Run Chicken Run
Today's song is Run Chicken Run by The Felice Brothers.
As they drew closer to Albuquerque, Edward was forced to store his precious bike in the back of the Bronco since the number of undead had increased exponentially. He wished he knew a different route but New Mexico was a fairly rural state with few major roads linking the widely spaced towns and cities. For its size the state might be sparsely populated but they were quickly approaching a city that boasted a population of over a million. That meant there was the possibility of over one million flesh hungry undead milling about.
"Eight-hundred and forty!" Jasper crowed triumphantly as he finished tallying his newest score on the yellow legal pad. "Man I tell ya, I was on a roll! You should let me drive again so I can at least try to catch up to you."
"Maybe later Jazz," Edward said noncommittally. "Right now we just need to focus on getting through this city alive." He gestured to the view before them.
The sight of the overrun barricades outside of the city limits turned the mood within the car somber immediately. "Holy shit," Jasper muttered under his breath as he surveyed the carnage with wide blue eyes, "some of those towns were bad but this is by far the worst I've seen."
Edward nodded his head in silent agreement as he concentrated on carefully navigating his way around the rotting corpses and still burning cars strewn across the landscape like a child's discarded toys. Austin had been bad but it was nothing like this.
The ravaged landscape reminded him of pictures he had seen of Dresden. All around them fires raged on and upon spotting several leveled office buildings and apartment complexes on the horizon it seemed like much of the city had been burnt to a crisp. He knew there was an air force base within the city and he wondered if perhaps they had resorted to bombing their own city in an attempt to beat the scourge.
He briefly entertained the idea of heading toward the base to see if anyone had survived and if they could score and awesome weapons but changed his mind quickly when he caught sight of the damage towards the east. Large clouds of dark smoke were wafting toward the pristine blue sky and in the distance the echoes of explosions could be heard.
Edward and Jasper had decided to try and stay on the interstate as much as possible. Neither knew their way around the large city and while the large stretch of road was littered with bombed out and abandoned cars, it was the most direct route through the city.
They were navigating their way carefully through the metal graveyard when they both caught sight of something that made their hearts stop. In front of them a yellow school bus was overturned and blocking all the surrounding lanes but it was not the bus that made the two men break into a cold sweat and caused the large dog to wet himself with fear. It was the sight of the scores of dead motorists and what appeared to be an entire high school football team complete with cheerleaders and a bloody bear mascot moving hungrily toward them that caused their reactions.
"Fuck," they both groaned as Edward threw the large car quickly into reverse and began swerving backwards toward the exit they had just passed.
"Dude," Jasper squealed in a voice better fit for a small girl as he widened gaze rested transfixed on the wave of rotting flesh moving hungrily toward them with startling speed.
"I know," Edward growled as he turned his body and concentrated on weaving backwards through the gauntlet of dismembered body parts and twisted metal.
"Dude," Jasper whimpered again before throwing himself into the backseat with the cowering dog after the first nearly faceless blonde cheerleader flung herself carelessly toward the retreating vehicle.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Edward shouted in frustration as he careened haphazardly around an overturned Volvo. Every second the horde of putrid flesh eaters drew closer to the retreating vehicle and began to throw themselves forward with abandon.
With a series of quick movements, he shifted the car back into drive and swerved through the hungry throng before swinging the car toward the exit ramp. He slammed his foot on the gas as the car shot up the ramp. At the top he saw more zeds approaching from the east and turned the car hastily towards the flyover, praying he could shake the majority of his pursuers long enough to find shelter.
As they wove wildly through the maze of motionless vehicles littering the road, Edward tried to lose the hungry zeds by turning sharply to the right and descending rapidly into a small valley made up of warehouse style superstores. As he turned left sharply, he was overjoyed to find himself in from of not only a Sam's Club but also a Costco, a Home Depot, and a Sportsman's Warehouse.
"Thank you sweet baby Jesus!" Jasper cried jubilantly from his position on the floor between the front and backseats as he began to entertain the idea that he may not have to be eaten alive today.
"Which one man?" Edward demanded anxiously as he swerved around a blazing Mini-Cooper.
"Uh, uh," he stuttered unsure while swinging his shaggy blonde head back and forth as he weighed their options.
His first instinct was to choose the Sportsman's Warehouse as a Rambo centric fantasy quickly flitted through his mind. He couldn't help himself, there had been a Sylvester Stallone marathon on before the outbreak hit. While the Sportsman's Warehouse would be awesome for firepower but it was smaller to the others and too close to the road they had just come down. Besides, they would have to leave the car outside and once inside would have a hard time barricading the glass doors. Not a wise choice.
Next, he looked briefly toward the Home Depot but dismissed it just as quickly. Sure they would be able to barricade the doors but there would be little or no food inside. That left Costco and Sam's Club as their only options. Both would be ideal but he couldn't make up his mind.
Sure, Sam's Club had those amazingly delicious little meatballs he loved but Costco always seemed to give out more samples, which was awesome when one had no money for lunch. He felt his heart being torn in two but was saved from heartbreak as his decision was made for him. The large metal door to the Costco's Auto Care Center was opening and a figure was waving them inside.
"Costco," he shouted as he clambered back into the front seat and pointed toward the large white building on the left, "head for the Auto Care Center!"
Without question, Edward turned left and barreled across the parking lot toward the open door. Once inside, both jumped out and sprinted for the button to lower the giant metal door just as the first of their pursuers crested the hill. As the door met with the ground with a small thud, both let out twin sighs of relief before tensing back up at the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.
"Hands up bitches," a voice behind them demanded. Without hesitation, both men's hands shot straight into the air.
"Now turn, slowly," the voice directed. Slowly, they turned toward the door leading into the Costco proper and were met with a sight neither of them had ever have expected.
"Fucking mother fuck," Edward groaned in disbelief as he caught sight of their rescuer while Sammy sprang from the car and loped happily up to the figure with his tail wagging like a maniac. "You have got to be fucking shitting me."
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I would tell you to guess who has our boys at gunpoint but I can assure you, you would be wrong. Please leave me some love and let me know what you think. A lot of you suggested they hole up in a Wal-Mart while someone else suggested Sportsman's Warehouse. There actually is a little valley in Albuquerque containing all of these stores just as I described. My friend Mark always wanted to somehow barricade the entrances to the valley with semis and live off of the stores. Interesting plan but I'm not really sure where he was going to get all those semis. Anyway, until next time my little zombie lovers!
XOXO,
Bellarella