Texas Funeral
Page 4
“Yes, Gabriella,” Alana said, continuing the report, “It is nothing short of chaos here at the Austin Medical Center. People are showing up here with complaints varying in severity, and the common thread being that they had all been bitten by the flies, which you can see are swarming around the hospital.”
As Alana was giving her report, the camera man noticed and zoomed in on a blonde haired woman in a blue dress. She staggered behind Alana, wondering aimlessly in a wide circle, while dragging her left leg. She looked like a Zombie that had lost their way off the set of The Walking Dead.
This woman then looked right into the camera. She let out a high pitched howl. Startled, Alana turned around quickly to see where the noise came from. Blood exploded out of the blonde woman’s eyes and mouth, as her head fell to the floor. Her body slowly collapsed to the ground to the sound of Alana’s shrieking, because of what she had seen, and that she was splattered by the woman’s blood. The broadcast quickly went back to Gabriella in the FOX 7 News studio.
Gabriella continued with the report, “I would like to apologize for the unplanned horrific scene that had just been broadcast live from Austin Memorial Hospital. We are just as shocked by the unexpected turn in this evenings report, but it only reinforces the severity of what we are all facing. Officials are asking people to stay inside during what they are calling an outbreak situation.”
Gabriella had then become unbalanced and caught herself before she fell off her chair. Her head began to wobble. She then let out a high pitched howl. Her right eye twitched and blood began to spill out of her mouth. Gabriella’s head slid off her shoulders and onto the newscaster’s desk. Blood erupted out of her neck like a geyser. The FOX 7 News studio filled with a swarm of flies. Other high pitched howls were broadcast as the camera feed went black. All that could be heard was the growing whirr of buzzing flies.
The back story behind Texas Funeral. I wanted to tell you about the inspiration behind this story and how I came to chose the setting.
One day I was messing around on the internet, when a news headline came up “Zombie Fire-Ants in Texas”. I had to read the article! Its been a few years now since I have seen the article. I can not site who printed it, or who the author of the article was either. I do know that I was intrigued by this article and what was going on there.
The South American Phorid Fly is real, and what it does is real. How fast it does it, is not real. You can find the research from the University of Texas at the web address below. I also found other news articles about the Zombie Fire-Ants.
I was excited about this idea. I was also concerned that if the flies could attack the ants. Why couldn’t it do the same thing to people? So, that is the question that got this story rolling.
The setting for the story had to be in Texas. It was already happening there. I had seen Kilgore, TX on the map. I chose Kilgore because of Author Kurt Vonnegut. He had a character named Kilgore Trout. So, I liked Kilgore for that reason. In doing my research for this book. I learned more about Kilgore, TX and would like to visit there.
The title of the book came from a line in a Quentin Tarantino movie Kill Bill Vol: 2, when after the bad guys bury the main character alive, in a graveyard, one says to the other, “So, that’s a Texas Funeral?” I liked that idea, and had another storyline all together based on someone being buried alive. And that was the idea. At least it was, and then I read about the Zombie Fire-Ants.
I hope you liked the quick little bit of insight into Texas Funeral. As promised here is the link to the University of Texas at Austin, Fire Ant Project,
www.sbs.utexas.edu/fireant/ Thank you for reading Texas Funeral. Please remember to go and review the book, and tell your friends! If you like this book, you will want to check out these other great books by Jack Batcher. You will find them on his website at www.JackBatcher.com
Novels
Under a Thunder Moon Death of a Pop-Star
Novella
Texas Funeral
How I Killed My Mother-in-law
Poetry
Scattered Pieces: A collection of Poems & Songs Children’s Books
Are there Monsters in My Closet? Burnt Eggs and Scrambled Toast I’ve got a Song!
Joke & Coloring books Silly Cow!
Silly Halloween!
Silly Kitty!
Silly Puppy!
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