Chapter 5:
"Well, the gate's closed and I take it if there are survivors in this compound they won't think of going outside at night, right?" asked Wesley. En was lying on his lap, playfully scratching at his tummy as she tried to fall asleep. By 6:00 PM, the zombies had already outnumbered the human race. By 8:00 PM, the whole city had fallen dark and silent—asleep perhaps, or dead.
"There's no power. No lights. It's too dangerous to do anything at night.", whispered Charlie. Mayca was already asleep on the floor, lying on the small spare mattress they were sitting on. Charlie was lying on his back right beside her. He fiddled with his watch, watching the second hand tick its life away.
"We sleep, then. We're all exhausted. Let's think about what to do next tomorrow.", muttered Robert who had taken his place back underneath the window. He was on his side, facing the wall and even as he spoke, he didn't turn around to look at them. "Good night."
Then there was silence. It was an odd sort of peace. It mocked and comforted. It reassured as much as it scared. Even with all of En's belongings crammed into one corner of the room, there was hardly enough space for all of them. Eric had fallen asleep where he sat by the door. His guitar rested lightly on his forehead. On the floor in front of him, Shayne and Ting slept on one of the spare comforters.
The silence that enveloped them was all that remained of their peace. Their dreams held the only remnants of a world that once was.
Wesley caressed En's cheek, appreciating its warmth as she gazed longingly at her. She held the innocence of a beautiful child as she slept serenely. He ran his fingers through her hair and she smiled sweetly in her sleep.
"I don't deserve someone like you.", whispered Wesley. "You are too kind, too wonderful and too fragile for a guy like me. But if I ever could, I used to think to myself, I will love you and give you all that I have. I will always do all that I can to spend just one more day with you."
He laughed softly to himself as he watched her sleep.
"I'm really selfish, huh?" He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "Whatever happens tomorrow and for all the days to come, I'm happy now... because of you. I won't let you die."
Tears began to fall from her eyes.
The first people to wake up were Wesley, Robert and Charlie. Charlie and Wesley carried the dead zombie girl outside while Robert laboured to clean up the blood. Charlie and Wesley moved both the girl's corpse and Rex's to the farthest end of the compound. A blue pickup truck, which in their rush they had not noticed the day before, was parked near the gate in the same row as En's apartment unit. Wesley looked at it and remembered that its owners had a big dog that was usually sleeping under it. Only a leash remained where it should have been.
The air was dead still, adding to the gloomy and eerie atmosphere. There was no hum of traffic from the nearby road. There were no sounds from the adjacent construction site. There were no remaining signs of life or undeath. It seemed almost as if everyone but them had disappeared. Charlie and Wesley rushed back to the apartment.
By the time that they were back inside, Robert was already finished cleaning and had already began to prepare food. Wesley slumped at the sofa while Charlie sat at the dining table. A big square window let them see outside but it was covered by a curtain and a screen that made it unlikely for anyone outside to see them immediately.
"I guess the first thing we have to do is make sure we find any survivors within the compound and take out all the zombies that had gotten in. After that we'll burn all the corpses and start gathering up everything that we can use. Hopefully we'll have enough to not have to leave this place for a long time.", explained Wesley. Charlie and Robert faintly nodded in acknowledgement.
"How do you like your eggs?" asked Robert.
"Definitely not manhandled... or kicked for that matter.", replied Wesley.
"I prefer mine unfertilized!" declared a voice from upstairs. En had just woken up and was on her way down. The three guys burst into laughter at her remark. "Good morning!" she said, bubbly as ever, as if nothing was wrong with the world.
"Good morning, love. Well, you're in a nice mood.", replied Wesley.
Upstairs, soft music from Ric's guitar began to reverberate through the walls. In the same room, Shayne sat silently watching Ric share his music. There was an eerie air of unease as two strangers dissolved in the silence, acknowledging yet barely noticing each other's presence. Ting slept serenely beside Shayne.
Mayca had also come downstairs, opting immediately to sit on Charlie's lap. They all found their places: Charlie and Mayca took to the dining table. Robert toiled by the sink. En sat on the sofa's armrest teasing Robert about how womanly she looks from her perspective. Wesley sat beside her, gazing at the tiled floor. After a moment's reprieve, Ric came down the stairs with his guitar in hand. Shayne lazily followed behind him as if she were still in a surreal, sleep-like stupor. He sat beside Wesley. Shayne took a seat on an empty chair by the dining table. Upstairs, the sound of a door closing loudly suggested that Ting was also awake.
"So... what now?" asked Charlie. Mayca still sat on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Beats me... We could really be in a zombie apocalypse spread all across the world. But, it could just as well have been contained immediately. Either way, it's eerily silent out there and I don't think I want that to change just yet.", replied Wesley.
"We'll need more weapons and supplies. There's lots of places we can check out. Hopefully they haven't been looted yet or..." murmured Robert, almost as much to himself as towards the others. He was furiously scrubbing his hands under the cold, running water of the faucet.
"I'd rather we stay here for now. Clear out the compound and see if there are other people in here. It's likely that there are.", replied Wesley. Ric was quiet, a strange mixed expression of frustration and rage on his face. He seemed to have been lost in thought.
"Hey, Ric, are you okay?" asked Mayca with a slight chuckle.
Ric responded as if he had just snapped out of a dream; closing his eyes tightly then opening them again and repeating this quickly a couple more times. "Huh?... No, I'm fine. I just zoned off for a moment there I think.", replied Ric, "Shit. GG.", then laughed.
"We need more food. Yes, definitely more food.", declared En with a sudden glimmer in her eyes.
"Holy crap. If En goes hungry... soup-soup.", Robert's eyes widened. There have been, on many occasions, times that En had been subject to a bad mix of extremely hot weather, fatigue and hunger. As a result, she dozes off if only for a moment before rebooting as an entirely different person. They called her alternate personality "soup-soup En" because the first time they had seen that side of her, she kept saying the words "Soup! Soup!" in reference to instant Nido soup—also known as sticky water with eggs. When soup-soup, she does a myriad of unusual things ranging from singing one line from a song many times over, running after cats, trying to eat air to occasionally attempting to suck out Wesley's eyes. Soup-soup En is very unpredictable. She can be pretending to be a cat one moment, snuggling up to people who instinctively rub her behind the ears or pat her head, then punching and clawing at people in the next.
"Soup! Soup!" cheered En, before donning a grin that rivals the Cheshire cat.
"Aaah! No!" Robert stepped back from En. It was a silly yet heartening scene.
"Who'll go out and clear out the compound?" asked Charlie. Everyone was still smiling but knew that the planning still had to continue.
"Well, there's a lot of area to cover...", Wesley paused to think, "and we still need to start barricading doors and windows aside from finding and making new weapons. I think it'd be best if we have at least two groups clearing up the place." Charlie answered with a nod.
"First two floors are likely to have a lot of zombies in them. The upper floors on the other hand are more likely to have survivors in them.", continued Wesley.
"Fuck. Humans. Disasters like this bring out the best and the absolute worst in people.", said Robert.
"True, but it's only been a day and even we are acting quite like nothing's happened. Besides, no matter how cold most of us can be when needed, it's not like we can easily throw survivors out should we find them..." Wesley paused as if to ponder something, "...anyway, I guess that means Robert and I should take the lower floors. Charlie and Ric will check the upper floors.", spoke Wesley.
Mayca took a moment's pause before gripping Charlie's hands tightly within hers. "You don't really have to split up, right? I mean, it's safer if you're all together. Charlie..." Mayca fell silent. She gazed at Charlie's eyes and silently pleaded to him. Everybody's eyes turned to Charlie.
"Dude, your call.", said Robert.
Charlie looked at Mayca, and Mayca in turn looked at him with an unmistakable expression of worry and fear. "W-what if... what if I come with them? Yeah, that's it. I'll go with them.", said Mayca without so much as taking her eyes off of Charlie's. He looked at her sternly and held her gaze. He shook his head. Mayca's grip tightened slowly until she could not hold her emotions any longer and hugged him tightly. Charlie remained silent and patted her lightly on her back. She clung tightly onto him. Charlie patted her quickly twice as a signal for her to let go. She hugged him tighter. Charlie sighed. She let him go.
"Right, then. Who wants to try my eggs?" said Robert.
Charlie, Wesley, Ric and Robert all went out of the apartment after breakfast. Shayne, Mayca and En decided to collect materials they could use from inside the apartment to obscure if not barricade the doors and the windows. Ting stayed upstairs by herself and no one tried to convince her to do otherwise.
Wesley and Robert held onto their axes like modern Vikings about to go into the fray. Charlie stuck to the mop-spear but Ric chose to forego his and went instead with one of En's frying pans.
"We want to either finish them off quickly or at a distance. When it comes to zombies, I think blunt is the best way to go.", grinned Wesley like the weapons geek that he was.
The door to Unit E was slightly ajar. Wesley kicked the door and Robert charged inside. Ric and Charlie didn't stay to watch, but it wasn't long until they heard the cacophonous crashing of plates followed by a dull, wet thud. Charlie and Ric climbed cautiously up the stairs. They both took note of objects and places of interest in his mind. After clearing out the compound, the entire group had decided to take anything and everything that they can, no matter how useless it may seem to be.
The fourth floor seemed desolate. From the veranda, the two guys can see the road right outside the gate and the community hall right across it. A few zombies walked around inside the community hall, all bloodied and pale. To their right, they had a good view of Katipunan avenue as it stretched as if infinitely towards the University. The usual early morning rush hour had been replaced by what seemed like a frozen image of a sickening array of mutilated corpses, stranded cars and hundreds of zombies. Here, a student was on her way to school; complete with a shoulder bag in one hand and on the other a severed arm. There, a man went for his morning walk—now his morning shamble—and was greeted by the nurse scattered all over the pavement and half the bank security guard.
All the doors on the 4th floor were closed. Charlie tried a door and found that it wasn't locked. He pushed it in and stepped back. Ric held the frying pan like it was a Teflon coated non-stick tennis racket, anticipating the worst to come out of the door.
"I-Is anyone there?" stammered Ric, "Fuck... fuck you if you're there! Come out already!" He tried his hardest to don an air of confidence, but a soft whimper that punctuated his words revealed his fear.
"Ughhh..." groaned a voice from inside the apartment unit.
"Damn.", said Charlie. His face was grim. He clenched his jaw and readied his spear. Trepidation nagged at his senses.
"Those two downstairs are the ones more used to doing stupid things.", said Ric. Charlie looked at him and quietly chuckled. He then gestured for Ric to go inside first.
Ric looked into the room and bit his lip. He let out a very heavy sigh before moving in. The upper floor units looked very different from En's apartment. These were the much cheaper units, allowing almost ten tenants to occupy each. These units were best described as long and narrow houses with the living room and the kitchen on one side and five bedrooms on the other.
"A lot of people should be here. Why aren't there people here at all? What day is it today?" asked Charlie.
"Saturday, if I remember right. Maybe most of them went back to their provinces yesterday or something.", replied Ric.
Charlie surveyed the kitchen and wondered if there were much things available for use in those kitchen cupboards. Ric, on the other hand, stared intently at the bedroom doors.
"Uuuuughhh.." groaned a voice from within one of the rooms.
Both of them looked apprehensively at a closed wooden door behind which the sound seemed to be coming from. Ric stepped back from the door and repositioned himself beside Charlie. Charlie, on the other hand, moved towards the door with spear point aimed at the door. He tapped the door twice. The dull thud was answered with further moans.
"Ughh... I-Is... Is someone there?", said the muffled voice of a woman from behind the door "...my baby... AHHHHHHH!"
Charlie moved aside and motioned for Ric to open the door. Ric twisted the doorknob, gave the door a good push and reflexively jumped back with the pan readily raised above his shoulder.
What greeted them was a woman sitting atop the lower tier of a double decked bed. Beneath her, a pool of blood caked and crusted was being constantly supplemented by a bite on her left leg. She rested one hand on her pregnant belly while the other, clutching a butcher knife, was raised and aimed at the two men who had entered the room.
Charlie trained his spear steadily at the woman while he carefully assessed the wound on her leg from afar. The grim realization that this pregnant woman had been infected made him pause for much longer than a moment, weighing morality over survival. Sweat dripped from his forehead down the bridge of his nose.
Ric was quiet beside Charlie. His sight had followed the pool of blood to its source. A blood soaked blanket covered a lifeless body that lay face down beside the bed. The contour of its form revealed a head that was too far from the shoulders. Ric turned to look at the butcher knife in the woman's hand. Blood crusted at the blade. That a father had fought his way to protect his wife and unborn child in the safety of this room was inspiring... but that he died and damned his family to undeath by doing so was more than devastating.
"WHO'S IN THERE?" bellowed a hoarse voice from the apartment's entrance. Ric, who was standing partially outside the pregnant woman's room, turned to see the source. He had moved but an inch only to face the grimacing muzzle of a Glock 9mm.
"Allan, put the gun down, they're just kids.", spoke a short, plump woman that was unmistakably the uncanny stereotype of the aunt that everyone has. The short bob hair, the long, loose duster and the permanent menacing scowl commanded a familiar feeling in all that were in the room. Allan, who was one of the compound's security guards, immediately put his gun down as if ordered by a high ranking military officer.
"AGHHHHH!" screamed the pregnant woman. Ric and Charlie had already stepped aside when Allan rushed into the room.
"Who is it, Allan?" shouted the plump woman who still stood outside the door.
Inside the room, the security guard Allan had his gun aimed at the pregnant woman. Looking around, he immediately noticed the woman's wound and the blanketed corpse that rested beside the bed she sat on. It was apparent that they have had their share of zombies in the night that passed. His eyes were wide open as if a part of him was still in shock; given their predicament, it was likely that it would always stay that way. He bent down to reach for the blanket covering the corpse and did so without taking neither eyes nor gun away from the wounded pregnant woman. She screamed loudly and violently in pain. Charlie watched intently from right outside the room. It wasn't that Allan feared that the pregnant woman could turn into a zombie at any moment. The security guard, in his fear, felt quite uncertain as to whether or not this hysterical woman was in fact a flesh-eating monster.
"Oh Lord!" the guard breathless exclaimed as he pulled the sheets of the corpse. Its head had been severed and was resting half a foot from the base of its neck. Its face had been brutally disfigured by many knife wounds to such a point that the corpse was barely recognizable. Allan looked at it and disgust, holding one hand to his mouth as he swallowed back a bit of vomit.
SNAP! SNAP!
The head suddenly began to move, biting furiously at the air. Its dead eyes rolled around in its sockets to stare at the security guard's face. Allan stumbled backwards, pushing with his feet until his back was against the wall. He aimed his gun at the zombified head and shot off three rounds. The first one missed it by an inch, the next shattered its teeth and the last which hit it squarely in one eye finally stopped its violently snapping jaws.
There was a brief moment of silent disbelief.
"NOOOOO!" wailed the pregnant woman on her bed. Her loud cries of pain turned quickly into muffled sobs.