Pedestals of Ash by Joe Nobody

Author:Joe Nobody [Nobody, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kemah Bay Marketing LLC
Published: 2012-09-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12 – Welcome to El Paso

Combined, the cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico have a population larger than Philadelphia or Phoenix. Were it not for the Rio Grande River splitting the two metropolitan municipalities with an international border, the area would be the fifth largest city in America. Almost two thirds of the population resides on the Mexican side of the border, however, leaving El Paso as the 19th largest in the United States, slightly ahead of Memphis, Tennessee.

Most Americans visualize El Paso as a dusty cow town, often mentioned and seldom shown in Hollywood’s depictions of the Old West. The city doesn’t even get respect in the state of Texas, given it falls short of Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth in population.

El Paso is in fact a culturally rich and diverse city with a history as colorful as any, and older than most. The first recorded Thanksgiving Holiday celebrated in El Paso was over 20 years before the pilgrims threw their bash at Plymouth Plantation. The land around the modern downtown has been home to civilized cultures for thousands of years.

None of that mattered to Bishop as he sat on the ATV and chewed his third “power bar” of the morning. He had been like a kid on Christmas day when he found the stash of food in the off-road vehicle’s small storage compartment. Despite his best intentions of saving some of the goodies for Terri, he was quickly eating his way through the treasure.

His mood was elevated further by the fact that he was overlooking his destination. Spread out across the valley below was Fort Bliss with its million plus acres of land. To the south, he could see the outline of downtown El Paso’s skyscrapers. To the north was nothing but open desert, fading away to mountains in the distance. Bishop knew White Sands missile range was connected to the base in that general direction. From his elevated perch, he realized he was probably looking at New Mexico and Texas from the same vista.

He swung a leg over the ATV’s gas tank, while shoving the last of the chocolate flavored treat into his pie hole. A passing pang of guilt pulled him down for a moment, as he thought about how much Terri would have enjoyed sharing it with him. He consoled himself with the excuse that before everything went to hell, the nutritional snack wouldn’t have tasted all that good. While the print on the foil wrapper advertised the product as having a “rich chocolate flavor,” Bishop remembered most of these products had tasted like raw oats coated in cardboard. Today, however, nothing could be further from the truth. His palate had been deprived of anything sweet for months, and even the hint of chocolate caused him to gobble down the first two bars in a few bites.

After sucking the last few morsels from his fingertips, Bishop pulled his gloves on and began to scout the base below. He

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