The Age Of The Dead

Chapter 6: Goodbye

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 out a laugh. The behavior of the infected reminds him of that of a baby. The arms freeze again and, as Iñaki's laughter dies, the corpse's head begins to open a breach in the vine. Once the entirety of his face crosses the vine, he turns to see Iñaki. The moans are transformed into grunts and the hands, once curious, are transformed into claws.

Iñaki, with his fingers clinging to the shovel, decides to finish him off once and for all.

The infected waves his arms, jabbing between the metal bars. Iñaki advances and squeezes the handle of the shovel a little more.

The moon casts the dead man's shadow on Iñaki's feet. "You have to destroy their brain" he remembers. He takes a step forward, raises the shovel with both hands, and smashes it against the forehead of the infected. "This is the only way to survive." Iñaki thinks.

The white eyes of the infected are conjured again and again in Iñaki's mind when he resumes the excavation. His face mixes with that of Black Sweatshirt, José's, and Valentina's.

As he continues to dig, something begins to change within Iñaki. A feeling of wanting to continue living so big that it would be impossible to explain. " I will survive no matter what, no matter what I have to do," Iñaki repeats in his mind.

The onslaughts on the ground are becoming more and more explosive. An hour passes until Iñaki judges that the hole is deep enough. It's time to go get Valentina.

The small mountain of earth that had accumulated next to the hole has returned to its place. Valentina rests underneath with her eyes closed. The night is quiet and respectful. Iñaki's tears fall on the ground next to some knees that want to take root.

A shiver runs through Iñaki's mind as images of Valentina come to his memory.

"I already have a boyfriend," Valentina said, avoiding Iñaki's gaze.

"I know," Iñaki replied with certainty, "his name is Iñaki.

"Iñaki?" she asked, bringing her eyebrows together.

"Yeah, nice to meet you. What is your name?"

…

"What if we move in together?"  Iñaki asked that time in his room.

"No!" she instantly replied, removing a strand of hair from her forehead..."Do you think my father would let us?"

"There's only one way to find out," Iñaki replies, standing up and heading for the door.

"Iñaki!"

With her voice in his ears, Iñaki palpates the earth. He wants to touch her one more time...just one more time. But the earth slips between his fingers.

The ceremonial silence of the night is pierced at that moment by a few dying moans. It's time to survive. Iñaki stands up with stone legs, takes one last look at that brown mixture of removed earth and leaves.

The next night….