Blood City

Red lights shone ominously from the ceiling, tainting everything below crimson. Barbed-wire gate surrounded the only working bus stop in the city. People were packed beyond space's limit. Occasional cries from the babies were shushed. Muffled shouts of panic broke from the crowd once in a while. Stacks of baggage were thrown away to the side as the guards told the people that they can pick only one: their life or their belongings. There was no choice really. 

"I'm scared, Chivo," Hector looked up to meet his brother's eyes.

"We'll be fine," Chivo wrapped his arms around Hector, his face glowing red from the ceiling light. 

Chivo had a small backpack containing the most basic stuff: a change of clothes and some canned food. Hector was holding his trumpet case tightly until his knuckles were pale white. They were both not sure if the guards would let them bring their stuff into the bus but they will have to see. 

"Citizens of Blood City. All the gates of the city are blocked by the military to prevent further infections. The military bus will arrive soon to transfer the remaining survivors to the nearest village. Please, stay calm and follow the instructions of the soldiers." 

Hector closed his eyes, remembering how different his hometown used to be. Blood City was a prosperous town known for its warm weather and southern hospitality. The trees were old, the town was colorful, and ripe fruits were ready for all four seasons. Everything was peaceful and quiet until the mayor wanted to introduce new biomedical facilities into the city for more job markets. The facilities were developing a vaccine for different neurodegenerative diseases. Nobody expected this to happen until one of the mutated viruses escaped the facility and infected the citizens of Blood City. 

The infected people twitched and turned when they were first exposed to the virus. Then their brains boiled to 40 degrees, cooking them alive. The infected were dead but their body will move, walking around as the host of the virus. Their eyes were hollow and white as they looked around, craving to bite down and eat the brain of other living human beings. 

It was not difficult to find a word for them - they were zombies. 

And they weren't sluggish or stupid too. As long as their bodies didn't decay enough to hold them into places, they walked fairly fast and could use tools such as a chainsaw or an ax to attack another survivor. 

Hector and Chivo were at their house at that time when the news first broke out. They watched the TV in horror as the clips of a zombie biting another woman in the street were aired alive. 

"Holy shit," Chivo whispered as he frantically locked all the doors and windows. 

Hector turned all the lights off when the TV announced that the zombies were sensitive to light and sound. 

They waited for Chivo's parents to come. Nobody knocked on the door though. Hector tried to text and call his parents but the signal was dead as a doorknob. 

For the whole night, they laid in bed together, trembling as they heard the world they knew crumble down into living hell. The sound of cars honking and crashing together, babies crying, sirens, explosions, screaming for help and mercy. They waited for several more days for their parents to return but they never did.

Chivo and Hector taped all the windows and doors. Luckily, their parents just came back from a big grocery before that day so they had plenty to eat and drink - for a while. Everything ran out after a month. Only some canned food and moldy bread were left. Water was running low as well. They turned on the radio in the lowest volume to hear an announcement from the military - anything - but the radio only spit out white noise.