Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 251: The Carnival Of The Damned

The second the sun completely disappeared and the world around us was plunged into darkness, the creepy sound of carnival music began to play.

It was soft at first, so quiet that you were straining to hear what was going on around you. It also sounded a bit wobbly, like it was being played on a record that was warped or something.

Lifting up my head, I saw a giant clown’s head smack dab in the middle of the road, its mouth open and tongue out as it dared people to enter into it. The head itself gave me pause, simply because it looked like the killer clowns that had been running around for a while.

Its nose was a bright red ball, and it had bright red, curly hair and a completely white face. Its eyes were wide open, the iris so black it seemed to suck you in if you stared at them too long.

"If you stare too long into the abyss, the abyss starts staring back," grunted Dante as he helped me to my feet. "Want to tell me what’s going on?"

"Just granting wishes," I whispered to him, kissing his jawline. "He wanted one last date with his girl before he died. Who was I to deny him?"

"Imma tells you right now, Pet," purred Désiré as he came to stand beside me. "If it involves clowns of any kind, you be sayin’ no to de wishes. Yes?"

"Gary?" whispered a woman as she stepped out of the mist on either side of the road. "Is that you? What’s going on?"

"Rita," sighed the man, coming to his feet. "I missed you so fucking much," he gasped as he tried to fight back the tears in his eyes.

"I don’t understand," murmured Rita, looking around at everyone. "Didn’t I—" she started before shaking her head. "This isn’t real. I’m still screaming in my head, trapped inside that... that thing... eating people."

"No," I replied, stepping away from my guys and sweeping my hand toward the giant clown head. We could all hear the laughter coming from just beyond the mouth, kids giggling, and happy cries as people walked past the entrance.

The only problem was that we couldn’t actually see anyone. freeweɓnøvel.com

"Gary wished to have one last date with you, just like it should have been before the world ended," I continued, turning my attention away from the clown and back to the woman. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress, her brown hair tied up in a ponytail with a single ribbon.

Even Gary was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt as he stumbled toward his girl, his cowboy boots almost sliding on the ground, trying to get closer to her.

"Rita!" he cried as she raced to him. Grabbing her in his arms, he spun her around in a circle before setting her down. Leaning forward, he kissed her like it was his first and last kiss, his palms on either side of her face as he tried to breathe her in.

"This is actually a good thing," muttered Dante, coming to stand behind me. The rest of the guys came into a semi-circle, watching the same display that I was. The only thing I couldn’t see was the other three men who were originally pointing guns at us.

Oh well, I’m sure they’ll pop up somewhere.

"I wouldn’t hold your breath," I sighed. "Somewhere, somehow, this is going to get all fucked up. And then it will truly be magical!"

Laughing softly, I walked up to the tongue. "How many tickets do you want?" called out a voice beside me. Turning to my right, I saw a kid in a red and white striped shirt leaning out of a booth, talking to us. "You can’t get in without a ticket."

"I’ll take thirteen," grunted Dante as he pulled out a credit card to pay for everything.

"Lucky number thirteen," smiled the kid as he pressed the card against the reader. There was a soft beep, and the payment went through. "Welcome to The Carnival of the Damned," smiled the kid as he counted out thirteen tickets. "Hope you enjoy yourself! But be careful; if you aren’t out by the time the sun rises, you’ll be trapped here forever!"

As soon as he said the words, both he and the booth disappeared in front of us.

"Oh, hell naw," grunted Max, his eyes wide with fear as he looked at Luca and the rest. Dante shrugged his shoulders as he handed out the tickets to everyone, including the cute couple that had finally come up for air.

"Oh, hell yes!" I breathed, practically giddy. This was my first time at a fair or a carnival. I had to listen to the step-stains bragging about them all the time growing up, and now I was finally experiencing it for myself. This was the best night ever!

"Thank you," breathed Gary as he took Rita’s hand and walked up to the clown’s mouth. "I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you for granting this wish."

Nodding my head, I watched as he placed the two tickets into one of the clown’s teeth and disappeared into the other side.

"We’re never going to see him again, are we?" asked Max, his head cocked to the side as he stared at the entrance.

"Nope," I agree, smiling up at Dante as I took his hand and pulled him to the clown. "This was his dying wish. Now he’ll live for all eternity inside this carnival with his girl." Shrugging my shoulders, I waited for Dante to put our two tickets into the mouth, followed by the rest of the guys.

"Yous stayin’ out ’ere, Max?" asked Ronan as he handed over his ticket. "If you are, best of luck to ya."

"I’m coming," grunted Max, looking a bit pale. "I’m coming." Stuffing his ticket into the hole, he gulped once before following us into the darkness.

"Please, God," he prayed softly, causing me to smirk. "Let us get out of here safely."

"Awe, Maxie," I purred at him over my shoulder. "You should know better than that. There is no God here."