.” He glanced at Ranger Steve, glaring at him apathetically. 
    Ranger Steve kept his mouth shut, staring down at the floor.
    “We'll go,” Victoria said.
    “ Don't be ridiculous, Vicky,” Ranger Steve snapped, immediately whipping his head toward her. “You weren't out there when we were attacked. You don't know what it's like—”
    “ We don't know anything,” she told him. “Josh is right. We can't be certain that someone is coming for us. Usually in situations like this the government sets up survival camps, right?” She looked to Josh for verification, as if he were an expert on apocalyptic protocol.
    Josh shrugged. “I don't how things are going down out there. All I know is—if you stay here, it's a deathtrap. You can't hold them off forever. There's too many of them.”
    “That's exactly why we stay here,” Ranger Steve said. “They overran us.”
    “ Sooner or later they'll get in.”
    “ We'll see.”
    Something crashed into the sliding-glass door, causing them to jump. Victoria screamed. Emily gripped her mother tight, wrapping her arms around her waist. Ruth backed away from the direction of the sudden outburst, signaling the Stations of the Cross. Ranger Steve pointed the shotgun toward the unexpected commotion.
    The noise repeated.
    Josh faced the enormous sliding-glass door that practically made up the entire back wall. Beyond the glass was a massive porch, stained the same color as the rest of the recreation center's exterior. On the porch, stood a little girl, clad in her scout's uniform.
    “Jessica!” Emily yelled. She broke away from Victoria's grasp, sprinting toward the door.
    Before Josh could protest, Emily was opening the slider. Josh seemed to be the only one who saw the writing on the wall. Ranger Steve appeared indifferent about the situation, but Josh knew better. He knew what she was, although, to Emily's credit, her friend's body didn't showcase the familiar signs. She wasn't missing half her face like some of the others Josh had seen. She wasn't dragging her entrails behind her. She didn't writhe her lips in contempt for the living.
    Jessica appeared normal with the exception of her blood-caked clothes and the faint red smears around her mouth.
    It's her eyes, Josh thought. It's her eyes that give it away. They lacked humanity. Two dead vacuums planted in the center of her face. Lifeless little circles. The girl was something less than human.
    And Emily was letting it in.
     
    Q uietly, Ben climbed into his car. He shut the door slowly, hoping not to draw any attention to himself. Impossible . The clunk of the door closing was loud enough to turn the heads of the dead in his direction. Shit! Ben thought, discovering a few soulless eyes staring right at him. One woman—a camp counselor, her shirt read—hobbled toward him, exposing the right side of her face, which had been completely chewed away. Fresh droplets of blood oozed from the raw muscle. Ben's throat burned with bile, but he prevented the stomach juices from climbing any higher.
    Fuck, they're changing fast. Judging from the woman's wound, she couldn't have been attacked more than a few hours ago.
    Ben started the car, grabbing everyone's attention. One by one the zombies changed their course and began shuffling toward the car. One sprinted ahead of the slow-moving concourse. An eleven-year old boy rushed the car. The little bastard jumped on the hood, crouching like a gorilla. Wildly, he began smashing his fists against the windshield with bloodthirsty rage. He managed to crack the glass after a few tries. Shocked, Ben watched the windshield spider-web. Instead of waiting for the dead kid to break through and rip his throat out, Ben stomped on the gas, sending the kid toppling over the roof, tumbling onto the dirt below. In his rear-view mirror, Ben