Carrion Death

"A robber fleeing in the desert kills the pursuing cop who cuffs him. But the lawman swallows the handcuff key before dying."

-- DVD description for the episode

Carrion Death
Season	3
Episode	2
Airdate	June 15, 1991
Comic Source	Shock SuspenStories #9
Next Episode	The Trap

Carrion Death is the second episode of the third season of Tales from the Crypt and the

Plot

An escaped rapist and murderer running for the Mexican border ends up handcuffed by a state trooper. The convict manages to kill the trooper, but not before the trooper swallows the key, forcing the convict to drag the heavy corpse across the desert to freedom while being stalked by a hungry vulture.

Summary

Multiple mass murderer Earl Raymond Diggs escapes from prison shortly before his scheduled execution. Diggs steals a car, robs a bank, and flees across the Arizona desert toward the Mexican border. A motorcycle cop pursues Diggs and crashes his bike into Diggs' car, destroying both vehicles and forcing them to continue the chase on foot.

Time after time, a nearby vulture shows interest in both men, annoying Diggs but seeming to point the way for the cop. Diggs finds a sign advertising a cantina, but when he reaches it, the place is empty and abandoned. The cop catches up to Diggs, and during a fight, he handcuffs their wrists together. Diggs shoots the cop with his own gun, but the cop swallows the key to the cuffs before dying.

With the gun now empty and no way to remove the cuffs, Diggs carries and drags the body toward the border, still shooing off the vulture as heat and fatigue take their toll. Diggs soon reaches the top of a line of hills that marks the border, but he loses his balance and tumbles back down on the other side.

In desperation, Diggs fashions a hatchet from a piece of wood and the deceased cop's badge and tries to cut off the cop's hand so he can free himself. However, his vision has blurred from exposure to the desert, and he accidentally hacks partway through his own wrist.

Diggs stumbles backwards, ends up hanging over the edge of a rock formation by the cuffs and he falls to the bottom when his hand snaps off; breaking his neck before he finds himself paralyzed, unable to stop the vulture from plucking out one of his eyes and starting to eat him.

Opening Segment

"Good evening, felons. Time to assume the position, if you know what I mean, and prepare for another assault and battery on your senses. Tonight's seamy saga is about a nice young man with a very bad attitude. In fact, it's positively criminal. I call this little game of chops and clobbers "Carrion Death."

Closing Segment

"Poor Diggs. Here today, leftovers tomorrow. Boy, talk about flipping someone the bird! Personally, I'm with the buzzards except I like my meat a little more well done. Cook 'em, Danno!"

Gallery

Mike Vosburg's comic cover

Digs and the policeman have a shootout

The policeman finally catches up with Digs

Swallowing the key