March

Four months into the returner phenomenon, it had spread throughout most of South America. Its passage through Mexico drastically altered the kind of reception the returners received in the south. Much of this had to do with cultural differences, in particular the observance of the Day of the Dead. Seeing as the beginning of the phenomenon had been traced to early November, its origins were believed to be connected with the holiday honoring departed friends and family.

As such, in most places around Mexico, people did not interfere with the returners’ movements for cultural and religious reasons. Across the country you could see wreaths of marigold flowers adorning the doors of houses, and calaveras, the decorated clay skulls associated with the Day of the Dead, everywhere throughout the year. While most returners would amble around continuously, never staying in one place for long, there were now growing anecdotal reports of households where the returner was a departed family member, who would then stay there, but it was unclear whether this was just made up to support the authenticity of the cultural belief.

While this was the approach taken in the rural majority of the country, it was not the only one. Things were quite different in the densely populated tourist centers. The hotel and resort owners of Cancun were quick to hire armed guards to dispose of any returners in the vicinity, so the vacationers, shielded from the sight of the dead, would nonetheless often hear staccato gunfire in the distance while trying to enjoy the beach in a respite from the end of the world. Acapulco was especially violent, as the warring gangs began to disguise themselves as returners in their ever-continuing conflicts. This also created footage that spread throughout the world news, once again raising concerns that the returners were in fact violent.

As the phenomenon spread into South America, worries escalated, even as the level of reporting dropped in the less populous, jungle areas. Much of the US was still torn by pockets of civil war, thus North American news sources chose to amplify the false reports from Mexico, so as to depict their overreaction as justifiable. By the time the phenomenon reached Brazil, the pendulum had once again swung back to its initial extreme.

That year Mardi Gras, or Carnival, fell on March 4th, right as the phenomenon hit São Paulo, the biggest city in the Americas. This ended up being a recipe for disaster. The sprawling megalopolis of over thirty million people was never safe to begin with. Now, the tincture of growing poverty, political instability, and epidemic anxiety was reaching a critical mass. The pattern and rate of the phenomenon’s expansion had long since been ascertained, and much of the world could do little more than wait with bated breath for it to inevitably reach them. Carnival was always the largest festival in Brazil, and this year the celebration was bigger than ever in the country’s history.

The word “carnival” comes from the Latin caro or “flesh” and levare or “raise,” and so means: “raising of the flesh.” Naturally, this took on a new meaning in the present circumstances. It seemed as the whole world was being enveloped in its own carnival. The festival is celebrated on the day before the start of Lent, which in turn marks the beginning of the forty-day fasting season that lasts until Easter. With the future dark and uncertain, many believed this to be the last Carnival, and that few would survive the fast to come.

Millions flooded the streets in macabre costumes that they saw to be appropriate for the end times, as thousands of returners were rising from their graves and making their way towards the celebrations, drawn by the cheers and music of the festivities. At first, as they mingled with the crowd, the atmosphere remained joyful. This wasn’t because the celebrants were unaware that there were returners among them, the undead were expected and welcome to join the parades. Some went so far as to kiss and embrace the returners, who didn’t seem to particularly like it, but didn’t dislike it either.

The troubles, as before, were started by the living. There is much organized crime in São Paulo, which often profited highly during Carnival. Since it was believed this would be the final one, the gangs that normally limited themselves to robbery and drug sales, decided to take things farther, so as to secure more resources for themselves for the dark times that were surely to follow. Taking a cue from the gangs of Acapulco, they disguised themselves to look like returners and, armed, went in small groups into the crowds.

Their initial plan was merely for more armed robbery and the kidnapping for ransom of some high value individuals, but given the highly charged, emotionally volatile atmosphere, it quickly went off the rails. It’s unclear what sparked it, some said that a returner intervened in an attempted kidnapping when the first shots were fired. Hearing gunfire, the other impostors started shooting as well. Within minutes, the crowds turned on the impostors, returners, and costumed celebrants alike, before finally turning on each other. Screams and gunfire rose up like the grand finale of a symphony. People tried to run, but the streets were too densely packed at the height of the festival, so thousands were trampled to death. The chaos quickly consumed the city as many took the opportunity to start looting the already struggling businesses. The police didn’t even bother trying to maintain order against such overwhelming odds.

That one night ended up having the highest death toll of any single date since the start of the phenomenon, though the exact figure was never established, with the government estimating it in the low hundreds of thousands, but in the city’s oral history, it was passed down as over a million. The count was complicated by what happened next.

Over the next week, the city’s resources were spread thin in trying to suppress violence and tending to the wounded. Therefore, many of the dead were left in the streets unburied, and before long, some of them rose up as returners, the raising of the flesh. Because of the unique situation, these returners, touched neither by dirt nor formaldehyde, and barely grazed by decomposition, were the most well-preserved group since the beginning of the phenomenon, their sight and speech mostly intact.