24: SPIDER

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The sound of the dripping water along with a faint stream of waves slowly woke me up, and as soon as I opened my eyes, the dimness within the vicinity welcomed me. And wherever I look, the shallow and darkness wouldn’t suffice.

And the faint smell of a medicine lingered to my nose, which was buried to someone’s neck; it was a late realization that occurred to me that someone was carrying me. He was limping until he halted and breathed heavily.

“Wow, you really took your sweet time, huh?” He sounded sarcastic, which made my mouth twisted.

Nang nilapag n’ya ako sa gilid ay agad siyang sumalampak sa sahig. Hindi naman basang-basa ang sahig at wala rin akong karapatan mag-inarte kahit sobra ang kagandahan ko.

At isa pa, hanggang ngayon ay hindi ko pa rin kilala ang kinginang kasama ko. Muntik na kaming mamamatay pero hindi ko pa rin siya kilala.

“Oy, anong pangalan mo?” Tanong ko. Isang nagtatakhang tingin lamang ang binato niya sa akin bago niya ako literal na binato ng kung ano man na nakuha niya sa bulsa n’ya.

Sarap niyang lunurin sa kanal.

I looked at the thing he threw at me, and it was Parker’s gloves that were supposed to be in my pocket. And it was now my turn to give him a puzzled look.

“It seems that you’ve already met the stupid one.”

“Excuse me?”

“The name is Peter,” he mumbled and turned his head. I slowly pursed my lips, trying my best not to laugh, “Yeah, yeah. I’m the older one and the coolest among the spider dudes,”

Napahagalpak na lamang ako ng tawa na siyang nag-echo sa buong underground sewage. Hindi ko na kailangan pang itanong kung sino ang tinutukoy niyang nauna kong nakilala. Dahan-dahan kong pinunasan ang butil ng luha na kumawala sa mata ko dahil sa pagpapakilala niya.

At kusang tumiklop ang mga labi ko ng tiningnan n’ya ako nang masama. Sabi ko nga hindi funny.

“Do you think you can walk?” He asked.

I shrugged and tried to lift my body, but a sudden pang within my leg upsurge, making me fall back. Tears began to slowly escape my eyes as the sudden reality started to reappear in my mind.

I slowly looked at Peter and realized that it was a good thing that he brought me with him. How will I be able to face them without Chi? How can I tell them that I was the one who killed Chi?

“This is about the infected you’ve killed.” It was a statement, and he was not asking nor guessing.

Habang inaalala ko ang mga panahon na magkasama kami ni Chi ay mas lalong sumisikip ang dibdib ko. Maybe it will be less hurtful if we are just strangers that have met during the apocalypse, but we aren’t. I considered her best friend, and if it is painful for me— paano pa kaya kay Cara?

For all I know, she’s just enduring her pain about knowing Chi’s condition in the past. Cara constantly deals with her problems silently because after what happened to Alex, after she truthfully tells me about she feels, Cara never speaks about it again. Because Cara disappeared from my life, and I don’t want that to happen again.

“It's okay to feel bad. They are huma—”

“I know...” Another tear slips through my eyes as I diverted my glance to him, “The one I’ve killed was my best friend and Dr. Ramirez’s daughter.”

He was left dumbfounded after I’ve said that. Peter suddenly hushed me, and somehow I felt something moving above like a vehicle, but besides that, I inhaled an unbearable smell, but it was not coming from the canal.

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