Disintegration

it.”
    “Be careful,” Hollis warned.
    “It’s no big deal,” she said flippantly as she walked away. “Just a half-rotted sack of shit.”
    Hollis watched her leave, then returned his attention to the corpse in the shadows. He could see it hiding just behind the door. It was standing still—or at least as still as it could—but the uneasy swaying of its body gave the game away. An arm would swing out into the light momentarily, or its head would droop down lazily before it pulled itself back out of sight again.
    Lorna stood in the corridor outside the office and composed herself before going in. The handle was stiff and she needed to shove the door hard with her full weight to get it open. She paused again before going any farther, letting the cloying stench of the captive corpse’s decay dissipate. She felt unexpectedly nervous. Christ, what was she worried about? She’d dealt with hundreds of these creatures before now, and this one wasn’t any more of a threat than any other. And besides, she reminded herself, this is one corpse against six of us. Damn thing doesn’t stand a chance.
    She entered the dark room, picking her way through the waste and rubbish which had accumulated over weeks, trying not to slip in the dark puddles of offensive-smelling gunk which had seeped and dribbled from the cadaver over time. She moved toward the light coming from the pool. The corpse in the doorway was still preoccupied with the men lying in wait for it outside and didn’t notice her approaching. She’d never been this close to one of the dead before and not been about to destroy it. It was a grotesque, yet morbidly fascinating sight. The nearer she got, the more unpleasant detail she could make out. The various lesions and open wounds on its torso and legs were filled with teeming movement—thousands of maggots and worms gorging on its decaying skin. A chunk of flesh hung loose from the side of its right calf. She could see bones and what was left of its muscles and sinew under the skin. Although for a moment her nerves threatened to get the better of her, she forced herself to stay focused and keep going.
    “Get ready,” she shouted.
    At the sound of her voice the cadaver began to slowly try and turn itself around, but it was far too slow and clumsy. Lorna lifted her hands and shoved it firmly in the small of its back, taking care to handle its swimming costume and not make contact with bare flesh. Knocked off-balance, the corpse tripped back out into the open again. She followed it through to the poolside, slamming the door behind her and sealing off its escape route. It instinctively lurched toward Hollis and Martin, the closest of its aggressors. Howard’s dog bolted forward and he dragged her back, just managing to grab her collar as she leaped at the Swimmer. Her claws dragged along the raised floor tiles at the side of the pool as she scrambled to break free and attack.
    “Watch it!” Gordon yelled as the dead woman heaved its disfigured bulk toward Martin. He put his arms up to protect himself, but Hollis shoved him out of the way. The body acted with remarkable speed, almost immediately turning its full attention toward him instead. It crashed into him with unexpected momentum, shoving him back and over.
    “See,” he said as he picked himself up and struggled to grab hold of the hideous figure which writhed and squirmed relentlessly, “it has no choice now. We’ve made it fight. All it can do is attack.”
    The monster’s loose, greasy skin seemed to slip and slide around its bones as he held it. It managed to free itself from Hollis’s grasp and immediately lurched toward Harte, the next closest. He could see that it had already been damaged as a result of its brief skirmish with the other man. The flesh at the top of its right shoulder had been torn away and now appeared to be falling down its arm like a loose-fitting sleeve. He looked deep into its vile face as it neared. Harte knew nothing of the creature’s past. He knew only that it was time to end its pitiful existence. He jumped toward it, grabbing a fistful of hair and slamming its face onto the tiles at the edge of the stagnant swimming pool. Still it continued to try and fight, hopelessly overpowered but stubborn and relentless to the end.
    “Fucking thing won’t give up,” he said anxiously as he fought to keep hold of it. No one else moved. Howard, in particular, had seen far fewer corpses than the others and was overwhelmed