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guy,
who goes to a shelf and takes down an assault rifle. When the scientists come
back, the black guy greets them with a volley of fire. Meanwhile the boy frees
Julie and tells her that they have to flee again. They kiss. The soldiers try to
take out the black guy. As Julie and her boyfriend are sneaking away, she frees
the Mexicans. More soldiers arrive. The bullets destroy some containers where
body parts are kept. Viscera and spinal columns crawl over the floor of the
laboratory. A siren begins to shriek. In this pitched battle it isn’t clear
which side has the advantage, or even if there really are sides, not just
individuals fighting for their own lives and for the deaths of the others. Over
the PA a voice is repeating: Block the passages on level five. My son! shouts
Colonel Reynolds and rushes down to level five like a madman.
    Colonel Landovski shoots the black guy to bits and is devoured in turn
by the Mexican girl. The soldiers repel an attack mounted by bloody pieces of
human flesh. The second attack, however, breaks through their lines of defense
and they’re devoured by tiny scraps of raw meat. There are more and more
zombies. The battle becomes totally chaotic. The colonel reaches level five.
Through a window he sees his son and Julie, and gestures to show that the
passage is still open, there is still an escape route. The colonel’s son takes
Julie by the hand and they head in the direction that his father indicated. I’m
hurting all over, says Julie. Don’t start that again, says the boy, when we get
away from here you’ll feel better. Do you believe me? I believe you, says
Julie.
    In the passage that hasn’t yet been blocked, Colonel Reynolds appears,
unarmed, his shirt drenched with sweat, not only because he hasn’t stopped
running but also because the temperature on level five has increased
dramatically. Colonel Reynolds’ face has been transfigured. It could be said
that his expression resembles that of Abraham. With every cell in his body he
calls out his son’s name and repeats how dearly he loves him. His military
career, his scientific research, duty, honor and his country are all swept away
by the force of love. Here, through here. Follow me. Hurry up. Soon the doors
will shut automatically. Come with me and you’ll be able to escape. All he gets
in response is the sad gaze of his son, who at this moment, and perhaps for the
first time,
knows
more than his father. The father at one end of the
passage. The son at the other end. And suddenly the doors shut and they’re
separated forever.
    Behind the son there’s a kind of furnace. It isn’t clear whether the
furnace was there already or whether the fire caused by the zombie rebellion has
spread. It’s some blaze. Julie and the boy hold hands. Come on, Julie, says the
boy, don’t be afraid, nothing will separate us now. Meanwhile, on the other
side, the colonel is trying to break down the door, in vain. His son and Julie
walk toward the fire. On the other side, the colonel beats at the door with his
fists. His knuckles go red with blood. I’m not afraid, says Julie. I love you,
says young Reynolds. On the other side, the colonel is trying to break down the
door, in vain. The young lovers walk toward the fire and disappear. The screen
goes an intense red. The only sound is a machine gun hammering. Then an
explosion, screams, groans, electrical sparking. On the other side, shut off
from all this, the colonel is trying to break down the door, in vain.

S CHOLARS OF S ODOM
    for Celina Manzoni
    I.
    It’s 1972 and I can see V. S. Naipaul strolling through the
streets of Buenos Aires. Well, sometimes he’s strolling, but sometimes, when
he’s on his way to meetings or keeping appointments, his gait is quick and his
eyes take in only what he needs to see in order to reach his destination with a
minimum of bother, whether it’s a private dwelling or, more often, a restaurant
or a café, since many of those who’ve agreed to meet him have