Infected, Zombi The City of the Zol

by Hernández, Claudio

  ‘We are calling for a full evacuation. Everyone go home, lock your doors, and close the windows. We need for everyone to leave through the back entrance. These people have come to eat you,’ an officer with a megaphone in hand shouted, with pistol in hand.

  ‘I had noticed a lot of noise coming from the centre,’ one mother commented.

  ‘Correct, it must have been bullets,’ her friend added.

  The distance wasn’t very long in order to confuse the sounds with anything else. Now was the time for them to escape with the children. One of the officers brandished his weapon to an erratic zombie that had targeted him, unsure as to shoot or not. The zombie bit his hand, letting the pistol fall to the ground. Immediately afterwards, another zombie went for the face. In a few seconds, the officer had died, lying inert on the ground, awaiting zombification. The other officer vomited a short distance away, brandishing his weapon, and, after wiping the vomit from his mouth with his shirt sleeve, shot at the zombie. It fell mundanely to the ground. The other shot missed, with the other zombie coming closer. Another errant bullet, shot by one of the civil guards, hit the officer’s shoulder.

  ‘I’m alive!’ He shouted as pain shot threw his shoulder.

  ‘Hold your fire, don’t shoot my partner!’ A third officer shouted, having just recently arrived.

  The civil guard lowered his weapon, but quickly brought it back up for the onslaught of zombies that were still coming. Now everything was in chaos, and the officers didn’t know where to aim. In any case, if you showed any blood then it probably meant that you were one of them or you were about to be zombified. It was thus necessary to concentrate on the clothes, in addition to the way they walked. Zombies were slow, though inexorable with every step they took, though very furious when it came time to bite the jugular or anything else. In addition, upon being recently infected, it was easier to notice the pale complexion and inexpressive faces of those infected.

  The mothers and fathers who were their grabbed up their children and ran to the back exit of the park. One of the zombies that managed to evade the brigade reached one of the mothers, giving her a bite in her shoulder blade. This one was quickly shot. Her daughter of seven years ran towards the group that was trying to escape from the back of the park. The officer that was undergoing the zombification process got up and began to shamble, in a zig-zag formation, towards the port.

  Confusion and chaos abounded throughout the Águilas city centre, although one thing was certain: something terrible was happening, from everywhere you could go or see. Father Martín was still praying through his speakers like a man possessed in the church, at full volume.

  X

  The most dangerous place right now was the children’s park located in front of the city casino, which, at the moment, was closed off for children’s recreational hour. As it was July and the heat was unbearable in the afternoons, the morning was when there were the most people, more mothers and children, but also grandparents and their grandchildren and uncles and aunts with their nieces and nephews, in addition to the tourist sector of the local market. The zombified officer was closing in dangerously to the frantic people, trying to escape through the back of the park. There were more zombies shambling around, including near the back of the park. They hadn’t noticed it before, but by this point, the undead were beginning to outnumber the living, thanks to the rapid, virulent nature of the bites. The mother, who had previously been infected, had grabbed her sister, who had her by the hand, and planted her teeth in her arm. The woman burst into screams, but the furious zombie then took a bite out of her neck, ripping out a large piece. The blood began to pour out and the woman fell to the ground from blood loss. Two minutes later, she began to seize.

  More undead walkers managed to reach several of the elderly, asphyxiating from the fear of the moment. The screams were becoming more prevalent, almost as numerous as the gunshots taking place on the other side of the park. Luckily, the children, thanks to their age, could run freely and quickly ran to safety with frightening speed. Though, the slower ones fell into the zombies’ reach, being guided by noise and smell. Fresh blood. Fear that took over their bodies and produced panic-induced sweat were what attracted the fury of the zombies. A warm air overcame the streets, lifting the dust from the ground. More recently infected zombies were rising up and others were still lying on the ground undergoing their transformation. That was when more police arrived from the district.

  Among the chaos and screaming, some of the children saw their grandparents or parents rise up in a peculiar way. They shambled everywhere, stained with blood, a lot of blood, with small retinas in their eyes.

  XI

  The zombies had already spread to a good portion of the city centre, and many had already arrived to the port, right next to the children’s park. There, there were two fishermen fixing their nets, their salty skin in the sun, scaled by the intense cold of the winter and the infernal heat of the summer. Their suffering looks told all about their lives at sea. But right now, they were sat down, sewing their nets without speaking. Suddenly, a zombie stepped onto the net, staggered, and fell to the ground.

  ‘Oi mate, please watch where you are stepping!’ One of the fishermen complained, while the other got up to check on the injured.

  ‘Rodríguez, don’t be so tough with people, he has fallen and has probably hurt himself.’ The zombie remained still, immobile on the ground, as if waiting to spring for the kill, and suddenly, boom!

  The fisherman with scaly skin grabbed the zombie’s arm, without knowing what it was. After releasing his arm, the fisherman gave the zombie a look and noticed how his mouth was filled with blood. The fisherman, worried, asked:

  ‘Is everything fine, sir?’ There was no answer, just a guttural growl. Rapidly, he looked into the zombie’s eyes and noticed that they were now completely white, as if covered by an opaque cloth.

  ‘Oh! Sorry, you are blind,’ he said, while the other fisherman continued mumbling near the other side of the net.

  It was in that precise moment that the zombie got up and extended its arms, grabbing the fisherman’s neck in order to close in and bite. The blood poured out of the fisherman and in the zombie’s face, which was still emitting strange, guttural growls.

  It was in that moment that the other fisherman got up to lend his partner a hand, but it was too late. Two other zombies had now arrived, waiting for them, both with their mouths wide open and white eyes. The fishermen’s deafness kept them from hearing the many gunshots that were flying in the Spanish Plaza, though this wasn’t particularly strange. It was now some distance away. The zombies jumped on top of him and began to bite everywhere. While attacking him, he noticed how his partner, now dead from blood loss, was now beginning to seize on the ground.

  As the port has a concrete construction, there were no borders that would limit the sea to the earth or a fence in between. And in the struggle, one of the zombies fell into the water. Water that let to Las Delicias Beach, where there were many people sunbathing.

  XII

  Other areas of the city were still peaceful, but here in the nerve centre of the city, not precisely. The shots were heard less and less, either because they ran out of ammunition, or because they were attacked by the zombies’ outstretched hands in the face or jugular. These wandered erratically through the centre of the Spanish Plaza and other streets stretched throughout the city, from the port to the ends of Rey Carlos III Street or Vicente Aranda Avenue.

  Pounding on the city hall doors were a few zombies, their noses indicating that there was fresh meat inside. The great, ten-metre-high door was a fort for the town hall officials who had dead-bolted the other side of the door. All they needed was patience, they would be safe at least for now. At the other end of the city hall, from Vicente Aranda Avenue, access had also been closed, but this time with an automatic metal door and reinforced glass doors. The people who had been trapped inside did not understand what was happening. They only hear
d shots and saw the spectres slowly moving down the street through the glass, which was not a very good view in the distance. The guard of the city hall called for tranquillity inside, realising what was attracting the zombies. The noise attracted the undead and they peered through the metal door. The people in the neighbouring shops had already succumbed to the zombie attack, and many of them, well known by the city, were now swarming the streets, arms outstretched to catch their prey, their eyes watery and whitish.

  There were fewer local police now to cover the adjoining areas of the Spanish Plaza and this facilitated the extension of the undead presence. Meanwhile, Father Martín continued praying like a madman from the church with his loudspeakers at full volume.

  ‘My brothers and sisters, unite with us. It's just life. The Lord wants to purify you, nothing more. Do not continue living in sin.’

  This was just audible enough to be heard from within the city hall, in addition to those trapped in the old district, that once in the history were used as dungeons. There were two offices underground, with tiny windows on either side of the wall, like the portside windows of a ship, reinforced with tempered iron. From there, you could clearly see the zombies’ feet shambling through the areas around the main door of the city hall, in addition to the bell tower of the church and its main entrance, but not Father Martín. Not that much could be seen.

  Juan and Diego, who were among many others looking through these windows as they listened to pounding the front door, were discussing what they knew of the whole matter. They were journalists from the consistory.

  ‘I can now somewhat understand why the body parts were found lying near the cemetery. The bloody priest has been casting strange spells.’

  ‘Maybe not spells, but something has happened. Though let’s not jump to conclusions… ’

  ‘Our lives are at stake, and this is clearly the undead. They are killing us, eating us! Blimey! A lifetime of watching zombie movies and now you see the reality. They always say that reality surpasses fiction.’

  ‘Could this be happening everywhere?’ Diego asked.

  ‘I do not know. It could just be an isolated case here. But see how this plague spreads, because this is essentially like a plague, Diego.’

  They fell silent for a moment and continued the conversation.

  ‘And what shall we do now?’ Diego asked.

  ‘Well, wait, I suppose. I cannot think of anything else.’ He saw a man fall to the ground, crushing his face against the asphalt and looking grotesquely at them. The whiplash was bestial and sudden. The man’s eyes were open, as was his jugular, which was now shedding a lot of blood. The crowd of people, who were watching, turned to look away from the drastic situation. Juan did not turn and studied the man who was breathing his last breath of life, and promptly died. It was only minutes later that he had suddenly opened them compulsively, with a watery and opaque hue, and an indescribable fury in them. The zombie got back up. If it could have then it would have stretched out its arm through the closed window.

  ‘Bloody Hell! This is something to see to be believed!’ Juan shot out.

  The shots were now becoming increasingly scarce, until they finally succumbed to silence. The peacekeepers and local authorities had run out of ammunition. Fists and clubs were of no use here, so they chose, those who remained, to flee the area, probably in search of more ammunition. But by now zombies had spread everywhere. The civil guard, which had its own fort, propped up the doors well after the entry of the few troops who returned. In the barracks, there must have been about twenty of them, but they had to do their duty and protect the people. They had a helicopter, but it was next to the barracks, to the right of the Red Cross. So, they had to leave the barracks to use it, something too risky. Though, if done quickly, it could be accomplished without greater difficulty, since the zombies menace was still at a kilometre distance from there at the moment.

  They were where Iberia Street begins, right in the Águilas 2000 area. An area that stretched from one end to another along the Colonia Beach, which at the moment was full of people swimming and sunbathing, oblivious to the events that were currently unfolding.

  XIII

  The security forces unfortunately did not have time to warn the beach goers on Colonia Beach, partly because they were almost all in the city centre, because they were too nervous about everything that was happening, and because they still could not believe that the undead could advance as much as they had. At the end of Rey Carlos III Street and cutting into Juan Carlos I Street was the centre of the beach. It is one of the most visited in the city, extending from the base of the San Juan de las Águilas Castle to the barracks of the civil guard.

  But it was far enough away to not have heard the shots, and in any case, since there are always parties there at this time, they could very well have been confused with firecrackers. The fact is that a horde of zombies was currently heading for the beach, silent, limping, and shuffling, guided by the smell.

  The Red Cross post was on the front line, near the entrance to the beach. The lookout point faced the sea as well as all the troops. There were three young men watching over the safety of the beach goers. Those from Troop 112 were also there, but none of them had weapons to defend themselves, obviously, they are not the correct troop that could carry them.

  The first zombies approached the lookout point of the Red Cross and one of the boys was frightened upon seeing the first of them with so much blood on its face and chest.

  ‘Bloody Hell! What has happened…’ He didn’t finish his question before the zombie jumped onto him with great fury in its eyes, biting into his chest. The boy began to howl in pain like a wolf, calling for the attention of his mates, one who was lying on a hammock, and another at the guard post in the 3-metre high tower.

  ‘What is happening here?!’ One of the young men asked, his face pale.

  ‘Shit!’

  ‘What?!’

  "They've bitten Sáez! Blimey, this bloke has bitten Sáez in the chest and has ripped out a large piece!’ The zombie then stretched out his long arms clenching his fists, to catch one of the other boys.

  ‘Oh! It’s biting me!’

  Everything was pure confusion and chaos. There were some erratic creatures with watery, opaque eyes beginning to nibble on the beach goers necks, arms, chests, and legs. Everywhere, just like that. This state of confusion extended to the young man at the lookout who started screaming like a madman.

  ‘Someone help! They are biting my companions!’ His veins in his neck began to swell from the screaming. But no one seemed to do, regarding it as nothing more than a vulgar quarrel. The beach goers did come closer to the lookout point of the Red Cross out of morbid curiosity, but without feeling that at any moment the creature would continue along.

  The zombie horde was now advancing towards the beach, towards the beach goers, distinguishing themselves by their particular gait, something abnormal like limping, but so many of them by this time; young people, adults, elderly, all stained with blood, that could now be perfectly perceived with the little distance between them. And that was when curiosity became fear and confusion.

  "What the bloody Hell is going on?!’ A beach goer exclaimed, standing up. The young boys from the Red Cross were currently lying on the ground, bleeding, with only one left alive, still shouting from the heights of the lookout post. A zombie stretched out his arms and grabbed a very confident beach goer. It bit her arm and she screamed in terror and pain. Another zombie went directly into the jugular of another beach goer on the ground. And another, after another, after another. Some were retreating, but others were caught up in the confusion. And suddenly the people began to flee in terror from the beach, without fully knowing the situation yet. But there were too many screams and lots of blood on the sand.

  ‘They're killing us!’ A woman shouted.

  Now the young men from the Red Cross were beginning to seize in the sand, then returning to life, with whitish, angry
eyes. Those from the Troop 112, who were walking along the beach, arrived to the site to see what happened. There were two young boys. When they reached the lookout post of the Red Cross they found a bite mark in his neck.

  XIV

  The zombie that had fallen from the harbour into the water now floated inertly, face down, with the currents leading it to Las Delicias Beach, a beach located only a few hundred metres from the port. The zombie would be there in only a few minutes, and it was quite apparent that it would not die, as the undead did not breathe. In the water, they would simply sink into a state of lethargy until reaching someone. Near it, a young couple was swimming near the boats, quite far from the shore. When suddenly their smiles gave way to a scowl of fear. They found the corpse floating, and they began waving to those who were oblivious to everything from the shore. They also shouted but no one heard. Without realising it, the young man, occupied with alerting the beach goers, had stumbled upon a spectre, which suddenly seemed to spring to life, grabbing him by his arm and carrying him in his mouth, biting him. The pain was frightening and the young lady began to scream in panic. The arms of the zombie spread like algae in the sea in search of the young lady’s body, but began swimming in the opposite direction towards the bottom of the sea. And worst of all, she could not resist in the water as her fear began to affect her, weakening her. Her boyfriend, who was still screaming from pain, soon began to calm down and show a pale complexion. The zombie gave another huge bite, this time in the chest. The blood mixed with the salty water. The young lady kept screaming until she swallowed water accidentally, which caused an empire cough. Soon the boy fainted in the water and his body was set adrift like the zombie. The girl, trying to breathe more calmly, made an attempt to swim to the shore.

  XV

  Juan, being the good journalist that he was, took out his camera to record, a portable Sony, and began to record all possible events from the shielded window of the town hall communications centre. The camera caught the feet of the walkers, and from time to time someone fell to the ground in their own pool of blood. They seized, stopped, and within a few minutes would again seize and rise up.