"You're dad?!?!"
"Yeah, it's my dad."
The thing on the ground began to rise. Jess' attack with the wrought iron chair had fractured some of its ribs and a thin, black liquid poured from its wounds. It made sounds as it got up, unholy sucking sounds, as if it had been mired in mud for ages. As Jess watched, some of its internal organs sluiced around and spilled to the ground.
Jess glanced around the courtyard. The pair of zombies--and now he couldn't help but think of them that way, it was indeed what they were--were closing in on them. They lumbered along the manicured paths, their arms outstretched, hungering for Brian and himself.
Jess thought fast. "Brian, I don't think there's any other way. We've got two choices: kill him or leave him. Either way, I could care less, but we've got to get out of here quickly."
Brian glanced at the thing that, until recently, had been his father. Memories flooded in and he was brought to tears. Jess glanced around at the pair of zombies closing the gap between themselves and Brian. "Kid," he prodded.
Brian shook his head.
"OK," Jess said and pulled Brian by the sleeve. "Decision made for us. We're outta here."
Brian didn't move for a moment and, for a second, the briefest of moments, Jess thought they were doomed. In his mind, he saw a swarm of those things overtaking them, dragging them to the ground, eating their flesh and tearing them to pieces. The scene played out in his mind's eye and Jess did not like it.
Tears fell from Brian's cheeks to the ground below.
The corpse that once was Brian's father rose to its knees a few feet away. It leaned forward, it's arms reaching for the young boy.
Jess beat it to the punch.
He grabbed Brian, scooped him up and the two of them took off into the night. The two zombies met up with Brian's dad and the three of them lumbered after the escaping food.
"Where are we going, Brian?" Jess half-carried, half-led them out of the courtyard and back onto one of the more main footpaths that joined the various "lands" that made up The Happy Kingdom.
Brian sniffed through his tears and muttered, "How the hell should I know? You're leading us."
"I meant, which way should we be heading?"
Another sniffle. "You don't have a plan?"
Jess dropped him on the pavement. "Of course I don't have a plan! One second I'm with my fiance, enjoying vacation, trying to blow off some of the steam that's been clogging up my life lately and the next, she's gone--eaten, killed, a fucking zombie herself, I don't know. Of course I don't have a plan. I should be out there--" he waved an arm wildly--"trying to find her, trying to put my life back in order--"
"Order? Order!?!?!" Brian's voice cracked as it launched a handful of octaves. "Fuck you and your order! My entire family's toast! You saw what happened with my dad! My kid brother's gone--torn apart by those ... those things!! You want your life back in order!?!? I want my life back in order!! I want my parents alive and my brother alive and I want to be back home!!"
They stared at each other for a moment. Brian's screams echoed off the surrounding buildings.
Finally, a snicker escaped from Jess' mouth and a thin smile came to his lips. "Guess we're both fucked."
A low moan caught their attention. A group of zombies--Jess couldn't tell how many there were but there were a lot--were blocking off the path that led back to "Old Fashioned Town", the only way back to the main gates and, consequently, the only escape route out of the park.
One woman, wearing only her panties and the tattered remains of a jumper, ambled toward them, her stomach ripped open, as if by dull blades, a single rope of intestines dangled and dragged behind her, glistening in the lamps overhead. She led the mob that blocked their escape route. More zombies spilled forth from every doorway, every pathway, surging forward, seeking the flesh that still lived.
Jess started heading in the opposition. "OK, let's just say we're both royally screwed right now and we need to be on the move. OK? Good." He nodded over his shoulder. "Prairieland or Thrillworld?"
Brian's father's corpse rounded the corner with the other two zombies in tow. Brian stared at his father's ruined eye hung loosely against the flap of skin that had once been his cheek. He wiped his nose and sniffled. "Thrillworld. Now."
They jogged down the concrete footpath, under a large, futuristic-looking banner that read THRILLWORLD in neon red electric letters and quickly slipped between shiny steel buildings.
The boy banked to the right and came to a large fence, that ordinarily provided a quick exit for any of the cartoon characters as they milled about the crowds, signing "autographs" and taking pictures with the children--and occasionally with their parents. The cruel temperatures of the Florida sun caused the Frisby folks to initiate a policy limiting the costumed actors' time outside and erect the tall, privacy-inducing fences, which allowed for the actors to hastily remove themselves from the crowds before shedding their overheated costumed heads.
Brian cracked a gate open and peered through. The corridor beyond was empty. "Hey, Mister. In here." And he ducked behind the tall, wooden gate. Jess was halfway to the next building before skidding to a halt, his Chuck Taylors screeching on the concrete. Spinning on his heel, he followed Brian through the gate and found himself in a quiet corridor devoid of the dead.
For the first time in the past half hour, Jess felt himself relax--allowed himself the luxury of relaxing. The two of them moved down the corridor until they came to the first door.
Jess quietly turned the knob and slowly opened the door. It was dark inside but no sound of monsters came from the shadows within.
He motioned Brian to follow him.
The darkness within was soothingly cool, the air conditioning still running to fight with the previous warm October afternoon.
"Where are we?" Brian peered into the darkness.
"I think we're in the kitchen of the Skyway Cafe."
"OK. Why aren't there any zombies in here?"
"I'm not sure. The cafe closes at eight ... If the place was shut up tight when things went bad, there won't have been anyone in here to here to change. We should be relatively safe."
The two made their way to the massive refrigerators that lined the back wall. Brian swung one of the doors open and the room was flooded with light. He reached in and grabbed a container of pudding. Leaving the door open, he went over to one of the dishwashers and pulled a spoon from the large plastic bins of utensils. He hopped up on one of the counters and ate a scoop of chocolate pudding.
"Not half bad."
It was then that the voice growled from the darkness, "Good, kid. 'Cuz it's probably gonna be your last meal."
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