The Rush

Chapter 3- Heading West

The three of us immediately looked at each other—me, Aki, and the man with us, when a woman appeared out of nowhere and walked over to where we are. I held my weapon tightly as I waited for the woman to approach the light. Nasa madilim na parte pa kasi siya ng kalsada kaya hindi namin masabi kung tao ba siya... o kung may mali na sa kaniya.

Sabay-sabay kaming napabuntong-hininga nang makitang ayos lang siya. May mga galos siya pero wala naman siyang masamang tama.

The man with us walked towards the woman first. "Who are you? Are you with someone?" I gulped because of the manliness of his voice. I know this isn't the right time to gush over him, but damn dude, he is (without a doubt) a hottie.

"Y-yes. Help my mom. Please help her. She's hurt. She sprained her ankle." She cried.

Tinulungan muna namin siyang makapasok sa loob ng kotse bago niya itinuro ang lugar kung saan niya iniwan ang mama niya. Sabay-sabay kaming tatlong naglakad papunta sa itinuro no'ng babae.

Hindi naman nagtagal ay nakita rin namin ang isang babaeng sa tingin ko'y kaedaran lamang ni Dad. We found her sitting on the dark terrace of a house. I've never seen them here before so I'm guessing that they're not from here.

"Ma'am, are you okay? Where does it hurt?" Aki asks immediately.

I roamed my eyes as Aki supported and asked questions to the lady. Aki is a doctor in training, so I'm leaving it all to him. Tumingin ako sa lalaking kasama namin nang mapansin kong nakatitig siya sa'kin.

Napalunok na lamang ako dahil sa kakaibang nararamdaman ko dahil sa titig niya. Para bang may naglalarong mga kung anu-ano sa tiyan ko na hindi ko maipaliwanag. I can't read what's running inside his mind. Galit ba siya? Because I haven't been able to thank him for saving me? Is that it?

I cleared my throat. "T-thank you." He didn't say anything and just continued staring at me, so I continued talking. "Umm, w-what are you doing here? I-I mean, I think you're not from here also—"

"Thank you." My eyes widened as I looked at him. I didn’t expect him to cut me off, tapos iyon pa ang lumabas mula sa bibig niya. "We're even now."

My brows furrowed. Did he just help me so he wouldn't be indebted to me? Before I could even ask him anything, the three of us immediately looked at each other again when we heard crackles, footsteps, and growls. Agad naming tinulungan si Aki sa pag-alalay sa babae patungo sa kotse.

"Hurry up!" Napakunot ang noo ko dahil minamadali kami ng mga kasama namin na nasa loob ng sasakyan. Para bang nakakita sila ng multo at takot na takot sila.

"Shit, faster!" I was even more confused by Aki's reaction. I was surprised when he took the lady's hand from the man with us and carried her himself, bridal style. "Ikaw nang bahala sa kapatid ko!"

I could do nothing but obey them when the man suddenly pulled me by the hand. Our hands are now intertwined. He held my hand tightly as we ran closer to the car so I almost sank to the floor.

Malabo na ang mga sumunod na nangyari, namalayan ko na lamang na umaandar na papalayo roon ang sasakyan namin. I looked back and my jaw almost fell to the floor at what I'm seeing before my eyes. Ito pala ang dahilan kung bakit nila kami minamadali at kung bakit sila takot na takot. A bunch of those... freaks are after us!

What the hell is happening? W-what are those things? What happened to them?

"Is everyone okay?" Napalingon ako sa harapan nang magtanong si Dad. I noticed that Aki was sitting on the shotgun seat and Aris was sitting on his lap because only three people could fit in the backseat.

Ako, si Anne, si Trisha, iyong lalaki, at iyong mag-ina—wait! We're six. How did we fit in?

Nang lumingon ako sa mga katabi ko ay saka ko lamang napagtantong nakakandong pala si Anne sa babae kanina at nakakandong naman si Trisha sa mama no'ng babae. It's good that Trisha looks light. But where's that guy? Did he get left behind—

My eyes also immediately widened when I realized where that man was and why I seemed to be sitting on something alive.

I slowly turned around to face him. Warm brown eyes meet my vision. I cursed inwardly. Suddenly, I stood up out of shock which caused me to bump my head into the roof of the car. I cried out in pain and the women with us cried out in shock. Even Aki was shocked and screamed with the girls. It's just that his scream is louder compared to the girls'.

"Aika, sit still! We don't have any choice but to force ourselves to fit in this small car." Dad scolded me.

Slowly I sat down on the man's lap again. The girls' screams also subsided. Aki tried to hide his embarrassment by coughing. Maybe he was embarrassed because he screamed louder than the women.

I looked like a statue while seated on his lap, especially when the man whispered in my ear. "Still."

Damn, this is so awkward.

Hindi na lamang ako nagsalita. Aki must've seen the discomfort and awkwardness written on my face so he started introducing our names to break it. Just our first names and basic pieces of information about us like where we're from and how old we are.

We all introduced ourselves to each other. Ang babaeng ilang taon lamang ang tanda sa amin ni Aki ay si Christine. She is twenty-eight years old and she is pregnant. Her mother is Kate, forty-seven years old and the same age as Dad. And then there's Trisha who is also fifteen years old like Anne. And the man who owns the lap where I'm sitting right now is Dylan. Kaedad lamang namin siya ni Aki, twenty-five years old.

"Where are we going, dad?" I ask. We were driving for almost two hours now but I still don't have any idea where we are heading.

"We're heading west," His gaze remained on the road when he answered me. I just nodded in response.

I am still sitting on Dylan's lap, holding on to the shotgun seat in front of me as if I was holding on to the only reason for my existence. Beside me is Kate with Trisha on her lap, and beside them is Christine with Anne on her lap.

Christine is treating her wounds and Kate's sprained ankle using the first aid kit that I brought with us. Christine had a hard time because our seat was crowded and the car was moving, but she still managed.

After almost three hours of driving, Dad suddenly turned right. And then, the car stopped. My companions and I frowned when we saw that we had stopped at a vacant lot.

The vacant lot's too big. I think four or five cars could fit in here. It was surrounded by towering weeds and there was a trash can at the other end of where we stopped.

"Stay here," Dad slammed the car door shut and went straight to the trash can.

Aki and I glanced at each other with our brows furrowed. Dad is acting weird right now. I anxiously looked around the surroundings.

I noticed this vacant lot was a bit hidden. You can’t see it on the highway itself because of the towering weeds around.

"What the—"

To our surprise, our car started to shake. It was as if the earth shook and opened up because we could feel and see the car coming down.

"Dad!"

----