by Jonas Sunico
Di pa makalipas ang ilang minuto simula nung tumakas ako, may mga NiNion nakong nakita. 3 sila. At napakalaki nung nasa likod. Mukhang kelangan kong tumakas... E meron na ring NiNion sa pinanggalingan ko. 3 rin. Hay buhay.
“Gandaaaaaaaaaa....”
“Ay salama—teka, sino may sabi nun?” Pagtingin ko sa harapan, nakita kong yung malaking NiNion ang nagsabi ng “Gandaaaaaaaa.” I know naman na maganda ako pero napakapangit naman ng timing niya. Siya rin pangit. Sana si Jo—wala, nevermind.
May naisip ako. Di ko alam kung effective ’to. Sana. Sana effective.
“Huhuhuhuhu, ayoko pang mamatay. Please tulungan mo ko. Huhuhuhuhu. Maawa ka sakin please.” (Di ako yung tipo ng babae na iiyak at magwawala kung di makuha ang gusto, pero no choice na e.)
“Ganda!? Gandaaaaaaaa!” biglang sigaw ng higanteng NiNion.
Sa isang iglap, binalian ng higanteng NiNion ang leeg ng mga kasama niya. Ibang klase ang lakas! Para lang nagbukas ng bote. Bagsak kaagad yung mga kasamang NiNion! Tapos, sumugod siya papunta sakin, pero imbis na ako na kalaban niya ang patayin, hindi. Nilagpasan lang niya ko pagkatapos at pinatay rin yung 3ng NiNion sa likod. Yung 1, hinawakan niya yung ulo at inipit sa pader. Yung 2 naman sinubukan siyang pigilan. Kaso binalibag lang niya sila na parang manika. Grabe. Sino ang may akalang sa sobrang ganda ko e makakahanap ako ng halimaw na tutulong sakin? Charot lang.
Pagtapos niyang isa-isahin yung mga NiNions, dahan-dahan siyang lumapit sakin. Nanigas bigla mga binti ko. Pano kung pati ako isunod niya? Baka naman pinatay lang yung mga kasama niya para sakanya lahat ng pabuya pag nahuli ako?
“Ganda,” sabi niya, sabay hawak sa ulo ko. Pero imbis na iikot niya ang ulo ko na parang takip ng bote, tinapik-tapik lang niya na para ba akong pusa.
Mukhang bighaning-bighani talaga siya sa ganda ko hahahaha. Mas madadalian na ’ko ngayon.
“May nakita ka bang lalaki? Bata pa siya. Pati aso may nakita ka?”
“Gandaaaaaa,” sabi niya.
“Matanda? May bigote siya. Action star dati. E pari? Magalang tignan. Ex-con naman siya. Nakita mo ba sila?”
“Gandaaaaa,” sabi niya.
Jusko wala kaming aabutin neto. E pano ko naman kasi ma-eexplain sakanya yung mga kailangan kong hanapin, e isang salita lang alam niyang gamitin. Buti nagkakaintindihan sila ni ChiNoy. Palibhasa... Hayaan mo na nga.
“MAY NAKITA KA BANG BATANG LALAKI??”
“Ganda,” sabi niya.
“ARGH! Jusko, maliit siya. Chubby. Pandak!”
“Ganda! Ganda! Ganda!” Mukhang natumpok ko na. Siguro badtrip si Joe pag nalaman niya kung pano ko siya dinescribe hahaha. Bigla akong binuhat ni Ganda (eto na lang pangalan ng higanteng to) at tumakbo siya. Kung san siya papunta di ko alam. Pero mukha namang kela Joe ang punta namin.
Ang dami naming NiNion na nakakasalubong pero balewala lang kay Ganda. Binubundol niya lang lahat hahaha.
Masaya talaga maging maganda hahaha.
32
“Don’t panic. Maybe there’s still something we can do. He’s still breathing see?” said Carla. I know he’s still breathing but… there are no supplies here. We can’t do shit. All I could do was cover up the wound in his head to stop the blood loss but he’s lost too much. We need to give him blood. And where the hell are we going to get dog’s blood? The medical equipment’s the least of our worries.
How stupid of me.
There’s no such thing as “safe” in this world. I shouldn’t have trusted that bald piece of crap. It’s my fault we’re in this mess.
Read.Learn.Survive.
What a load of bull. There’s no point reasoning with and understanding anyone anymore. Unless you’ve fought side by side with them, don’t trust anyone.
There’s no such thing as Read.Learn.Survive. The only thing there is Survive. That’s it.
If I knew this sooner then maybe Askal would be up and about annoying me right now rather than lying here in a pool of his own blood.
“Halika na. Hanapin na natin sila at tumakas na tayo rito. Bago pa mahuli ang lahat. Dadalhin na lang ni Ganda si Askal.”
“Sino si Ganda?” I ask her.
“May tumulong kasi sakin kanina, sinagip niya ko. Mukhang handa siyang tumulong satin kahit na alipin lang siya ni ChiNoy.”
This “Ganda” she’s talking about, can we even trust him? He’s a henchman of ChiNoy; he may not be different from the others. The door Carla came from suddenly opens and out comes this huge ass guy. He’s the biggest person I’ve ever seen. Probably 7 feet but his width is astonishing. I’m a quarter of his size. I sure as hell hope he’s on our side because there’s no way I’d fight that... that thing.
“Gandaaaa,” he said.
“Ganda, si Joe ’to. Kaibigan siya. Kailangan na nating tumakas dito. Dalhin mo kami sa labas. Bilisan mo kase kailangan ni Askal ng tulong.”
“What? I’m not going anywhere with that. For all we know he could bring us to ChiNoy! Don’t be stupid Carla. We have no proof that this thing is our ally. Askal is dying because of how we trusted ChiNoy and I’m sure as hell not going to trust this guy now. I could lose Askal. I don’t... I don’t want to lose you too.”
She is speechless. Maybe she realizes how important she is to me now. Before she begins to speak, a sharp sound comes from the loudspeaker. It’s followed by static and a familiar voice which comes from a person I vowed to kill.
“Ehem. Carla? Bastos ka. Nilayo kita sa gulo tapos ano ang ginawa mo? Sinaktan mo ’ko. Pumunta ka diyan! Ang kapal din ng mukha mo. Di dapat kita papatayin e. Papakasalan na sana kita. Kaso... WALANG FOREVER! Walang makakatakas sa inyo. At ikaw, ikaw na kapre ka—sino ba ang amo mo ha? Sino ba ang sumagip sayo sa gulo? sa labas? Bakit mo tinulungan yang malditang yan??? Kasi ba maganda siya? Loko, gagaguhin ka rin niyan. Ang landi mo. Pero sige diyan ka na lang. Di kita kailangan.
“Akala niyo ba safe na kayo? Halos bawat kwarto rito may CCTV. Walang makakatakas dito. Yang asong yan, di ko yan hahayaang makalabas nang buhay dito. Alam niyo na kung bakit ko kailangang patayin ang asong yan. Lalo ko kayong papahirapan. Wala na kayong tatakbuhan. Hahahaha.”
I wish I were there where he is right now. I’ll kill him. I swear on everything that I’ll kill him. If I can’t send a bullet to his head right now, I should at least send him a message. There’s a telephone in the corner of the room. I guess I’m still lucky somehow. I pick it up and dial the number of the security room. Carla said that she was kept there.
“Hey... you better hide. I’m not the strongest person in this building right now but I’m pretty angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. I will mow down every single maniac you’ve got and once I’m done with them, I’ll come for you. I will break your fingers one by one; I will break your knees; I will break each and every one of your ribs. After that, I’ll cut open your wrist and pull out your veins. After that, I’ll cut off your nipples... then I’ll feed them to you. After that... after that... uumm, I’ll finally smash your brains in. Run. While you still can.”
Now THAT was scary.
I grab the phone and throw it at the speaker so that I won’t have to hear his annoying voice again.
I look behind me and Carla looks surprised and... Ganda looks stupid. Carla’s still speechlees but I urge her to say what she wants to say.
“Uuuuuhh.. Joe... kase uuuh si Askal.... Yung sinabi mo kay ChiNoy... Uuuuh. Mamaya na lang. Magtiwala ka kay Ganda please. You heard ChiNoy right? You understood him right? Ganda is nothing to him now. He’s ours. Trust me please.”
I guess she’s right. I just nod and hope for the best.
Ganda picks up Carla and Askal like they were paper dolls and then proceeds to run. Where? Hopefully he’s headed for the exit. Although, part of me wishes he’ll take us to ChiNoy. I’ll still get my hands on that bastard.
Again, I am running in this maze-like room. Somewhere here is our way out. But we’ve got to find Mr. Senator and Father first. “Hey Ganda! We need to look for some people first! They’re our allies.” He ignores me and just continues to run.<
br />
“Ganda, wag muna sa exit. May hahanapin pa tayo. Yung may bigote,” Carla says to him and he nods enthusiastically.
I have to ask her to tell me why Ganda worships her. What did she do to him? Speaking of questions for Carla...
“ChiNoy said you knew the reason why he wants us—no—why he wants Askal dead. Why? What’s with Askal? Is he a rare breed or something?” Before she opens her mouth, Ganda comes to a sudden stop and I who was running behind him all the time, get a face full of ass when he comes to a halt. He stops in front of a door with a sign that says “EXIT”. Wow, he really did go to the exit. But I see why he stopped. The doors are welded shut. If this is the only safe exit he knows about then we’re screwed.
A door to the right of the room begins to bang loudly. Looks like we got company. Luckily, Ganda’s with us. He puts down Carla and Askal. The doors then burst open.
“Whoooo! Nakita ko rin kayo. Naknamputo, ang tindi neto ni Father kalaban! Hahahaha makakatakas na tayo. Andiyan na si Carla oh. Bitbit ko na si Father. E si Askal nas—shit, ano nangyare?”
Well, at least we’re together again.
33
Where do we go now?
We’re stuck between a rock and a door that’s welded shut. Within minutes we’ll be surrounded by NiNions for sure. We can’t fight them all. Carla and I have no weapons. Mr. Senator is still exhausted from his fight (he stopped Father with an uppercut to the balls). Ganda’s carrying Askal. Askal... he needs help fast.
“Hijo... mukhang kailangan na nating maasikaso si Askal. Ang dami nang dugo ang nawala. Natapalan na yung sugat niya at di na umaagos yung dugo pero kailangan niya ng gamot. Ano ang pwede nating gawin?” said Mr. Senator. I’ve never heard him sound so concerned. He’s more concerned with Askal than with me. That’s okay I guess.
“He’s right. He needs medicine. Di tayo pwedeng tumunganga lang dito e. Wala na daw alam na ibang labasan si Ganda. All the windows are barred. Our next choice is the front entrance... Ang susi nun nakay ChiNoy.” Carla’s right. We can’t make tunganga (whatever that is).
“San si ChiNoy? Sarado lahat ng pasukan? So, no zombies?” I ask Ganda.
“Ganda. Gandaaaaaa.”
“He says he knows where ChiNoy is. Yes, everything is closed and yes, no zombies. Ano plano mo?” How the hell does she understand him?
“Haist... Well, it’s not like we have any other choice. All entrances are closed so that means no zombies, right? Everything we face here will be human. They can bite us and claw at us but we won’t turn into zombies.”
“So? They can still kill us. With guns,” said Carla.
“If we’re up against zombies, we have to be extra careful because one bite and it’s all over even if you defeat them. With these freaks—no offence Ganda—they have to put a lot more effort in stopping us. See my point? You’re a maniac; Ganda’s a maniac; Mr. Senator’s a maniac. We’re all maniacs. They’ll have a hard time taking us down. We’ll fight through them. We’ll find ChiNoy and kill him... slowly. Grab the keys, then leave. It’s not like we have any other choice.”
Carla just nods in approval of my plan. “Ano daw?” asks Mr. Senator. He’ll get the plan soon enough. But before we start, I walk to Askal. We can’t fight through them with Ganda carrying him. We have to leave him here.
“I’m sorry, buddy, but we have to leave you here for a while. I promise: Here, nothing will get you. And I promise we’ll be back quickly. Please. Please hold on. I won’t let anything else harm you, promise.” He opens his eyes slowly. It’s been a while since he was awake. Honestly, I’d like it more if he was just unconscious. He needs to rest.
He licks my hand a couple of times before he takes a deep breath and falls unconscious again. My tears fall once more.
Carla and Mr. Senator comfort me this time and say that we have to move. Ganda brings us to a room were we place Father inside a broom closet (we tied him up first just in case he wakes up insane again). Before that, we destroyed every single camera we saw so that they won’t see where we placed Askal and Father. ChiNoy wasn’t lying when he said that CCTV’s are everywhere. Mr. Senator locks the door of the closet securely and shows us that he has a key for it. As for Askal, Ganda sets him down on the floor. I take off my barong and cover Askal with it. With the best of what we’ve got, Mr. Senator gives him first aid by binding the open wound so he doesn’t bleed out faster. I pet him once, then I kiss his forehead for the first time... and hopefully not the last.
We leave and Ganda locks the door securely, but before he closes the door I look at Askal one more time. “We’ll save him,” Carla whispers to me.
Ganda then brings us to the room where our weapons were stored. I get my sticks back; Carla gets her machete and Mr. Senator gets his guns back.
And we’re off!
Ganda leads the way and soon there are NiNions coming at us from every corner. Mr. Senator shoots their legs, instead of their heads. Carla hits them with the blunt side of the machete rather than the sharp side. I stay behind everyone else and take down anything that gets through them by knocking them out with my sticks. The guy in front, Ganda, well... he just punches the face of any poor living soul that gets in front of him. We’re making fast time with this! We can save Askal!
Everyone in front of me suddenly stops. Even the NiNion stops. Carla, Mr. Senator and I can’t see what’s wrong and what’s in front of Ganda.
We can’t see what’s ahead but we hear something that we’re all too familiar with. It’s a sound that’s supposed to be unheard here. I thought everything was sealed and closed? That sound is NOT supposed to reach the inside of this palace!
The snarling of a very, very hungry zombie.
34
One minute we’re facing humans, the next we’re up against zombies again.
“Akala ko ba sarado rito??? Bakit may mga nakapasok pa, Ganda?” asks Mr. Senator as he bashes in the brains of one zombie using the arms of another zombie. I have exactly the same question. What gives?
“Aking mga alipin, nagkaroon tayo ng problema. Ang isang bahagi ng pader sa may kusina ay binomba ng mga taong di pa natutukoy. Iniimbestigahan pa ng ating mga kapatid kung SINO ang mga nagpasabog ng pader na yun. Hinahanap din nila kung NASAN ANG MGA HINAYUPAK NA YUN NA SUMIRA NG AKING PALASYO! *Ehem* Nagsipasukan ang mga sombi sa loob at mag-ingat kayong lahat. Gawin niyo lahat ng makakaya niyo para mapatay sila... Idamay niyo na rin ang mga bisita natin at ang taksil na kasama nila. Ang makapagbibigay sakin ng ulo ng mga bisita ay gagawin kong bise presidente. Yun lamang po.”
Well that answers my question. Who could’ve done THAT is the new question. Maybe we have other allies outside? Or maybe some idiot just left the stove open; it is a kitchen after all.
Wait...if there’s a hole in the kitchen wall, we could just go back to Askal and Father and leave this place! We don’t have to kill ChiNoy now; we can always go back for him. Our exit is finally here! Our priority is saving Askal. I share my idea with them but Ganda says it’s not a good plan.
Carla amazingly translates whatever he says (I’m still amazed at how she understands him). “Na kay ChiNoy daw ng susi ng nag-iisang helicopter. Panigurado puro sombi sa labas. Hindi mainam kung lalabas tayo at wala tayong pagtatakasan, we need the key Joe.”
Damn it. So much for a shortcut. “Let’s move!”
There were zombies and NiNions left and right. It’s really hard to kill what we should kill and to keep alive those we need to keep alive. The NiNions are battling zombies as well. There are hordes and hordes of them. We’ve decided among ourselves not to hit any NiNions because the moment we hit them is the moment they become vulnerable. We can’t kill anyone that’s alive. No matter how insane they are. ChiNoy is an exemption.
This place is pretty big but after 2 floors, we are now all by ourselves. Every zombie and NiNion is downstairs. This place has 5 floors, excluding the underground level. Askal and Father are safe in the underground level (we made sure they were locked up safely). All the NiNions are at war wit
h the zombies in the first, second and third floor. ChiNoy watches us from the control room up at the fifth floor. We’re currently at the fourth floor.
It’s amazing how Ganda, despite being brainwashed and insane, memorized every turn of this place. It’s also pretty damn amazing how logical he is. He only says 1 word; heck I’m technically better at Filipino than he is, but despite that he’s still able to communicate easily with Carla. He has to survive with us. I want to know what happened to him and the people here. Also, he may be our only hope of curing Father of whatever happened to him. But I guess I really have a balat sa pwet, as my father used to say. He says people with birthmarks on their bums have bad luck. I checked once. I do have a mark on my butt. On the right cheek. Heart-shaped. It brought me bad luck even before this apocalypse and it isn’t holding back on me now. Just after I said that we needed Ganda to survive with us, three BADings and four TESbuns burst through the doors and face us in the hallway. Oddly enough, there are no Mamaaaaas.
One of each is hard enough for us, how are we supposed to take these guys on? We’re tired as hell and time isn’t our friend now. We can’t afford to face these freaks.
“Hahahahaha, ang lapit niyo na e. Naipit pa kayo diyan hahahaha.” ChiNoy’s voice echoes in the hallway. He’s freaking annoying; I can’t wait to get my hands on him.
“Ganda,” says Ganda in a serious tone. What now?
“He says he’ll stay here to fight them. Sira ulo ka ba? Mamamatay ka lang dito!”
He replies with the same word and same tone. “Sige, dito lang din ako. Tutulungan ko siya,” says Mr. Senator. I guess he’s right. We’re close to ChiNoy; we can’t fail now. Someone has to stay behind and fight these freaks but the four of us won’t stand a chance against them, let alone the two of them.
“Ganda says ChiNoy is just above us. I’ll stay here and fight with them. There’s a better chance of winning with the three of us. I know you can handle ChiNoy on your own. We’ll get through this.” Stay? She wants to stay with them? She can’t... but she’s right.