They were surrounded by the dead and it was all Jess' fault. If he'd been paying attention, the shuffling creatures would never have been able to circle them. But the truth of the matter was he hadn't been paying attention. He'd let his mind slip for the briefest of seconds and that was all it had taken. The creatures had circled around them and Jess and Sheila were as good as dead.
He quickly glanced around and realized that four of the creatures were ambling towards them. The closest of them had his hand stuck in the shattered remains of its rib cage and couldn't pull it free. Another, trailing what used to be her own intestines, hissed at Jess; gore bubbled from her mouth and spattered the ground below. Jess grabbed Sheila's elbow and pulled her back towards him.
She looked up from the folded paper she held in her hands--her park map he noted--saw the undead creatures shambling towards them and sighed loudly. "Come on, Jess, I'm tired of this. Now, hurry up or we're going to miss the nighttime parade going on in Old-Fashioned Town."
Sheila grabbed Jess by the wrist and led him through the throng of the undead towards the lights of Old-Fashioned Town. The four zombies shuffled off towards a family of four sitting down to dinner at the turkey leg stand and began accosting them. Through it all, thousands of other vacationers made their way around the actors in make up and around other families looking to enjoy themselves at the Happy Kingdom--Florida's premier vacation resort. Tonight was the first night of the resort's famous October Horrorfest--a two-week stint before Halloween where every type of ghoul you could imagine stalked through the park, horrifying and delighting the patrons as they toured between the roller coasters and attractions.
Jess and Sheila had decided to come to Florida for a long weekend, putting aside the events of the past couple of months and trying to decompress from the growing stress at home.
The pair made their way down a path past the Colonial-style shops, past the vendors with armfuls of balloons adorned with the various cartoon characters that populated the Happy Kingdom and over a concrete bridge. Up ahead, "Old-Fashioned Town" was a popular tourist attraction, housing a slew of shops that made up what appeared like a main street from the early 1900's. It was also the main boulevard into and out of the Happy Kingdom. The gates leading to the parking lot and transportation beyond lay at the southernmost point of the boulevard. And tonight it was packed with vacationers awaiting the Night Time Extravaganza Parade where all their favorite cartoon characters would march down the main boulevard decked out in all sorts of lights and sparklers.
Jess was unthrilled.
He'd been looking forward to the time away from work and while this vacation qualified, he really hadn't wanted to come to this kid's place to relax. That had been Sheila's idea. They'd needed the time away together and she thought that there would be no better place for the pair of them to get away than the Happy Kingdom. Jess just thought they needed some well-deserved pool time and some fun in the sun.
A werewolf decked out in a baseball uniform sauntered by, paired up with a robot that squawked ominously at the passersby as it clomped down the boulevard.
"Come on, Jess. It's just about going to start." She wound him through the crowds of on-lookers and found a spot near an antique mailbox just as the PA system began to blare shrill notes of fanfare. Sheila pressed in close to him as they leaned against the mailbox and wrapped her arms around him.
"Isn't this fun?" she asked.
Why ruin it for her? he thought and nodded. "Sure. What do you want to do next?"
She looked up at him with a crooked smile on her face. "I thought we'd head back to the room." She closed her eyes and stood on her tiptoes, lips parted, ready for a kiss.
Maybe this vacation wasn't so bad, after all. It was beginning to look up--
Screams. Over the horns and cymbals on the PA system.
Jess looked through the crowd. The parade had started and a pair of floats was cruising down the boulevard--two water globes strung with lights and strobes slowly motored from one end of the street to the other.
All of a sudden, one of the Horrorfest actors lurched through the opening between the two floats. It was another zombie. With a smirk, Jess shook his head and bent down to kiss Sheila.
As they kissed, something about the creature stumbling through the crowd wouldn't leave Jess alone. He couldn't place it ...
Another scream, this time a wailing screech. It sounded like a woman's.
Jess whipped his head around. The actor was shuffling through the street towards the crowd. A crowd of people gathered on the other side of the street, their focus not on the street, not on the parade, but on something on the ground. A park employee stood with the crowd asking something over and over that Jess couldn't make out. Finally, one of the men in the crowd pointed across the street, at the actor.
"Stop that man!" he shouted.
The actor's mouth, chin and chest dripped gore. Murmurs drifted through the crowd, rose in volume to almost drown out the PA system.
"...what is that man shouting about?"
"...I think he's ..."
"--crazy. Says he killed--"
"What?"
Sheila looked up at Jess, a furrow of confusion on her brow. "What's going on, Jess?"
"I don't know. I think someone was hurt."
The actor crossed the street, again in that shambling walk, and made as if to grab someone.
Jess kept a hand on Sheila's shoulder. "I think we might be better off if we leave."
The actor grabbed an older man by the head and bit into his neck, blood streaking over a nearby woman. The older man shrieked in pain and collapsed to the ground. The woman cried out his name and bent down to help her husband.
"Oh, God," Jess blurted as the crowds around him began to realize something wasn't right. "Let's go--"
Someone elbowed him in the gut, pushed him to the ground.
"What the hell?" Jess grabbed hold of the mailbox and tried to pull himself up. More screams throughout the crowd now, shrieks pierced the night now and the PA system suddenly fell silent. He straightened up and turned to Sheila, but she was gone. Jess looked towards the entrance to the park, scanning the crowd for his fiance but she wasn't among the crowd. Throngs of people rushed by as they made their way for the park exit, rushing past Jess. He scanned the other side of the street and could find no trace of Sheila.
"JESS!!!"
Two stores up, Sheila was being crushed against the doorway by the swelling of the crowd. Jess moved slowly through the waves of panicked vacationers towards Sheila.
They had to get out of the park before something happ--
Pale hands reached out from within the store and grabbed at Sheila's long brown hair. She shrieked and stepped away. Jess broke into a run as he saw her assailant.
A tall, young man ambled towards her, sunken eye sockets hidden behind long hair and his Foo Fighters T-shirt soaked with blood. He grinned with gore-streaked teeth, reached for her and lunged forward.
Jess got there just in time. He yanked her hard and the two of them fell in step with the rest of the crowd as it surged forward towards the entrance gates.
The security guards--usually there to help inspect bags for any weapons or dangerous contraband--stood near the entrance and waved the crowds towards the now wide-open gates.
Suddenly, Sheila tripped and fell. Someone stomped on her hand. Another set of feet tripped over her sprawled legs. "Ow!"
"Sheila!" Jess bent over and wrapped an arm around her waist, helping her up.
"Outta my way, Fuckhead!" Jess was knocked to the ground as well. The crowd surged over them both. A woman tripped over Jess and fell on top of him. His head bounced off the sidewalk and red pain blossomed behind his eyes. The woman tumbled head over heels and kicked his head against the concrete.
With thousands of people crushing forward to get out of the park, Jess's world went black.
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