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2022-11-24 04:32:18The night has fallen. The hands of the clock rotate relentlessly as the silhouettes of the two corpses stalk Iñaki in the darkness of the living room. The alcohol that swam through his bloodstream has also left him.
The entrance door continues open and so many hours pass in the same way. A sound or a thought- Iñaki is not sure- breaks his dream state. Never before had his limbs weighed so heavily on him, nor had he felt his mind so anesthetized. "Survival!" Iñaki does not know where the message comes from or if he should hear it.
Why keep living in a world like this? To end up being another zombie? Are they even aware of being so? To continue to exist, to continue to breathe?
The questions resonate in Iñaki's head when he feels something moving in his leg. His heart races as he reaches for his jeans; It's his cell phone. When he takes it out of his pocket he sees that the screen indicates Mama.
"Iñaki?" Asks his mother's voice.
"Yes."
"You all right, son? What's going on in Buenos Aires? We were evacuated, can you believe it? We are in a sports center half an hour from the city of Rosario surrounded by military and doctors, this is crazy! I think it's all an exaggeration...about that virus and the attacks too. Iñaki?"
"Yes?"
"How are you, how's everything in Buenos Aires? We can't even watch the news here!"
"... it all went to shit."
"What did you say?!"Her tone changes suddenly.
"That everything went to shit."
"What...? Are you okay?"
"I'm alive..."
"How's Valentina?"
Silence.
"Iñaki, how's Valentina?"
"Valentina's dead."
"What...o..ue..parl...ime...igo...hij...Valentina!...you put...ñal..."
The cell phone signal leaves Iñaki along with his mother's voice...It seems that the age of communication has come to an end.
"My mother and father are still alive." Without wasting time, Iñaki walks to the door and when he is about to close it he senses that someone is watching him. The feeling lasts what a blink. Iñaki closes the door and prepares to carry out the horrific task.
Iñaki prepared everything: the window that faces the back of the urbanization is wide open to the night. It's time to get rid of the bodies.
The remains of the infected lie 15 meters from Iñaki; his body is a grotesque mixture of flesh, bones, and fluids. Valentina is still in the living room, lying in a pool of her own blood.
It's time to get rid of her too.
Iñaki bends down, runs one arm under his knees and another down his back. He is about to stand up when he stops to look at her eyes; they are no longer Valentina's eyes.
A thought crosses his head and gently closes the eyes of his beloved. With another equally delicate gesture, he cleanses a trace of blood that stained her forehead. Now she just seems to be sleeping.
Finally, Iñaki stands up with Valentina's body glued to his chest. Tears come back to Iñaki's eyes.
Iñaki moves slowly towards the room. His body does not want to get rid of the corpse, while his mind is not so sure...
"That's because you don't believe in anything!" Valentina's voice bursts into her mind. "I want to be buried like my grandmother." Iñaki is not sure but he thinks he remembers that his answer, between laughs, was "Ok, ok, but I will surely die first."
Carefully, Iñaki rests Valentina's body on the edge of the window but slowly lifts it again; he is going to bury her.
Iñaki walks towards the elevator and when he presses the button the door opens instantly.
As he enters, the elevator light gives a crisp reflection of Iñaki and Valentina in the elevator mirror.
Iñaki fixes his gaze on Valentina's body. Her pants are ripped and her legs are now a purple color. Her shirt is completely stained with blood.
Iñaki's footsteps echo in the garage. Arriving at the door that leads to the urbanization park, Iñaki leaves Valentina on the floor and opens the door.
Once in the park, Iñaki goes to a plastic booth. "Tools" indicates an inscription above the door. When trying to open it, Iñaki notices that it is closed with a padlock.
Iñaki steps back, and with all his might kicks the door. The door of the booth sinks inwards, freed from the lock. Silence...for a few seconds...until the first moan reaches Iñaki's ears...
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The beating of his own heart resounds in Iñaki's eardrums. "Are there two, three...?" he wonders, inspecting the vine. Some hands then cross the vine and enter the inner garden. The individual explores the air with his hands. The creature came alone. Iñaki relaxes his shoulders and resumes the search.After opening the door, Iñaki finds the shovel next to the hose. He grabs it and walks to the tree at the far end of the garden. That's where he's gonna bury Valentina.Iñaki sticks the shovel to the ground and turns around to observe the reaction of "Curious Hands." A few meters behind Iñaki, the arms freeze for a few seconds before continuing to investigate the air.Iñaki throws the earth over his shoulder, digs again, and again the infected stops. Iñaki doesn't notice a bit of violence in the creature, just curiosity. "Would it be the same if he saw me with his own eyes?" Iñaki thinks as he sinks the shovel into the ground. "I guess not."At the tenth time, Iñaki can't help but let o
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The Age Of The Dead Chapter 9: Sofia
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Iñaki opens his eyes and everything turns white. He's in bed, Sofia at his side. Eduardo must have brought Rambo in the morning since he is now resting at the foot of the bed. Iñaki looks at him and Rambo raises his ears."Up!"Rambo jumps into bed and gives Iñaki a lick attack never seen before.Suddenly, Sofia opens her eyes and finds herself in the battle to the death between Iñaki and Rambo. Rambo notices the new opponent and attacks her ears as if they were made of honey. The girl looks at Iñaki, laughs, and exclaims "Dad!"During breakfast…."I heard you scream a name last night," says Mike, toast in hand, "Valentina?"Silence. Eduardo and María watch Iñaki curiously."She was my partner," Iñaki replies."I'm sorry," Maria says, placing her hand on Iñaki's.Eduardo studies Sofia with a look that seems to say "she lost his mother.""So today you're gonna go find more survivors? " Eduardo asks suddenly."That's right."Then keys are heard behind the door, they are inserted in the
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Iñaki puts first and turns in the direction of the infected. Second, the asphalt burns the tires. Third, Iñaki can already hear them. Fourth, they line up on the street with their arms outstretched. Fifth, dozens of bodies hit the hood and windshield of the car. Short, dry noises resound in Iñaki's ears. Iñaki stops and looks back."There, mission accomplished."He parks the car in front of the gate and looks at Mike."You got the map?""Yes.""Are you okay?""Yes," Mike replies as he looks at the bloody cracks in the glass. "Let's go back."Then Iñaki lets go of the wheel, turns off the engine, and relaxes his arms."Let's go back.""Let's go to Eduardo's apartment, I'm sure Sofia is there with Maria.""Ok."In Eduardo's apartment..."You all right? What were those noises? " asks Eduardo."What are they going to be?" Mike answers.Sofia is sitting next to Maria with her face smeared with puree. She looks at Iñaki and he thinks he sees joy in her eyes. Rambo runs to the girl and wipe
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"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
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"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
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"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
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Chapter 15: Survival Story Part 1
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
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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
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Chapter 13: Oasis
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
