The City Is Dead (Written September 2008)

"The city is dead."

The blaring noise from the speakers startled everyone in the theme park. First, the happy music had stopped so the booming voice could make its announcement, but no one had thought to put it back on. Time had frozen in that moment with each wide eyed child looking to their parents, while parents looked up to the skies. They were not sure of what to do, until another voice rang up from the masses.

"OH EM GEEE!"

That was the sound that woke up the startled land. Next came a clang, as all the machines stopped running and the gates closed. All the people who had come in for a lovely day with their friends and family were trapped in a magical, family friendly, fun loving land of joy.

"OH EM GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

The cry sounded again, causing more people to move out of sheer shock.

"OH EM FRICKEN GEEE"

This time, the scream brought panic to the crowds. Everyone ran and shoved, screamed and cried. Yet in the middle, two young teenage girls stood still.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT? OH EM FRICKITY FRICK GEE!" The tallest of the two girls was the one who had been screaming, and her friend was starting to be bothered by it.

"I think they heard you the first time. Sheesh, what a big mouth you have," her friend muttered, stepping out of the way of a small boy chasing after his red balloon.

"All the better to kiss you with, my dear Taylor," the blonde giggled, throwing her arms around her friend's petite waist.

"Dude! I told you before Rose, I respect your sexuality, but you have to respect mine!" Taylor yelped, showing the first sign of panic since the announcement. In response, Rose rolled her eyes and stuck out her pierced tongue. It was a small silver heart, and when Taylor stuck her tongue out too, she had the same piercing.

"Whateves. You and that David are sure to break it off anyway soon. Be-Tee-Dubs, he's being eyed," Rose whispered to her, but her eyes were slowly drawn away by a small group of bikini clad girls rushing by them.

"The city is dead." The loudspeakers said it again, but only the two friends heard it this time. All the others were too busy screaming for God to save their families in the outside world.

"Is, like, anyone else psyched that we're in a theme park? I can live on candy and not have any of the sisters be PO'ed at me! It's like being stuck in a movie theater and they give you popcorn and let you watch all the movies until you are free," Rose giggled and grabbed Taylor's arm, dragging her to the nearest food stand. No one was there for the small pox ridden teenage boy had long soiled his pants and ran away crying, so she leapt over, effectively flashing those around her when the short pink skirt rid up her tan legs.

"You have no morals, do you? That's stealing, even if it's the end of the world," Taylor reminded Rose as she dug her hands into the cotton candy machine.

"Eh. Hey, do you think any of those girls I was talking with will let me smother their bodies in this crap? That Jackie might, she seems interesting enough," she asked instead. Once more, Taylor shook her head and thought back to the reason she was even friends with Rose. They had only met through school when Rose forced her to rush a sorority with her. It was okay being in Alpha Kapa Beta Delta Gamma Nu, and yet Rose was the only thing keeping her there. Then again, that was how she met David. A small chorus of dancing fairies and Disney princesses sang all the silly love songs in her head, and she hummed along.

"ello? Are you freakin on me?" Rose yelled, waving a cloud of blue fluff in Taylor's face.

"Nah, just thinking about David," she said in reply, then jolted when the speaker next to them blasted out the same message.

"The city is dead."

"We get it!" both the girls yelled at the pole and black box.

"Oh?" It was the same eerie voice, but it wasn't in the speaker. It was next to them. With the same motions as those in horror movies, the two girls turned their heads to the left to stare at a man wearing on the most ridiculous black tuxes they had ever seen, complete with a cape and diamond tipped cane.

"Are you for realz?" Rose asked him, crossing her arms over her bulging chest once the temporary fear passed. This man held no harm for them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Taylor said to him, mimicking her friend's action.

"Just watching two beautiful girls as they consider their last days on Earth," he laughed, white teeth showing through his smile.

"Creep," Taylor muttered, backing away from him.

"Oh em gee! Are you like a vampire? Taylor, I think he's a vampire come to feed on innocent virgins! Wait, we're not virgins. Or innocent. Sorry mister, but you'll have to look elsewhere. Oh! Do you sparkle? Tell me you do, cause Edward Cullen is the sexiest thing since sex. If you do, I would totally let you bite me," Rose rambled, and now it was the stranger who looked startled.

"Wait, whatever happened to those girls before?" Taylor asked, slightly shocked herself.

"Eh. I can have them all, right? Hey! Maybe I can find a sexy vixen vampire who sparkles for myself," Rose sighed to herself, cupping her chin with ringed fingers.

"Uh, no. My name is Joseph Q. Lavida, and I am as human as you are my dears," he said, gripping the top of his cane with pallid hands.

"What's the Q for?" Taylor pointed out, wiggling a finger at him. The man's answer was cut off by more screaming families, throwing themselves off the rides they had been strapped into.

"I think it's for Quakers," Rose giggled, closing her eyes sweetly. When she opened them, the man had a face filled with unadulterated terror.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW THAT?"

"Um, what?" Taylor said, backing away and grabbing Rose's hand.

"Only my dreaded mother knows that name and she took it with her to the grave," Joseph said slowly, pointing his cane at Rose's throat.

"What? Did you kill her or something? Or did she do it herself, cause that it one god awful name. Was she as deranged as you are, or do you get that from your dad?" Taylor asked, but her question was drowned out by Rose's reaction.

"Woah! Don't come at me with your pimp cane! I ain't yo ho!" she said, snapping her fingers at him in a z formation. As he watched, Taylor smacked the side of her head.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked Rose, turning her back on Joseph Quackers Lavida.

"I dunno. Sounded cool and this one girl in the sorority talks like that all the time," she sighed and then slowly walked away. Blinking slowly, Taylor followed after her.

"Yeah, but it sounds stupid coming from you," Taylor remarked with a smirk, shoving her hands in the pockets of her baggy pants.

"Hey, be-tee-dubs, since's a lame vampire, he may have eaten them as his first ungodly meal," Rose pointed out, her mind trailing back a few moments.

"Yeah, you're the one to talk about ungodly," Taylor muttered to herself, sighing deeply.

"Girls! Don't you want to know my evil plan?" Joseph Quackers Lavida called out after them, not sure if he should follow.

"Eh. I wanna see if anyone here is desperate enough for end of the world sex. You up for it Taylor?" Rose asked slyly, her lipgloss reflecting off the wild grin.

"Hell no. I want to call David and see if he knows anything. Maybe he can come and get us," she said, slowly moving away from Rose and pulling a candy bar out of her pocket.

"BUT THE CITY ISN'T DEAD AND IF AN OUTSIDER GETS IN IT WILL RUIN THE EXPIREMENT!" Lavida yelled out at them, cupping his hands to his mouth. Now the girls stopped moving, looked at each other, than back at the man.

"What the frick," Taylor sighed, running fingers through her mussy blonde hair.

"There goes the end of the world sex I was dreaming of," Rose sighed sadly, pouting. As she inwardly wept for a shattered dream, Taylor pulled out her cell phone and began dialing her boyfriend's number.

"Hey sweetie? Yeah, can you pick us from the theme park? Some freak closed the place down for a social experiment and we're trapped as the world falls to pieces. Really? Great. Love you too,"