Free Bowie V. Ibarra by Down The Road

cars. Fact was, there was a whole line of cars trying to get up the road and out of this place -to their hometowns, I guess.”
    Jeff jumped in. “But the fuckin’ Betas took issue with the ‘Out of Gas’ sign. They gathered by the pumps.”
    “That’s where my boys, the Thetas, jumped in,” stated Michael with pride. “It was like those old school gang movies, with pipes and boards and shit. Like West Side Story without all the damn singing.”
    “It was a brawl, let me tell you,” stated Jeff. “For about five minutes, it was a whirlwind of beatdown in the parking lot. But then things really got all messed up.”
    “No shit,” stated Michael.
    George took a swig of soda and ate a couple of chips as the story continued.
    “While the brawl was heating up, it was looking good for Michael’s Thetas.” Jeff finished his hot dog. “Three or four Betas were already calling it quits and licking their wounds near all the traffic on the road. Then it happened.”
    “A small wave of those fucking monsters -about ten or twelve -came out from the neighborhood across the tracks and started attacking the cars,” said Michael, taking a seat on two unopened cases of malt liquor.
    Jeff popped open a can of Old Milwaukee. “It was like watching a goddamn fucked-up Indy 500 of spooked cattle. The cars that were attacked hit the gas and started a car stampede. They all started trying to work themselves up the road, crashing and a-ramming each other. Some flipped into the ditch by the tracks, lots just wrecked. People started getting out of their cars and just started running.”
    “But those Betas got it worst. The deadfucks that made it past the cars attacked the poor bastards that were injured from the fight and tore into ‘em.” Jeff paused for a moment. Michael sat quietly, staring at the chocolate mints and spicy candy on the rack in front of him. He looked tempted. “Never seen anything so ugly in all my life. Blood everywhere. Those kids started screaming as those monsters…” Jeff paused again, swallowing hard, then continued, “…As those monsters bit into them. They tore whole chunks -just whole chunks out of those kids’ necks. Their arms. And just blood… everywhere.”
    Jeff stopped talking. He pulled out a pack of Lucky Strikes and took a mini lighter out from the display rack by the register. He lit the smoke, took a drag, exhaled.
    “You know, those frat bastards might have been assholes, but even they didn’t deserve what happened to them.”
    Michael wanted to say something -wanted to condone the slaughtering of the frat guys -but he held back and respectfully remained silent. George bummed a smoke, remembering the parking lot he just walked across. The pavement was stained a dark red, almost as thick as the motor oil and other automotive fluids staining every parking lot in Anytown, USA. He lit up the cigarette and took a drag.
    Jeff finished the story. “When the screams were heard, the fighting stopped within seconds. The boys just stared at them, stared in this kind of shocked disbelief, some of them with blood dripping out of their noses and heads. It took one of the creatures lunging at them to wake them up. Most of the Betas just ran; Ran away into the mess of cars. Some went to help their comrades. Not enough, though. I rounded up the remaining Thetas in here and brought my brothers and male family out with the guns. It was quite a sight. Cars wrecking and blowing up. Zombies everywhere. And those kids… Goddamn kids.”
    Jeff continued, “My brother Frank told the family to open up on those frat guys and the monsters. Word had come saying that getting bit by one would turn you into one in hours -sometimes even minutes. They blew them all away. Probably did them a favor. I went back inside and joined the others. I couldn’t take it.” Jeff frowned. “You know, after the Gulf War, looking at all those dead kids, soldiers, the Highway to Hell, you think you’ve seen it all. You