The Age Of The Dead

Chapter 9: Sofia

"Where am I?" Iñaki wonders as he fights against the gravity exerted by his eyelids. When he manages to open his eyes he is in the living room of his house. The furniture is intact and a blue fog hides his surroundings.

There, in front of him, is Valentina. A smile is drawn on his face as he extends his arms. Iñaki surrenders to the embrace surrounding Valentina's back with his arms and feeling like poisoned tears begin to sprout from her eyes.

"Inaki," her voice is hoarse and her body cold.

Suddenly, Iñak feels an overwhelming pressure in his chest. Valentina abruptly separates from him with  Iñaki´s heart in her hand. Iñaki tries to articulate words but only a sigh comes out of his mouth.

"Inaki," Valentina repeats once again, bringing the heart to her mouth and devouring it.

The blue fog surrounds Iñaki and with it brings the sound of a few blows. They sound like hammering on wood.

At that moment Iñaki's eyelids shoot upwards. He's in his living room. There's no blue fog, no Valentina. But the sound continues. His pupils trace the sound and reach its origin; someone is knocking on the door.

The door...Recent events run through Iñaki's neurons and connect with each other. "How did Rambo manage to survive for so long? Why was the door to that apartment open?"

Iñaki stands up. The blows cease. Silence. Iñaki contemplates the door without blinking and tries to decipher what´s behind it.

"Hello?" is the first human voice Iñaki has heard in days.

Rambo growls and is about to bark but Iñaki grabs his snout just in time and tells him with his eyes that it is not the time.

"Who's there?" Iñaki asks in a hostile tone.

"Open, please," says a male voice. "We are your neighbors of the third, Luis and Sofia."

Silence.

"We need your help."

Opening the door, Iñaki meets two hungry beings. He can see the silhouette of their bones under their clothes.

"Thank you," says the man as he leans against the door frame.

The girl keeps her eyes fixed and squeezes her father's hand. She doesn't seem to be more than six years old. Her blond hair darkened due to a lack of hygiene.

Immediately, Iñaki bombards the man with questions. "What had happened to them?", "Why were they in such bad condition?"

"We were in a neighbor's apartment all this time, the 4th b" his voice is a sigh. "Before he left, Julio left me the keys. When my son was bitten, my wife insisted on staying with him. I told her it was suicide...but she wouldn't listen to me, and I had to keep my daughter safe."

"The first few days, after we had moved, I made sure Sofia was safe in our new home and then visited them. I fed the dog and my wife, who practically didn't recognize me anymore. Her mind could never process our son's infection."

"With the little I ate, there came a time when I no longer had the strength to go down to the third. We subsist on non-perishable food that was in the house. I haven't eaten in two days. The last cookies I happened to find I gave to Sofia."

"I thought we were going to die. But then I listened to you, going to our house and dealing with the monster that my son had become. I also heard you take the dog. I knew then that you would be Sofia's only option."

"Climbing the stairs has been an effort," the hand in the frame keeps shaking. "I can't do it anymore, I need to close my eyes. But Sofia; she can survive. I need you to take care of my daughter."

"Me?" the girl still does not flinch. "Surely there will be someone in the building who can..."

"You do not know?"The man interrupts and Iñaki sees how his knees begin to bend under his weight.

The man collapses on the ground. The girl's green eyes shoot towards her father but her expression is still of great emptiness. Iñaki kneels beside him and watches as the man's eyes slowly close. With the coldness of a professional, Iñaki looks for the pulse in his veins and after not finding it, begins cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

After a few minutes, sweat runs over Iñaki's face and back. All that remains is to accept that the man has expired.

And there the girl continues, now holding on to an imaginary hand.

A bark makes Iñaki turn his head to find Rambo running towards Sofia. He must have recognized her as he stops in front of her and licks her face. Sofia's cheeks soak, her eyelids drop in and the little one begins to collapse forward.

Iñaki grabs her before she reaches the ground and hugs her…hugs her like he had never hugged anyone in his entire life.

A few hours later...