Liam pulled Katie over to the front porch. "I don't like him being here."
"I can't very well tell him to go home."
He ran his hand through his hair. He noticed Caleb watching them and wanted to play it cool. Liam turned so that Caleb couldn't see them talking. "Right before I passed out last night... I saw the two of you."
She cut him off. "Oh, good grief, Liam!" Her usual calm and cheerful demeanor changed to serious and annoyed. "We're friends."
If he told her what Caleb had said about her at the arcade, she would just think he was making it up. Or worse, she'd think he was being a whiny baby. He felt like he was a strikeout away from Caleb winning it all.
She grew impatient with his silence and walked off. "It's not like we're getting married."
He turned around when he heard Rhonda's voice. "Now that's how you make combo weapons!" She was walking up the driveway toward them. "I'll take one."
"At least someone appreciates my artistic ability," Caleb whined.
Liam straightened his shoulders and approached the group. "Come on, let's go see the old man I was telling you about."
As they walked through the neighborhood, Liam shared with his friends the crazy experience he had that morning. "Guys, the strangest thing happened to me. Earlier, I read a comic book, and... this sounds crazy, but I gained strength and intelligence. You know, just like in a video game."
They each exchanged bewildered looks. He was pulling their legs, right?
"That's crazy, dude!"
Rhonda said, "Ya know, I've been wondering if something like that could happen. But on a grander scale."
Liam smiled and nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. "Yeaaah... Like, what if we fought a whole bunch of zombies would we, you know... level up?"
"Exactly!" Rhonda and Liam exchanged high fives.
Then Liam stopped in front of the yard sale house. "Wish me luck." Every step toward the front porch was filled with a sense of dread. Liam could feel his friends watching him. He wasn't sure how he felt being the leader of the group. It was a foreign concept, but he seemed to fall into the role naturally.
He reached the front door and knocked. After a minute, he knocked again. Nothing. He turned to his friends and shrugged. "I don't think anyone's home."
He ran out to the front yard. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he looked up at the window where the old man had appeared before. Still no sign of anyone.
Rhonda asked, "Do you think he left? Like, left the game?"
Liam shook his head and breathed a sigh of relief. Leader, or no, he didn't feel he was ready to face the boss yet. He started walking down Maple Street in the opposite direction of his neighborhood.
Katie asked, "Where are you going?"
"To find some zombies to kill. I want to see if it's true, that I can level up."
"What if it's not safe?"
Typical Katie always looking out for them. But he had to do something. "Better than standing around doing nothing."
"Where would we find enough of them?"
Liam smiled. He knew where they could go to do something crazy like find a horde of zombies and then play Zap 'em for real. "I know just the place."
After walking several miles into town, the four of them finally arrived at Draxon Hollow's abandoned theme park. Grass and weeds had overtaken the entry gate from years of no use. Adventure Land was once a thriving amusement park with thrill rides and games and all kinds of delicious food stands.
Upon approaching the gate, Caleb flicked the lock with his hand. "How're we gonna get in?"
Katie dropped her bag from her shoulder. She dug around in it and then pulled out a pair of cutters.
Liam smiled, "You and that magic bag."
"I came prepared," she said with a confident smile.
The cutters weren't big enough to cut through the lock, but it was no problem cutting a hole into the thin chain-link gate. Liam pulled back a piece of the gate to let everyone through.
When they entered the park, it was like stepping back in time. The amusement park had somehow been preserved on the inside. It was like time had stood still. There were no weeds or overgrowth of any kind. Flowers and trees still bloomed. Granted, they looked as pixelated as everything else, but it was like a magical place. No rust was on any of the structures.
A maintenance sign stuck out from under the brush alongside a pathway.
"This way," said Liam.
The group followed him down a path to a maintenance shed. Caleb gave him a boost and was able to break into the building through a window. A moment later, the door clicked open.
"Step right up!" He welcomed them inside.
The door slammed behind them. Suddenly, they were standing in total darkness. Caleb bumped into something and hollered.
Liam shined a flashlight under his chin. "Braaaaiiiinnnsss! Braaaiiinss!"
"If it's brains they're after, Caleb's the safest one here," teased Katie.
From over in a dark corner, Caleb said, "Hey, just cause you can't see me doesn't mean you can talk about me."
"Be on the lookout for a power box."
"You're hoping the sound will attract them," Rhonda said.
"Yep."
Something reflected in the flashlight. "Over here." It was the electrical switch to the main power source.
"Don't say it," Katie said.
"Don't say what?"
"You're gonna say that line from that dinosaur movie."
Liam shined his light in Katie's face. "Do you realize this is probably the only time in my life that I will ever have the chance to say it? How often do I get stuck in a dark maintenance shed?"
"Go ahead. Just know that I'm rolling my eyes at you," she teased.
"Yeah, yeah. And it's not just any dinosaur movie. It's like, the best one ever. Here, we'll flip it together."
They steadied their hands on the big metal switch, and Liam said, "Hold on to your butts!" as they threw the switch.
A buzzing sound filled the room. Then the lights came on and they all cheered. Liam continued flipping switches until all the rides and booths in the park had been turned on. Then they ran outside to see the whole place alive with lights and music. They jumped and cheered some more.
"Come on, dudes! Let's go ride!" yelled Caleb.
"Whoa, you know the deal. Ladies first." Liam turned to Katie. "Your call."
Liam watched her as she thought hard about the exciting question. She was so adorable when she squinted her face.
"The log ride!"
He slapped his hands together. "Great choice!"
They ran right up to the front of the line. Liam held out his hand to allow Katie to take the first seat in what was designed to look like a huge wooden log. Then he stepped in front of Caleb ensuring his place beside her. Liam and Katie rode up front while Caleb and Rhonda took the backseat in the same cart.
"This is awesome!" Liam yelled. "When have we ever just walked right up and got on the log ride?" Usually, it was the water ride that had the longest wait.
When the ride approached the highest part, Caleb yelled, "I can see my house from here!"
And then the cart zoomed down the first hill spraying everyone with mist. They thought they were in the clear to not get drenched, but then the last drop came into view.
"Hang oooooon!"
The log cart made a huge splash. Katie scooted closer to Liam to barely avoid being drenched. He glanced back at Caleb hoping he had seen it.
After the ride was over, they came running out of the exit ramp excited to go again.
"Let's ride the Gut Wrencher!"
As they walked, Katie looked up at the metal track that hung suspended above her. It twisted and turned and even had two parts that went upside down. She hesitated to ask. "Is that the Gut Wrencher?"
"Yep!"
They took off for the ride. Caleb called shotgun on that one, so he and Rhonda took the first two cars. Liam's favorite had always been the last cart, so he and Katie took that one.
&
nbsp; She was nervous, but he tried to comfort her with a smile. "Trust me, you're gonna love it."
The security bars came down over their heads and pressed tight against their bodies to hold them in. Then the ride moved. It made a loud clanking noise as the chains pulled them up the long track to the top. Every clank brought them higher and higher. It was the tallest and fastest ride in the park.
Movement caught Liam's attention, and he looked out to the side where he could see the parking lot adjacent to the park. Hundreds of zombies were swarming the fence surrounding the amusement park. The fences were bending from the force of the zombies shaking it and trying to climb over.
All it took was one to go down and, like a domino effect, the long fence that secured one side of the amusement park from the parking lot came crumbling down.
Zombies flooded into the theme park.
"Oh no," said Liam.
9
Two zombies had stumbled into the exit corridor of the Gut Wrencher as Liam and crew made their way out. He quickly pulled the nail bat from his backpack and swung at the first one popping its head right off its neck. Liam smiled at his new bat. "Think I'll name her the Zombieville Slugger."
Blood and goo splattered all over the front of him and Caleb. "Aw, man! My favorite shirt." Caleb grabbed his bat and swung at the next zombie. "Time to get messy!"
Liam put his arm out to stop Caleb. "We need to be smart. You saw how many there were coming through the fences. Use the environment to our advantage."
He scanned the area for some decent cover. "Quick! To the archery range."
Liam grabbed a crossbow and loaded an arrow. After they each got a crossbow and extra arrows, they hid behind the barrels of hay that were placed throughout the range. The hay barrels provided excellent cover to shoot.
When Liam made contact with the first zombie, he yelled out, "Headshot!"
They each joined in on the fun. Shooting them from afar was a welcomed alternative to getting splattered with zombie goo.
An arrow flew right into a zombie's eye. "Bullseye!" yelled Katie.
She turned and smiled. She always outdid Liam.
Caleb was shocked. "Dang. She's good!"
"You should play her in Chaos Caliber." Liam pointed toward the zombie with the arrow sticking out of its eye. "They don't call her Dead Eye for nothing."
There were enough zombies that they each had plenty to shoot. After a few more, Liam felt a surge of strength coarse through him. That same feeling again. Like when he read the comics. His plan was working!
"Guys, it's working! I feel stronger!"
Once he knew it worked, he wanted to get enough kills to level up and defeat whatever so-called boss the game world threw at him. Just like level grinding. With every increase in level, also came increased speed. He was able to reload quicker allowing him to take out more zombies even faster.
The other three watched in awe. Caleb said, "Dude, you're on fire."
After another arrow to a zombie head, Liam thrust his arms into the air. "Zombie killah!!! Yeah, that's right. You want some of this, too?" He shot zombie after zombie. As fast as he could load, he could shoot them. Until finally, he was out of arrows.
A zombie had climbed over the fence separating the archery range from the booth next to it. It was making its way toward Caleb. He turned around when he heard the scuffle and tried to load the crossbow. His hands shook and he dropped the arrow. The zombie was right up on him.
Rhonda yelled, "Caleb, look out!"
Another one stepped out from behind a tree near where Caleb was kneeling.
Zombies advanced on Caleb and he had no choice but to run. Liam yelled for him to run toward the carousel, but instead he started up the slide tower. It was five flights tall and all it took was a few zombies to start after him to draw a crowd.
"He's gonna get himself killed," said Liam.
They took off after him. They could see Caleb taking out several zombies when he reached the first flight of stairs, but at the pace they were piling in he wouldn't last.
A look of horror crossed Liam's face. "Uh-oh. I guess they can climb stairs." He looked around for something that could help. Then he ran over to the wall where the mats for the slide were secured. He snatched one off the wall and the rope broke.
"Take this," he yelled to Katie.
She took the mat and he grabbed what was left of the rope. He quickly tied the mat to one of the zombies and nudged it into the crowd headed for Caleb. Then Liam, Katie, and Rhonda stood their ground and fought what zombies they could to prevent Caleb from getting overrun.
He had to fight off several zombies before the one carrying the mat got to him, but finally Caleb was able to grab it. He took off running up the rest of the stairs to the top.
What everyone had failed to notice, though, were the zombies that were climbing up the slide!
"Oh no." Liam took off toward the base of the slide and swung his bat making contact with a zombie's head. Blood splattered onto the slide below. "Hurry!" He waved up to Caleb who was standing at the top of the slide attraction. He made contact with another and then another. By the time Caleb slid down, the slide was coated in red and brown gunk.
"Woohooooo!" Caleb flew down the slide, but as soon as he got to the bottom, the mat stopped and Caleb flung forward landing in a puddle of gunk. His face was buried in zombie goo.
Liam continued to fight off zombies while laughing.
Caleb stuck his hands out to push himself up and he slipped in the gunk again. Liam felt sorry for him and rushed over to offer a hand. Caleb stood up and wiped a handful of goo from his face. Caleb was covered in blood and gunk. And he smelled like the bottom of a week old sausage bucket that had been left out in the sun.
Liam gagged and covered his mouth.
"Dude, you couldn't have bashed their heads in over there?" Caleb smelled his arm. "Ugh! Who died?"
Zombies were still advancing on them. They were coming from three sides by that point, so they didn't have much choice of where to run.
"Come on. We don't have time to stand around discussing the hygiene of the dead." Liam took off toward Devil's Inferno, the haunted house ride.
The cars on that ride moved on a non-stop conveyor belt of sorts.
Rhonda hopped into a cart and stuck her hand out to stop Caleb. "I'll take this one by myself."
Caleb's shoulders dropped. He tried to hop into Liam and Katie's car, but Katie shook her head.
As the cars moved away from him, Caleb yelled out, "Guys! I only smell like a zombie!"
Katie asked Liam, "What if they follow us in here?"
He hadn't considered that. "Hopefully they can't see in the dark."
As they entered the first area of the haunted ride, a scream in the dark startled them. Katie grabbed Liam's hand. Even if she didn't mean anything by it, it made him smile.
Next, they moved into a graveyard setting complete with ghostly sounds and spectral-like images floating above them. The air around them also felt cooler as a mist began to fill the graveyard. At the end of that section, a cackling skeleton sprung from a grave and plopped down on top of its tombstone waving.
They rode through various monstrous scenes until finally landing in one that was bathed in red light. It was full of smoke and heat and smelled of sulfur.
Liam wiped his forehead.
Katie leaned closer. "I think we've reached the inferno."
He was afraid that sitting in the dark with Katie had made him nervous with sweat. "Oh, right."
Horn-headed demons wielding pitchforks lined the inferno setting. Flames shot out of the ground towards the ceiling in the dark room. Moans could be heard throughout the hellish setting.
Caleb yelled out from the car behind them, "Can you hear my stomach? I'm starved."
Katie leaned out of the car to get a better look at the ride's set up. Then she leaned toward the direction they had just come from. Movement in a car behind them caught her eye. "Uh... that's not his stomach."
"Look!" Katie pointed in the direction of the moans.
A few zombies had gotten stuck in the car behind Caleb!
"Oh crap." Liam lowered his voice. "Don't say anything or he'll freak out."
Just then their car rounded a corner and a giant red devil fell from the ceiling right above them. They all screamed bloody murder before realizing it was just a prop.
"The next room should be the exit. We need to bail quickly."
Liam agreed. He leaned forward to ready himself.
All of a sudden, Caleb ran by. "They're in here with us!"
"Run!"
Liam, Katie, and Rhonda all jumped out of their carts and raced toward the black plastic flaps that separated the different rooms in the haunted ride. The moaning grew louder as they found themselves in a swarm of zombies!
The zombies moved like shadows against them. Dead bodies brushing up against the living. It smelled like cold dirt and death. The dim red light of the hellish setting only slightly helped to light the way. It was so cramped that there was not enough room to use their bats. Not without the chance they'd hit each other. All they could do was push and shove zombies as they made their way through the last area.
"Oww!" Katie jerked her arm away from a zombie and it tore her shirt sleeve.
"Are you okay?" Liam asked as he shoved through the crowd.
"Yeah, just go!"
They pushed their way through the crowded room into... darkness.
"Oh, great."
The room was pitch black. Zombies stumbled around in the darkness and bumped into each other. A zombie bumped into Liam and he fell backwards into another one. The world spun as he was shoved around in the darkness.
"Katie! Where are you?"
"Over here."
"I can't see you. I'm stuck between zombies!"
"Me, too!" Caleb yelled out. He was ahead of them, but had gotten lost in the dark room.
"Crawl on the floor!" she yelled.
Liam dropped to his hands and knees. It wasn't much better, pushing through legs and feet, but at least the threat of being zombie lunch was lessened. He forced his way through and finally saw a glimmer of white light. The exit!
Liam, Katie, and Rhonda fell into the heavy door. Finally, they reached the outside of the haunted ride just in time to see the sun setting. Nightfall brought with it more zombies. There were so many of them, they were literally bumping into each other as they shuffled around in the area.
Zombie Boy: Press Start (Adventures of Zombie Boy Book 1) Page 6
