Snowflake In A Hot World
Today's song is Snowflake In A Hot World by Mercury Rev.
They had been traveling for several hours when Charlie called over the CB radios Bella and Emmett had installed years before for better pranking, to let them know that Alice needed to use the restroom, now.
While stopping in the middle of the night during a zombie invasion was certainly not ideal, traveling at high speeds in such loaded down vehicles was quickly depleting their gas tanks and dipping into the gas supply too early could prove disastrous in the long run. Stopping to refuel while it was still possible would be a chance they would just have to take.
After checking her map, Bella radioed back and let him know there was a small town coming up in the next few miles.
"Snowflake?" Emmett chuckled in amusement from the driver's seat. "Are you shitting me, there is actually a town in Arizona called Snowflake?" Bella just shrugged and continued flipping through her notebook, a pocket flashlight illuminating the pages.
After a few minutes of traveling in silence, the truck's headlights illuminated a sign welcoming them to the town of Snowflake, Arizona population 5,221.
"I know this might sound cliché, but I have a bad feeling about this," Emmett admitted.
Peering into the darkness, Bella agreed. "We'll just have to stay alert when we stop. We don't have much of a choice unless we want to risk running out of gas further down the road. Besides, you know Alice won't pee on the side of the road."
"You're right," Emmett conceded turning cautiously into the dimly lit Mobil station on the outskirts of the small town.
As they rolled up to the pumps, Bella had to suppress the chill that ran down her spine. Emmett was right, something felt off. Peering around, she surveyed their surroundings as Emmett hopped out of the car and inserted his credit card in the pump. Behind them Charlie was doing the same thing while Alice jumped out of the large vehicle and shifted from foot to foot uneasily.
Spotting her sister, Alice quickly strode forward and grabbed a hold of Bella's arm and began tugging her toward the service station. "I need to pee," she whined. "Come with me?"
With a roll of her eyes, Bella conceded and followed Alice toward the illuminated building. As the girls pushed open the glass door, a bell dinged signaling their entrance. Glancing around Bella noted the absence of an attendant but brushed off her unease as she followed Alice into the bathroom. It was a small station with only a single stall for each gender so the girls were forced to take turns. After washing the mascara tracks from her face and fixing her hair, Alice declared herself ready to go and strode purposefully from the small room.
Following closely behind, Bella suddenly ran into the back of her immobile sister. "What the fudge Alice?" she hissed in annoyance.
Without making a sound Alice slowly raised her hand and pointed her finger toward an open door leading into the back room. Inside was a sight that would scar both girls for the rest of their lives. Just inside the room a figure dressed in strained coveralls was crouched over the body of the station attendant while a deep red puddle seeped slowly across the tile floor. But it wasn't the oozing puddle of freshly spilled blood or even the sounds of the zombie slurping greedily upon a piece of flesh that drew the girls' frightened eyes and seared itself into their memories. It was the look of horror upon the attendant's face as he met the eyes of the frozen girls screamed in silent torment as he was eaten alive.
"Oh shit," Bella mouthed as she tore her eyes away from the doomed soul before her and looked around for anything she could use as a weapon.
Cursing the small station's lack of car care products, she realized their best bet would be to make a run for it. While she wanted to help the poor attendant, she knew he was a lost cause. It would only be a matter of time before he too was also feasting on the flesh of the living.
"Alice," she hissed into her sister's ear. "Alice we have to make a run for it alright? On the count of three. One. Two. Three." On three she pushed her sister to get her moving before sprinting for the door herself.
Alice made it out the door without any problem but of course Bella being Bella caught her foot on the spinning rack holding an array of Greetings from Snowflake! postcards and sprawled face first onto the cool tile floor. With a groan, she scrambled to her feet and chanced a glance behind her only so see a blood drenched zombie chewing lazily on what appeared to be the remnants of the attendant's liver as though it were a Slim Jim.
Dropping the rapidly cooling piece of flesh, the zombie stared hungrily at the fresh meal before him and began moving at a speed Bella wasn't expecting. Throwing herself forward, she wrenched the door open and spun around pulling it shut behind her. She was just fast enough to trap the zombie inside the store. Unable to reach her, it began angrily pounding on the door with a force that threatened to crack the glass.
Panting heavily, Bella backed warily away from the door when a shot rang out behind her. Spinning around she was met with a sight far more terrifying than the one she had just witnessed. Beyond the edge of the darkness figures were moving rapidly toward the little family with hungry moans and strangled screams.
"Bella let's go!" Charlie shouted as he opened fire on another of the unfortunate undead who had managed to get too close.
Not needing any more encouragement, Bella dove for the truck and threw herself inside, slamming the door shut behind her. As soon as she was safe inside, Emmett and Charlie both jumped into the cars as the swarm of undead came rushing into the light.
"GO GO GO!" Bella screamed as Emmett struggled to get the keys into the ignition.
"Shit!" he cursed as an armless young woman threw her body at the truck, distracting him from his task.
"Emmett, get us out of here!" Bella cried hysterically as the newly undead residents Snowflake poured into the gas station and began converging on their car. Through the rearview mirror, Bella watched as Charlie managed to plow his way through the onslaught and onto the main road.
Shaking like a leaf, Emmett finally managed to insert the key into the ignition and brought the truck to life with a roar. "Hold on Bells!" he shouted as he shifted into gear. "Shit's about to get bumpy." With a squeal, the truck's tires spun before peeling out of the lot and through the thinnest part of the growing crowd.
"Shit, shit, shit," Bella swore loudly as she struggled unsuccessfully to buckle her seatbelt in her state of extreme panic.
"Hang on!" Emmett cried as he took an unexpected hairpin turn trying to shake off the two zombies who had managed to clamber atop the truck bed and begin hammering on the roof of the cab.
Unfortunately, while Emmett did succeed in shaking lose their unwanted passengers, Bella still hadn't managed to buckle her seatbelt and her body was thrown violently into the window, cracking her head against the glass. Gripping her sticky head and muttering a quiet 'ouch' Bella slumped heavily down in her seat. In the distance, Bella was aware of a muffled voice shouting her name but her lips were too hard to move. As the throbbing darkness washed over her like a flood, Bella lost the fruitless struggle with her leaden eyelids while the darkness claimed her.
VII
VII
VII
I hope you enjoyed the update. I've finally broken down and gotten a Twitter account so now you can follow me at http:/twitter(dot)com/Opposed2Reality. Please leave me some love and let me know what you think of the story so far, I hope to hear from you soon!
XOXO,
Bellarella