Freakshow

by Aline Riva

  Cleo screamed as she was jerked side ways, then her hands lost grip and she fell, plunging to the ground and landing with a thump. She had fallen less than twelve feet into thick sawdust, but was on her side and motionless. Another shot rang out. The final zombie's hand was blown off and it fell, hitting the ground head first as its skull exploded in a mess of brains and bone on the other side of the ring. Flint raced over to Cleo, looked down at her and pain registered on her face and she groaned as she rolled on to her back. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked up at him.

  “You should have made them shoot me too,” she said and gave a sob.

  “It was an accident!” he protested, then he remembered his audience also needed attending to – panic was still very much in the air. He turned to the crowd.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, there has been an accident... but be assured all is well.... Remain seated.... Is there a doctor in the audience?”

  Greg stood up.

  “I'm a doctor!”

  Marc and Zodiac stood up too.

  “Greg, you're not qualified to handle this -”

  He glanced at Marc.

  “I believe I am. Look, she's sitting up, it can't be serious!”

  “I really think I should go and fetch Christian, Daddy,” Zodiac added.

  Greg turned to Marc.

  “Take my son over to the hotel. I'll look after the woman.”

  Then he was gone, out of the aisle and hurrying down the steps. Marc glanced down at Zodiac.

  “We'd better get over to the hotel. I'm sure your Dad knows what he's doing.”

  Zodiac looked up at him doubtfully.

  “I'm not so sure about that,” he replied.

  “Don't worry, your Dad can handle this... I hope!”

  Then he took Zodiac by the hand and led the boy out of the tent and they made their way down the path away from the circus and the fairground, leaving behind the smell on the breeze that carried the vague stink of zombies as they headed towards the hotel.

  Flint had managed to calm his audience. Suddenly the rows of seating were bombarded with popcorn sellers and trays of iced drinks as they waited for Cleo to move from the ring so the next act could begin. Cleo was still sitting up looking dazed. Then as she looked to the sawdust that covered the ground, she saw a pair of polished shoes step forward. Her gaze shifted upwards, past his long leather coat and his immaculate suit. He looked down at her as she looked up at him, wondering why she had never noticed this guy in town before... she certainly would have noticed him, she wasn't sure if it was the fall and the fact that she was almost knocked out, but one look at him and he taken her breath away.

  “Hello...” she said, then she felt a dull ache and grasped at her arm.

  “I think I broke my arm!” she whined as tears filled her eyes.

  Greg knelt beside her, taking hold of her arm as he turned it and then asked her to move her fingers.

  “Do you hurt anywhere else? Did you hit your head? Does your back hurt?”

  She shook her head. Then more tears filled her eyes.

  “Please help me...”

  “I'm trying to... I'm a doctor... sort of... “

  “No, help me.”

  There was a look of desperation in her eyes. He recalled her fear on climbing to the platform.

  “Be quick about this,” he said in a low voice as he glanced to Flint, who was on the other side of the ring with his back turned talking to audience members, “Just tell me yes or no. Are you here against your will?”

  “Yes!”

  “Is Flint forcing you to do things you don't want to do?”

  “Yes, oh god he makes me do so many - “

  “There's no time to explain now,” he told her, helping her to her feet. She stood there unsteadily in her high heels and still looked pale and shaken. Just then he turned around, saw Cleo was standing up and began to walk over.

  “If you want to get out, do as I say,” Greg said quickly, “Faint.”

  “What?”

  “Faint!”

  She slumped into his arms and he caught her, just as Flint walked over to join them. Now there was a look of dismay on his face as Flint realised Cleo had collapsed.

  “What's wrong with her?” he demanded.

  Greg lifted her into his arms, then began to walk out of the tent as Flint hurried after him.

  “I don't know yet,” he replied as they headed up the path, “Could be multiple fractures, internal bleeding...anything. Please tell me you have a medical facility here?”

  There was a look of panic on Flint's face – clearly, he believed he cared for Cleo, even though she had made it clear he had kept her like a prisoner.

  “Yes... we had a doctor here, and a nurse – they worked at the medical centre but they went missing. They left without my permission!”

  They escaped, Greg thought silently as he began to see the town in a whole new light.

  “This way...”

  Flint hurried on ahead, clearing the path as Greg carried Cleo towards the entrance. Cleo ached all over from the fall but only broke the pretence of unconsciousness once, as she heard Flint call to a nearby car and she realised he had gone on ahead then she dared to open her eyes and look up at the handsome man who carried her.

  “You're unconscious!” he reminded her, and she closed her eyes again, smiling as she turned her face to his coat, for once feeling protected and safe in this stranger's strong arms. She felt as if she had escaped the life she had faced with Flint, she was yet to find out the doctor's name but as he carried her out of the gates towards a waiting vehicle, she knew she was safe, for the first time since the apocalypse and Flint had taken her into his world and treated her like his property, she was finally safe thanks to the kindness of a stranger...

  As Cleo was laid out on the back seat, Greg noticed frustration in Flint's eyes as he realised he would not be able to get in the back of the car. There was only one spare seat, in the front next to the driver.

  “As soon as you've assessed her condition, send the driver back with the details,” Flint said as Greg got into the car, “Now hurry, take her to the clinic and treat her!”

  Greg nodded, then as he looked out the open window and saw Marc and Zodiac on the balcony of a hotel room, he raised his hand and gave a wave to reassure them all was well, then the car drove off, away from the fairground, taking the road that cut through the town centre and then down a main road.

  The driver of the car was masked. Greg found it unsettling that all of the security men wore these metallic masks, but he guessed that was the purpose – to make others uneasy.

  “Is it far?” he asked.

  The masked man indicated to the next turning.

  “The place is still unlocked,” the driver said, “There's a guard posted outside to keep it safe – although our night time patrols are enough to keep the whole town under control.”

  “It sounds like Mr Flint has it all worked out very well.”

  The driver hesitated.

  “He gives us a good life. No zombies apart from the ones we bring in for entertainment, we have a place to live and work...it's almost like the old world never died....almost.”

  Greg wanted to ask more, but the car had stopped outside the medical centre, it was a large two storey modern building that looked to have stood for no more than a decade.

  “Wait here,” he told the driver as the guard emerged from the entrance, “I'll take her in and examine her and then you can take the message back to Flint.”

  Then Greg got out of the car, opened up the passenger door and lifted Cleo from the car. Thankfully she kept up the act of being out cold as he hurried towards the open doorway.

  “Out of my way,” he said urgently to the guard, “I'm a doctor, here on Flint's orders. Cleo is badly injured!”

  Then he carried her inside, and as he led her away from the guard on the door and he went down a corridor, reading signs on walls as he searched for a room where she could rest, she pressed her
face against his coat and laughed softly.

  Back at the hotel, Zodiac had watched as his father had been driven off with Cleo in the back of the car. Now he had come in from the balcony and was sitting on a sofa sharing a large plate of cheese and ham salad with Marc.

  “I like it here,” Zodiac said as he looked about the clean and well furnished room, “But why can't I go back to my room now?”

  “Because you're next door in the other suite and sharing with your Dad and I'm not leaving you alone here until he gets back. I know this place seems nice – but don't forget what we saw at the circus.”

  Zodiac stopped eating and looked at him with confusion in his translucent eyes.

  “The circus? It's a place where people cut up zombies for fun...but I didn't like it.”

  “The circus didn't used to be like that,” Marc replied, “Before zombies, people went to the circus to be entertained, for fun, real fun – not mutilating the undead. You're right, it isn't very nice. People around here seem to enjoy it, though. And that bothers me.”

  Zodiac thought for a moment.

  “Maybe it's their way of getting revenge on the zombies because they wrecked the world?”

  Marc smiled, surprised yet again by Greg's super bright son.

  “Maybe it is,” he agreed, “But that lady Greg is helping was crying and terrified – that was before the zombie tried to attack her. She didn't look like she wanted to be up there.”

  “I don't like Mr Flint,” Zodiac said, “He looks at people like they don't matter.”

  “I've noticed that too,” Marc replied.

  A sudden thought hit Zodiac and his eyes went wide as anxiety filled his young voice.

  “Is my Daddy safe?”

  “He's very safe,” Marc promised, “He's looking after Cleo. Obviously doctors are in short supply around here. And she seemed okay after the fall...so she probably just fainted. If he needs any help I'm sure he'll send a message back for Christian to take a look at her.”

  “Christian is asleep,” Zodiac replied, “He was on his bed. He left the door wide open and just laid on the bed in his clothes. He was snoring.”

  Marc chuckled as he recalled the wounded doctor downing a whole bottle of scotch.

  “I bet he is!”

  Despite Marc's good mood, Zodiac was still worried. He looked to the balcony and the darkness of the night sky, silently worrying for his father, out there somewhere in a strange town.

  A few doors down from Marc's suite, Vicki was resting alone, sleeping deeply with the door unlocked as she waited for Marc to return. Parsons was in the next suite, he had enjoyed a hot bath before taking a much needed early night. Across the hall, Emma was laying back on a comfortable bed, surrounded by the comforts of a clean and well furnished bedroom, a first since she had fled Wolfsheer. She closed her eyes as she sunk back against the pillow, then opened them again, turning her face to the window as she thought of Alex : From here she saw the top of the helter skelter and she smiled as she drifted off to sleep – it was odd, but she really was fond of that crazy man and right now, she missed him a lot...

  As the night sky darkened further and stars came out and the moon shone down on the lit up fairground as the lights blazed into the night, Flint was overseeing the rest of the entertainment beneath the big top.

  While all this was happening, a mile away at the medical centre, Cleo was resting on a treatment bed in an examination room. She had taken some painkillers after Greg had finally located the pharmacy and then he had helped her to take off her spiked boots and now she was resting, and slowly waking up after an hour of sleep.

  As she looked up at the ceiling and then the strange surroundings she turned her head sharply to see him sitting beside her, then everything came rushing back, the zombie attack, the fall from the rope...

  “Where's Flint?”

  She looked and sounded scared.

  “He's back at the circus,” Greg replied, “And you don't have worry – I've sent word back that your condition is serious and you'll need a lot of rest. That should keep him away for a while.”

  She breathed a deeply relieved sigh.

  “Thank you so much! I don't know your name -”

  “Gregory Fitzroy,” he replied, “But you can call me Greg. And I'm not actually a trained doctor. I know very little about medical practise. I vaguely remembered being taught about CPR years ago – I used what I remembered on Christian when I found him half drowned. I saved his life. I've since treated his bite infection. I'm just using common sense for now – until he's well enough to start training me professionally.”

  “Was Christian with you in the audience?”

  She sounded weary and as she shifted slightly, she ached all over from the fall.

  “No,” Greg replied, “I was with Marc – he's my best friend, we were at the circus together. We just arrived in town today with some others.”

  She smiled.

  “And that lovely little boy... the virus kid...is he Marc's son?”

  Greg smiled back at her as his eyes shone with pride.

  “No, he's my son! Thanks for calling him lovely.”

  “I've heard they can be a handful... they bite when they're upset?”

  Greg laughed.

  “My son bites when he's happy, sad or sulking. And he never bites the kids of the reasonable parents, it's always the kids who have mothers who want to shout at me and fathers who want to pick fights!”

  “I've seen a virus child before,” she added, as she sat up stiffly he put another pillow behind her and she rested against it, grateful for the cushioning to take away her aches and pains, “A little girl... the parents left town when Flint took over. A lot of people left...but I didn't get the chance. Flint had wanted me all to himself for years. Once the apocalypse happened and he started running the town, I had no say. It was like this: Become his property or lose everything. He only makes me do that rope act because he knows I'm terrified of heights!”

  “You're not scared of zombies?”

  She smiled.

  “I'd rather face a horde than face that platform!”

  Then her smile faded. She looked at Greg and once again felt a pull of attraction. He had taken off his coat and jacket and his shirt was partly open. One look into his eyes told her this was the kind of guy she wished she could be with – a nice guy, a protective man. Instead, she was stuck with Flint and eventually, would have to climb that ladder and take that dive all over again...

  “I don't want to go back,” she said honestly.

  “You won't be going back for a long time,” he promised her, “Flint believes that you had serious injuries and will need a lot of bed rest under medical observation. That should keep you safe for a while.”

  She reached out and gave his hand a brief squeeze.

  “Thank you - “ she caught he breath, then clutched at her arm and rubbed a deep bruise, “This is so sore!”

  “Well, you can move it so I think nothing is broken,” he replied, “But I'm going to make it look like you're hurt, I'll put you to bed and find some bandages... Flint needs to believe it's bad when he sees you.”

  “Can't I stay here?”

  “There's a bed in a room just across the corridor,” he told her.

  “I'd better go there now...what time is it?”

  Greg got up and checked his watch.

  “Almost ten.”

  “The show finishes soon, then he'll be on his way over...Oh shit!”

  As she stood up, she leant hard on the bed.

  “What's wrong?” he asked, feeling a surge of panic as the fact that he had no training now felt glaringly sharp.

  “I just ache all over,”she said in despair, “I feel like I've been slammed into a wall! I can barely walk!”

  “At least I can solve that problem for you,” he told her, and he lifted her into his arms again and carried her out of the room and across the corridor. He took her through an open doorway and laid her on a bed, then turned the cove
r back down.

  “You stay there, don't even try and move,”he said, “I have to work on making your serious condition look believable for Flint!”

  “I'm not going to move,” she replied, and she smiled.

  In that moment he felt a warm glow that was reaching his heart in a way that he could have felt for Stacy if they had been allowed more time, it was also a feeling that had almost grown for Vicki... but there was something about Cleo and he didn't want to think about it too deeply at that moment, but as he left the room he was smiling: He liked her a lot. It was just his luck that she was the property of the lunatic who ran Circus Town...

  Chapter 4

  Flint's mood was as dark as the night sky as he reached the medical centre, got out of the car and entered the building. He walked through the reception area and then looked about, seeing no one and then he called out to Cleo.

  As Flint shouted her name his voice echoed down the corridor, reaching the open doorway to the room where she was resting. On hearing his voice Greg jumped and so did the needle attached to an IV that he was trying to bury in a thick bandage he had wrapped around her hand. She jerked the back of her hand away nervously.

  “Don't poke me with that thing!”

  “I'm not sticking anything in you!” he said quickly, “Keep still...”

  Greg steadied her hand, then slid the needle through two layers of bandage.

  “Now lay back and pretend to be weak and tired. I'll get rid of him.”

  She obeyed, sinking against the pillow as she guessed it wouldn't be hard to pretend she was feeling weak – she still ached all over from that fall from the rope.

  “She's in here,” Greg called out as he reached the doorway, in time to see Flint hurrying down the corridor. He wasn't sure if he saw anxiety or anger burning in his eyes, but clearly he had got quite worked up over Cleo's accident.

  “How bad is it?” he demanded as he reached the doorway.

  “Bad enough,” Greg replied, “She's got fractures and she's had some internal bleeding – I've given her some medication to stop it but she has to stay here and rest for several days. She can't be moved.”