Chapter 4

Nagising ako na wala si Apollo. Where is he? He won’t leave me behind, right? It’s only us after all.

Lumabas ako sa kweba at naglakad-lakad, nagbabakasaling makita si Apollo and hoping na hindi niya nga ako iniwan or walang nangyari sa kanya. The structure of the city is still the same although buildings are not intact at may mga halaman na rin.

As I was walking by while enjoying the scenery and thinking where Apollo might be, I noticed that nakarating ako sa bridge ng city. Things are still in place. Nothing changed, it's just other living things ruled out. Trees on the side. Vines on the railings. Flowers and branches on the buildings. The scenery is aesthetic but watching it hurts me. Originally, this bridge is actually the center of the city, it’s where most people meet up.

I walked down at habang tinitingnan ang buong paligid. I remember na dito kami magkikita ng mga kaibigan ko everytime na may free time kami. Dito rin kami una nagkakilala Seth. I was new here back when I was still in Senior High School and was mesmerized by the beauty of this city. I bumped him and spilled his coffee over his shirt. He smiled and I apologized. 

In this place, it's where I saw Apollo's face for the first time on the building's television after winning an award that brought pride to his school.

Remembering those memories is painful because I know everything is not coming back to normal.

I walked around and reached the road patungo sa bahay namin. Should I check? I think I should. Nagpatuloy ako sa paglakad while looking around to find Apollo. The roads were cracked and had grass all over. I can also see new species of flowers. I wonder if they’re poisonous? The buildings and stores collapsed and I even saw a couple of animals like rabbits and squirrels. 

A couple of minutes walking around, I arrived at my house. 

It's heartbreaking.

Our house is not really far from school but I usually use my car because I'm a lazy ass girl. The gardens and roads in front of our house are nowhere to be seen. Ang tanging nakikita ko nalang ay ang roof ng bahay namin, I guess the river overflowed at nilamon na ang bahay namin. I stood up while holding the trunk of the giant tree. Some things will never really stay the same even if you'd love to.

Should I swim and check out if may makita ba akong katawan? Kahit kapatid ko lang. The incident happened on friday, I'm sure my brother was playing somewhere. I have to check.

Hinubad ko ang suot kong sapatos at ang upper uniform ni Apollo na pinahiram niya sakin kagabi.

"You still do have time to swim, huh." Bigla kong rinig sa likuran ko. Apollo. "Are you planning to die?" he asked. 

"I-I just wanna check if my brother's body is down there," I explained

"With those?" he asked and glanced at the river.

Lumingon ako at may nakita akong buwaya na palutang-lutang sa tubig. Not one. Not two. Not three, but four.

Dahan-dahan kong sinuot ang sapatos and kusang lumayo.

"Can you just use your common sense?" he said with a cold voice

"Why didn't you stay at the cave?" he asked habang nakatalikod lang sakin.

"I was trying to find you at di ko naman inasahan na malayo ang narating ko mula sa kuweba," I answered

"Then why didn't you wait for me?" he answered

"How would I know that you'll come back?" I defended at humarap siya sakin

"Can you think of any reason why I won't?" he answered and that left me speechless, "I was looking for food," he added

"We-Well... it doesn't change the fact na kahit alam mong delikado mag-isa at umalis ka pa rin ng mag-isa." I answered, "Iniwan mo pa rin ako ng mag-isa dun,” dagdag ko. 

Hindi na siya sumagot and just stared at me.

"My bad," bigla niyang sabi at naglakad palayo.

Sumunod ako sa kanya. I walked beside him but he suddenly grabbed me papunta sa harapan niya. I can’t really guess his mood. Kahapon, he started brushing my hair which surprised me tapos ngayon, umaattitude siya. 

"Walk in front of me but stay close." He instructed

We continued walking and stopped by a ruined food store.

"I don't think there are edible foods available there," hina kong sambit.

"Obviously," he answered

"Anong kakainin natin?" I asked

"I can't cook." 

"Really?! I think we're gonna die because of hunger," I said with a sigh.

We continued walking until we reached the most famous restaurant which is now broken but has a tree filled with apples.

"I think those are edible." I suggested

He nodded and went straight to the tree. The apple was bright red. We took 1 and ate. Napasandal ako sira-sirang wall ng store. I looked down as I ate my apple.

I wonder how many years have passed by already? Are there people like us or are they all morphing humans already? How will we survive this?

How? Why did something like this happen? Why did those creatures exist? Is it nature's fault? Is it nature's revenge on humans? Or did humans interfere with nature’s natural order beyond its limit?

Who is the source of all of this? Why is our presence alarming to them? Why did we wake up but the others didn’t? What was inside our building na wala sa labas that caused us to wake up? What is really going on here? I have many questions and unfortunately, I can't find any answers.

Unless...

Unless I'll find them myself.

“Apollo!” I called,“This situation is scary,” I added and he bent down to look at me and I looked at him. 

“I know,” he answered and he bit his lower lip out of frustration

I want to cry to let this all out but I just can’t. I was about to stand up pero napatigil ako when Apollo stood in front of me as if he was protecting me from something.

"What's wrong?" I asked

Bigla kaming napalingon sa bandang kanan namin ng may narinig kaming foot steps. Agad kaming nagtago sa mga puno. We saw two people walking towards our direction. Isang babae at isang lalaki.

"I swear I heard someone," sambit ng babae.

The guy. I think I already saw him somewhere.

Agad akong nagulat nang nakita ako ng lalaki, I don't know how but our eyes just met. Bigla siyang may binunot na kutsikyo sa bulsa niya at umatake papunta sa direksiyon ko. Naramdaman ko agad ng pagtulak ni Apollo sakin sa likuran at binunot ang ballpen niya na ginamit niya kahapon. The girl shouted at tumingin sakin.

"W-Wait! Zavier! They're humans!" sigaw niya at napatigil ang lalaki

Zavier? Right, the Captain of the basketball team of Stoneridge College. That's why he was familiar. But the girl? I think I did not saw her even once.

"Why the hell are you attacking?/Why the hell are you hiding?" Apollo and Zavier both shouted in chorus.

"We thought you were one of them," sagot ng babae. One of them?

Is she talking about morphing humans?

Lumapit si Apollo sakin, his body was facing at me but he's looking behind him where those two people are standing. He swayed his sword as if hinaharangan niya ang kung ano mang umatake.

"You saw some of the morphing humans?" I asked

"You saw one of them too?" tanong din naman ng babae

If they saw one and we did too, ibig sabihin... marami sila? If marami nga sila, how many? How do we avoid them? How can we survive?

We are currently in one of the bottom parts of the food chain.