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The Magical Cupboard
Chapter NINE
Randy and Steffi slowly made their way into the dark tent with the eerie music playing. A small lamp in one corner had been
toppled over and was the only source of light in the place. The dark tent was filled with all kinds of circus props and costume
pieces that had been strewn all over the place. It took every ounce of willpower Randy had to keep from picking up the thick
beautiful feather boas off the ground and play with them. He knew if he had he would not need to worry about zombies because
Steffi would kill him.
They made their way to the other end of the tent, where there was another door that was partially blocked by a portable standing
divider. The music became incredibly louder as they got closer. It seemed to them that the person grinding the organ must
be just on the other side of the divider, but why on earth were they playing music when it’s obvious that the zombie
plague had crashed through this tent like a hurricane.
“Randy, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Steffi grabbed his hand as she whispered.
“Wait…” Randy pulled out of Steffi’s grip and slowly moved toward the divider. He reached out his
hand and approached with the intention of grabbing the top of it and pulling it down. “I want to see what’s behind
there.”
Just as Randy’s fingers were inches away from the top of the divider, something appeared from behind. It was so dark
that Randy could barely see what it was but it began moving along the top ridge of the divider. Randy and Steffi could just
make out that it was some sort of puppet and it seemed to be attempting to dance along to the organ grinder music.
“Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder.” Randy grabbed the divider and pulled it down as Steffi
gasped. The scene behind the it was nothing short of horrible but in some strange way it made Randy want to laugh. Directly
in front of him was a clueless zombie holding a severed arm in the air and on the end of the arm was a creepy little puppet.
Moaning and drooling, the zombie was jerking the arm around in the air to make the puppet on the end of it appear to dance.
Directly behind the puppeteer zombie was another zombie standing with his organ, turning the crank and grinding out music
but the worst part of all was that they had an audience. Against the back wall, closest to the organ grinding zombie, there
was a row of boxes stacked up along the length of the wall and on top of each box, six in all, were the heads of various victims
that had been severed or ripped from their host and on their faces were the most gruesome expressions you could imagine.
Steffi turned away with a dry heave and Randy grabbed her arm. “We have to get out of here while the getting is good.
We need to sneak past them while before they notice we’re here.”
Just then the organ grinding stopped. Randy slowly looked back at the two zombies and now their attention was completely focused
on he and Steffi.
“UGHUGGH” Came the guttural moan of the puppeteer zombie. He swung the severed arms at Randy and lunged forward.
He was having trouble aiming at Randy due to the fact that one of his eyeballs was dangling from the optic nerve and bouncing
around in front of his face. He violently swung the arm around and hit the Organ Grinder zombie square in the face. The organ
grinder reached out and grabbed the puppeteer zombie’s eyeball and with an angry grunt he yanked it completely out of
the socket. This infuriated the puppeteer zombie, causing him to open a can of zombie WHOOPASS on the organ grinder.
It was like watching Friday night wrestling or something and Randy and Steffi found themselves oddly engaged in watching.
The puppeteer zombie grabbed the organ grinder’s lower jaw and yanked it off of his face, tossing it aside like a discarded
beer can. He clearly had the advantage due to the fact that the zombie grinding the organ came form Hal’s group of decayed
circus zombies and he was quite a bit more emaciated and decomposed than the freshly killed puppeteer zombie.
The zombie scuffle commenced as Randy and Steffi reluctantly continued to watch, when suddenly it was over. The puppeteer
zombie had taken the severed arm and used it like a bat to send the organ grinder’s head flying across the tent. Randy
and Steffi giggled and looked at each other. It was quite funny actually, until the puppeteer zombie, with the severed arm
ready to swing, set his attention once again on them.
“OH SHIT!” Randy grabbed Steffi and they quickly ran through the doorway into the costume tent. It was loaded
with hanging wardrobes full of every kind of glittering sequenced gaudy costume any circus performer could ever desire, but
there wasn’t anywhere to hide. The puppeteer zombie moaned loudly with an agitated forcefulness that let them know he
was determined to find them and rip them to shreds.
They ran to the back of the tent past all the hanging wardrobes to what appeared to be a dead end. The only thing they could
see were the big wooden doors to some sort of cupboard that was pushed up against the back wall but the doors were locked.
“Jesus, what do we do now, Randy?” Steffi was about to panic, they had been backed up, literally, against a wall
with nowhere to go. The puppeteer zombie had now spotted them with his one good eye and was awkwardly lumbering toward them.
“Oh dear god,” Randy mumbled under his breath, “If you could ever find it in your heart to rescue a queeny
little fag like me… NOW IS THE TIME!”
Suddenly, without any warning, the cupboard doors opened and a pair of huge arms grabbed Randy and Steffi by the collars and
pulled them into the cupboards darkened interior and slammed tightly shut.
********
As Brian and Smiley emerge from the woods, Deputy Tara's car pulled up to a screeching halt to keep from hitting them. Brian
ran over to Fred's window as Smiley ran up to the Deputy's
”Officer, you've got to help us…there is some crazy shit going on in the circus and you’ve got to call for
some back-up right now! Tarra rolled her window down and stuck her elbow out.
“Now hold on a minute, calm down and tell me…” She was interrupted by Brian as he yelled from the other
window.
”Tara, just believe him, we need help here and we need it NOW!”
Tarra reluctantly grabbed the radio as Pastor Fred got out and began to try to comfort Brian, who seemed extremely shaken.
”Brian, are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost.” The pastor put his arm around Brian, who seemed very comforted
by the gesture.
”Oh Pastor Fred, I’m so glad to see you guys.” Brian hugged Fred and held on tight. “You've got to
help us.” He said as he released the hug. “Randy and Steffi are trapped somewhere in the circus. We've got to
find them and help them.”
”Trapped, what do you mean trapped…what's going on around here?
”I don't know lady, but people are dying in there. And then they’re getting up and dying again… Believe
me… it's FUCKED UP!” Smiley couldn’t help but re-light his cigar and take several long hard drags.
”People are dying?” Tarra unsnapped her gun holster. ”Even the animals are doing it… Some rabid
monkey tried to rip my throat out!”
”Don't worry, Brian… we'll help you find your friends.”
”You boys better know what the hell you're talking about, because the sheriff will have my ass if this is a false alarm.”
She took the radio and pressed the button. “Deputy Wood, calling Sheriff Tucker… Sheriff are you there?”
********
Back in the Sheriff’s office Tucker was sitting at his desk with his feet up. He had been watching television and sipping
on a non regulation can of beer. He heard Tarra Woods calling over the radio so he picked it up and answered reluctantly.
“Yes, what is it?”
A bit muffled and full of squelch, he could barely hear the deputy’s reply.
“Sheriff, there's trouble at the circus… I'm going to need back up and animal control ASAP.”
”What the hell are you still doing out at that God Damn circus? Get your ass back here.”
Tarra was getting a bit pissed off at the sheriff’s nonchalant attitude. He was notorious for not hearing anything but
the sound of his own voice.
“Sheriff, you're not listening to me. I've got Brian Keeping and one of the Circus clowns here and they say there have
been some murders and there are wild animals running around out here on the circus grounds.”
The Sheriff sat just rolling his eyes at the sound of his Deputy’s voice, completely unaware that a severed hand with
the big diamond studded ring was crawling in through the front door of the sheriff's office and scurry down the hall.
”Look Goddamit…!” The Sheriff straightened up in his chair and pulled his feet down from his desk. “It's
got to be some sort of prank. I know those kids went out there and it's probably that damn queer bait Randy trying to fuck
with me. Get your ass back here and if you have to, drag that goddamn circus clown with you… we'll make him fess up
to what's going on out there.”The Sheriff settled back in his seat and lit a cigarette. “I'm telling you those
circus freaks are pulling some sort of bullshit over on you. They're all a bunch of scam artists and drug addicts.”
Suddenly just as Tucker was relaxing back in his chair taking a long drag on his cigarette the hand climbing up on the desk.
Hearing something clicking behind him, the sheriff swiveled in his chair, just in time to see the hand jump up and grabs him
by the throat.
“What the FUC…..”
********
Suddenly the radio went dead and static was all Tarra could hear. “Sheriff Tucker! Sheriff!”
”Deputy Wood, we don't have time for that old bastard… we've got to go NOW.” In desperation, Brian did something
he otherwise would have never imagined doing. He grabbed Tarra by both shoulders and shook her. “My friends are in there
somewhere and they may already be dead!”
“Or sort of dead…” Smiley cocked an eyebrow and puffed his cigar.
”Sheriff Tucker!!!” Tarra tried one last time to get the Sheriff but he was simply not there.
”Deputy, we need to go see what's going on in there. Brian says his friends are in trouble.” The pastor was doing
his best to talk some sense into the Deputy. “Tucker heard what you said and maybe he’ll be clear-headed enough
to call the next town for some back-up.
”You're right… I'm not going to wait for him. I'll go on in, but you boys are staying here. I'm trained for this
kind of situation.” Tarra checked the magazine of her gun and then cocked it. In the little town of Ashbrooke she didn’t
see much excitement, but she was still always ready for anything.
”Lady…” Smiley said. “I'm an ex marine, trained in hand to hand combat not to mention every weapon
you can imagine and I can promise you, you're not trained for the shit that's going on in there!” Smiley pointed toward
the big top with his cigar.
”We're coming with you.” Mallet in hand, Brian started toward the circus grounds.
Pastor Fred put his hand on Tarra’s shoulder. ”I think you better listen to them, deputy.”
********
Randy and Steffi’s eye were adjusting to dark, when suddenly someone lit a lighter with a six inch flame on it. It was
a short little clown that was sitting in what appeared to be a tiny room crammed full of people who were still alive. Randy
and Steffi had been pulled into what seemed to be a magician’s cabinet that was much bigger on the inside that it looked
on the outside. They had been pulled in by a small group of surviving circus performers who are hiding from the zombies.
”What’s going on here? Who are you people?"
”And what the fuck kind of circus is this? Randy was still breathing heavy from the zombie they had just escaped from
and was beating on the door at that very moment I might add.
”You tell me… we were just doing our thing, preparing for tomorrow's performance and suddenly all hell broke loose.”
A stocky little man with a black pointy goatee was dabbing his brow with a silk hanky. “By the way, I'm Smitty, I'm
a magician and these are my assistants Cara and Mel Kandie.”
”Hi!” They said in unison just as you expect twins to do.
”I take it you've met Henrick the Huge… “Smitty gestured to a huge hunk of a man who was squeezed next to
Randy.
“Yeah… we met him.” Randy smiled and rubbed Henrick’s huge bulging arm.
Smitty stuffed his hanky back into his bright gaudy tail coat and continued. ”He's the one who grabbed you two and pulled
you in here. It’s a good thing your little friend here is so loud or we wouldn’t have known you were out there.”
He directed the comment to Steffi and smiled.
“Hello…” Henrick said in his thick Austrian accent. “It’s nice to meet you.” He awkwardly
reached over and shook Steffi’s hand.
”Thanks for saving our butts!”
”My pleasure…especially when the butt's as cute as yours.” Henrick snickered and winked at Steffi.
Steffi blushed and turned away. She was actually quite flattered to have her very own Arnold Flirtsanegger making goo goo
eyes at her.
Smitty continued to introduce the others. ”This is Simon, one of the circus roustabouts” Simon nodded at them,
“How are ya?” and then looked away. He seemed quite shaken by the evening’s events.
”Oh and this is Buggy,” Smitty continued, “and if you haven't guessed he's one of our circus clowns.”
Randy and Steffi looked over at the funny little man with his bright painted face and floppy shoes, who was still holding
the lit zippo lighter. He was actually a bit of a conundrum because he looked like he was about to totally freak out over
the stress of it all, yet at the same time he had this big bright smile painted on his face. ”He fucking tried to…
Fucking tried to… Fucking tried to…” Buggy was bugging out a bit when Smitty gently pushed him back in his
seat with his hand.
”Don't mind him…” Smitty assured them. “It's just that his best pal Goliath tried to rip his head
off.”
”And what's up with that? What exactly is going on around here?” Steffi finally got back to the original question
at hand. “Why is everyone in your circus out of their mind and trying to kill everyone else?”
”Yeah,” Randy added. “We were in the big top earlier and every performer in there was fucked up. That other
magician guy actually sawed a woman in half… blood and guts everywhere!”
”Well he was never any good anyway.” Smitty laughed.
”What about the knife thrower…” Randy continued. “He was throwing knives at his assistant and he wasn't
missing!”
Smitty put his arms around the twins and squeezed tight in a gesture of reassurance to them. ”Believe me, I know what
you're talking about… we've seen all the crap you've seen and more. It's like, suddenly as soon as the sun went down,
the circus went crazy. I have no idea what is going on, but it’s only getting worse. The only thing we can do is get
the hell out of here.”
Randy leaned forward and whispered because the banging on the door had intensified a bit as if the zombie outside was listening
to the conversation too. ”How does an entire circus just go crazy?”
”And everyone start eating each other?” Simon finished the question. “That's a fucking good question.”
Suddenly Mel Kandie snapped out of her daze and chimed in. “And then after they die, they get back up and start killing
people.”
”How is that possible?” Her sister Kara added.
”Beats the hell out of me,” Smitty gave them another reassuring hug. He had a tendency to hug them any chance
he got. It was probably due to his weakness for beautiful blonds with big boobs.
”There is one thing… One thing I've noticed…” Buggy suddenly snapped out of his state of shock.
”What is it, Buggy?” Smitty asked.
”They seem to be doing what they always do.”
”I don’t get you… What do you mean?” Steffi was curious.
”He's right…” Smitty seemed to catch on to what Buggy was trying to verbalize. “He means that even
though they've turned into some sort of mindless zombies… they are circus performers and they seem to continue doing
what they always did.”
“Well that makes sense based on what we saw in the Big Top.” Steffi added.
”Yeah,” Buggy went on. “They seem to continue to do what they always did until you interrupt them or get
their attention and then they try to rip your freaking head off.”
“So how are we going to get out of here then?” Steffi looked around to see if anyone seemed to have an idea.
”I guess we've got to try and be inconspicuous.” Smitty shrugged his shoulders.
Randy looked around at all the sequenced costumes and feathered boas hanging in the magician’s wardrobe and suddenly
he got a little sparkle in his eye. “Hey people… I have a fabulous idea!”
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