Infected, Zombi The City of the Zol

by Hernández, Claudio

  ‘Is there a way to send this video to the station?’ Diego asked, hoping to show this to the rest of the city in hopes of containing the contagion.

  ‘I should imagine. We can broadcast this content through the DTT that we have disconnected. The computers are still in place.’ Juan pointed to a corner of the room, to a shelf containing the DTT equipment, encoder, multiplexer, and power stage. DTT devices and tellies, with a bit of luck, will pick up the signal automatically.

  ‘And how will we transmit the video?’

  ‘Via the solar panels and they’re on, I think. Or an order can be sent from here. It can’t be that difficult.’

  ‘Perfect!’ Diego was still shaken, though excited by what they were going to do. Send everything recorded to the rest of the city. That could lead to only two things; chaos or awareness, as well as preparations for possible attacks. Rather it would be a mixture of both.

  Juan stopped recording, already having enough material. However, they did not have an image editor to mount the video with the label stating what happened, though they did have an audio input to the DVB-T encoder. From there they could talk next to the images in real time with the help of a small lapel microphone. The voice would be mixed with the ambient sound of the camera that were the prayers of Father Martín and all confusion, cries, and screaming, which were, fortunately, becoming smaller.

  The people crowded in city hall gathered towards to the centre, an area that communicated the both the old and new buildings, something like an open-air anteroom, but without direct access to the outside; it was definitely a safe place. Seeing the grotesque faces glued to the metal shutter at the main entrance was not exactly the image that was sought to reassure oneself. Their crushed faces against the metal were grunting like pigs and moving with fierce force, causing the shutter to generate a hellish noise that in turn attracted new zombies.

  Other spectres passed by in search of fresh meat in the neighbouring streets, in this case Conde de Aranda Avenue. There were buildings with sprawling staircases that the zombies managed to climb, instinctively in order to reach the people on the terraces. The people had no weapons and could only take advantage of the speed of movement with respect to the undead. In a head-on attack between a zombie and a man, the pair fell off the terrace an into the abyss of the street below. A loud splat was heard. Deafening. Though, the corpse was still moving. Its head had not been crushed by the impact. It had tried to stand up and could not because almost all its bones broken had been broken, so all it could do was frown upward, looking at the terrace.

  XVI

  Javier and Álvaro, not even being able to see, exchanged a few words after having seen what that happened in the Spanish Plaza, as well as the surrounding beaches. From the castle, there was a perfect view of all of the events that were currently unfolding in all of the city’s districts. From the top, one could make a map of the entire area. With the help of binoculars, Javier and Álvaro could see the police acting with urgency, with the civil guard not far behind. But the most important was how they saw innocent civilians bathed in their own blood after being attacked by the creatures, and then after an allotted amount of time, getting back up. This confused them, as they had no context for what Father Martín had been saying at a distance, and air quality that day didn’t help the sound. One thing, however, was certain. Something terrible was happening. The dead were rising and attacking innocents, and this continued endlessly. Unwitting ignorance caused more people to fall prey to the zombies.

  ‘We’re fucked!’ Javier grumbled.

  ‘How could this have happened?’ Álvaro asked himself, not necessarily expecting an answer.

  ‘I don’t know, everything happened very fast, and I have a feeling that we will be waiting here for some time.

  ‘I suppose that it means that we will be staying the night here, bloody Hell.’

  ‘Or perhaps more. If those are zombies down there, we are ready, though they will no cease to attack until everything is gone, then they fall apart themselves.’

  ‘I can imagine.’

  ‘In any case, we should prepare for the worst.’

  Though the two of them couldn’t get along well, they managed to maintain this conversation like civilised people, and, for a moment, they put their differences aside. Right now, the task at hand was survival, but this, however, would not solve any problems that they had between them, they were certain of this.

  Susana, Javier’s wife, and Carmen, Álvaro’s wife, got along famously. They were in the corner of the castle, crying, not wanting to see the frightening scenes that were currently happening outside the walls of the castle. They were sat on the floor, consoling each other, hoping that the events unfolding, and the zombies outside, were all just a bad dream. Although there weren’t very clear on the concept of the zombies, what they did know was what they had seen through the castle periscope. This, however, did now help to calm them, as much as they watched. They couldn’t watch this morbid army gaining more territory.

  With them, there was another group of adolescents that had arrived to the castle on a field-trip, from the capital, Murcia. They were with their tutor. They were all among twenty years old and had come equipped with food and amenities. They had planned to stay in Águilas for three days, living like Boy Scouts, with only the bare essentials for passing the night.

  Everyone in the castle had seen what was going on, from up to eighty-five metres. They knew that the people outside the castle were killing each other, and a few others had seen the beginning of the Las Delicias Beach massacre, though they didn’t relate it to zombies. They were in the 21st century, and they had already seen all of the movies available on the subject. But those who don’t learn are doomed to fail.

  ‘Listen, everyone, a moment please!’ Javier exclaimed, grabbing everyone’s attention. ‘Everyone has seen that has happened outside, this is clearly a plague of zombies.’ Suddenly, there were murmurs that broke the silence of the crowd. ‘We have now seen how they die, and how, after an allotted amount of time, return to life. We have all seen that they are much slower, though much more aggressive than we are, and they are liable to attack anything that crosses their path.’

  Everyone nodded in unison.

  ‘We’ll stay here for a while, and we need to be very organised.’ Once again, murmurs interrupted him. ‘Up above there is refuge for us. We need to be on alert.’ For a moment, the murmurs stopped and silence invaded. ‘I have been taking into account all of the equipment that we have and I think that we could survive a few days if we ration the food off fairly. We can stay in the castle, and we can alternate guard duties.’

  ‘Are we all agreed here?’ Álvaro asked, with the hopes to not minimise the importance of what his brother-in-law was saying.

  After a long silence, Susana, Javier’s wife, that had finally stopped crying, stood up and nodded. After, Carmen followed suit, and the rest followed. All were agreed. Another success on Javier’s part that Álvaro envied, and now with more motive.

  ‘Very well, perfect!’ Javier agreed, he turned around to continue watching the infernal scene currently taking place from outside the castle. He returned to the crowd in order to begin explaining the rules and standards. Javier was now the leader of the group. His voice was strong and firm, and one could think that it was all of these characteristics that led everyone to accept his suggested Plan B. Álvaro, on the other hand, was short, bald, and with a beer-belly.

  XVII

  Juan connected his Sony video camera to the TDT COFDM modulator. The equipment was plugged in and the lights blinked, before finally being completely turned on. The power stage corresponded with a microwave ling that raised the signal, and the signal repeater was made greater thanks to the solar panel.

  There was an old telly in the office, which was plugged into the main equipment. The DTT receiver was connected and tuned in. With the remote control, the telly entered the menu section in order to put the telly into manual tu
ning. Juan knew that they were tuned into the 39th frequency, allowing him to manually tune the equipment to 39 degrees. The signal bar lit up green, indicating a successful connection.

  ‘Bingo!’ Juan exclaimed, patting Diego on the back, who had been waiting anxiously.

  ‘You’re a genius, Juan!’ Diego responded back, playfully. He was now somewhat more relaxed, as though this feat had saved him from the zombies. Though, these are emotional thoughts that cross one’s when one least expects it. In this case, any little accomplishment is a big dead considering the surrounding chaos.

  Juan was now able to tune in, and indeed, was able to broadcast to all of Águilas. He began to upload all of the footage that he had received with his camcorder. With a mixture of patience and nervousness, he managed to connect the microphone to the audio input of the modulator and began to speak.

  ‘Attention, to all citizens of Águilas! What you are about to witness is what is currently happening in our city centre. The dead are rising and are killing the living. This started a few hours ago, and this transmission is currently being broadcasted from the city hall. Do not leave your homes. Close and fasten all doors and windows. Arms yourselves well, and shoot directly for the head, after making sure that they are undead. The undead can be easily distinguished by their particular gait. They are slow, and drenched in blood, with white eyes.’

  Juan repeated this speech again, again, and again, shortening some, but always conveying the same meaning. Though, in his later speeches, he advised that it was better to avoid contact rather that confrontation with arms. Diego repeated the same speech from behind. From the telly, the echo of their voices could be heard from the microphone, so they turned down the volume of the telly. Everything was working famously, which they liked. All that remained now was to hope that the rest of the population receive their broadcast in order to remain informed, though this would be a difficult task for tourists and those currently on the beaches. Well, other beaches that were still unaffected by the zombies.

  XVIII

  Everyone began to take out the contents of their backpacks in order to take inventory, with regards to food and drinks. They managed to organise and ration off everything that they had for the moment, with tins of anchovies, tuna, olives, bread, soft drinks, isotonic solutions, chips, sandwiches, and nuts. This was good, as their foods were somewhat varied and abundant, or at least for a week. The forecast was for just three days, though their own predictions determined that they would be there for longer than a bloody week, for better or for worse. Javier and Álvaro looked at each other in the eyes, for the first time, without resentment.

  XIX

  As for the young lady at the beach, trying to reach the show, escaping from the dreadful situation with her boyfriend, a sailor approached, seeing the bodies floating like heavy nuts.

  ‘What the Hell?!’ The sailor exclaimed upon reaching the area. He witnessed two bodies floating in the water, face down, and completely inert. The sailor reached down into the water, with the intention of moving the bodies, though he was in for a real surprise when one of them pulled him arm, pulling him into the water upon being stirred, receiving several bites, making the water blood red under the hot July sun on that unforgettable afternoon. With watery, opaque white eyes, the victim returned back to life.

  The girl had finally reached the shore, screaming like crazy.

  ‘There’s something in the water! It killed my boyfriend! In the water!’

  Someone amongst the crowd of onlookers giggled.

  ‘Are you fine?’ A young man asked, lying in the sand with large, dark glasses.

  ‘Oi!’ The girl snapped back with her elbow.

  ‘I was only joking!’

  The girl gave the facts about what she had seen, and pointed towards where, more or less, the floating bodies could be seen.

  ‘There’s something in the water! It mauled my boyfriend to death!’ She exclaimed, emphasising each word with special effort in the tone of her voice.

  At this point, a forty-year-old man got up from his beach chair and addressed the young lady, who was now whimpering.

  ‘Lass, are you referring to those three bumps floating over there?’

  ‘Yes!’ She shouted, with eyes wide open.

  And with that, the man dove into the water in search of the lady’s boyfriend. A little voice inside of him said that perhaps the boy was drowning, though he did not understand what could possibly want to kill anything out there. It must have been the young lady’s shock at seeing her boyfriend drown, he thought to himself.

  ‘No! Please! Don’t go in there!’ The girl cried out. ‘It’s dangerous, I tell you! There is something deadly in the water!’ And with that, the girl fell down, weakened by the events that had unfolded. A group of ladies supported her, grabbing her arms, while she was still sobbing. The rest of the onlookers were still watching the man who had dove into the water. Though, the only thing that they could see was a sudden shake, the man was pulled into the water, and was covered by the bumps. More people got up, say the event, and, in a panic, ran from the scene. In spite of the distance separating them from the man in the water, it was clear that something dangerous was happening in the water where the bumps were floating.

  XX

  Father Martín continued praying inside the San José church, when suddenly he realised that his altar boys were not there by his side, as they usually were. His alter boys where two poor adolescent boys of seventeen and eighteen years, with pale skin, petty dispositions, yet good-looking. The priest cut short his prayers in order to search for them, as they couldn’t be too far. They lived for the church. Both boys had been picked up from off the streets that now had a life in the church. Father Martín began to look for them throughout the church, as the pillars had been fit to hide anyone, and there were plenty of church pews in which to hide. After looking behind the pulpit underneath a statue of the Virgin Mary, he found the boys crouched there with frightened faces.

  ‘Here you are, I have found you! My children, come follow me and you will be saved!’

  One of the boys shook his head and Father Martín once again insisted. Finally, both agreed and left. Between the pulpit and the church pews, the priest began his ceremony. The boys, full of fear but ignorant to the situation at hand, did as the priest had requested.

  ‘Drink of this purifying wine, I will place the sign of the cross on your foreheads, and you will be disregarded by the ungodly and freed.’

  The boys, one after one, in a line, were still. There was an ominous silence that invaded the church. The first of them approached with his hands folded in order to take a sip of the wine offered by the priest. With that, he scratched the sign of the cross on their foreheads with his nail, using all of his righteous fury.

  ‘There, now you will become purified as well and serve me!’ The priest’s eyes were now bursting from their sockets, with his lips now stretching into a mad smile.

  The boys began to feel ill. There was first a burning from within, a cold sweat, more heat, nauseas, and a blurring of vision. For a moment, their pulses had gone. There was arrhythmia, a lack of oxygen, and they both had become very pale. The conversion was complete. He now had two zombie servants, who would protect Father Martín.

  ‘Oh! Welcome to the world of the living, of God’s healed. My protectors, praise yourselves,’ the priest exclaimed, his eyes shining in the gloom of the church.

  The altar boys, now with opaque white eyes, stood on either side of the priest, with their hands still folded. The zombification process was now over, and quite quickly as well. Father Martín was special after all, he was a virus carrier, and they can infect you in special ways. They managed to keep their own thoughts, but they followed orders, completely unlike normal zombies. Normal zombies had no minds, they only sought to bring everything down, dismember, and infect. The more the merrier. They did not think, they only acted.

  Father Martín now returned to his speakers, this
time with his alter boys at his side. With contemptuous smiles that lit up the gloom of the church, like wicked witches, they sang a chorus as he spoke.

  ‘Listen to the Lord, all ye wicked citizens! He will free you from sin and grant life!’

  ‘Amen!’

  This was transmitted to the city via the loudspeakers.

  XXI

  On Colonia Beach, there were already a significant number of zombies in action, but most people were still ignorant of the situation, thinking that it was only a quarrel. A cluster of people crouched in a circle around a fallen man. When he began to convulse on the ground, everyone moved away in unison. With a loud yell, the newly zombified man grabbed one of the onlookers and bit the ankle, infecting him in the process. It was always the same situation and same level of ignorance. Who could have known that zombies actually existed, and that its contagion spread so fast?

  The civil guard officers, upon hearing the shouts, went to the Red Cross, with two of them convulsing on the ground and others walking erratically in the sand. The dead had no feeling in their feet, so this made it more difficult for them to walk in the sand.

  A man who was leading the group warned them not to approach, though the screams and shouts prevented them from hearing well. One of the zombies grasped one of the officers in a sort of hug from behind and took a large bite out of his neck. The officer screamed as blood gushed out of his neck. In a matter of seconds, he had already bled to death in front of his partner’s eyes. Not recognising the situation, he did not know what to do. Should he run away, or stay there? His survival instincts had begun to fail him. Everything was confusion. He tried getting out of there, bettering his concentration, but it was too late. One of this associates in the Red Cross, now a zombie, bit him in the chest, taking with it a large chunk. The zombies, in their first phase of decomposition, were relatively fast and furious, compared to those zombies that were already rotting away.