The Creeping Dead: A Zombie Novel by Edward P. Cardillo Read Free Book Online

as they left. A few said goodbye, referring to him by name.
    Tyrell was frantically scanning the ride, his eyes bouncing from horse to horse. This was an important decision that had to be made quickly. Suddenly, he pointed, reaching through the slats in the fence that surrounded the ride. “That one! I want to ride the bunny!”
    Mike nodded gravely. “Ah, yes, the Rabbit. He’s the fastest on this ride. Excellent choice, Tyrell.”
    Mike opened the gate, and Tyrell grabbed his father’s hand and yanked him through. They made a beeline right for the Rabbit, and Marcus helped him up.
    Mike closed the gate and said hello to some of the familiar parents, but he was interested in Tyrell’s mother. She was a new face, and there was something that he found interesting about her. Here she had this beautiful family and she had apparently just moved to Smuggler’s Bay at the peak of the season, yet there was this sadness about her.
    “The kids love the carousel,” he remarked as parents strapped their kids to the horses.
    Tara smiled, her mind half-wandering elsewhere to memories of her childhood. “It’s a classic. I don’t think one ever outgrows the Merry-Go-Round.”
    Mike smiled at this. She got it.
    “You are exactly right…”
    “Tara.”
    “…Tara. The bigger rides come and go, some of them new-fangled, but the carousel endures. It was here before I was, and it’ll continue to be here after I’m gone.”
    “You’re not from Jersey,” said Tara, observing his slight accent.
    “I’m from Brooklyn. After I retired and my wife passed on, I moved down here.”
    “You have any children or grandchildren?”
    Mike saw that all of the riders were properly strapped in. He pressed a button and a bell began to ring loudly, signifying that the ride was about to begin. Then he pressed the green button on his panel, and the ride sprung to life.
    “No children, but I get to see these youngsters grow up summer after summer.”
    Tara smiled at Mike, as there was something sad about him, beneath the grandfatherly demeanor. “It must be wonderful to watch.”
    “It is, Tara. I get to watch young families like yours make happy childhood memories. Life can be so hard, but when families come to Smuggler’s Bay, it’s like the outside world vanished for a weekend or a week, and parents and kids alike just get to have pure fun. And they come back year after year.”
    “Yeah, we found out about this place from a girlfriend who had been coming here with her family for years, and with her parents for years before that.”
    Mike nodded proudly as he waved at young riders passing by. They waved as much to him as their own parents. The ride was in full swing now. “Smuggler’s Bay is a kind of institution, much like this ride.”
    Tara looked around at the old-fashioned shooting gallery, the retro cabinet arcade games, and the skee-ball machines. “This place hasn’t changed much, has it?”
    “That’s part of its charm,” said Mike. “I can do without the eighties style rock n’ roll, though.”
    “I won’t argue with you there,” said Tara, returning his smirk.
    After several revolutions the ride wound down to a complete stop, and Tyrell and Marcus came bolting out of the exit gate.
    “Mommy!”
    “Hey, little man.”
    Marcus bent down next to Tyrell and pointed at the shooting gallery. “Let’s do that. I remember playing that when I was a kid.”
    “Yeah, Daddy, let’s go!”
    Marcus and Tyrell dashed over to the shooting gallery.
    “It was nice to meet you, Mike.”
    “Same here, Tara. You enjoy your evening, now. Come back again.”
    Tara smiled and walked off to join her husband and son.
    Marcus put a dollar bill into the change machine on the counter, and it spit out four quarters.
    “Yay, we won!” declared Tyrell.
    Marcus laughed. “No, buddy, that’s just the change machine. Daddy needed to get quarters so we can play.”
    Tara smiled at her son’s innocence. She treasured it. Knowing that it