Sea of the Dead

Mike lights up behind Iñaki and shakes his head. He turns and lights in the opposite direction. A green sign indicates << EMERGENCY EXIT >>.

About twenty shelves and 50 meters separate them from the door.

CRASH Then Iñaki hears the first shelf behind him collapsing. The game of dominoes begins.

Furniture crashes against each other. The noise shakes Iñaki's hair… The noise gets closer.

"Jump! " Mike roars.

Hands under the hallway scratch the air.

"Jump!"

CRASH Iñaki's feet tremble and the ground begins to lean forward.

Iñaki takes advantage of the moment of inertia of the furniture and jumps. He flies over dozens of infected. He falls on the other shelf next to Mike.

"Let's go!"

Both pieces of furniture collide again. Crash

Mike jumps before Iñaki. His figure pierces the darkness. His right foot lands on the shelf and slips; he falls and his hands cling to the edge of the shelf. The flashlight is lost among the bodies below.

A second later Iñaki's feet hit the surface of the furniture.

"Mike, grab my hand!"

A tide of rotting hands tries to grab the gringo's heels. Here comes the previous shelf...

The roars are deafening. The creatures smell food. The furniture comes as a magnet towards Mike's back…

"Let's go, Mike."

Iñaki grabs the gringo's hand and pulls. Mike takes advantage of the inclination of the furniture, climbs it, and reaches the top. Both jump and fly over the corpses underneath. They land on the next shelf, Iñaki stabilizes and looks at his partner; mission accomplished.

"Thanks..."

The previous shelf scratches the furniture on which they are standing. This one rocks like a pendulum...and stabilizes.

The roars rise like hot air and suffocate Iñaki. The lanterns are submerged in the sea of the dead and the spare parts they had obtained are next to the rest of the supplies.

"And now?" asks Mike.

"We continue to the exit."

"Do you see anything?"

"My eyes got used to it. If we stay up here, we can get there."

"Okay, I trust you."

Once again they fly over the ocean of corpses and land on safe ground.

Iñaki's eyes capture the silhouette of the furniture in the dark. Calculate the distance. It's all he needs.

"Let's go," says Iñaki as he jumps again.

Iñaki lands. His legs absorb the impact. He looks at the next target. He jumps. His left foot slips. He falls. Iñaki manages to grab the furniture with his right hand. The shelf begins to lean towards him.

Mike flies over his head and falls on the furniture. He goes to the opposite end and tries to stop the shelf from tilting any further.

"Take my hand!"

His fingers appear on Iñaki's head and he is ready to grab them when he feels something pulling on his jeans. He looks down and senses an infected. Iñaki pulls out the gun and fires.

A beam of light. Iñaki sees its face and jaw inches from his ankle. Shoots again. Another flash. The creature falls to the ground. Iñaki grabs Mike's hand and pulls.

Iñaki squats on the surface and tries to catch his breath.

"13 bullets…"Mike reminds him.

Iñaki nods and holsters the pistol again.

Iñaki inhales and exhales with his eyes closed. Then he opens them and when he trusts his feet again, he bends down and jumps. Successful landing.

Two feline figures continue to leap through the darkness. The growls are left behind like a wind that changes direction. Last shelf.

"There's the exit," Mike mumbles.

The green sign defies the darkness. Iñaki still hears the moans of the dead in the air, but they come from the entrance of the store. He sharpens the ear. He doesn't hear anything at his feet. Dozens of footsteps reach his ears, but none come close.

Iñaki comes down from the furniture. A roar erupts to his left. Rough fingers grasp his face. The shadow opens its mouth. Iñaki listens to Mike behind the zombie. The infected seizes but does not stop.

Iñaki draws his gun. The infected's breath caresses his neck. He puts the gun upright and fires. The creature steps back, its nose pulverized. Iñaki aims again and shoots. The bullet destroys his brain and the infected falls at Mike's feet.

The gringo retrieves his axe from the zombie's back and they both head for the emergency exit.

Mike squeezes the red bar and pushes.

The alarm starts ringing.

The sound echoes in Iñaki's bones. They both walk through the door. Iñaki sees the car in the middle of the parking lot behind a group of infected.

"Run! " Mike shouts as he hears the hundreds of roars behind him.

Iñaki blinks again and again as he goes out into the open. He hears slippers hitting the ground; some of them run. They head for the other group of infected with another horde chasing after them.

An infected lunges at Mike, and the gringo shoots. Blood explosion. Iñaki wipes his face and continues running. They just have to dodge the dead ahead and get to the car before those chasing them.

" Go!" Mike yells.

A gigantic infected runs in the direction of Iñaki's companion. Open his arms and his mouth. Iñaki raises his arm, aims, and shoots. The zombie stumbles and Iñaki shoots again. The body collapses and Mike continues to run.

"Thank you!"

"Let's go!"

About twenty zombies lurk near the car. Hundreds of infected are coming in its direction from behind. Thousands are drawn by the wail of the alarm.

Mike shoots another infected when an overly agile zombie grabs him by his shirt. Iñaki aims and the bullet is lost in the sky. A hand pulls on his green sweatshirt and he falls backward to the ground.

A rotten mouth descends on his face. Iñaki puts the gun between his face and his jaw and shoots. The skull of the infected explodes.

Iñaki stands up again. Mike runs to him.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Yes, come on!"

The car is only 50 meters away. The night begets thousands of dying moans. The alarm keeps ringing.

Two zombies pounce on Iñaki. Raises his gun. Two shots (7 bullets remaining). He keeps going. Mike dispatches two more on his way. The blood bathes the gringo.

"Let's go!"

Four infected behind the car.

"I don't have any more bullets!" exclaims Mike and draws the axe.

Iñaki aims at the head of the closest zombie and shoots. Three left. Iñaki aims again and shoots. Two. Aims again. One. The last infected falls to the ground (3 bullets).

Mike looks at Iñaki. He nods incredulously and looks for the car keys.

"Here," he says, handing the keys to Iñaki, "you're better at it."

Iñaki grabs the keys, opens the door, and sits down. When he's going to close it, a rotten hand grabs his leg. Behind the hand appears a hungry mouth. He points his hand down and fires, his shoulder disintegrating. His mouth is coming.

"Shit!"

Iñaki fires again.

The zombie's head disappears. Iñaki closes the door. All the mirrors are full of corpses.

Iñaki starts the car. He dodges a dozen dead and runs over two others.

The car roars down the highway and speeds away from the supermarket. The earth rotates and the sun becomes visible in the east.

Iñaki looks at Mike in the co-drivers seat. No one can believe it.

"I have a bullet left," says Iñaki amid laughter and tears

Mike smiles and presses the radio button.

"They were good purchases," his friend laughs with tears in his eyes. "Victor won't be happy..."

The food is farther and farther away, scattered on the ground, surrounded by the living dead. But he's alive. Iñaki accelerates even more. Lowers the window. The wind revolutionizes his hair. Rambo would be proud.

Iñaki lives to fight another day. He turns up the volume and keeps accelerating.