Vinnie let them get close enough—within ten feet or so—and then he turned heel and darted off towards the ride. Careful not to run into the dead following him from the other side of the pier, he gave them a wide berth. The dead from the Raging Rapids absorbed them, and together they followed Vinnie in unison.
He found it kind of humorous. Here he was, the Pied Piper of the zombie apocalypse. “Come on, you bastards! Come and get me!”
They moaned and shrieked in response, shuffling as fast as they could to oblige him.
“Start the ride!” he called out to Nancy.
He saw her press a button, and the ride sprung to life. The massive seated gondola began to slowly rock back and forth, building up momentum.
As Vinnie reached the Pirate Ship, his cellphone began to ring. He pulled it out of his right shorts’ pocket as he slid through the gate. “Hello.”
“Vin, it’s Dad. What in the hell is going on? Are you all right?” Cantone’s Pizzeria was up the boardwalk, past Blackbeard’s Pier. Maybe the dead hadn’t reached it yet.
Vinnie stood next to Nancy.
Nancy sucked her teeth. “You damned kids. Always on your phones.”
Vinnie rolled his eyes. “I can’t talk right now, Dad. The dead are on the boardwalk. You have to get out of there.”
“I know, one tried to climb over the counter to get me. I wacked it on the head with a peel and shoved it back over.”
“There’s a space behind the gondola,” said Nancy. “We can wait there.”
Vinnie nodded and helped her up towards the platform. The gondola was picking up momentum now. He timed it, as it whooshed by, waiting for it to swing all the way up to the left. He grabbed Nancy and shuttled her across the platform, smashing face first into the wall behind as it passed back down past their backs. He felt the breeze from its pass on his back and neck.
They quickly turned around, backs against the metal wall behind the ride. It was airbrushed with carnival art, depicting a pirate captain with eye patch, hook hand, and peg leg, waving his sword. Around him were his mates, wearing bandanas, earrings, and baggy black pants in various battle poses, wielding swords and holding daggers in between clenched teeth. They were fighting dead pirates that were boarding the ship. Right above Vinnie loomed a depiction of a zombie pirate, jaws gaping open, that familiar look of hunger in its eyes.
The massive swinging gondola whooshed by.
“Dad, you need to get out of there.”
“I can’t. We’re surrounded. We pulled down the security gate.”
The gondola swooshed by again. The dead were now pushing the gate to the ride open and pushing into the ride.
“Is Mom there with you?”
“Yeah, she’s okay.”
“Is he okay?” Vinnie heard her say in the background.
“Is Dharma okay?”
“I’m working on that as we speak.”
“Where are you now?”
The gondola swept past again.
“That’s kinda complicated, Dad.”
“Can you get to the pizzeria?”
The dead were up by the control panel. They saw Vinnie and Nancy, and they doubled their efforts, teeth bared, eyes wild, none of them paying any mind to the massive swinging gondola.
“Dad, I gotta go. I’m okay. I’ll call you when I can.”
“Vin, please be careful.”
Vinnie terminated the call. Nancy held the gun down at her side. There wasn’t any room to extend her arm when the gondola swung down. If she was going to shoot, she had to time it right and make it count.
The dead began to reach the platform. As they got closer to their prey, they appeared to move faster. Reaching out and moaning with insatiable hunger, they began to cross the platform.
The gondola was on the upswing, but as the platform began to fill with hungry dead, and Vinnie and Nancy pressed their backs to the airbrushed metal wall behind them, the gondola rushed back down, clearing away the dead on the platform in one fell swoop.
They went flying onto the spinning dragon egg ride next door, the whirling eggs tearing them apart, rending limbs from joints, sending heads rolling like marbles.
As the gondola swung up in the other direction, the dead, oblivious to what happened to those before them, replaced the prior group on the platform. The timing was a little off, as the gondola was still reaching its apex on the pendulum.
Nancy reached out, training her gun on the closest zombie. It snarled at her in defiance. She squeezed the trigger, as she had so many times on the range, and put its lights out. It stood there long enough, delaying the dead behind it a second or two as they pressed up against it.
Nancy pulled her gun hand back and flush against the wall behind her as the gondola rushed down and swept away the second batch of dead.
*
When the dead filed away from the Raging Rapids ride and followed Vinnie to the Pirate Ship, Marie Russo, now unarmed, came out of hiding and ran over to the Raging Rapids ride. The ride, still spinning, was now clear of all zombies, except for several feeding inside the broken DJ booth.
It was as clear as it was going to get.
She ran up to the control panel, keeping a nervous eye on the caved-in, bloodied DJ booth. The dead hunched over their meal like animals, tearing flesh off the poor kid’s body and juggling his entrails like Slinkys. She saw a red button. Guessing it was the emergency stop, she pushed it. The ride began to slow down.
Marie looked over at the Pirate Ship just as the gondola swept off a batch of dead. She saw Vinnie and Nancy pressed against the back wall.
As the Raging Rapids ride slowed to a stop, Marie started yelling at the passengers. “Everyone out! Now!”
The riders looked a bit dazed from being spun around for who knows how long. Marie first saw Dharma and Alessandra. As she ran over to them, she saw Salvatore in the chair behind them.
Dharma shook her head, looking stunned, and pushed the safety bar forward. Marie grabbed Alessandra and pulled her out of the ride over Dharma’s lap.
“Mom?” Alessandra’s face looked green. She vomited onto her mother’s blouse.
Marie hugged her tight. “I’ve got you, honey.”
Salvatore stumbled out of his chair and wobbled over to his mother and sister. “I feel like I’m gonna throw up.”
The dead had apparently finished their meal and turned their attention to Marie and the riders exiting their cars.
“Everyone out!” shouted Marie. “Hurry!”
The dead tripped over the torn down panels of the DJ booth as they tried to exit in pursuit. It bought everyone a few precious seconds.
Dharma struggled to get up. Marie grabbed her hands and helped her out of the ride. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I think so. What happened? I thought I saw…”
Marie nodded. “The dead are back. Vinnie and Nancy led them away from the ride so I can get you.”
At the mention of Vinnie’s name, Dharma perked up. “Vinnie? Where is he? Is he okay?”
Marie pointed at the swinging Pirate Ship ride. “He’s there.”
They watched as the gondola took out the last of the zombies on the ride.
“It was Vinnie’s idea,” added Marie.
Dharma shook her head and smirked. “Yup. That’s Vinnie, all right.”
Marie saw the zombies crawl out of the DJ booth. “We have to get out of here!”
They joined the exodus of dizzy riders as they all pushed and shoved their way off the ride and onto the pier. There were screams and tears when they saw dead bodies, many half-eaten, littering the pier.
“We have to get out of here,” said Dharma.
Vinnie and Nancy were making their way back to the Raging Rapids. Dharma, Marie, and the children dashed across the pier and met them halfway.
Vinnie was putting away his cell phone. “We can all go to my dad’s pizzeria. He’s got the security gates down in front, and he’s got plenty of food.”
Dharma ran ove
r to him and threw her arms around him. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I didn’t know what happened. I thought you might have been…”
The normally cantankerous Nancy melted at the reunion, if only for a moment.
When Dharma broke the embrace, she hugged Nancy.
“Oh, sweetie,” was all Nancy could manage.
They pulled apart, and Dharma frowned. “Where’s Mike?”
Nancy, her eyes now watering, just shook her head.
Dharma looked at Vinnie, whose lip was twitching as he tried not to cry. She placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.
The crowd of riders had begun to dissipate. They spread out over the pier, inspecting the remains of loved ones. Some were making their way back to the boardwalk.
“We have to get out of here,” pressed Marie.
Nancy handed her back the gun. “You’re a better shot than me.”
Dharma’s eye bulged. “My mom and dad! They’re at the sunglass hut! We have to see if they’re okay.”
“It’s on the way,” said Vinnie.
Two young girls—one about fourteen, the other about ten—were standing there looking nervous.
“Where are your parents?” asked Nancy.
“They were at the bonfire,” said the older girl.
Vinnie and Marie traded knowing looks. There was a good chance that her parents were dead.
Salvatore stepped up, doing his best to look cool. “You can come with us. We’ll keep you safe until this blows over.”
The two girls looked at each other and nodded.
Marie looked stunned at her son’s bold reassurance. She knew it was for the older girl’s benefit. He was showing off. She smiled, amused. “That’s right. You can stay with us.”
Vinnie eyed the boardwalk nervously. “What’s the plan?”
“The boardwalk will be crawling with the dead,” said Nancy.
Vinnie looked back at the Raging Rapids. The DJ booth zombies were staggering across the pier towards them, but their advance was slow. “The pier is still crawling with dead. We can’t stay here.”
“Maybe not,” said Marie. “Or at least maybe not as many as before. Some will have spread into the town, thinning out their numbers.”
“Either way, we’re sitting ducks on this pier,” said Vinnie. “We have to get somewhere, and soon.”
Dharma pointed at some of the other riders from the Raging Rapids ride leaving the pier. “Look, they’re leaving.”
Marie hefted her pistol, pointing it up at the sky. “Stay close behind me. We’re going to creep very quietly up to the back of those stands, and I’m going to take a peek at the boardwalk. If the coast is clear, we’ll make a run for the pizzeria.” She saw Dharma’s expression. “Checking on your parents along the way,” she added.
Everyone nodded.
“What if it is overrun?” asked Alessandra.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, hun. Remember. Quietly.”
Act III
Resistance
Chapter 10
Becky clung to the diving board, caught between the dead above and below. As she looked around, fighting back the panic, surveying her situation, she saw that there were no zombies on the far side of the pool.
She just had to make a diagonal towards the other side, careful not to get snagged by the dead under her. There were only several in the deep end. She would have to swim completely horizontal, or as much as possible.
She looked down and saw the dead under the water wandering around aimlessly, waving their arms. The water was cloudy, which she figured would be to her advantage. Fingers clawed at her shirt sleeves from above the diving board, but they weren’t able to grab onto her yet. She didn’t have much time.
She pulled her body up out of the water, parallel to the diving board, pressing her feet up against the side wall of the pool. Greedy fingers reached for her ankles, but they slid off her wet pant legs.
She gave a kick and extended her body out as far away from the diving board as possible. She heard screeches from above as her body hit the surface of the water. She swam in a diagonal line towards the far end of the pool.
Hands reached up from below. One grabbed her ankle, but she kicked free, clawing at the water with her hands, straining her arms. She reached the other side and quickly hoisted herself up out of the pool.
She ran to the fence as the dead circumvented the pool in pursuit. She hopped the fence as they reached it, throwing their bodies against the chain-link fence.
She threw herself over the fence with such force that she staggered and collided with one of the maroon room doors. She stood with her back against the door, catching her breath and surveying a path for escape.
The door opened behind her, and arms reached out and embraced her. Before she knew what was happening, she was pulled inside the room.
She screamed and twisted in her assailant’s grip, and whatever held her let go. She went crashing down onto the hard tile.
A middle-aged man stood above her. He slammed the front door shut and locked it. “Help me barricade the door.”
Becky got up. The man was standing behind one of the dressers, knees bent. He started to shove it towards the door. She stood next to him, bent her knees, and pushed with him until the dresser was sideways and flush up against the front door.
The man rounded the dresser and peeked out between the drawn vertical blinds. “That was a close one.”
Becky hugged herself, partially because she was cold and wet, and partially because she was terrified. “Yes, it was. Thank you for helping me.”
The man didn’t answer. He only peeked out between the vertical blinds. He was tall, thin, and shabbily dressed. His clothes were loose and threadbare. His hair was a greying rat’s nest on his head. His weary face had stubble.
After the superstorm two years ago, with reduced tourism, many of the motel owners on the Jersey Shore resorted to taking in ex-cons, recovering drug addicts, even sex offenders to stay afloat. They struck an arrangement with the New Jersey Department of Social Services to house year-round tenants, as a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. It was a sore topic in the Bay, as many didn’t like these sorts of folks (particularly the sex offenders) living in a family resort in the proximity of children.
However, their living situation was predicated on their relative absence from public view. Subjected to a list of strict rules by the motel owners, many of these tenants complained that they felt like prisoners. Then again, some realized beggars couldn’t be choosers. Plus, the Bay PD was hyper vigilant. Truthfully, the incidents each year were minimal. Last year, Becky ended up arresting a few of these tenants for drug possession, and one for attempting to rape a tourist.
Becky wondered what this man’s situation was. “What’s your name?”
He finally looked away from the window. “They know you’re in here, but I think we’ll be okay for now. My name is Sam.”
“Sam what?”
“Sam Hodges.”
“Well, thank you, Sam Hodges.”
“What’s your name, officer?”
“Lt. Michaels.” She wanted to keep it formal. Most in the Bay knew her as ‘Officer Becky.’ However, she didn’t want to get chummy with Sam. She never did with the welfare tenants. It was better for everyone if they saw her as an authority figure. Plus, she was out of ammunition.
He smiled. “Well, great to meet you, Lt. Michaels.”
“I don’t know you. Are you new?”
He shrugged. “I’ve only been here for a month or so. Social services relocated me from Paterson.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your situation?” She looked around the room. It looked neat, but not clean. There were old clothes draped over the backs of chairs, pants and shirts. The room had the faint odor of BO. She figured him for a recovering drug addict.
He placed his hands up, defensively. “Whoa, I save you from a bunch of zombies and you give me the third degree?”
Okay. Paranoia. She figured he might be a section eight psych case. Most of them were harmless, but paranoia made some of them aggressive, particularly if they felt threatened. And if they were off their meds.
Becky quickly switched gears. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just I don’t know you, is all.”
“Well, if this is the end of days, Lt. Michaels, then it really doesn’t matter who I am or what I did.”
“Come on, it’s not the end of days. We’ve been through this before.”
He shook his head stubbornly. “No, this time it is the end of days. It’s all over the news. It’s not just here.”
Okay, he’s definitely a psych case.
He walked across the room and turned on the old cathode ray tube relic of a television set. It was on CNN. Sure enough, the banner at the bottom of the screen read: ‘Zombie Outbreaks Along the Eastern Seaboard.’
She allowed herself a quick listen, then she quickly turned down the volume. “We don’t want to attract any more attention to our presence here.”
“Now do you believe me, Lt. Michaels?”
“Okay, okay. So, this is more than a little outbreak.”
The man smiled, apparently delighted at her admission. “See. The world is coming undone.”
Becky shook her head. “The military will retake the town. It’ll be a bigger cleanup than before.”
“I saw the military arrive earlier. Now the town’s overrun. The entire eastern seaboard is overrun. It’s going to spread inland.”
Becky frowned. This man seemed to take delight in the fall of civilization, which made her uncomfortable. He was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. Although she was grateful for his help, all things being equal, she wished she was back outside.
She walked over to the window and peeked out through the vertical blinds. The zombies were milling about, as if they had forgotten where she went. Thank goodness for short attention spans.
“I’ve made you uncomfortable.”
Becky turned and saw the man grinning again. Always that grin that didn’t match the situation or context. “I need to get back to the station.”
The Creeping Dead: Book 2 Page 17
