The group of boys all headed to their next attraction, ICU. They decided to mix their groups up so now there was an assortment of ages that would walk through the haunted ICU together.
When it was their turn to enter ICU they found the interior very dark and with it getting later in the evening the darkness of the night only added to the eerie effect. The first scene they came upon was a patient hospital room with a body hooked up to a bunch of flashing and beeping monitors and IV's hanging from the poles being lit up with flashing lights behind them.
The smoky fog in the areas made the site even eerier as they walked to their next room. They next came across a bunch of characters dressed in hospital gowns with blood splattered all over them. Some patients had bandages and others had seeping wounds that dripped blood. The boys made sure they avoided those patients. As they walked on they could hear screams from people in front and from behind. The lads would laugh and talk amongst themselves telling one another that it was some of their group
Their next scene brought them to an E.R. where all the beds were filled with bleeding victims who had all sorts of gross injuries. Most of the patients were screaming from a loss of an arm or leg and some that were spurting blood across the room. Some patients were gurgling blood at their mouths and all of them were hooked up to some sort of blinking monitors and one patient had a flat red line moving across the screen. That area grossed out most of the lads. But there was more to come.
The lads moved forward and they had to travel through a hallway that had ripped hospital curtains strung across and fog permeating throughout so it made the scene unreal. They knew a ghost or hospital patient would soon jump out at them, so they quickly swept their heads back and forth trying to find out where they would jump out from. Then the creatures came at them from all sides and some of them had no heads and all the boys, the teens too, screamed their heads off and they ran as fast as they could.
They came upon a well-lit area that allowed them to calm down some before heading to the next ghoulish area they had to pass through. They all laughed at each other because all of them screamed and ran like scared rabbits. The courageous lads pressed on and just as they began to move into the next area they heard lots of screams and when they looked back they saw their friends enter the lighted waypoint. That made them laugh.
There were more scary patients the lads had to contend with as they made their way forward. They came to an operating room where a number of supposed doctors, behind the glass partition, were operating on 'live' people. One doctor made like he was cutting the patient and blood would spurt up and the patient would scream. Another doctor cut his patient's arm off and they saw it fall off the table onto the floor with lots more blood dripping down onto the floor.
A third doctor had his hands in a patient's mouth and when he turned around he had a fist full of bloody teeth and smiled like he just won the Lottery. That made the lads laugh. Then more bloody patients came walking through the hall where the lads were. That was the clue for them to head out of there. When they walked out back into the park they saw a man standing on an old-fashioned ambulance with its lights flashing. That put a smile on the boy's faces.
The ICU attraction was more gross than scary although seeing the patients with no arms or legs and bleeding from all parts of their bodies was a bit disconcerting to the much younger lads. They regrouped after walking through the ICU and then looked at the map to figure where they wanted to go next.
"Lads, that's three attractions down and two more to go," started Mr. Ken. "The last two are almost at complete opposite ends of the park, so you need to decide which one to go to first and hope you get through with enough time to get through the last one. OK, there is Karver's Kradle that is like a house of dolls, and Terror-Tory which just about tells you what it is all about.
It was almost evenly split between the boys. Half of the lads wanted to go to Karver's Kradle and the other half wanted to be scared out of their wit's end in Terror-Tory.
The adults split up with Mr. Dan, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Frank going with the boys to Terror-Tory. Mr. Ken, Mr. C, Ms. Judy and John and Barbara Sullivan all decided to take the boys to Karver's Kradle. Emma Foster told Mr. Ken that she was tired and was going to walk to the front of the park and meet everyone there.
It was then that Ryan spoke up for him, Brant and Chase and asked her if she would take them to the Hay Bale maze for them to walk through, as they didn't want to see any more scary people or walk through any more haunted areas. Emma smiled and said she'd be glad to take them as it was situated close to the front of the park.
Barbara Sullivan spoke up and said she'd go with Emma and the three boys and anyone else who wanted to do something a bit more mundane. They had no other takers. So, Ms. Emma and Ms. Barbara gathered up Brant, Ryan and Chase and the five began to walk towards the entrance to the park. As they began to walk away they told everyone they'd wait for them up there.
The other two groups then split up and went in their separate directions. They agreed they'd take the walkway that passes the Steel Eel when they finished their attraction in order to catch up with each other. They said they'd decide then if there was enough time for boys to get through the haunted area they hadn't gotten to yet.
The teens all stuck together and the pre-teens joined them as they headed to the Terror-Tory with Mr. Dan, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Frank. All the eleven-year-olds wanted to see what Karver's Kradle was all about, so Mr. Ken, Mr. C, Ms. Judy and John Sullivan accompanied them.
The teens and pre-teens arrived at Terror-Tory and got in line. They could hear the screams coming from the people in the area and they couldn't wait to get in. The line was pretty long, so they knew they'd have a much longer wait than they had at the other three attractions.
The 11-year-olds found a long line of people waiting to get into Karver's Kradle when they came up to the entrance. They could hear no screaming coming from the attraction and they all wondered what that was all about. They got in line and waited for their turn.
It took the 12 and 13-year-olds between 30 and 40 minutes of waiting before their turn came to get into Terror-Tory and even then they all couldn't go in at the same time, there were just too many of them to do that. Mr. Dan told the lads to plan on him going in with the first group, to their chagrin. Then, Mr. Wayne said he was going in with the second group and Mr. Frank said he'd bring up the rear.
The first group consisted of seven people counting Mr. Dan. When they walked into the attraction, they immediately saw there was going to be lots of strobe lights and fog making machines. They knew from the other attractions this was to disorient the person as they made their way from the beginning to the end. The first group continued on.
The lads at Karver's Kradle also had to wait more than thirty minutes before they got to enter the area. There they weren't really restricted to groups, but they only let five or six people in at a time every twenty to thirty seconds. Once in they knew they could gather together and continue as a group. As the lads entered Karver's Kradle, the adults dispersed themselves between every group
The lads walked down a hallway to some steps that took them down into what appears to be a dark basement. Once there, they saw doll heads hung on the walls with blood dripping from them and dolls with knives stuck in their heads. As they walked deeper into the basement it was very dark and there they met the 'killer clowns'. The clowns tried to scare the boys and many of the boys did react to the clown's movement towards them and they ran away.
The hallway was narrow and everywhere they turned there were dolls in various grotesque scenes. Some of the dolls moved when they least expected them to. There were lots of red flashing lights and some smoky fog to restrict their vision of the next scene. Some of the dolls were set up as if they were marionettes tied to string coming out of the ceiling, but they were actually 'living' dolls who moved. Some of the dolls carried knives covered in blood with dead people at their feet.
As they walked on, they entered a blue-lit room with flashing strobes all over. There the living dolls would jump out at the lads and scare them to no end. At the end of the room was a turning barrel with stripes that coupled with the strobe lights that made some of them dizzy. They had to walk through it to get to the next area. There was no going around it.
The next area was lit in red lights and there were lots of mannequins in different poses that moved as the lads came close. Some of the dolls came after the boys who would run away as fast as their legs and feet would take them. They all laughed at each other when they got together again.
All of the lads exchanged stories of their encounters with all the 'living' dolls that moved and chased them throughout the basement. They laughed at the way some of the boys reacted to the dolls and how the dizzying tunnel made some feel queasy. The group of talking lads, and their chaperones, hurried to meet up with the other eleven-year-olds group.
While the 11-year-olds group was going through their scary attraction, Karver's Kradle, the teens and pre-teens were going through Terror-Tory. The older lads weren't prepared for the number of scary people who would come after them at every turn. People dressed in all black would materialize out of the darkness and chase them. Even the 16-year-olds were caught off guard and they too were sacred when the black-garbed zombies came out of nowhere.
The teens would run from one group of scary assed people and immediately run into another group, and this one was of axe-wielding scarecrows. Then they met up with headless, blood-covered bodies walking through the forest. The teens screamed like little babies as they were confronted by various creatures of the night.
The lads walked through old barns that smelled of death. There were more human bodies and skeletons hanging and swinging from the rafters with blood dripping down onto the dirt floor. Outside one old shack were men with chainsaws that buzzed close by them as the teens and pre-teens ran passed.
Out of the darkness, they could hear screams and then shotgun blasts and then more screams. There were barking dogs and rattling chains making the lads fear the dogs would get loose and attack them. There were more buildings to walk through with flashing lights and shadows projected on the dark wood. They had to push aside vines and thick ropes aside to get through the maze set up inside the building.
Some of the creatures tried to grab them and they did take one person from outside their group screaming into the woods. What they didn't know was the person was a plant to add the scare and pucker factor to the experience. The boys didn't know that and they ran screaming. The creatures of the night were never-ending. The teens and pre-teens hardly caught their breath when they were confronted by a group of clowns with faces filled with fang-like teeth and blood dripping off of them.
The boys could hear more screams coming out of the dark and because of the flashing lights pointing at them and the smoky fog filling the air they could hardly see what was up ahead. When they got passed the fog more creatures came at them dressed as farm laborers holding pitchforks, scythes, rakes, and shovels all slathered with dripping blood. When the creatures saw them, they began chasing them through the dark scrub bushes.
The boys had never run so much in the young lives as they did that night. At every turn, it seemed to them they had to run to get away from the creatures, so they would not be dragged back into the dark where they saw one person taken. When the lads came out of Terror-Tory they were breathless and bending over to catch their breath and calm themselves down.
"Dang, that was the most scared I've ever been," said Logan. "It was relentless the way those creatures came after us. And did you see them take that lady into the darkness?" asked Logan.
"Whoa, they took a man from our group," spoke up Cooper. "Hey... I bet those people were plants to scare us even more. And you know what? It WORKED!" laughed Cooper.
The adults that went through knew it was all fake, but even they were appalled at some of the grotesque creatures and their antics. They too saw different people being dragged into the darkness and they thought they actually did take a person away. In wasn't until after they heard what Cooper had to say they realized the actors did an awesome job of scaring them and making their hearts beat much faster.
The lads shared their personal view of the attraction and they all agreed it was worth going through Terror-Tory. They asked Mr. Dan how he enjoyed the scary area and all he told them was that he'd seen a lot of that stuff and in real life. That shocked all the boys when they heard that and they all looked back and forth to one another with opened mouths.
That was the effect, Dan Fischer, Sheriff's Lieutenant was looking for. He called for the boys to turn and look at him and when they were all looking and waiting for the man to say something, Mr. Dan said, "NOT!"
The boys all burst out laughing. They actually thought Mr. Dan had actually seen some of those things in real life while doing his job. Now that they knew he hadn't they all ragged on him for teasing them, but they also thanked him for that last shock to their system.
While the 11, 12, 13 and 16-year-olds were conquering their fears at more haunted attractions, the three ten-year-olds were tackling the Hay Bale Maze. It was located close to but not at the SeaWorld entrance. The line wasn't all that long, but they found the maze was extensive once they got inside.
The three youngest lads couldn't believe the maze was going to be as complicated as it was. They learned while they were in line they could do about a third of the maze and get out or continue on where it was more complex and challenging. They chose to do the entire intricate design.
None of the lads was the leader. They decided, in the beginning, they each would offer their suggestions as to which way to go. After a few twists and turns, they decided to take turns making the decision. Doing it that way made it more fun for them as when the lad chose the wrong direction, and they had to backtrack, the other two ragged on at the one who goofed.
The maze was only two bales high so the boys could plan their turns in advance, but occasionally being fairly tall didn't always work. Some of the turns might be forty or fifty feet away in the more difficult parts of the maze, so they couldn't determine in advance which way to go. The three boys walked through the maze and they took to one another as if they'd known one another for months not hours. When they finished they hugged one another and laughed at what they just accomplished.
As the three lads walked through the Hay Bale Maze, Ms. Emma and Ms. Barbara could watch them from their comfortable bench, so the two women weren't too concerned about the lads. The maze was quite long and it took the lads a good 30 minutes to complete it considering they made a few laughable errors along the way.
When the three lads returned they each had to tell Ms. Emma and Ms. Barbara who made the wrong decision and how it was crazy figuring out how to finish. In the end, the three boys each hugged the women and thanked them profusely for taking the time to be there and watch them.
The group of 11-year-olds caught up with the teenagers and pre-teen groups right around the restrooms between Steel Eel and the Penguin Encounter. They each had to tell the others what they had just experienced and it sounded like a yell fest instead of a bunch of lads talking to one another. After a few minutes of that, Mr. Dan got everyone's attention.
"Boys, boys ... let's take a look at the time. SeaWorld closes at 10 PM. We have to be at the front entrance at 9:45. Todd, how long a wait was there for you guys at Terror-Tory and how long did it take all of you to get through?" directly asked Dan Fischer.
Todd thought about it for a few moments, and then told the man he thought it took almost an hour for them waiting in line and then all of them getting through the Haunted attraction.
Mr. Dan then asked Kevin how long it took his group from getting in line until they were all out. Kevin wasn't expecting to be called on, so he looked to Mr. Ken with hopeful eyes. 'Dad Ken' smiled at the lad and walked over to Mr. Dan and told him it was probably, at least, a good 50 minutes.
All the adults huddled together and looked at the time. They saw they had less than an hour before they all needed to be outside the entrance and they still had to walk there. The decision was made to head to the entrance much to the chagrin of the boys.
As they walked towards the exit, Kyle asked if anyone knew where the Hay Bale Maze was. He said that maybe they'll have to time to do something fun while they make the best of the last of their day at SeaWorld.
Asher and a few others pulled out their large park maps of the amusement park and looked them over trying to locate the maze as the large group walked towards the front. Jacob found it and said it was just ahead on the right. The lads began to hurry so they could get there and in line. The adult just smiled at their antics and let them try.
When the large group of lads arrived at the maze they quickly got in line in no particular order. It was 'first come; first served' when the line formed, so there were teens mixed in with the 11-year-olds, who were mixed in with the pre-teens and vice versa. The 10-year-olds saw them arrive and jump into the line, so they went over to them and told them how to get through the maze.
The older lads said they wanted to figure it out for themselves and asked Chase, Brant and Ryan not to tell them about the maze. There wasn't much of a line as the maze was mainly for the much younger boys, but the attendant let them go through as there hadn't been any much younger lads there for over fifteen minutes.
The lads went in four at a time and even doing it that way, they would probably all use up all of the 45 minutes they had left, before they were supposed to be out at the motor coach. While the lads were trying to get through the maze as fast as they could, the adults were laughing at the way the boys were all trying to get through the maze as fast as they could.
As the lads were having fun, Mr. Ken called all the chaperone's together and told them he thought they could do a head count there just as easy as out at the bus. He took a head count of adults and added the three 10-year-olds. Then he went to the Hay Bale Maze exit and counted the lads as they came out. When everyone was finished having fun going through the maze the owner of The Cove had three extra boys. Then he remembered Jayden, Ryder and Chase.
"Hello, Owen ... I've got three very tired, but extremely happy boys waiting for you. Are you close to the park?" was the part of the conversation the people around Mr. Ken could hear.
"Great, we'll be walking out the exit in a few minutes, so we'll catch up to you outside at those huge flower pots," said Mr. Ken, as he laughed.
"Jayden, Ryder, and Chase your dads are outside waiting for you. Guys, what say we all head out to our bus," asked Mr. Ken.
As the group headed out to the front of the park, the music they could faintly hear at the maze got louder. It got even much louder the closer they got to the exit. When they were just inside the exit, Mr. Ken encouraged the lads to use the restroom before getting on the motor coach.
The owner of The Cove told them that even though there was a restroom on the bus that with almost 50 people there would be a very long line if they all waited until then. The boys all headed to the Men's Restroom, including the three 'new' lads. The restroom was already pretty full, so it took the boys almost ten minutes for all of them to relieve their bladders.
When the 'new' lads walked through the exit and saw their two dads they ran to them.
"Dad, dad, dad," yelled the three boys as they ran to meet their dads.
"Dad, it was awesome and it was so much more fun having kids our age to do things with," said Ryder.
"Yeah, dad, they got to know us and they treated us like they'd knew us for a long time. That made it even more fun, because ... well, they didn't treat us any different than anyone else," revealed Jayden.
"Dad, this was the best time I've ever had. I just wish you could have been there with us," said Chase as he hugged Owen. "I bet you would have had fun too, and you would have had a bunch of adults to talk to as well."
Mr. Ken and the other chaperones came over to the two dads and they all shook hands. The chaperones told Owen and Nathan their boys were good and gave them no trouble. They also told them they boys were complete gentlemen and they got along with the other boys very well.
As the adults were talking the rest of the boys came over and talked to Jayden, Ryder and Chase. They asked them to exchange phone numbers, but learned only Jayden had a cell phone. They still got his cell number and Robert and Charles gave him theirs. They said they'd try to stay in touch and see if they could get their 'dad' to invite them over one weekend. Then, before the boys headed off to get in the motor coach they all got in line and hugged the 'new' lads as they called them.
"Owen, Nathan ... you have my phone number, so please don't feel embarrassed to call. After the day these boys have had I'll bet that when, no, let me rephrase that ... I'll bet before the motor coach leaves the parking lot my boys are going to ask me if they can invite your lads over to The Cove, so be prepared. I'll also bet they've already told your boys that, so ... please be prepared for that," laughed Mr. Ken
"Guys, your lads fit right into my group. Granted, only four of them are mine, but these lads are all best friends with one another and they visit The Cove regularly. So, don't feel your three will be a bother at my place. I've had at least as many as 25 lads there at one time, and I think they all spent the night at one time, too," laughed Mr. Ken.
"By the way, I have five, well there is actually only four skateboard ramps the boys can use, and if the weather was nicer there are two water rafts out in the lagoon. I also have an indoor pool, so if your guys come over make sure you and the boys bring your swimsuits. And don't forget to have the lads bring their skateboards if they have them. Guys, take care and let's stay in touch," finished Mr. Ken, as he held out his hand to shake theirs.
"Mr. Thomas, we can't thank you enough and tell you how much we really appreciate your taking our boys with your lads tonight. Nathan and I were a little concerned about our boys being in there by themselves, but Jay ... he is a responsible thirteen-year-old and he and Ryder get along great. The unknown factor was Chase and at his age, some of the scary scenes he would see tonight might not agree with him. I just hope he doesn't have any nightmares tonight.
"Tonight was the first evening we got to spend together, just us, in a long time. We didn't do anything special but go out to dinner and talk about ... us. These boys mean everything to us. Their moms abandoned them to us after our divorces and it's only been two months since we blended our families," got out Owen, before a few tears formed in his eyes. Nathan saw them and hugged the man tight.
Mr. Ken stood back while Owen composed himself. It was Nathan who then spoke up. "Mr. Thomas, what Owen just said was just the tip of the iceberg of the hope, doubt, worry and all the other feelings that we're both going through right now. These boys are our lives and we are trying our best to make their lives as good as we can.
"Owen is currently looking for a job after moving him and his boys to live with me and Ryder, and it has been hard on him. But we do appreciate what you did for us. You don't know us but you treated us better than many have. For just that we can't thank you enough.
"Then, what you did for our boys today was like the icing on the cake for us tonight. You gave us what Owen and I needed, US time. But you also made it that our boys would not only be with boys their age but watched over and kept safe. Sure, we had to trust you, too, but ... you added our boys to your large group without a blink. That says a lot to your character and love for your fellow man.
"We will definitely accept any and all invitations to visit your home. Tonight ... it was like it was meant to happen for us. Maybe this is that hump people have to get over to move things forward for them. Thank you again for everything you did for our blended families," got out an emotional Nathan, before Owen had to grab his partner in a hug.
The three men shook hands one more time. Ken waved to the men as they and their boys walked to their car. Ken then went looking for his group only to find them on the periphery of the people watching the band playing up on the stage at the main entrance to SeaWorld. He stopped to watch for a few moments then he looked at his watch and told the boys it was time to load up.
Once everyone was onboard, Mr. Ken did one last head count, then he yelled out, "Anyone not here, please raise your hand." That elicited a loud laugh from the boys.
Mr. Ken told the driver that he had everyone and he was free to take them all home. Mr. Ken then sat down into a comfortable seat and let out a big breath. Ms. Judy told him she agreed with him and that this was a day of days, but wouldn't have missed it for anything. The motor coach was only ten minutes behind schedule when it left the parking lot.
The boys looked out the windows trying to see what there was to see as the motor coach made its way out the twisty, winding road that led out to the main roads that would eventually take them home. After the bus got on a main thoroughfare most of the boys reclined their seats and got comfortable. Some still watched out the windows because they'd never been that way and they wanted to see what was all there, but eventually, they reclined their seats and got comfortable, too.
It was no more than twenty minutes before all 39 lads were either sleeping or going in that direction. The adults took advantage of the restroom in the back and tried not to disturb the boys as they walked back and forth. Mr. Ken was the last one to walk to the back of the motor coach and he checked the boys as he walked past. He saw the lads had used their jackets as a light blanket to keep the lightly blowing conditioned air off of them as they tried to sleep.
The adults also fell into a light sleep on the two-hour return trip back to Three Finger Cove.
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