The North Loop is, for the most part, a dead place. The infected are more dense downtown, where there is more noise, more life, more live bodies to feed their hunger. The North Loop is typically fairly quiet. Even the homes tagged with the smiling jaguar have been dead spaces the previous times Theo has been here-- silent and still, hinting at something dark and seedy that hides from the daylight.
But not today.
Somewhere up the block, filtering through the open door of one of the cat-tagged houses, Theo can hear the sound of laughter. From what he can hear, it sounds like a small group of men-- at least four, no more than eight-- laughing and talking in Spanish inside the house.
"Eso es lo que está diciendo," one of the men chuckles.
"Está fuera de sí? Tuve más suerte en Cotulla."
"Todo el mundo en Cotulla estaba muerto."
"Exactamente," a man says, and they all howl with laughter.