by Aline Riva
Then a crackle sounded, followed by a hiss and another crackle that seemed to echo about the length of the gloomy corridor.
“What was that?” Rick whispered as he looked about the gloom where sunlight fell through the boarded ceiling above.
“Sounds like...some kind of audio system?” David wondered.
Then there was another crackle, and a voice came through that made the group freeze in shocked silence as Rick recognised the distinctive accent of Mortiz and broke out in a sweat:
“I see you have made it this far, but no further...Unless you are willing to work fast and think fast. The doors at the end of the corridor go left and right. One leads to the water park the other to the second entrance to the undead enclosure. Welcome to the Death Corridor. Some of you will die today.”
There was a thud up the other end of the corridor, where the single door was now flung open wide as the undead moaned and scuffled to fight their way in, desperate to be first up the corridor to reach the living and tear them to pieces. The first of the zombies battled through, grey and decaying, dressed in rags and stinking of death as they started to race towards the group. David looked to the others, then turned for the two doors at the end of the corridor.
“Run!” he yelled, and as he raced off towards the far end of the corridor the others followed with the dead in pursuit as the two doors loomed closer, along with a choice between life or death....
Chapter 7: It's a Trap!
As the dead raced up the corridor rapidly gaining on them, Flossie turned back giving a hiss as she clutched tightly to her candyfloss stick.
“No!” Lois yelled, grabbing her by her blazer and dragging her onwards, as the girl continued to hiss at the chasing dead, then as Emma screamed as a dead hand closed about her shoulder and she crashed to the ground, the undead fell on her, sinking teeth into her shoulder as she curled into a ball in the corridor. Zombie mouths tore away bloody flesh and crimson ran along the floor.
“Emma!” Sandra yelled as she ran into Toby, who caught her sharply as they reached the end of the corridor.
“You can't help her, she's already gone!” Toby said as Sandra raised her weapon, struggling between the jostle as the group all crowded towards the two closed doors.
“Someone has to stop them!” Sandra yelled as the dead stumbled over the feeding frenzy, tumbling over Emma's body and the corpses that were on her, as they raced on, towards the living humans at the end of the corridor.
Shots rang out and the first of the undead jerked backwards then snarled and started to run again, pushing aside other nearing undead, determined to reach the prey first.
David and Rick were the first to reach the door, and as the rest of the group huddled against them and the roars of the approaching dead echoed up the corridor, they looked to the two doorways.
“Which one?” said David urgently.
“Left is nearest the enclosure...right is nearest the water park,” Rick said quickly, then as he and David exchanged a glance, they spoke in unison:
“It's a trap!”
Together they reached for the left door, the one closest to the undead enclosure, getting it right as they stumbled out into a clear space of green lawn, where beyond could be seen a pathway that led to a signpost marked Water Park.
Toby and Sandra staggered out followed by Jason, then Tara aimed shots as David and Rick leaned in through the doorway once more, dragging her clear. Lois screamed as the stink of the dead grew stronger and as Jason reached back to grab at her Rick shoved him aside, plunging back into darkness as the dim corridor was filtered with broken sunlight as the dead piled up, closer as they reached out, one grabbing Lois by the hair. Rick grabbed her by her shoulders and tugged, as she staggered backwards she screamed again as a chunk of her hair tore away, left behind in the closed hand of the undead. The creature lunged again and Flossie hissed, lashing out with her stick, emending it into the eye of the creature then tugging it out once more. As Lois tumbled on to the grass, Rick grabbed Flossie by the back of her blazer and hurled her clear of the horde, then he and David slammed the door shut and bolted it as beside the doorway, the wall of the corridor made a sharp turn, visible from the lawn as the creatures shrieked and groaned and thudded about behind the closed door.
As the sound of the trapped undead began to fade out, Sandra fell to her knees on the lawn and sobbed.
“I promised her, I told Emma it would be okay!”
Toby gently helped her up as she openly sobbed, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes as he spoke a calm and steady truth to remove all needless guilt.
“This world will never be okay again! Remember that! And with the state of her mind, you had make that promise!”
Tears ran down her face as she thought of Emma and shook her head.
“But if I'd left her back at the fair -”
“She would have died eventually! She couldn't have lived there forever, this was her only chance! It's not your fault – none of us know how long we have left, we could all be wiped out tomorrow! Look at me, Sandra. It's not your fault.”
As she met his gaze and more tears burned her vision, he gave her a hug, repeating again that she had done no wrong. As Rick put his arm around Lois, she had just picked herself up from the lawn, and she briefly placed her hand over a patch of reddened scalp that she covered with her hair as she looked to her lover.
“It just ripped out some hair. No skin broken.”
“Thank fuck for that!” he exclaimed, pulling her closer and kissing her cheek.
“It would have had me,” she added as her voice cracked with emotion and she looked down at the mutant child, “But Flossie saved me...stabbed it in the eye with her icky stick.”
Rick let go of Lois and turned around to look down at Flossie as he smiled.
“Oh, Flossie, you saved Lois! Well done! Did you poke that stinker in the eye...Oh...I see you've still got the eye...”
He had been leaning over her, but now straightened up as the others looked around, and there were a few groans and mutters of disgust as Flossie pulled the eyeball from the end of the stick and popped it into her mouth.
“Don't do that,” Rick said kindly as he tried not to look disgusted, “Don't eat eyes, that's even worse than brains!”
Rick cautiously reached out with his metallic hand.
“That's double icky, spit it out!”
She gave a low growl and bit down on the eye, then her expression turned to one of glee as she savoured the taste, and Rick's stomach turned over.
“Oh I see, it's tasty...well, you enjoy it, Flossie...I can't look at you right now, but well done for helping Lois....”
As he turned away, Lois glanced at her then looked back at Rick.
“She saved me,” she said again, and he nodded.
“And maybe when we do get out of here, once we explain to your son she's not dangerous or infectious, maybe he can accept her as part of the family, what do you think, could that work?”
Lois didn't have to think about her reply.
“If anyone comes along and objects we can always point out she's a great protector.”
Rick's eyes shone with warmth.
“If anyone objects they can mind their own business, it's our family!” he told her firmly, “That strange little girl is already a part of it.”
“Yes she is,” Lois agreed, as Flossie swallowed the last of the eyeball then looked in disappointment at the sticky, smelly, now empty icky stick as she grasped it firmly, feeling sad for the lost brains that had been ripped off it during the attack in the tunnel.
Jason looked about the wide green area, then up the path towards the water park.
“Why isn't Mortiz coming after us?”
At once Rick's gaze darkened on hearing the mention of his enemies name.
“Because he's hiding, probably in the water park, if he's not there I'll go through that horde again just to find the bastard!”
By now the group had recove
red from the ordeal in the tunnel. The sounds of the undead had faded away as they had retreated back from the closed door, no doubt taking with them what ever remained of Emma as they went on their way.
There was not a sign of Mortiz nor the presence of his armed guards as the group made their way through the deserted park, taking the path to open gates that led to the water park.
As they went onward, silence passed through the group as they thought on Emma's death, yet another loss in times filled with destruction. They passed an open air pool and a giant water slide, bodies floated on the surface, partially eaten and stinking in the heat. The water was tainted red and after passing the pool, it came as sweet relief to turn a corner and be met with the sight of the open sea, where an area had been sectioned off as part of the park, with beach and a solid wall that rose around the it, ensuring an unspoiled area of sand and water where guests had once enjoyed the view. Here the breeze blew clean and filled with salt and it seemed to cleanse them all as it kissed their faces and blew through their hair, taking away the stink of death from their clothing as the open water seemed to beckon, carrying with it the assurance that no death lurked far out at sea, there was the safe place where the dead had no dominion – the open waters.
“I reckon there's enough of us to grab a cruise ship,” said Tara, “We could find a suitable ship, take to the open sea and we could live on the water...imagine it, a cruise liner...”
David's thoughts had slipped back to the past as he spoke fondly of an old friend.
“I know just the man to captain that ship too,” he replied, “If he's up to it, Maxie would love that.”
“I wonder how he is,” Tara replied, “And Lauren...”
“The safe house was always reliable,” Jason cut in, “But I can't speak for the area above ground. None of my people came to harm until Mortiz came along.”
“Same here,” Rick said in a hushed voice, then the two men exchanged a glance as they realised at the same time they had both managed to agree on something at last...
“Why isn't he following us?” David wondered, looking about the beach and the pool and the closed doors of the empty bar far off on a wide patio area, “It's deserted! After that corridor, I would have expected much worse to come....”
“Maybe it's all he had,” Tara replied, “He can't risk his manpower on a fight with us and he has to use the undead sparingly or he'll lose his little army. I think he was bluffing. Perhaps he thinks we'll run away – and while our backs are turned he'll give chase and slaughter us. Yes...that's probably his plan. David, we need to find him before he finds us. He's playing a game here!”
David looked about the empty beach again, the only sound that carried on the breeze was the ripple of water, the roll of the tide, the cry of gulls up above in the blue sky.
“It's too quiet,” he agreed, and then he looked to the sign post up the other end of the beach area that read Undersea Walk this way, with an arrow pointing to a path that led around the side of the building near the end of the beach, where a former cafe stood white and stark in the sunlight as summer heat made it look bleached and brilliant against the blueness of the sky and the deep yellow of the sand.
“We'll try the underwater tunnels,” David said, “If we don't find Mortiz, we go back to the fair and we search until we do find him, and we'll fight until the bullets run out and beyond, are we agreed?”
The group looked back at him, some nodded, some simply cast him a look of agreement, and then Flossie sniffed something on the wind, gave off a sound somewhere between a giggle and a growl, and ran off away from the beach, heading towards the pathway once more.
“Flossie!” Lois shouted, watching anxiously as the mutant child hurried off, then as she took a step to follow her, Rick caught her arm, pulling her back as he too looked in the direction the girl had run.
“Leave her,” he said, “She's off to play.”
“Play?” Lois exclaimed, “How can she play?”
“In her own way she does play,” he replied, “We saw her first with the dolls pram, remember? And just now she made that sound she makes when she's happy. It was nothing like the hiss she made for the snake, or in the tunnels. She's off to play somewhere safe. We're off into the unknown...let her play, she's probably a lot safer than we are.”
“Let's not waste time,” David said, “We'll find her on the way out – or she'll find us.”
Then he turned back towards the path and started to walk on as the others followed, Rick with his arm around her shoulder as Lois cast a backwards glance, but she saw no sign of Flossie, just the empty beach and the glitter of sun on water...
“Anyway,” Jason was saying as the waves rolled to shore and seagulls dipped and weaved in the summer skies and the light bounced off his face mask and ruffled his light brown hair,. “I'm not starting anything, Rick -”
“Yes you are,” he replied, casting him a warning glance as he took his arm off his lover's shoulder, leaving Lois to walk alone as he went on ahead, trying to lose Jason, who annoyingly hurried after him.
“Will you let me speak?”
“You'll open your mouth no matter what I want,” Rick replied, “Come on then, get it over with so we can all have a rest from the bullshit!”
“Not again...” David muttered, walking on and leaving the two men to quarrel as they stood beside the water's edge where the beach cut away and the barrier rose up and stretched out to sea, bearing a painted sign that warned of Deep Water.
“I was just saying, back there in the corridor – I was in there first, I could have got Lois out, but you pushed me out of the way!”
“I wanted make sure she was okay,” Rick replied as he stepped up on to the barrier, then took another step back, enjoying the ability to now look down even lower on his girlfriend's dodgy ex, “I mean,” he added with a smirk, “I couldn't leave anything important to you in case it got fucked up. You might have your mind on other things, like chasing after some virus infected woman...I don't like you and I never will! End your obsession with Lois, she's mine!”
Anger sparked in Jason's eyes. He stepped up on to the barrier too, and as the others turned back, they watched as the two men began to argue loudly.
“If I'm such a pervert, why would I be obsessed with your girlfriend?” Jason yelled.
“Because you're like that!” Rick shouted in his face, “Hand off, she's mine, dickhead!”
“Fuck off you one handed prick!” Jason said bitterly, and gave him a shove.
Rick slipped from the barrier, hitting the water with a splash as the others wandered closer and Rick went under, then came up to the surface, a look of anger on his face as he flicked his wet hair out of his eyes with a toss of his head.
“You arsehole!” he yelled, “I'll get you in this water and fucking drown you!”
“Come at me, bro...” said Jason mockingly, backing off to the edge of the barrier and then jumping down to the sand.
“Don't be a dick!” warned David, “Or I'll knock you out, Jason, have you got that? We're fighting the undead, not each other!”
Jason looked to the man in charge, thought about hitting back with a smart reply, but there was something about the look in David Harley's eyes that said perhaps he had better not do that...
“What ever, you're the boss,” he replied, stepping back further from the water.
Then as a fin rose from the deepest end of the pool, it sailed through the water, cutting a perfect ripple as the shark headed for the shallows.
“Get out!” David yelled, as alarm registered on the faces of the others.
“Rick, get out of the water!” Lois shouted.
“What's the rush?” Rick said, and then he noticed even Jason was looking horrified.
“Get out,” Jason said, looking at the water behind him, “Seriously, it's a fucking shark.”
“A what? You're just trying to scare me -”
As something bumped against him, he gave a gasp, turning in the water and his eyes
growing wide with alarm as the large shark with the tall, jagged fin rose up from beneath the water, its eyes large and dark, its mouth huge – mutated and huge, its flesh rippled oddly as it looked at Rick and he froze in terror. Then the mutant shark, only hungering for the dead and bearing no malice towards humanity, kept its large and dangerous mouth shut, backed up and then firmly bumped against him, swimming forward forcefully, pushing the human, who had no place in the water to begin with, back to the shallows. As it shoved him towards the sand, Rick scrambled out of the water, gasping as he turned back to see the shark rising up once more, eyes regarding him thoughtfully.
“It's a mutant!” he exclaimed as he started to laugh, “Mutants protect us! He thought I was drowning!” then he looked to the watching shark whose eyes were still above water level, “Thanks, Nemo!” he called out, and then the shark swam away and below the water line, heading for the deepest part of the pool.
The others exchanged surprised glances.
Lois laughed as Tara breathed a relieved sigh.
“We need to remember that,” David said, “The mutant animals defend us. I knew they attacked the dead, but protecting us? That's incredible!”
Rick ran his hand over his wet hair, pushing it back, and then he brushed sand from his soaked clothing.
“After that I'm ready to take on anything!” he said, “Let's go...I'm ready to find Mortiz. I've got a score to settle.”
“We all have,” replied David, reminding him he was not alone, and then the group walked onwards, heading for the turn in the path that led to the place named Undersea Walk.
And as they headed towards the submerged tunnels, they had no clue they were being watched by the mounted camera that turned slightly as they took the path towards the entrance – they had just walked into the worst trap of all, and none of them yet realised the truth, as Mortiz laughed from his observation room back in the heart of the fairground, feeling sure every person who was about to enter those tunnels would not be coming out again, this attraction was a one way ticket to a watery grave...