Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End

BOOK: Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End
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The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Text copyright © 2007 by Manel Loureiro
English translation copyright © 2012 by Pamela Carmell
All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End
was first published in Spain by Dolmen. Translated from Spanish by Pamela Carmell. Published in English by AmazonCrossing in 2012.

Published by AmazonCrossing
P.O. Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140

ISBN-13: 9781612184340
ISBN-10: 1612184340
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910422

When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.

—Dawn of the Dead
, 1978

CONTENTS

THE BLOG

ENTRY 1

ENTRY 2: HOLIDAY HANGOVER

ENTRY 3

ENTRY 4: GETTING WORRIED

ENTRY 5: SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT

ENTRY 6

ENTRY 7: NEW IDEAS

ENTRY 8: MORE NEWS

ENTRY 9: TIPPING POINT

ENTRY 10: TIPPING POINT, PART II

ENTRY 11: TIPPING POINT, PART III

ENTRY 12: BREAKING POINT

ENTRY 13: BIRDS FALL FROM THE SKY

ENTRY 14: ... AND THE RIVERSWILL RUN RED WITH BLOOD

ENTRY 15

ENTRY 16

ENTRY 17: BOILING POINT

ENTRY 18

ENTRY 19

ENTRY 20: AT THE GATES OF HELL

ENTRY 21: THE STUPIDITY OF MANKIND

ENTRY 22

ENTRY 23

ENTRY 24

ENTRY 25

ENTRY 26

ENTRY 27: RIVERS OF SULFUR

ENTRY 28

ENTRY 29

ENTRY 30

ENTRY 31

ENTRY 32

ENTRY 33

ENTRY 34

ENTRY 35

ENTRY 36

ENTRY 37

THE JOURNAL

ENTRY 38

ENTRY 39

ENTRY 40

ENTRY 41

ENTRY 42

ENTRY 43

ENTRY 44

ENTRY 45

ENTRY 46

ENTRY 47

ENTRY 48

ENTRY 49

ENTRY 50

ENTRY 51

ENTRY 52

ENTRY 53

ENTRY 54

ENTRY 55

ENTRY 56

VIGO

ENTRY 57

ENTRY 58

ENTRY 59

ENTRY 60

ENTRY 61

ENTRY 62

ENTRY 63

ENTRY 64

ENTRY 65

ENTRY 66

ENTRY 67

ENTRY 68

ENTRY 69

ENTRY 70

ENTRY 71

ENTRY 72

INFERNO

ENTRY 73

ENTRY 74

ENTRY 75

ENTRY 76

ENTRY 77

ENTRY 78

ENTRY 79

ENTRY 80

ENTRY 81

ENTRY 82

ENTRY 83

ENTRY 84

ENTRY 85

ENTRY 86

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

ENTRY 1
Friday, December 30, 8:40 a.m.

Today’s going to be insane. When I got up this morning, it was pouring down rain. It was still raining as I fixed myself a cup of coffee. I took a shower with the news blaring on the radio.

Some things never change. One day Spain’s broke, the next day it’s not. Today I have a meeting that could mean the difference between living like a king for the next six months or fighting with stockholders who have no idea what’s best for them. It’s their money, not mine, but if the merger goes through, I could kick back and live on my commission for the next few months. I need to relax, motor around on my little Zodiac, and do some scuba diving in the Ria Pontevedra...

I drank my coffee and looked out the window that opens on to the garden. This house was a good buy, but so many things still remind me of my wife. She chose it, she decorated it, she...I guess that doesn’t matter now. I thought my doctor’s advice to “unburden myself” to others would help me get over her, but time goes by and I still feel her presence everywhere. “Write a blog,” my psychologist told me. “Talk about anything you want, any topic. Just talk.” Well, that’s what I’m doing right now, but it’s not doing much good. What the hell. I’ll give it a try.

The garden is green, damp, lush, and overgrown. It’s been raining nonstop for three weeks here in Galicia. The humidity has permeated everything. If this rain keeps up, I’ll have to cut the grass and clear the vines off the garden walls. It was her decision to surround the house with these high stone walls; water’s trickling through them now. “We need privacy,” she said. Now she’s gone, and I feel like I’m living in a fortress.

I straightened my tie, grabbed my briefcase, and turned off the radio. The newscaster was talking about an explosive situation in a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus Mountains, someplace with a name ending in -
stan
. Something about a rebel group attacking a military base where Russian troops were stationed. Too bloody for me. I snapped off the radio. I had to get to the office. I was running late.

ENTRY 2: HOLIDAY HANGOVER
January 3, 1:15 p.m.

I haven’t updated this blog for several days. The meeting with the company reps went great! Now I can splurge and take a nice vacation on what I earned last month.

On New Year’s Eve, I had dinner at my parents’ house in Cotobade, near Pontevedra. They moved there years ago, after they retired. In addition to my parents, my aunt and uncle were there, along with my sister and her boyfriend, in from Barcelona, where they work. She’s a lawyer like me, although we work in different fields. She’s lived there for years and has fit into life in Catalonia. I’ve always preferred Galicia.

During dinner we discussed the big story in the news: the conflict in the Caucasus. Apparently, a group of Islamic guerrillas from...Dagestan?...attacked a former Soviet base still under
Russian control there. My sister thinks they were looking for nuclear material. I hope she’s wrong. That’s all we need—another terrorist attack like in Madrid on March 11 but with nuclear bombs.

What few images there are on the news are hazy. The base that was attacked was top secret, and authorities aren’t allowing anyone to take pictures. Reporters have to broadcast from the hotel roof, using images on file and street maps. They say hundreds have died, and Putin has put all of Russia on high alert. Images of soldiers and tanks occupying the streets are chilling. They must be afraid there’ll be more assaults or attacks throughout the country. I’m glad I’m not there.

ENTRY 3
January 3, 7:03 p.m.

I’m watching TV. Channel 5 has interrupted its broadcast for a live report on the Russian Federation closing all its borders. All flights in and out of Russia have been canceled. The launch of a Soyuz rocket has been postponed
sine die
. On CNN they’re discussing what this shutdown means—either the situation in Dagestan has gotten out of hand, or Putin wants to increase his power. A cautious analyst on some talk show is sure there’s no cause for alarm; it’s all a political maneuver. I don’t know what to think.

The electricity came back on first thing this afternoon. I can’t take the electric company’s damn outages anymore. I’m living in a housing complex just a mile or so from Pontevedra, a city of eighty thousand people! “Problems with the power lines,” they said. They estimated six months to fix it. They’re not going to jerk me around anymore. Tomorrow I’m buying some solar panels and storage cells for the roof. And then screw the electric company.

ENTRY 4: GETTING WORRIED
January 4, 10:59 a.m.

I watched a news report about Russia on CNN this morning. Finally there are images of what the hell is going on in Dagestan. Putin’s government continues to seal off the country. First they closed the borders; then they banned updates. Reporters based in Dagestan have been moved to Moscow to “ensure their safety,” the report said.

Today they broadcasted a home video. You could see special units of the Russian army advancing down a deserted street in a town near the base that was attacked. At the beginning of the recording, they panned across the faces of the soldiers in a tank. They were young boys who looked pretty scared. When they jumped out of the tank, I was shocked to see that they were wearing gas masks, as if they were afraid of breathing something harmful. They started shooting like crazy at something or someone and then ran like hell back to the tank. That’s where the tape ended. I don’t know what to think about all this.

On Channel 3, they said it’s possible that those rebel forces were from Chechnya and wanted to seize control of chemical weapons or nuclear material stored in the laboratories. The world is full of crazy people...

This afternoon I did some shopping. Three Kings Night is coming up. The mall near my house was packed with people buying gifts. I ran up my credit card buying tons of food, several five-liter jugs of water, a couple of powerful flashlights, and lots and lots of batteries on account of the damn power outages, and some electrical equipment, especially cable. If I’m going to install solar panels on the roof, I’d better be ready for some glitches. I also bought a ton of food for Lucullus, my Persian cat, who’s been ignoring me lately.

Some girl kitty in the neighborhood must be in heat. Lucullus thinks it’s his duty to shower her with his attention. He’s constantly jumping the wall in search of adventure. That wall’s ten feet high! What a guy won’t do for a girl!

BOOK: Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End
3.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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