Rarl: Just Think Positive

1.2 ✾ Lost Jollity

Ron shrugged "I guess, if you really want to, then I'm not gonna Enid you"

"What?"

"Uh..." Ron looked away, and explained to him even though the joke wouldn't be funny anymore after saying it twice "You know, she let you down and if I let you down I'm just like her so- I'm not gonna Enid you"

Carl gave him a weird look, as expected the joke wasn't funny after explaining it

"Ju-just forget it.." Ron said, fanning the air as if he could make the conversation dissolve.

An awkward silence fell between the two boys.

"Oh," Carl said after a while and started laughing a little then with another "Oh" he practically howled in laughter, like an old engine that needed some time till it launched.

Ron was a little irritated but the boys laughter was so contagious that he couldn't help and laugh about the unfunny situation, filling the air with ugly cackling and for awhile it was just that.

Carl was the first to find himself and he poked Ron into the side to kill his laughter then pointed at the entrance "We shall go in, explore"

Ron nodded, holding his stomach from the aching cramps the laughter had caused, then followed the brunette boy inside.

The place was deserted from any human life and the only living things that inhabited here were crows, insects, a couple of squirrels that crisscrossed the road as they went among the stalls and some other birds from which he didn't know the name. The atmosphere screamed from the silence that hung painfully in the air and the lack of motions gave him the chills. At this point it would've been bearable if walkers staggered around, just to give this place a bit of life

Dead rollercoasters, scruffy stalls with contaminated food and some candy that were maybe good enough to eat but didn't look too appetising from the water they were soaked in.

"Depressing" Ron muttered, sharing his opinion about this place aloud with the guy next to him who seemed a tad too enthusiastic, he looked at the attractions with his mouth open ajar, eye glistening as it stared upon.

"'S wonderful" Carl corrected him, still gawking.

Ron smiled a little from the boy's facial expression. He liked Carl that way, the excited little boy and not the grumpy old man who was mad someone stepped over his lawn.

"Yes," Ron agreed to him, regardless of his own opinion, "Wonderful"

"Let's step closer-" Carl said, nodding to a stand by the other side but his eye slid from Ron to a spot behind him and his expression hardened.

Ron turned around but Carl had already jumped defensively in front of Ron into a fighting stance, blocking his view and making the blond blush a little.
"WHO THERE?!" Carl snarled

Ron peeked over the boys broad shoulders and caught sight of an old man staring at them unbiased, cleaning a mug with a ratty towel which didn't look like it could clean off anything since covered in dirt itself

"Who you?!" Carl urged him for an answer,

"I'm no one, in this place of nothing's. Living the last glimpses of life till the lord welcomes me in his arms" The man replied without looking up, his eyes were sunken into his skull and he was bald of hair expect for the black moustache growing from his red skin under his nose. He wore a black tuxedo, untouched from dirt and it fell neatly over his body as if freshly ironed. He didn't make an impression of someone who had a hard time surviving, indeed he actually looked like someone living in a giant mansion, despite the impression the bar behind him would have caused him looking like a bum if it weren't for his clothes and the hygiene in general

"Who you?!" Carl growled again.

"Im the Barkeeper of Lost Jollity"

"What's Lost Jollity?" Carl said who didn't find it funny in the least "You better not kid' me"

The man finally titled his head to look at them and by doing so, the light of the bar shone on his scalp and made it glimmer with either a lot of gel or grease from lacking showers

"I'm afraid that I can't answer that, chum"

"A'ight" Carl huffed and teared the holster open, pulling out his gun to point it at him "Answer! WHAT IS LOST JOLLITY"

The barkeeper put the glass down and threw the towel over his shoulder then he folded his arms together "My friend, I'm truly and utterly sorry but an answer can't be urged with weapons, besides I highly doubt you carry bullets within it. You seem young"

Carl let out a noise that sounded like a growl then the snapped the hammer and fired a shot into the next stand, smoke charged after the bullet. Then, he returned his gaze back at the man who didn't look too confident anymore.
"Answer or next goes in you" Carl said with a warning undertone.

"Carl-" Ron began, his voice shaky "I think we should just go-"

"Shut up!" The brunette snapped at him and Ron startled back, unable to throw a remark since he feared the gun in Carls hands, so he kept quiet and watched with big eyes as Carl grew angrier and angrier with the second. He would shoot the man, and Ron would witness a death scene. And he worst of all, maybe this was all just an ambush and they were about to get attacked.