"Hey, we should take a day off!  This traveling is getting a bit stressful for my legs, you know?" Ken laughed at his own joke and motioned to a figure in a the distance; it wasn't a city, but almost looked like one.  It contained what looked like buildings from a distance, but as he and Diamond neared it, the buildings were actually just slender frames of metal.<br/><br/>She ignored his joke: "A theme park?  How creepy.  I bet the rides look haunted with no one on them."  Over the past few weeks, Diamond had grown used to her cripple friend's crude attempts at humor.  Sometimes she laughed, but other times what Ken said made her concerned about his mental health.  "I haven't been to one in ages, but I used to love the roller coasters.  I guess all of that stuff is over now."  Ken didn't respond to that.<br/><br/>The sun was still high in the sky, and the air was still warm.  With Diamond pushing Ken's wheelchair from behind with its two handles, and him rolling the wheels, they were making about six miles a day.  Even more if the weather was nice and there were no apparent problems.  Her brown eyes gazed at the steel ghosts of the amusement park, tall and menacing as they were.  "So, should we steer clear?  It looks like it's a few miles away, but it's right off of the highway."<br/><br/>"Your choice, but I vote no," Ken replied calmly.  "As far as I see, we have the road we're on, and that's it.  If we start avoiding things like abandoned theme parks, what else will we try to avoid?  And how much hard will our traveling become?"<br/><br/>Diamond's brow furled. "But what if it's like that village we passed before?" she began.  "It seemed like it was abandoned, but we almost got ambushed when we passed through.  I wouldn't doubt that there are a few bad groups in there fully enjoying what cotton candy and hot dogs were left when the solar flare hit."<br/><br/>"I didn't say we had to go<span style="font-style: italic">inside.</span>But let's at least stay on the road.  Both of us will have to work harder to move this thing in the sand."  Not only did he convince his friend, Ken finished the job with himself too.<br/><br/>Nothing happened for the rest of the day outside of Ken shooting a wandering coyote, and the duo did eventually end up passing by the front gate guarding the parking lot of the ghost park.  The sign that used to hang from the white arch of the entrance was now crashed into many glass pieces on the asphalt; the only remaining solid portion read<span style="font-style: italic">Escape</span>in red and blue and green light bulbs.  Empty cars sat like neglected animals in between painted yellow lines in front of the gate.  Kenny spent a good few hours imagining what the full name of the place was, thinking that if he did, that one word would seem a little less solemn to him.  After racking his memory for past commercials and advertisements he might have seen, nothing came.  He felt lucky that by the time night arrived, the towering metal frames of the roller coasters were gone from the horizon behind them.<br/><br/>Just before the sun went down completely, Diamond went to gather resources while Ken set up camp just off of the highway.  A few tumbleweeds were enough to make a good fire, and by the time they were found, Ken had the coyote meat ready to cook.  In addition to a first aid kit, flint, steel and a few other necessities, he also had a few blankets in the bottom compartment of his wheelchair, (most of which were previously held in Diamonds backpack, but the metal basket in the chair proved to be more practical.)  While one slept, the other kept watch with Ken's pistol.<br/><br/>Nearly flinching when her hand neared his chest, Ken reluctantly allowed Diamond to take his gun from its holster.  Softly, she said "I'll wake you up when it's time to switch, O.K.?"<br/><br/>"Sounds fine to me, sugar."  The still young man crossed his hands behind his head to make a pillow; he was sleep nearly seconds after he lay his head back and closed his eyes.  Diamond giggled a little at his childishness, and began to scan the dark horizon as if she were a lifeguard again and it was a pool full of children.  Her companion dreamed of a day at a theme park.