Alexander Death(100)

Heather gasped. She placed a tentative hand on Jenny's back, and Jenny let out another scream. This one seemed to unstick her feet and her brain.

“Where the hell is Seth?” Jenny asked, whirling around to face Heather. The two of them ran to the open door of the office. Seth was there, reclined in the desk chair, bobbing his head to earphones while he watched the monitor.

“Seth!” Jenny shouted. He didn't respond, so she grabbed the earphones out of his ears. An old song by Rage Against the Machine thudded out from the little speakers.

“Jenny!” Seth looked up, startled. “What's wrong?”

“Why weren't you watching?” Jenny snapped.

“I've been watching.” Seth looked at the monitor. “Nothing's happening.”

“Really?” Jenny snapped. “Nothing?”

“Not as far as I can—”

“Come here!” Jenny grabbed his arm and wrenched it, pulling him to his feet. She pulled him out into the hall, where the zombies of the mayor, the lawyer and the football coach lurched forward with their axes, followed by dozens of others.

“Oh,” Seth whispered. “Holy shit, it's everybody.”

“They're back,” Jenny said.

“They didn't come through the gate,” Seth said. “This really wrecks our plans.”

“Can we get moving somewhere?” Heather asked. “They look like they're picking up speed.”

Jenny looked. The zombies were stepping faster down the hall.

“Upstairs,” Seth said. “The Molotovs.”

The three of them ran out into the dark foyer and up the wide front steps. In the guest room with the old ship theme, they each grabbed two of the bottles, and Jenny took the grill firestarter with the long snout. Seth shoved the remote controls into the pockets of his cargo pants, which he was wearing for that purpose.

They hurried down the hall into Seth's room, and Jenny opened a window looking out onto the back yard. Seth pounded it with both fists until it broke loose and fell.

In the moonlight, they could see the hill set back in the yard. The gate to the Barrett family cemetery was wide open, and few straggling zombies were still trickling out.

“How can they be coming from there?” Seth asked. “That's not possible.”

“Is there some kind of tunnel or passage underneath the graveyard?” Jenny asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“I think you might know of one now.” Jenny lit the two matches taped to the bottle in her hand, and she hurled it at the mob below. It exploded, setting two elderly church ladies ablaze. She and Seth took turns hurling the bottles, setting fire to the zombies at the back of the horde, but it seemed like most of the undead had already made their way inside the house.

“Let's go get the rest of the bombs,” Seth said. He and Jenny hurried out into the hall, with Heather close behind, but it was too late. Seth's buddies from the football team led a mob of zombies, which was already close enough to block off the door to the guest room with the Molotovs.

“Jenny Mittens, drowning kittens...” a young woman's voice sang. Another group of zombies approached from the opposite direction, led by several very decayed bodies, most of them little more than skeletons. Behind the walking skeletons, Jenny saw Alexander, who was smirking. He was accompanied by a Latino girl Jenny didn't recognize. The Latino girl was the one singing, wearing a very wide smile. “...she's so stupid...so says Cupid....”

“Ashleigh?” Jenny asked. She remembered Seth's story about how a Mexican girl had placed Ashleigh's soul into Darcy Metcalf. This must be that girl.

“Everybody missed you, Jenny Mittens,” the girl said. “They all wanted to come back from the grave and see you. Including me. You think you can just kill me and get away with it?”

“You are Ashleigh,” Jenny said. She could recognize the self-righteous voice.

“You left me in a very rude fashion, Jenny,” Alexander said. “I don't think this relationship is going to work out. Unless, of course, you find your way to your knees and beg for mercy.”

“Oh, go to hell, Alexander,” Jenny said.

“I know you have an unstable temper, Jenny,” he said. “But honestly, what did I ever do to deserve this heartbreak at your hands?”

“You tried to make me a monster,” Jenny said.

“You are a monster.” Alexander gestured around at all of them. “We are all monsters, the four of us. I was only helping you remember.”

“Except the things you wanted me to forget,” Jenny said. “Like Seth.”

“Oh, yes, little Jonny the Fourth.” Alexander looked Seth over. “We brought special visitors for you, too. I have to say, as heir to my name and my fortune, you're quite a disappointment. Don't you agree, Jonathan the First?” Alexander nudged one of the skeletal bodies, and it raised a hand and waved as if greeting Seth. Alexander put an arm around it. “Say hi to your great-grandfather, Seth. Time has certainly not been kind to my old body, has it? You know, it's interesting. I had my friends here dig up most of our family's bodies, but with my corpse, I simply called out to it and it came digging up to meet me. Isn't that interesting?”