The rain of fists continues to hit the stairwell door. Iñaki feels the vibrations in the soles of his shoes. Sofia is a statue in his arms and Rambo barks furiously.
Iñaki's eyes check every corner looking for an escape. Screams, barks, moans, vibrations..." think, think."
"Going down the stairs is impossible." Iñaki discards in his mind "going out the window too..."
"Shit!" he exclaimed. "Go down, we have to go down!"
The roars of the reanimated grow louder as Rambo barks, snapping at the air, his saliva flying into the air.
"Relax," he says to himself, "breathe, breathe. How many ways are there to get down? The stairs...and the elevator. The elevator! Will it work? " Iñaki wonders, squeezing Sofia into his arms. "It is the only option."
"Rambo, get ready."
Iñaki approaches the door of the apartment. Dying groans enter his ears and run through every nerve in his body. Another step. Iñaki opens the door.
The noise is deafening but they have not yet managed to knock down the door to the stairs; their stench of death, however, consumes the air in the hallway.
Iñaki presses the elevator button with all his fingers. The lamp comes on. The mechanical engine comes back to life and produces the most beautiful sound Iñaki has ever heard.
CRACK! The door hinges absorb the force of knocks. The moans are heard closer. The elevator's not coming.
One hand goes through the opening, another...and another. Rambo growls.
"Rambo, no!"
The elevator door opens at the same time that Rambo starts running in the opposite direction. Barks and roars erupt in the hallway as more hands snake in.
"Don't move Sofia!"
Iñaki leaves Sofia in the elevator and goes after Rambo.
CRACK!
The dog moves closer and closer to the door, where entire arms are already protruding.
"Rambo!"
The door collapses. Hundreds of roars, growls and moans rumble in the hallway.
"Rambo!"
The can lift his ears and looks in Iñaki's direction with doubt in his eyes.
"Let's go!"
Rambo turns around and runs towards Iñaki. The zombies begin the chase.
"Sofia!"
The elevator door is locked and the girl is not next to him.
"Sofia! " Iñaki shouts with Rambo beside him.
The dead are coming.
"Sofia!"
Then the elevator door opens, and Sofia is inside with her finger on the button. Iñaki's eyes don't understand what they see but his legs don't care. He enters the elevator with Rambo and presses the <<0>> almost ten times per second.
The door starts to close. He lifts Claudia in his arms. The elevator trembles. A hand enters through the opening, and a gold ring captures the light and blinds Iñaki for a few seconds.
The door finally closes and the hand - without its owner - falls at his feet.
The elevator descends and allows Iñaki to hear his heartbeat. The mirror on his right offers an image he is not willing to see. Iñaki closes his eyes and feels Sofia's trembling body against his ribs.A little startle reopens them. The door starts to open. Roars.Iñaki doesn't think twice. He shoots in the direction of the door that leads to the street. Behind him echoes the hymn of death. With Rambo at his heels, he grabs the door handle and, feeling a few fingers on his shoulder, pulls inside. Iñaki slams the door behind him and an infernal groan accompanied by a pair of hands crashing against the other side of the door.The air caresses Iñaki's sweaty face. The glass of the door begins to break, hit by their deceased neighbors. Every cracked glass is a stab wound.Iñaki runs to the street as every muscle in his body screams in agony. Sweat clouds his eyesight. Then the sunlight - the one he had eluded for so long - burns his skin and relaxes him. Sofia's nails stuck in his back and
Iñaki opens his eyes without knowing how much time has passed. He looks around feeling the movement of the car on his body. Sofia is stiff again on his lap. Rambo, however, has half his head out the window; he enjoys the wind and barks at every infected he sees."Hello," says the man with a strong Yankee accent, "it's Mike. You alright?"Iñaki nods."Bitten?"Iñaki shakes his head."Let's go to my urbanization," he says, looking at the road and dodging a zombie, "we're safe there."Going at high speed and looking at the sun, Iñaki allows himself to forget his problems and imagine that nothing has happened. The sun's rays light the way and promise a better future. If only Mike kept driving to infinity there would be no problem.But after a long drive, the car stops in front of an urbanization and Iñaki finds himself again.The water droplets in the clouds become too heavy and fall heavily on Buenos Aires. The rain descends vertically as Iñaki closes the window. That scent of moist ea
Mike walks to a reinforced steel door and pulls a key out of his pocket. "No garage?" Iñaki asks as he tries to cover Sofia from the rain. "Now you'll see," he replies. Then he sees it. Behind the door stands a landscape of cars, scrap, furniture, and rubble that merge into a kind of barricade. On his left, a gray apartment block forms one of the "legs" of the urbanization "U", on his right the other one and in front of him is the building that forms the base. The path leading to the pool is clear in a straight line. It continues until it comes to the door of the central block. On the sides, the passage is blocked by the "barricade". The only way in is through the pool. While Iñaki soaks up in the rain, still shaking from the cold that reaches his bones, Mike looks at him with a semi-smile. "Time for a swim." The raindrops hit the barricade around the pool composing a macabre symphony. Sofia's body is a cold rock in Iñaki's arms. Roco does not detach from his heels. Even with t
Three people seated in a semicircle, one standing and a candle on a table receive Iñaki. The man standing is the one in the black jacket he saw by the pool. Rambo smells around him. Sofia's eyes rest on one of the two women, she seems not to understand her image. "So you finally found survivors." "Yes," Mike replies, "and they won't be the last." "An optimist...What is your name?" he asks Iñaki. "Iñaki." "Well, Iñaki, what did you do, what skills do you have that can serve us here?" "Victor!" exclaims the older man sitting to the left of Iñaki "Come, sit here, have some water and dry yourself." When he sits down, his legs send a signal of pleasure to Iñaki's brain like he had never experienced before. He grabs the bottle and towels offered by the man, then wraps them around Sofia and offers her water. "Always so hospitable, Eduardo," Victor says, breaking the silence."My answer?" "I was about to finish my medical degree." "A doctor?" Victor asks and all hostility disappears
"I don't know for sure who spread the infection through block 2 and block 3, but in a matter of days, everything went to hell. I remember the doors of the apartments being hit from the inside by their already dead occupants. We tried to act the same as with Clemente but it was impossible to lock them all up. The only reason people didn't leave the block was that they were afraid of what was waiting for them outside.""The last day was chilling. My husband was lying in bed, his face covered in sweat. His last words were "I'm hungry." I went to the kitchen of the apartment and prepared something for him. When I got back to the room, he was gone. I heard noises coming from our roommates' room and went to see what was happening.""I'm embarrassed to admit it, but can you believe I was jealous? The woman was on the bed and my husband was on top of her. All I felt inside was jealousy. At that moment the woman "shouted help me" which penetrated my bones. It was also when my husband turned hi
"It's time for me to show you your new home, " Mike says, standing up."Let's go."Eduardo approaches Iñaki and shakes his hand. It's a warm greeting. Iñaki takes a few seconds to recognize that feeling again; human kindness."My apartment is next to Maria's, if you need anything you can find me there.""Thank you."Mike walks out the door and Iñaki follows him with Rambo at his heels and Sofia in his arms."We're on the fourth floor," says Mike going up the stairs, "Eduardo and Maria are on the third, Martina and Victor on the fifth. The rest of the floors are empty.""Why aren't you all together?""I asked the same thing when I arrived...Eduardo and Víctor are in their "real" homes. When they started bringing people, they were assigned apartments on every floor. At one point all the houses were occupied. Today only the apartments of those who came this far are.""I still find it strange.""Me too...talk to Victor.""He's in charge?"Mike stops in front of the 4th D and pulls a key o
"Did you have a good night? " Mike asked."I don't remember having a better one in a long time. " Iñaki replied."If at any time you need to talk, I'm here.""How did you end up here?""By accident. When I was escaping by car from the center of Buenos Aires, I crashed. Inside the other car were Victor and Eduardo. Mine was useless, but not theirs. Eduardo asked me if I was okay, and I said yes. Victor, looking at my car, wondered where I was going, I told him anywhere away from there. Then he yelled for me to get into his car since the infected were already meters away.""I wouldn't call it an "accident" in this case.""I guess not," Mike replies, shaking his head. "Anyway, I got in the car and they brought me here. I'm alive thanks to the generosity of a couple of strangers. That's why I intend to keep looking for survivors. Without realizing it, Eduardo and Victor taught me how to save this world.""Generosity?""Yes, generosity and trust. We are going to survive, Iñaki, have no dou
"What about Rambo? " asks Mike.Iñaki looks at the dog, who looks at him with his head on one side and his ears pricked."We leave him here. It's very dangerous, sorry, Rambo.""As you think is best, Iñaki.""Yeah, it's gonna be safer that way. Let's go."When Iñaki goes out to the interior park of the urbanization, it is already night and the rain has stopped falling."We have to cross the pool," Mike says, "ready?"His words make every hair on Iñaki's body stand on end."No."Mike smiles and walks over to a small trunk by the pool that he hadn't seen before. He opens it and pulls out a black inflatable boat. Iñaki's eyes light up like the moon."The important thing is not to leave it outside as a red carpet for "guests".""I don't think the infected know how to use it...""I wasn't thinking about them, come on."Both get on the inflatable transport. Mike pierces the water with the oars in the quietest way. He can barely hear the movement of the boat.After a few seconds, they reach