“Prit, what’s that?” she asked, pointing to a strange basket bolted on to the belly of the giant Sokól.
“That?” said the Ukrainian. “That’s the bambi.”
When he saw the strange look on our faces, he explained. “The bambi is what we call the bag we fill with water to put out fires. I usually carried crews to the fire and then unfolded the bambi, filled it in a nearby river, and emptied it on the flames. I repeated the process over and over.” He smiled. “It was my job, you know?”
“How much does it hold?” Lucia asked, with an intelligent gleam in her eyes.
“About five hundred gallons. I don’t see what the hell difference that makes,” Pritchenko snapped.
“Wait! I think I know where she’s going with this,” I chimed in. “Five hundred gallons are—”
“Of course! Two tons! Instead of carrying water, we carry fuel. Our range would be…”
Lucia looked inquiringly at Pritchenko, but he’d already turned his back on us, grabbed some paper, and made some quick calculations. After a few minutes, he gave a couple of satisfied grunts, turned, smiled, and winked.
“I think it’ll work. We fill the tank to the brim. With a five-hundred-gallon tank of fuel hanging below, we could get there without refueling anywhere. It’d be close, especially if we run into a headwind. But we just might make it.” He stopped and stared into space and did more calculations in his head. “We just might make it,” he repeated with a sparkle in his excited eyes. “Yes, it might work.”
My chest swelled with joy. We were getting out of here. I couldn’t believe it.
So now, while Prit puts the finishing touches on the Sokól’s turbines, a shiny mountain of barrels filled to the top with helicopter fuel are stacked neatly on the edge of the track, inside a huge, superstrong transport net. The plan is to hang that huge bag from the belly of the helicopter, where the bambi would normally be. Each time we need to refuel, Prit’ll land the helicopter in a clearing and pour some of those barrels into the helicopter’s tank. A piece of cake after all we’ve been through.
The helicopter is loaded with our belongings, and everyone’s ready to leave at first light. Lucia and Sister Cecilia are resting inside the hangar. Prit just closed the hood of the turbines, looking very satisfied.
I’m sitting on this huge rock at the end of the heliport. Lucullus is curled up at my feet, chewing on my shoelaces. The sun is setting over the river, casting golden sparkles on the water. It feels strange to think I may never see this landscape again.
We’re the last train leaving the station. If there’s anyone left in this area, I’m afraid his chances are slim to none.
Chances are slim that someone will come here in the future. But just in case, I’m leaving a copy of my journal in a plastic envelope on a table in the hangar. What if everything goes to hell and something happens to us along the way? At least if someone reads this, he’ll know that for nine long months a group of people fought hard for their lives. We never surrendered. We always kept in our hearts the most noble, beautiful feeling that sets human beings apart: hope.
Okay. I’m going to take a nap. Tomorrow will be a crazy day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An international bestselling author, Manel Loureiro was born in Pontevedra, Spain, and studied law at Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. After graduation, he worked in television, both on screen (appearing on Televisión de Galicia) and behind the scenes as a writer. Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End, his first novel, began as a popular blog before its publication, eventually becoming a bestseller in several countries, including Spain, Italy, and Brazil. Called “the Spanish Stephen King” by La Voz de Galicia, Manel has written three novels in the Apocalypse Z series. He currently resides in Pontevedra, Spain, where, in addition to writing, he is still a practicing lawyer.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Pamela Carmell’s publications include Matilde Asensi’s The Last Cato (HarperCollins), Belkis Cuza Malé’s Woman on the Front Lines (sponsored by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry), Antonio Larreta’s The Last Portrait of the Duchess of Alba (a Book-of-the-Month Club selection), and the short-story collection, Cuba on the Edge. She is also published widely in literary magazines and anthologies.
Copyright
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