Until Further Notice
“Luciano! It’s seven ten!”
Maya shouted from the kitchen without waiting for an answer.
The blender was running, something sizzled in a frying pan on the stove, and the morning news played from the television in the living room, competing with every other sound in the house.
It was Tuesday.
Just another Tuesday in Jardines Coloniales.
“I’m coming!” a voice called from upstairs.
Maya shook her head.
“You said that ten minutes ago.”
Oliver walked into the kitchen, fastening his watch around his wrist.
“Leave him. If he’s late again, maybe he’ll finally learn.”
“Sure. And when the school calls me, I’ll tell them his father decided to turn it into a learning experience.”
Oliver reached for a tortilla from the plate.
Maya slapped his hand away.
“Those are for lunch.”
“There were six.”
“Now there are five.”
“Exactly.”
Maya tried to keep a straight face.
She failed.
After more than twenty years together, Oliver could still find completely ridiculous ways to drive her crazy.
“Morning.”
Paulina walked in staring at her phone.
Her hair was still damp, and she carried an empty mug in one hand.
“Is there coffee?”
“There’s a coffee maker.”
“Wow. Someone woke up violent today.”
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
“Morning, Dad.”
Oliver pointed at her phone.
“Are you ever going to walk into a room without staring at that thing?”
“Probably not.”
Paulina opened the refrigerator.
“Hey… did you guys see what’s happening in Monterrey?”
Maya kept packing Luciano’s lunch.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. Something about sick people.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow.
“Very specific.”
“Give me a second.”
Paulina started searching through her phone.
“I saw it last night. There was a video of some clinic packed with people, and another one with a bunch of ambulances…”
The news anchor’s voice drifted in from the living room.
“…health authorities are asking the public to refrain from sharing unverified information on social media…”
Paulina pointed toward the television.
“That.”
Oliver glanced at the screen.
Footage showed several ambulances parked outside a hospital.
A headline ran across the bottom:
AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATE OUTBREAK OF UNKNOWN ILLNESS
“See?”
Maya lowered the heat on the stove.
“In Monterrey?”
“I think it started there.”
“Then it’s far away.”
Paulina stared at her.
“Mom, Monterrey is an hour away.”
“An hour is still far when I’m the one driving.”
Oliver laughed.
“She’s got a point.”
Dante walked in just then.
Black shirt, backpack over one shoulder, headphones around his neck.
“What’s far away?”
“A disease,” Paulina said.
“Excellent.”
He opened the refrigerator.
“Do we have ham?”
“Yes.”
“Bread?”
“Yes.”
“Mayonnaise?”
“Dante, you’ve lived here for twenty years.”
“I’m just checking our resources.”
“Then check with your eyes.”
Luciano finally came racing down the stairs.
“I can’t find my hoodie!”
“It’s in your room,” Maya said.
“No, it’s not!”
“On the chair.”
Luciano stopped.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m your mother.”
“That explains nothing.”
“It explains absolutely everything.”
Paulina laughed.
For the next few minutes, the house filled once again with overlapping conversations.
Dante stealing food from Luciano.
Luciano complaining about it.
Oliver looking for his keys.
Maya reminding Paulina about something she needed to pick up.
A neighbor’s dog barking nonstop.
A truck rumbling down the street.
Life.
Normal.
So normal that none of them noticed when the headline on the television changed.
SIMILAR CASES REPORTED IN SALTILLO.
At 9:47 a.m., Paulina received the first video.
She was sitting at her computer when her phone buzzed.
Dany: girl have you seen this???
Below it was a nineteen-second video.
Paulina tapped it.
The footage shook violently.
It looked like someone had filmed it from inside a car.
An ambulance sat sideways across an avenue. Two paramedics were struggling with a man on the ground while someone screamed off camera.
Paulina turned up the volume.
“Hold him! HOLD HIM!”
One of the paramedics fell.
The man on the ground lunged at him.
The camera jerked away.
Someone inside the car screamed.
The video ended.
Paulina played it again.
And again.
On the third replay, she paused it just before the image disappeared.
There was blood on the man’s face.
A lot of it.
She typed:
Paulina: Where was this?
The reply came immediately.
Dany: People are saying here.
Paulina: Here where?
The three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Then came back.
Dany: Saltillo.
A small knot formed in Paulina’s stomach.
She opened X.
Then TikTok.
Then Facebook.
“sick people saltillo”
“saltillo hospital”
“saltillo attacks”
There were videos.
So many videos.
Some were obviously fake.
Some were old.
Others were impossible to verify.
But several had been posted within the last hour.
A woman crying outside a clinic.
Police cars blocking a street.
A man covered in blood walking between cars.
Paulina opened WhatsApp.
Familia ❤️
Everyone okay?
Maya answered first.
Yes. Why?
Dante:
I’m in class.
Oliver:
All good.
Luciano didn’t answer.
Paulina typed:
Weird things are happening. If you see anything, let us know.
Dante replied with a sticker.
Paulina rolled her eyes.
At 11:17, Maya heard the first siren.
One.
Then another.
Then several.
She walked over to the window.
An ambulance sped past at the end of the street.
A police cruiser followed close behind.
Maya watched until both disappeared.
Her phone buzzed.
The neighborhood group chat had forty-three unread messages.
Does anyone know what’s going on?
They say they shut down a clinic.
My sister works at Muguerza and says it’s horrible.
DO NOT GO OUT.
That’s bullshit.
There are soldiers.
Where?
Near Colosio.
My husband says he saw people attacking each other.
Then a voice message appeared.
Maya was about to play it when someone knocked on the door.
Three quick knocks.
She jumped.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Laura!”
Maya opened the door.
Her neighbor stood outside holding her car keys.
“Did you see the news?”
“A little.”
“I’m going to the supermarket. Do you need anything?”
Maya frowned.
“The supermarket?”
“They’re saying they might close off some areas.”
“Who’s saying that?”
“Everybody.”
Maya looked out at the street.
Two houses down, another family was loading bags into an SUV.
A car sped past much too fast.
“Wait for me.”
At 12:05, Oliver received an email at work.
As a preventive measure, employees are authorized to return to their homes.
Twenty seconds later, another arrived.
Avoid unnecessary travel whenever possible.
Then another message.
This one from Maya.
Come home.
Oliver replied:
On my way.
At 12:22, Dante’s classes were suspended.
At 12:31, Luciano was instructed to remain inside his classroom.
At 12:40, Paulina saw the first video that truly frightened her.
Not because there was blood.
Because she recognized the place.
Saltillo.
There was no question about it.
A man was filming from a gas station.
People were running.
In the distance, a woman moved strangely between the cars.
A man tried to help her.
She threw herself at him.
They both hit the ground.
Someone screamed:
“SHE’S BITING HIM!”
The camera zoomed in.
Paulina stopped breathing.
The woman lifted her head.
There was something between her teeth.
The video ended.
Paulina called her mother.
“Where are you?”
“At the supermarket.”
“Mom, go home.”
“I’m about to pay.”
“No. Leave everything and get out of there.”
“Paulina…”
“Mom, I just saw—”
The call dropped.
Paulina stared at the screen.
She tried again.
Network busy.
“Fuck.”
At one in the afternoon, the alerts began sounding on their phones.
Almost simultaneously.
A piercing tone.
Impossible to ignore.
EMERGENCY ALERT
Residents in several areas of Saltillo are instructed to remain inside their homes. Avoid travel. Await further instructions from authorities.
Oliver read it while trapped in traffic.
Maya read it as she abandoned a full shopping cart in the middle of the supermarket.
Dante read it while walking toward the parking lot.
Paulina read it alone at home.
Luciano read it sitting in a classroom where thirty teenagers had suddenly stopped talking.
And for the first time that day…
nobody made a joke.
At 2:12, Maya made it home.
Oliver arrived at 2:26.
Dante showed up fifteen minutes later.
“Luciano?” Oliver asked.
“They won’t let him leave,” Maya said.
“I’m going to get him.”
“They said nobody’s allowed near the school.”
“I don’t give a shit what they said.”
Oliver grabbed his keys.
Paulina came running downstairs.
“Dad.”
“What?”
She held up her phone.
It was a livestream.
A helicopter circled above an avenue.
Below it…
people were running between cars.
Dozens of them.
Maybe hundreds.
And behind them moved something impossible to make out.
The stream cut off.
Oliver said nothing.
“I’m getting your brother.”
They came back almost two hours later.
Luciano walked in first.
Maya wrapped her arms around him so tightly that the teenager immediately protested.
“Mom!”
“Shut up.”
“I can’t breathe.”
“I don’t care.”
Oliver locked the door.
“There are checkpoints.”
Paulina moved closer.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Military?”
Oliver nodded.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing.”
Luciano was pale.
Dante noticed.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
“Luciano.”
“I said nothing!”
He went upstairs.
Everyone fell silent.
Oliver looked at Maya.
“Leave him.”
Then they heard something outside.
Engines.
A lot of them.
Paulina went to the window.
Military vehicles were entering the neighborhood.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then a truck.
Soldiers climbed out.
“What the fuck…?” Dante muttered.
One of them carried a megaphone.
His voice thundered between the houses.
“ATTENTION! ALL RESIDENTS MUST RETURN TO THEIR HOMES IMMEDIATELY!”
Several people stepped outside.
“REMAIN INSIDE YOUR RESIDENCES!”
One neighbor started arguing with a soldier.
Another was recording on his phone.
“THIS AREA HAS BEEN PLACED UNDER A PUBLIC HEALTH QUARANTINE!”
Maya looked at Oliver.
“Quarantine?”
“CLOSE ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS! NO RESIDENT WILL BE PERMITTED TO LEAVE THEIR HOME UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!”
Dante stepped onto the porch.
“Dante!” Maya shouted.
“I want to hear.”
Oliver followed him outside.
A soldier was going from house to house handing out packages.
When he reached them, Oliver stepped forward.
“What’s going on?”
“Go inside your home, sir.”
“My kids are here. I want to know what’s happening.”
The soldier handed him a package.
Inside were a roll of heavy-duty tape and several sheets of thick black plastic.
“Cover every window facing the street.”
Oliver stared at him.
“Why?”
The soldier didn’t answer.
“Why do we have to cover them?”
“Those are your instructions.”
“What disease is this?”
The soldier finally looked at him.
He looked young.
Too young.
And he was scared.
That was what truly unsettled Oliver.
“Go inside with your family, sir.”
“What’s happening?”
The young soldier lowered his voice.
“Don’t go outside tonight.”
Then he continued to the next house.
By six in the evening, every window was covered.
The house felt different.
Dark.
Sealed.
Paulina put her phone on the table.
“They’re taking videos down.”
Dante looked up.
“Who?”
“I don’t know. But they keep disappearing. People post them, and a few minutes later they’re gone.”
“Probably trying to stop misinformation,” Oliver said.
Paulina looked at him.
“Did you see what I saw?”
Oliver didn’t answer.
The television was still on.
“…authorities continue to assure the public that the situation remains under control…”
A burst of gunfire erupted outside.
Everyone froze.
The anchor kept talking.
“…residents are asked to remain calm…”
Another burst.
Closer.
Maya slowly lowered the volume.
Nobody spoke.
Then came the screams.
One at first.
Then several.
A car accelerated.
A crash.
More gunfire.
And then…
silence.
Luciano appeared on the stairs.
“Dad.”
Oliver turned.
“What?”
“Something happened at school.”
Maya went pale.
“What happened?”
Luciano swallowed.
“A teacher attacked a woman.”
“What do you mean, attacked her?”
“He bit her.”
Paulina looked at Dante.
“Where?”
“On the neck.”
Maya covered her mouth.
“There was a shitload of blood.”
“Luciano…”
“Well, there was!”
Oliver stepped closer.
“What did they do?”
“The police came.”
“Did they take him away?”
Luciano slowly shook his head.
“They shot them.”
Silence.
“The teacher?” Dante asked.
Luciano shook his head again.
“Both of them.”
At 11:53 p.m., nobody was asleep.
The television signal was gone.
The internet worked sporadically.
Messages took minutes to send.
The power had flickered three times.
And for almost an hour now, there had been no ambulances.
That was worse.
Maya sat beside Oliver.
Dante checked his phone.
Paulina saved videos before they disappeared.
Luciano lay stretched across the stairs.
Then they heard something.
THUD.
Everyone looked up.
Another.
THUD.
Maya stared toward the front door.
“What was that?”
Oliver stood.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Paulina whispered:
“The gate.”
Oliver raised a hand.
Silence.
Something metallic scraped outside.
Then came footsteps.
Maya stood.
“Oliver…”
He didn’t answer.
The footsteps moved slowly across the front path.
One.
Another.
Another.
Until they stopped outside the front door.
Nobody breathed.
Then—
KNOCK.
Soft.
KNOCK.
Again.
Dante stood.
Oliver pointed toward the stairs.
“Everybody upstairs.”
Nobody moved.
KNOCK.
“Who is it?” Oliver called.
Silence.
Maya grabbed Luciano by the arm.
“Upstairs.”
Then a voice came from the other side.
Weak.
Shaking.
“Oliver?”
He frowned.
He knew that voice.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me…”
Oliver looked at Maya.
One of their neighbors.
“Help me.”
Oliver took a step toward the door.
Paulina grabbed his arm.
“Dad, no.”
“He’s hurt.”
“Don’t open it.”
A sob came from the other side.
“Please…”
Oliver put his hand on the lock.
And then the man screamed.
Not in fear.
In pain.
A horrible, tearing scream that made Oliver recoil from the door.
Something slammed the man against it.
Then something else.
A wet sound.
A gasp.
And the man started screaming.
“NO! NO, NO, NO! GET OFF ME! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!”
The door shook.
Maya wrapped her arms around Luciano.
Dante grabbed the first thing within reach—a heavy metal sculpture.
Paulina backed away.
Outside, a shriek tore through the night.
Then…
a horrible sound.
Like fabric being ripped apart.
The neighbor stopped screaming.
For several seconds, there was absolutely nothing.
Until something hit the door.
THUD.
Oliver stepped back.
Another hit.
THUD.
And another.
THUD.
Paulina looked toward the covered window.
The black plastic shifted slightly in the air from the vent.
Luciano pulled away from his mother.
“What are you doing?” Maya whispered.
The teenager moved toward the window.
“Luciano.”
He slipped a finger beneath one corner of the tape.
“Don’t take it off,” Oliver ordered.
Luciano pulled just enough to create a narrow gap.
“Luciano, I said—”
He looked outside.
And went completely still.
“What do you see?” Dante asked.
Luciano didn’t answer.
Paulina moved toward him.
“Lu…”
Luciano stepped back.
There were tears in his eyes.
“They’re eating him.”
Nobody said a word.
Paulina looked through the opening.
Their neighbor lay in front of the house.
Or what was left of him.
Three people were crouched over his body.
One had both hands buried inside his open abdomen.
Another pulled something red and glistening from inside him and began to chew.
Paulina covered her mouth.
A fourth figure wandered in from the street.
Part of its face was missing.
Farther away, there was another.
And another.
And another.
The street where she had learned to ride a bike.
Where Luciano played.
Where Maya greeted her neighbors every morning.
It was covered in blood.
A military vehicle burned in the distance.
Bodies lay scattered across the pavement.
And among them walked dozens of people.
No.
Not people.
One of the creatures stopped feeding.
Slowly, it raised its head.
Paulina watched blood drip from its mouth.
Then it turned toward the house.
Straight toward her.
Paulina dropped the plastic.
“What happened?” Oliver asked.
Before she could answer—
something slammed violently into the front door.
BAM!
Everyone screamed.
Again.
BAM!
The wood cracked.
And outside, somewhere in Jardines Coloniales, hundreds of screams began to rise into the night.
Paulina looked at her family.
Her father.
Her mother.
Dante.
Luciano.
Five people trapped inside a house.
And for the first time, she understood what none of the authorities had dared to tell them.
This wasn’t a quarantine.
It was a trap.
