Now on the roof of the city walk that connects to Universal Studios, Hugo looked into the park down below. Behind the building was a street that wrapped around the right side of the park. A metal fence separated the wanderers from this street, keeping it clean and safe.
A few steps to Hugo’s right, he climbed down a maintenance ladder. At the bottom, he was near the backside of the WaterWorld stage. It was so quiet now, aside from the groans of wanderers just outside the gates.
Hugo ran from the street to where the Golden Gates were, just now he was on the inside. Homer Simpson was gone without a trace. Though the wanderers were on the outside, Hugo felt just as unsafe as before.
Down the path from the front gates was a strip of gift shops and snack bars. At the end of the strip was an abandoned restaurant to which Hugo walked into and raided any remaining scraps he could find. Almost all foods had expired now, but several sealed foods were still relatively good. He sat in the kitchen with a bad of stale chips.
As Hugo took a moment to rest, the door to the restaurant squeaked open. Hugo took an abandoned knife that had fallen to the floor and held it up to his side. He could not see the person from where he sat, only the sound of silent footsteps traveled across the room.
From around the counter, Lisa Simpson walked into the kitchen. Hugo pounced at her with the knife, but she held him by his wrists.
“Boy, stop. It’s me.” said Bryant, whispering from under the mask. Hugo didn’t stop though; Bryant wasn’t of use to him anyway. “Stop.” Bryant threw Hugo to the side and pinned him down.
“Get off me! Jerk!”
“I had to leave you; you were weak.”
“Ah!” Hugo got his arm lose and stabbed it into Lisa Simpson’s neck. Bryant stopped moving, Hugo only stared, to realize what he had done. Lisa’s head fell off, revealing an empty cave at the top of her body. Hugo peaked inside, seeing Bryant inside the chest, unharmed.
“Shhh!” Bryant shushed with a finger over his mouth.
The door to the restaurant opened again, but slowly this time. Hugo peaked from behind the counter and saw Shrek the ogre shuffling around the dining area.
“Grab him,” said Bryant.
“What?” Hugo said, confused.
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“Grab…him…” said Bryant.
BAM
Shrek the ogre fell to the tile floor. “Grab him!” Bryant said, shoving Hugo into view.
BAM
A bullet whizzed by Hugo’s head, puncturing a metal cabinet behind him.
BAM BAM
“What the?!” said Hugo. He ran to Shrek, and began dragging him to Bryant.
BAM
“Bring him here! Bring him here!” said Bryant. Near the middle of Shrek’s left cheek, was a fresh bullet hole. Once Hugo was behind cover, Bryant removed the head to reveal a gooey inside. A wanderer had died while in the suit. “Put it on, quick!”
“What?”
BAM
“Now!” Bryant screamed.
Hugo disgustedly removed the body from the suit and scooped the insides of the head like a pumpkin. Putting the mask on, it smelled of rotted flesh and goo.
“Ready?” said Bryant.
“Ready? What do you mean?”
“Follow me!” Bryant ran out of the restaurant in the Lisa Simpson suit. Shrek quickly followed.
BAM BAM BAM BAM
Leaving the restaurant, Bryant led Hugo through the left side of the park finding the Minion Mayhem ride. They were spotted by Alex the lion and a Penguin of madagascar, but they seemed dead inside. To the left of the ride, an employee door was left open. They entered the room and shut the door behind them.
BAM, but they were now out of sight.
The area only had a stain of blood here and there as well as a trail of blood that went through the line path, all the way to the front door.
“What is your deal?” said Hugo. Taking off the Shrek head. Lisa was walking up a set of employee stairs that led to another back room.
“Not here,” said Bryant. Lisa opened the door and let Hugo inside. It was behind one of the giant screens in the ride. Below was a table of controls and to the side was some security feed. Along the back were some shelves stacked with miscellaneous items like tools and gears. In the center of the room, a box of food and supplies were left open, surrounded by a jumble of cloth and rags.
“Yes, finally!” said Hugo. He dug into the box, revealing a stash of MRE bags. “Wait…”
“You thinking what I'm thinking?” said Bryant, taking off the Lisa head.
“Why are military supplies in an amusement park?” said Hugo. “Also, what is your deal? Leaving me in the middle of a firebomb is one thing, but then acting like nothing is wrong when I show up again? Pick a lane!”
Bryant paused and drooped his head. “They’re not coming back,” Bryant whispered.
“What?” said Hugo.
“Orders were to keep away or kill any non-military personnel. When they left me, I thought they would realize and come back. If they saw me dealing with non-military personnel, they would probably kill me on the spot. Sorry, it’s just survival now.”
“Oh. Okay,” said Hugo. He turned to the MREs in the box. “Then why is this here?”
“One simple explanation.” Bryant walked over to the box. “This ain't no ordinary man, we got ourselves a veteran.”