chapter 5

Night had fallen over the city of São Paulo, and moonlight cast a soft glow over the city, bathing the growths of Lipomass and huge, quivering blobs of fat in an eerie sort of glow. Once the most populous city in the entire Southern Hemisphere and one of Brazil's economic and cultural juggernauts, São Paulo now lay in desolation. Of the city's ten million-plus people, only around five hundred thousand remained, now living in hastily-erected refugee camps set up by the military. Drones buzzed around the sky above the city, trying to pick up any signs of survivors, but found nothing but ruin. Skyscrapers were covered almost two-thirds of the way up by brown, meaty Lipomass, with some partially collapsing under the weight of their massive, blobby occupants. Helicopters sent to take a closer look found streets choked with Lipomass, wrecked cars, rubble from collapsed buildings, and of course, the blobby remains of the city's inhabitants. They reacted to the helicopters' searchlights shining on them by gurgling and twitching, sending massive waves sloshing across their forms. The Lipomass was so thick and prevalent that sending in ground troops was out of the question. All that could be done was to send flights over the city and pray that, by some miracle, a survivor was found out in the open.

There were indeed survivors in the suburbs, but none of them were out in the open.

Inside a darkened, crumbling house in the Bela Vista neighbourhood of the city, a TV screen glowed with SMPTE colour bars, faintly illuminating the living room. It also illuminated the Lipomass growing across the floor... and the 700-pound behemoth of a man who lay trapped in the stuff, vestigial hands and feet sticking out.

Luis had been trapped in his home for three days. He'd seen the warnings on TV, and he'd tried to get out... but unfortunately, he'd been too slow. Too clumsy. He'd gone upstairs to quickly pack his things, and that had been more than enough time for some Lipomass to ooze in through an open window. He'd run back downstairs, tripped on a step, and fallen straight into it. And his fate had been sealed.

His cries for help had been drowned out by the chaos outside as people ran for their lives, trying to escape their fate. He had no idea how many of his neighbours had gotten out, but he doubted that many of them had.

Luis knew his fate. He'd seen the pictures on the TV of what had happened to people in the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, and now Brazil. He'd seen the enormous blobs of fat that had once been people, and he knew that soon he would join them.

But even as he lay there, he wasn't afraid. Frankly, becoming a blob would be a welcome relief for him. No more remembering the panic and the fear. Just laying there, never having to think again.

He sighed and closed his eyes as he felt himself grow a bit heavier.