Freakshow

by Aline Riva

  “And what about after that?”

  “Then she will need several weeks rest. She can't perform until she's healed – you could kill her.”

  All impatience faded from Flint's gaze as Greg stepped back and he entered the room. Flint went over to her bedside and looked down at her.

  “You will be up and feeling better soon” he told her, “And when you are, you can start performing the rope stunt again. This was a lesson for all of us, clearly the ropes need to be further apart...” then he leaned closer, whispering in her ear: “I'm going to raise the platform even higher and you will perform three times a day. You need to get over this stupid fear of heights.”

  As she opened her eyes and looked up at him she caught her breath and he saw genuine fear shining in her gaze and it made him smile.

  Greg had caught his low spoken words and went over to her bedside, looking at Flint and seeing him clearly as the lunatic that he was.

  “I heard that! You can't make her cope better with this by making the situation worse!”

  Flint turned from Cleo and stepped closer to Greg, locking eye contact as his gaze hardened and an icy smile played about his lips.

  “You know nothing about my methods. The hardest lessons learned are the painful ones. I learned that from my dear old dad when he gave me a heavy beating. I heard him say it right before I blacked out! But it did me good – I learned!”

  “Of course,” Greg replied, knowing the easiest way to get rid of this lunatic would be to agree with him for Cleo's sake, “You've made a valid point.”

  “I'm glad you agree,” Flint said, “I think we will get along very well, which is good news, considering you're now the town's new doctor.”

  There had been no offer made, just a statement. Greg got it now – Flint would be putting them all to good use, with no option of leaving. That was the moment his mind was made up, he guessed they would either have to grab some ammo and shoot their way out, or bide their time and slip away when the opportunity arose. This was a town run by a maniac...

  “I will need to bring in Doctor Wells,” he replied, “We can run the practise together. Wells is a surgeon.”

  “Wonderful!” Flint replied, “Can you give me some background on the others you travelled with? Considering there is no where else to go, I'm sure they will all be grateful and willing to offer their services... that's how it works around here, we give what we can. This who don't comply don't last long, understandably.”

  “My group consists of a security expert, a pilot, a former community leader and a young woman who is very unstable and needs a calm existence. She's been through a lot of trauma and she couldn't cope with any more stress, so leave Vicki alone, please.”

  “No one lives here for free,” he said coldly.

  Greg said nothing in reply for a moment as he looked into the eyes of Harvey Flint, then as his anger rose he spoke in a low voice as he made a promise:

  “By the way, if my son is harmed, I will kill you.”

  Flint's expression changed as he stepped back, looking in surprise at Greg. Then he smiled, there was an unreadable expression on his face as he laughed.

  “That's rather extreme coming from one in a profession that saves lives! I'm not in the business of harming children!”

  “My son stays with me at all times,” Greg added, “I'm not letting him out of my sight. I don't know this town or you and I want to keep my child safe.”

  Harvey shrugged.

  “As you wish. He wouldn't be able to go to school here anyway – the others would not accept a half dead – sorry, I mean a virus child.”

  The words half dead had put a spark of rage in Greg's eyes, but he remembered just before giving into the urge to throw a punch that he was unarmed and so were the others. They would all suffer if he lashed out, probably Cleo too, because Flint was clearly power mad.

  “Well, at least he gets to watch me work,” Greg replied, “Now you should leave – Cleo needs a lot of rest if you want her back on that platform.”

  “Yes, of course,” Flint said, then he glanced over to the bed where Cleo was resting.

  “See you soon,” he told her, “Hurry up and get well. I miss you, beautiful.”

  She opened her eyes, looked at him and then closed her eyes again, giving a tired sigh. As Flint turned and walked away, Greg thought of his son and the others. He now had a clear picture of what was going on around here – and he wished they had never journeyed to Circus Town.

  “As soon as he leaves I'm going to the hotel,” he said, turning back to Cleo.

  “What about me?” she asked in alarm.

  “Flint won't return tonight. You'll be safe here. Just remember there's a guard on watch outside, so keep that needle attached to the bandage and just rest. I doubt he will look in on you but if he did, you want him to believe you're injured. Now I have to go, I need to warn the others – this town is run by a fucking lunatic!”

  “I know that,” she said sadly as he turned away and left the room.

  Back at the hotel, Zodiac felt like he had won a small victory as he went into the empty suite and sat down on a sofa. Marc had wanted him to wait with him, but he had pointed out that he was so much smarter than most at the age of five, and Marc had of course agreed to that statement because he could hardly deny it. He had reluctantly given in and let him leave his suite and now he was next door in his father's room, feeling rather important as he sat there with the whole place to himself as he turned on a lamp and looked to the darkened TV screen as he recalled tales of how TVs used to entertain people for hours with moving pictures... He couldn't imagine it, not to sit there for hours while stories played out on a screen when there was so much more fun to be had outside. Life before the apocalypse sounded fascinating, it was a world he could only imagine and learn about through the memories of the people around him. Then as he looked at the darkened screen, he caught sight of something silver that shifted along its reflection.

  “Do they have working TV here?” Zodiac wondered aloud as he got up from the chair and went over to the screen and touched it. The flat surface stayed dark. Then another small, dull reflection caught on its surface and he turned to see a man in a silver mask emerge from the balcony.

  “MARC!!! UNCLE MARC!!!” Zodiac yelled, and as the door burst open and Marc rushed in, the figure darted for the balcony, hurled himself over and vanished from view.

  Marc ran to the balcony and looked over, wishing he had a loaded gun because the figure was now jumping from the lower balcony, then landing on the ground below and up and running. He turned back and re entered the suite, looking in alarm to Zodiac. The child looked shaken.

  “What happened?”

  “I saw him trying to get in...”

  Marc held his arms out and the boy ran to him. He gave him a tight hug as he spoke reassuringly.

  “It's okay, he's gone now. And we're telling Daddy all about this when he gets back.”

  Then he let go of him and held out his hand. Zodiac grabbed it thankfully, feeling secure once more as Marc took him back to the safety of the other suite.

  By the time Greg returned, the others were all up thanks to Zodiac yelling for help, and as he heard the story of the stranger in the suite, Greg's face had paled.

  “I don't care how I do it but I'm getting a gun and bullets,” he replied, then he looked to Zodiac, “And you're staying with me – where I go, you go.”

  Zodiac nodded, then he blinked tired eyes.

  “Can I go to sleep now?”

  Marc gestured to the bedroom where the door was open.

  “Go and get some rest,” he said, “Us grown ups need to talk.”

  “Yes, it's going to be a long night,” Greg added, “Get some sleep, son.”

  “Good night Daddy,” Zodiac said, and as he went off to bed, Greg watched him leave the room as he felt an ache in his heart and a deep anxiety growing for the safety of his only child.

  “I found out a lot about this town tonight,�
� Greg added as he sat there on the armchair and looked about the room as the others shared the sofa and grabbed seats at a table, “And I'll start by informing you that Flint is a lunatic...”

  They listened as he related all he had learned. Then silence fell on the group as each one of them looked about their comfortable surroundings and realised this town was not the wonderful place that Alex imagined it to be, clearly, trusting his unbalanced mind could have possibly cost them their freedom...

  “So what's the plan?” asked Emma as she sat at the table with Parsons.

  “We can't shoot our way out,” Christian pointed out as he leaned forward on the sofa he shared with Marc and Vicki, “The safety of this place is down to how well guarded it is – against the undead and from within to keep people in order. I'd say our safest bet is to play along, take the roles he wants to give us and bide our time. Clearly others have escaped, so can we, it's just going to take some planning.”

  “And while we're here we have food and water, even housing,” Vicki pointed out, “And we don't even know if he wants to harm us. You're okay, Christian – so are you, Greg. They need doctors here. Marc, you have security experience. Emma, you're a pilot.”

  Emma gave a sigh of despair.

  “I haven't seen any planes or choppers around here, Vicki!”

  “And I'm not living behind a mask to give orders!” Marc said firmly.

  Vicki sighed and then shook her head.

  “I get that, but I'm just saying, it might not be as bad as we think. I know how it looks, I guess he treats his women badly too going by what poor Cleo said, but most of this town seems content. You said the audience were loving the circus acts.”

  “Maybe this is how the world is now,” Parsons added, he had been listening to all the information and slowly considering all possibilities, “I agree with Christian. I say we play along. I'm going to be talking to Flint all about my role as community leader back at Wolfsheer. Maybe if I can win his trust, I can straighten out a few things around here.”

  “I'm not sure you can,” Greg replied, “He's a psychopath.”

  “It doesn't mean he won't listen to another man who has had what he would see as a similar position of power. We know how bad it is out there, beyond this place. We're in a town that's almost reclaimed the old world. Do we really want to throw that away if there's a chance to make some changes around here?”

  They looked at each other, considering the possibilities.

  “Okay, I say we play along for now,” Greg replied, “But in the morning I'm going to see Flint and I'm going to tell him that someone broke in and scared Zodiac. I've already said I'll kill Flint if anyone harms my son.”

  “You threatened him?”

  “Yes Marc, I threatened him. He called my son a half dead and said people around here don't like his kind.”

  “Maybe that's why someone broke in,”Emma added, “We don't know what the motive was – they couldn't have been sure he was in the suite anyway, everyone knew Greg took Cleo to the medical centre. They probably assumed he wouldn't be left on his own. So maybe the target wasn't Zodiac.”

  She had made a valid point.

  “I'm still seeing Flint and demanding a gun,” Greg replied, “I'll steal one if I have to!”

  “So are we all agreed?” Parsons asked, “We wait this out, see how it turns out? Once we know how things are run around here, it will make escape easier if we need to do that – but it would have to be a last resort. Remember what the world is like outside of this town – we only lasted this long before coming here because we had the island. We should stay until we have solid reason to leave.”

  Marc nodded. Vicki gave a sigh and Emma shook her head as she cast him a weary glance.

  “I guess we have no other choice right now,” she said.

  Then the group fell silent, taking in the shock that this seemingly safe place was clearly not so ideal after all...

  When morning came, the fairground was open early and the sounds it carried reached the hotel as a pleasant wake up call until each of the sleeping survivors of Wolfsheer recalled the events of the night before. Greg woke with a jolt, his thoughts rushing back to the intruder when Zodiac had been alone, then as he sat up feeling stiff from his night on the sofa he looked across the room to see his son fast asleep in bed and he breathed a relieved sigh. Then he got up and headed for the bathroom, leaving the door ajar as he hoped the sound of the shower would wake his son, because after the night he had been through, he didn't want to wake him up too sharply.

  In the next room, Marc and Vicki were already up and enjoying breakfast brought up to their room. Emma had woken late and just ordered breakfast. Parsons had been up for a while and was now taking a stroll over to the fairground to find Flint, after leaving a message with Christian, who went on to knock on Greg's door, keen to deliver the news.

  “If you want Flint, Parsons is already searching for him,” Christian said as he walked into the suite, “I really do think his plan could work.”

  Greg put down his tea cup and shook his head.

  “He can try, but Flint is insane. This won't go well. I spoke to Flint last night and it was obvious he's a lunatic.”

  “A lunatic who might be impressed with Parsons ability to lead,” Christian pointed out, then he sat down and reached for the pot of tea on the tray that had been left on the table by room service. Greg got up and grabbed his coat and threw it on.

  “You stay, enjoy the tea – then go over to the medical centre, you're my new practise partner and you need to make sure no one tries to move Cleo. I don't want her going back to that maniac.”

  Christian's gaze registered confusion behind his rounded glasses.

  “I don't know where the medical centre is!”

  “Ask for directions...” he paused to open up the bedroom door, “Hurry up, Zodiac, we're leaving!”

  “Okay, Daddy!” he called back.

  “He could stay here with me -”

  “No Christian, you need to get over there for Cleo. And I have to find Flint, he needs to understand the next person who breaks into my room and threatens my son will get a bullet in their skull!”

  Zodiac dashed out of the bedroom, dressed and ready to leave.

  “Where are we going, Daddy?” he asked.

  “The fairground,” Greg said as they left the suite and his eyes darkened with anger, “I need to have a private chat with Mr Flint...”

  Parsons had walked into the fairground to find it already growing busy, the dodgem cars were smashing into each other as drivers laughed, a big wheel was turning and the smell of hot dogs and candyfloss and popcorn was mixing into the sea air as the breeze blew, for now taking away the stink of the undead. He passed a coconut shy where some teenage boys were throwing hard balls that smacked and thudded against something that didn't sound like coconut... Parsons turned and took another look. A ball hit the target and a dead eye exploded as the teeth chattered and the head wobbled but did not fall. They were hitting severed zombie heads...

  “What the hell is this place...” he muttered and shook his head, then he walked away, in time to catch sight of a flash of Flint's bright coat as he headed down the path towards the caravans, and Parsons dashed up the path to catch up with him.

  “Mr Flint!”

  Flint stopped walking and turned around.

  “Parsons, good morning!” he said brightly, “I was going to ask for you to meet with me today – Greg mentioned you were a community leader?”

  Parsons smiled, getting the feeling that his plan was already sliding into place, and that could only be a good thing. But then as he thought of his loss, his smile faded.

  “I started up a self sustaining community, living off grid on a Scottish isle,” he said, “This was before the apocalypse. We would have been a thriving community to this day if not for a ship that ran aground and spewed out a horde. The community was lost. My wife managed to evacuate some of the island children, but I've yet to locate her.”
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  “She hasn't arrived here yet,” Flint replied, “But I'm sure she would have kept gong in the boat and followed the coastline... we've had a few boats arrive here and all who reach Circus stay. They seem happy enough, I try and keep them happy.”

  “With zombie horror shows?”

  “This is the new age,” Flint replied, “What else are we to do with the rotting bastards?”

  “Keep them out and behave like civilised human beings? That might be a better start,” Parsons replied.

  Flint looked him in the eye, pausing as he considered all he had said.

  “I need a man like you to help run this town,” he told him, “I'd like to start by putting you on the collection runs along with your friend Marc, I understand he used to work in security...I need brains and brawn to keep my men in line when they go to the outer sector to round up fresh intakes.”

  “Intakes of what?” Parsons had the sick, creeping suspicion he already knew the answer to that question, and he was right, as Flint was quick to confirm.

  “I want you and Marc to accompany the zombie round up team,” he clarified, “We bring them in twice a week – we keep them in fortified units until they are needed.”

  Parsons eyes registered shock.

  “You keep hordes inside the town?”

  “They can't get out. We can go in and pull them out as we need them. The walls are thick and strong and the roof covers them so no one can hear the terrible sounds they make.”

  “Where are these units?” Parsons demanded.

  Flint glanced over to a large white building. It was made of heavy stone and the roof was tiled with red slate and the metallic door was heavily locked and fortified with bolts as armed guards stood outside. It was at a distance from the fairground, across the other side of the field that led to the sea wall.

  “You have a horde in the middle of town?”

  “And two others stored further away, one near the retail park and one in the industrial area, both out of town. I don't take chances.”