Fun World

by Kirk Withrow

  Zombies.

  From oblivion to vigilance in an instant, the dramatic shift was so abrupt that Eric’s body was unable to keep pace with his mind. Like a narcoleptic caught in the throes of sleep paralysis, he willed his muscles into action as he struggled to break free from the bonds of sleep. Panic surged as his surroundings came into sharper focus. The walking corpse that had tripped over his feet staggered past him, seemingly unaware of the uninfected presence directly below. Several more bodies, none of which was Frank, followed close behind. Lila slept soundly next to him, completely unaware of the danger closing in around them.

  Perhaps noticing the first undead monster stumble, the next closest zombie quickened its pace, its blackened eyes locked on Eric. Just as it prepared to collapse on top of them, the connection between Eric’s mind and body engaged. Twisting his hips to the side, he slid his left foot behind the zombie’s rear leg before scissoring hard with his right leg. This sent the zombie sprawling to the side, where it slammed into the ground several feet away. Eric came up to a knee and noticed first zombie barreling toward him out of the corner of his eye.

  Harkening back to his high school wrestling days, he snatched the zombie’s lead leg near the ankle and drove his shoulder into its knee. Unable to escape the leverage placed on its leg, the zombie fell back, catching its neck on a metal handrail on its way down. The thing’s head snapped grotesquely to the side, and though its mouth never stopped nipping at the air, its body remained motionless. He wondered if the zombie had suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of the fall, and if so, would it remain like that indefinitely until someone put it out of its misery?

  A blur of movement in his peripheral vision drew Eric’s attention away from the disabled zombie. He turned just in time to see the head of the first zombie he’d taken down explode as a metal pipe slammed into its skull. A pulpy, red spray splattered the wall just beyond the zombie. Frank grunted with exertion on the follow-up shot that reduced the monster to a lifeless heap. Roused by the commotion, Lila sat bleary-eyed, staring in confusion at the chaos that had befallen the tunnel that had been so quiet when she’d fallen asleep.

  Frank locked eyes with Eric, and shouted, “Get her out of here! I’ll hold them back as long as I can!” Without missing a beat, the older man swung the heavy pipe, connecting with the face of a zombified pirate sporting an actual wooden leg. The artificial leg clicked against the concrete floor as the monster staggered backward before a second hit shut its lights off for good.

  Hand in hand, Eric and Lila raced down the tunnel toward Broadway. He felt bad about leaving the older man alone to fend off the zombies, but he knew he couldn’t worry about Frank or even himself. Lila was his priority above all else, and he would do whatever it took to protect her. What had seemed like the safest place in all of Fun World the night before now felt more like a death trap. Even though there were thousands of zombies roaming the park above, the fact that they were readily visible somehow made them less frightening. When combined with far more options for escape and evasion than found underground, the surface now felt like the less daunting option of the two.

  Although the sound of the swarming zombies faded with each step, it never disappeared entirely. Noises seemed to go on forever inside the tunnels, reverberating off the concrete and metal surfaces until it was impossible to

  tell from where they’d originated. The introduction of a new sound only added to the already congested soundscape.

  Pop. Pop.

  Pop.

  Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.

  Pop. Pop.

  Rat-a-tat-tat.

  The gunshots, loud yet muffled, sounded as though they were coming from directly above them. It was a mix of single shots and fully automatic fire, which likely meant military or law enforcement. Normally that would’ve been a welcomed sound, but given what Frank had told him, it sounded every bit as deadly as the snarling zombies pursuing them.

  Eric slowed as he approached a fork in the tunnel. He turned his ear toward the corridor ahead, listening for any clue regarding potential threats lurking in the shadows. Not a single sound came from that direction. He’d tried to remember as much as possible about the layout of the tunnel system, but after what Frank had told him about Broadway and the quarantine blockade set up at the main gate, he couldn’t seem to recall any of it. Despite not knowing where the tunnel led, continuing into the dark unknown directly ahead seemed like the safest option, especially considering the zombies behind them and the armed soldiers to the right.

  Eric ran his fingers along the wall, feeling for a light switch. He wasn’t sure the lights in this section of the tunnel were connected to Frank’s generators so he wasn’t going to spend much time searching for it. Without the overhead fluorescents, the only light filtering into the tunnel came in through the skylights located approximately every fifty feet. If anything, this proved to be more detrimental than helpful, as it wasn’t enough to show much detail but was more than capable of disrupting his low-light vision. Inching forward in near total darkness as the zombies’ snarls reverberated around them was mortifying, but he was convinced they were merely echoes of the monsters Frank was facing.

  “Daddy, I’m scared. I can’t see anything,” Lila said.

  “I know, sweetie. Keep hold of my hand. We’ll head up to the surface as soon as we reach the next staircase,” Eric replied, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

  Less than ten feet later, the wall disappeared beneath Eric’s hand. He paused, feeling for the corner before sticking his foot out in hopes of finding the bottom of the staircase. Suddenly, a loud moan tore through the darkness ahead of them. Although the distance was hard to determine, it sounded like it came from above them. Maybe just outside the stairs? He risked stretching his foot out a little farther but still couldn’t feel the first riser. When he heard the moan the second time, there was no question that it came from in front of them. He wished he’d thought to ask Frank if he had an extra flashlight. At that moment, he would’ve even welcomed one of Fun World’s otherwise useless light-up souvenirs. Any amount of light would’ve helped allay his fear. The muffled sound of fists beating on metal erupted from the darkness as more zombies tried to enter the stairway. Like an undead call and response, the first zombie moaned in reply, and Eric’s blood went cold instantly. By comparison to the muted thuds, the raspy moan was sharper. Hearing every little nuance of the harsh sound, he knew without question that there was no door between them and the thing that made that noise.

  Thump. Bump.

  Oooooarrrgghh!

  Thud.

  Graaahhhh!

  Thunk.

  Eric stumbled backward over Lila in his haste to escape the thing trundling down the pitch-black stairs in their direction. The zombie groaned loudly when it came to rest on the bottom landing. He knew the sound was more reflexive than anything born out of pain or any other emotion. Immediately, he heard the thing scratching and clawing to get back to its feet. Panic-stricken and unable to see anything, Eric swung his free hand through the air until it slammed into the wall with a painful thud. Not wasting a second, he used the wall as a guide and bolted back down the unlit passageway with Lila in tow. With neither hand free to feel in front of him, he envisioned running full speed into something hidden in the darkness. If he woke up at all, it would almost certainly be to find a zombie tearing huge chunks out of his flesh.

  Eric realized he had no idea which direction he was traveling. As he approached one of the tunnel’s skylights, he resisted the urge to look directly at the circle of light projected onto the floor. It provided no means of orienting himself and would only make seeing in the dark that much harder. In that moment, he thought he understood how a moth felt when it came across a flame burning in the night. He would’ve loved nothing more than to hover in the narrow column of light indefinitely, even though he knew it would mean certain death. Somehow, being able to see made everything, including death, seem less frightening.

  After they
ran for another thirty feet or so, the wall once again disappeared under Eric’s hand. Without the hard surface to guide him, he risked stopping in order to figure out which direction to go. It was so dark that he forced himself to blink several times to ensure that his eyes were actually open. Snarls and moans echoed softly through the air, and he thought they sounded like they originated from the tunnel ahead. Behind him, the sound of the zombie from the stairs grew louder. He thought for an instant about how difficult it must be to be blind, and he wondered how long it took for the other senses to sharpen? Unfortunately, time wasn’t a luxury he had at the moment.

  Turning to his left, Eric pulled Lila down the lightless corridor with his free hand waving back and forth in front of him like a minesweeper. He prayed the floor was clear of obstructions, as even the slightest impediment would likely send him hurtling headlong into the darkness, and likely to his death. He flinched, dropping to his knees and pulling Lila down with him as a loud noise tore through the air all around them.

  Chachink.

  Womp-womp-womp-womp-womp-womp.

  It only took Eric a second to realize that what sounded like a helicopter about to land right on top of them was actually machine-gun fire coming from directly above. Once again, Frank’s warning about the main gate came to mind, but compared to running blind through an unlit tunnel filled with zombies, it seemed like an acceptable risk. Besides, he didn’t think his nerves could tolerate the terrors hiding in the darkness for much longer.

  Eric scooted sideways hoping to find one of the corridor’s walls. As soon as his fingers touched the cold, hard concrete, he followed it until he came to a stairwell. It had to be the east Broadway access point that Frank had spoken about. Swallowing hard, he gripped Lila’s hand tightly and started up the concrete steps.

  Eric and Lila emerged onto a covered landing that resembled a small loading dock. There was a large service elevator door adjacent to the double doors atop the stairway. Aside from the two of them, the landing was devoid of people, both living and dead. Although the gunfire had stopped, they heard the faint voices of the soldiers manning the nearby barricade. Directly ahead was a waist-high fence, beyond which was a wooded area that was too dense to see through in the early evening’s dying light. The concrete walkway curved around to the right of the covered area. He knew the walkway led to Broadway’s main thoroughfare, and he also knew what they would find there. He considered hopping the fence and seeing where the woods would take them, but the idea of willfully going back into a place that looked as dark and confining as the tunnels wasn’t the most appealing. He thought they might be able to skirt along the buildings on Broadway heading toward the central plaza, staying out of sight of the soldiers at the barricade as they moved deeper into Fun World. Besides, the fact that the guns were silent at the moment likely meant there were no zombies with which to contend.

  Having made up his mind, Eric looked at Lila and said, “We’ve seen some pretty bad things, but what’s around the corner is worse than all of it. I know you’re a strong girl but I want to make sure you’re okay with heading out there. Our other option is to see what’s on the other side of the woods ahead.”

  Lila looked at the dark mass of trees and saw no light between them. Much like her father, she was so relieved to finally have even a little light that the idea of intentionally giving that up seemed insane. She looked at her father with resolute eyes, and said, “I’ll be fine. I don’t want to go into the woods.”

  Nodding, Eric ducked around the corner and moved to the front edge of the building. What he encountered there was even worse than what Frank had described. He wasn’t sure if things had worsened since the older man had been there or if he simply hadn’t been able to find the words to accurately convey the scene’s true horror.

  Just as it was every other day, Fun World’s main thoroughfare was crowded with bodies. That, however, was where the similarities ended. Rather than hurrying off to get to the next ride or to shop at the next store, these bodies were mangled and heaped into haphazard piles. The corpses, which were in various states of decay, appeared to have been plowed to the sides of the wide street in order to create a narrow, central corridor capable of funneling the zombies directly into the kill zone. In some places, the bodies were stacked nearly neck high. Dense swarms of blow flies made the darkening sky above appear almost black, while the combined sound of so many flapping wings created a buzzing that was reminiscent of a large drone hovering overhead. Most striking of all was the rancid smell, like that of rotting potatoes and congealed chicken fat slow-cooked in baby shit. Without warning, the memory of a time when his EMS team had entered the house of a paraplegic with poorly controlled diabetes flooded his mind. The festering smell of gaping bedsores combined with that of a dead foot and a dying leg had made him puke almost instantly and left him nauseated for days. His eyes watered as he gagged on the fetid aroma. He stared into the distance in the hopes of seeing beyond the horrors steadily making his gorge rise. Even then it took several minutes before he felt able to move without the threat of vomiting.

  As Eric wiped the tears from his eyes, he noticed a faint tendril of smoke rising from beyond the buildings on Broadway. Feeling steadier on his feet, he stood to investigate the source of the smoke. He found it, along with the meaning of the red X on Frank’s map. Twisted metal sprouted from both sides of the immense hole in the elevated monorail track like vines trying to bridge the impossible distance. A twenty-foot section of the railway was simply gone, presumably demolished in order to prevent it from being used as a means of escaping the park. Although he was no expert, he knew it would take some serious firepower to destroy something as substantial as the massive, concrete monorail track. He thought back to the chaos of the battle on the first night and imagined that one of the explosions he’d heard had been the end result of a guided missile streaking across the sky. Swallowing hard, he knelt down next to Lila.

  Although Lila saw the carnage as well, it wasn’t actually the first thing she noticed. Instead, her eyes had been drawn to an unlit sign on a storefront across the street: Larry’s Sweet Treats and Candy Emporium. She recalled stopping there with her parents on their first day in the park. It had been warm and sunny, and people were already racing in every direction despite the fact that the park had been open for less than an hour. Never in her life had she seen so many people in one place before. Were it not for the tantalizingly rich, sugary smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through the air, she probably wouldn’t have even seen the store. Her father, from whom she’d inherited her sweet tooth, had noticed her staring at the sign. Even though it’d been barely past breakfast, they’d eaten cotton candy and gummy bears until she’d felt like she was going to be sick. Now she felt sick once again, albeit for entirely different reasons. The thought of eating anything as she gazed beyond the sea of death merely added to her burgeoning sense of nausea.

  Keeping his head low, Eric peered around the corner in the direction of the barricade. The low light and the mound of corpses made it impossible to see every detail from his vantage, but he saw at least a dozen men milling about near the park’s main gates. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw men positioned on top of several of the check-in kiosks as well. Multiple armored trucks, each outfitted with an M2 machine gun, sat idly just behind the quarantine line. Considering what he’d heard in the tunnels and the carnage strewn across the promenade, he wasn’t surprised to see the big, .50 caliber machine guns.

  A sudden bright flash followed by a thunderous bang made Eric jump unexpectedly, his physical reaction so strong that he worried the soldiers in their elevated positions might have noticed his movement before he slipped back behind cover. Although he never saw the target, he knew the shot had found its mark when the soldier manning the big gun shouted, “Holy hell! Did you guys see that shit!? One shot! Took that ugly fucker’s head clean off! Damn, I love this job!”

  Several other soldiers belted out congratulatory words before falling silent once
again. Eric pressed his back against the wall, hoping he didn’t hear the sound of soldiers approaching their position. Lila sat motionless, ears covered and face buried, as though expecting another loud blast at any moment. When nothing happened, he breathed a small sigh of relief.

  Tapping Lila’s shoulder and pointing toward the main gate and the barricade, Eric whispered, “We need to get out of here, but we can’t go that way. We have to head back into the park and look for another way out.”

  Lila was shaking her head in protest almost before he finished speaking. Given everything they’d been through, it was no surprise that the idea of going deeper into the park when the exit was so close by didn’t sit well with her. Even so, he knew she didn’t fully understand what the barricade meant and what the soldiers’ orders were. Thankfully, she hadn’t heard Frank’s story. He pulled her head to his chest, and added, “I know, sweetie. Heading back into Fun World is the last thing I want to do, too, but it’s what has to be done. It’s not safe to go the other way.” For a moment, her distress made him consider stepping out and trying to reason with the soldiers holding the quarantine line. One thought of Julie and the kids quashed that idea before it ever got legs.

  Eric also thought about Frank as he held Lila tightly. He hoped the older man had survived the zombie onslaught and found a way out of the tunnels. Given what little he knew about Frank, he felt confident that if anyone could do it, it would be him. He also accepted that it was more likely that his new acquaintance had fallen at the hands of the zombies while trying to save Lila and him. If that was the case, he prayed that his death had been quick and that he’d never find himself face-to-face with the zombie version of Frank.