When Iñaki walks out the door, the sun is just an orange stain in the west. The wind is silent. Too quiet.
"Come on," says Eduardo, stepping on the street.
His figure climbs to the sidewalk in front and sneaks past the wall. Iñaki follows him. The presence of noises disturbs him as much as the absence of them; welcome to the apocalypse.
"Too quiet," Iñaki whispers.
Eduardo ignores the comment and keeps moving forward. His shadow lengthens at Iñaki's feet. They advance to another street.
Iñaki had doubts about Eduardo's abilities to survive outside the urbanization, but after seeing him zigzag along the sidewalk with his hand on his hunting knife, his doubts are finally hidden like the sun on the horizon. They cross another street.
They leave behind dozens of parked cars and silent buildings. Iñaki finds no signs of life. Eduardo's shadow disappeared and now a cloak of darkness covers them. They cross another street.
"What's Father Manuel like?" asks Iñaki.
"Tall, dark-haired, and dark-eyed."
"Do you know him well?" They cross another street.
"No."
Eduardo turns left at the corner and continues into the night. The stars are shining in the sky. Another street.
"Do you think he'll still be in church?" Iñaki asks agitatedly.
"I don't know."
Iñaki is nervous. A sporadic breeze shakes the leaves of the trees over his head. Eduardo advances. Another street down. He turns another corner, and behind the urbanization that is on his right, he sees it…
"There it is."
The church rises like a needle in the starry sky. A high shadow among small shadows.
"We're almost there," Eduardo announces.
They walk through the last streets that separate them from the structure and stop in front of the door. A saint contemplates them with mercy. The night is still just as stealthy.
"And now?"
"There's a side entrance, can you open it?"
"No."
"Well, we'll have to force it."
Eduardo surrounds the structure and stops in front of a wooden door.
Iñaki listens to Eduardo's words, but his gaze turns to the group of 5 corpses wandering a street away. He points with his finger.
"Don't worry, they can't see us at the moment. Let's be stealthy."
Their silhouettes intermingle with the parked cars. They walk, stumble, and walk again; eternally lurking.
"The door," Eduardo reminds Iñaki.
Iñaki looks at it.
"Let's see..."
Iñaki grabs the knob, turns his hand, pushes... and it opens before him like the doors of heaven.
"We're in."
The door closes behind them once they enter. The sound is magnified on the walls of the church and dies after a few seconds. The air is cold. A timid light moves on the altar. A candle. Eduardo sees it.
"Father Manuel?"
A whisper comes from the candle.
"Father Manuel?"
There's the whisper again. "Pater Noster..."
"Father Manuel?" Eduardo insists.
Whispers fade away. The light from the altar illuminates the figure as it stands.
"Father Manuel?"
The man turns around and opens his arms.
Eduardo advances. There, near the altar lie boxes and boxes of food. Cans, cereals, biscuits..."Thank God" words come to Iñaki's mind by themselves.
"Manuel, it's me, Eduardo," he says and approaches the altar.
"Eduardo?"
"Yes, you told me you would offer food and shelter to anyone who needed it."
The man contemplates Eduardo's face.
"That's right, son," he replies thoughtfully, "but you're the first ones."
"No one else came?" asks Iñaki.
The man looks over his shoulder, where a large organ rests under a rosette-shaped window.
"No, who are you?"
"A friend of Eduardo."
"Everyone is welcome in the lord's house," he says as he looks back at the organ.
Iñaki squints and looks in that direction. Thanks to his observation he distinguishes a figure sitting in front of the instrument.
"There is someone there."
- Yes...Toccata.
"Huh?"
"Toccata and Fugue," says the man.
"What do you mean, Manuel?" asks Eduardo.
"Everything is a plan of the most excellent, Daniel knows it well, I told him all this time" the father approaches the Bible and turns its pages. "The food, the music, everything is ready. It is the only possible explanation."
Iñaki hears a noise next to the organ. The man shakes his shoulders.
"Something's wrong..."
"It's all part of his plan, the food, the guests! The music!" Father Manuel flips through the book frantically, the candle goes out. "Daniel, Toccata and Fugue in D minor!"