Cody scanned the carnival grounds desperately, his eyes darting between crumbling attractions and long-abandoned stands. The air was thick with the stench of decay, and the moans of biters below the concession stand set his nerves on edge. Then his gaze locked onto a small fireworks stand in the distance. “What about that?” he said, pointing toward it, his voice tight with urgency. “Think it could work?”
Guts followed his line of sight, squinting at the dispy of half-covered pyrotechnics. “Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “But let’s be honest, our pals down there seem more interested in us than anything fshy.” He gnced at the horde beneath them, the biters cwing and snapping at the ledge, desperate to reach their prey.
Cody let out a dry ugh, one devoid of humor. “Well, if the others didn’t hear my first shots, they’ll definitely hear this,” he muttered, raising his pistol. This time, he gripped it with both hands, closing one eye as he lined up his aim. Gritting his teeth, he inhaled sharply. “Let’s make some noise.”
The gunshot cracked through the air, and a split second ter, one of the fireworks ignited. A deafening BOOM followed as colorful sparks erupted into the sky. Bright streaks of light shot outward in chaotic patterns, illuminating the bleak carnival in bursts of red, blue, and gold.
“Too bad it ain’t night,” Guts quipped, watching the colors paint the sky with faint amusement.
Cody smirked, his adrenaline momentarily overriding his fear. “Still pretty satisfying.” He gripped the ledge tighter as he watched the nearest biters hesitate, their decayed faces twitching toward the noise. Slowly, they began limping away from the stand, drawn toward the flickering explosions. “Get fucked,” Cody muttered, his grin widening as the distraction worked.
But his satisfaction didn’t st long. One of the fireworks, misfiring wildly, unched straight into a biter’s chest. The impact was followed by a grotesque boom as the firework exploded, spraying bck blood and chunks of rotted flesh onto the pavement. The biter, undeterred, staggered closer to the fireworks, fmes consuming its tattered suit. The fire spread quickly, catching the hem of a wedding dress and crawling like a serpent through the undead ranks.
“Uh, this could be bad,” Cody muttered, his grin faltering as the fmes spread faster than expected. The horde was now a mass of shambling, burning corpses, the heat rising as the fire devoured everything in its path.
“No shit, Sherlock!” Guts snapped, wiping sweat from his brow. He gnced at the growing inferno, then back at Cody. “We gotta move before we turn into barbecue!”
---
Meanwhile, several blocks away, Lucifer jolted upright from the couch, her sharp senses picking up the unmistakable sound of gunfire. “What the fuck was that?” she growled, rushing to the window. Her piercing eyes scanned the streets outside.
Mars didn’t waste a second. He grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. “Trouble,” he muttered, heading for the door. “They’re in trouble.” He yanked it open and stormed outside, boots pounding against the pavement.
Aya followed swiftly, cocking her pistol with practised precision. “Where the hell did they go?” she asked, her voice ced with tension.
Lucifer sprinted after them, her cws extending instinctively. She barely gnced at Aya as she called out, “Doesn’t matter. Move faster!”
The trio raced through the abandoned streets, their footsteps echoing ominously. Another loud crack echoed in the distance, followed by a cascade of fireworks exploding in the air. The bursts of colour lit up the dreary skyline, unmistakable against the grey haze of the ruined town.
Lucifer’s sharp gaze caught sight of the ferris wheel looming in the distance. Its rusted frame stood out against the chaos, and the source of the fireworks became immediately clear. “They’re in the amusement park!” she shouted, her pace quickening as she dashed ahead of the others.
Mars cursed under his breath but didn’t slow. Aya tightened her grip on her pistol, her mind racing as the carnival came into view. None of them knew exactly what they’d find, but they could already tell—whatever mess Cody and Guts had stirred up, it wasn’t going to be pretty.
The chaos was deafening as Lucifer's voice cut through the fmes and carnage like a whip. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU MORONS DO NOW?!” she bellowed, her shout echoing through the burning amusement park.
Cody turned toward the gates, his face slick with sweat and soot. “THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF BITERS ON FIRE!” he yelled back, waving frantically as the burning undead began staggering closer, their fmes casting eerie shadows against the crumbling carnival.
“Great,” Cody muttered under his breath, scanning his surroundings for any shred of hope. His eyes locked on the ferris wheel and then shifted to a dock near a rge pond behind it. “I can make a dash for the ferris wheel… maybe the dock,” he said, pointing.
Guts gnced at the dock, then at Cody. “We go together. No splitting up. Got it?”
Cody nodded. He didn’t need to be told twice. Without hesitation, he leapt down from the stand, nding on the pavement with a grunt. As he steadied himself, he raised his pistol and fired, dropping one of the closest biters with a clean shot to the head.
Guts followed close behind, swinging his machete in a wide arc to push back an advancing biter. The heat from the spreading fmes was almost unbearable, licking at their heels as the fire consumed the concession stands behind them.
“BROTHER!” Aya’s panicked scream rang out from behind the gates. She watched in horror as Cody and Guts plunged into the chaos below. Mars was beside her, smming the chains with a tire iron, sweat dripping down his brow.
“MOVE!” Aya barked, shouldering him aside. She raised her pistol, took aim, and fired. The lock shattered with a metallic crack. She grabbed the chains, trying to yank them free, but the metal was searing hot. Aya hissed in pain and stumbled back, clutching her burned hands. “Goddammit!” she cursed, staring helplessly at the stubborn chains.
Mars tried next, but the heat forced him to let go almost instantly. “Shit, shit!” he muttered, gncing around frantically. “Find something to cover our hands!”
---
Meanwhile, Cody and Guts sprinted toward the dock, weaving through smoldering debris and fming biters. But as they neared the gate surrounding the dock, they skidded to a halt. Cody’s heart sank. The gate was welded shut, its perimeter wrapped tightly in barbed wire.
“Oh, come on!” Cody groaned, staring at the barricade in disbelief. He turned back, only to see the horde closing in from all sides, the heat and fire forcing them against the ferris wheel.
Guts’s gaze darted up to the massive, creaking structure. “Do you trust me?” he asked urgently.
“With my life,” Cody answered without hesitation, though his voice wavered slightly.
“Good,” Guts said, nodding toward the ferris wheel. “We climb.”
Cody exhaled sharply. “Fuck it. Not like we’ve got any better options.” He followed Guts’s lead, gripping the rusted bars of the ferris wheel and hauling himself upward. The wind howled through the skeleton of the structure, making it groan and sway under their weight.
“You good down there?” Guts called, gncing back.
“Living the dream!” Cody shot back sarcastically. “Scaling ferris wheels while dodging fming zombies. Couldn’t ask for a better Fourth of July!” His knuckles were white as he climbed, trying not to look down at the chaos below.
“This is the dream,” Guts replied, his grin audible in his voice.
They finally reached the top, where Guts carefully pulled Cody into one of the creaking seats. The structure trembled under their combined weight, and the fmes below seemed to burn brighter.
“So now what? We just sit here and wait?” Cody asked, panting.
Guts looked toward the pond below. “If we’re lucky, the weight might—” He was cut off as the ferris wheel groaned loudly, shifting ominously.
---
Back at the gate, Aya saw the ferris wheel tilt precariously. “That’s them!” she screamed, redoubling her efforts. Her hands burned as she pulled at the chains, tears streaming down her face. “I’m not losing him,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “Not like Mom. Not like Dad.”
Lucifer rushed over, grabbing the chains beside her. She flinched as the heat seared her hands, but she didn’t let go. “We’ve got this,” she growled, her voice raw.
Mars joined, gripping the chains with a piece of torn fabric wrapped around his hands. Together, they pulled with everything they had, the chains finally snapping with a deafening cng.
---
On the ferris wheel, Cody’s heart was pounding in his chest as the structure gave a final, violent shudder. “THIS WAS YOUR IDEA?!” he shouted at Guts, panic breaking through his sarcasm.
“Better than getting eaten alive by fming zombies!” Guts shot back, gripping Cody tightly.
“This is worse than me radioing Riot!” Cody yelled. “You officially win the dumbest idea award!”
“Just hold on and trust me!” Guts roared, wrapping his arms around Cody as the ferris wheel groaned one st time and colpsed. The two of them were sent plummeting toward the ground below.
---
Aya froze as the massive structure crumbled, her scream of “NO!” cutting through the air. Mars stared in disbelief, his hands on his head. Lucifer’s cws dug into the scorched earth as they all watched the ferris wheel disappear into the smoke and fmes.
