Zombie Outbreak

01: One Week After

Do you believe in god? Katie Galvez doesn't. She have lost her faith 2 months ago after her father died during the fall. Then she was breathing on a foreign land again where there are walls surrounds her like a prisoner.

"Hello?... May nakakarinig ba sakin?"

She's been wondering whether she's really alive or she's dead and in her own pandemonium. Isang linggo na kasi mula noong bumagsak ang Beta 2 kung nasaan siya at tila ba siya na lamang ang natitirang buhay dito. Hindi niya alam kung anong nangyari at kung paano naglaho ang 2 months na pagiging ligtas nila sa loob ng isa sa mga distrito ng northern cities.

Ibinaba niya ang radyong hawak at malamyang tumayo. Naglakad siya palapit sa balkonahe at sumilip sa ibaba nito. Ganoon parin. Walang mga tao ngunit may mga infected. Nalukot bigla ang mukha niya nang makita ang isa sa mga kakilala niya na naglalakad ngayon sa ibaba at wala ang tenga nito. Madumi ang mga balat at malayo sa naaalala niyang malinis na babae.

District 5 have tried their best to sustain the needs of everyone in their 3 Cities and still, parang hindi pa rin naging sapat iyon. People were chosen to be something they were not supposed to be. Like everyone else, naging civilian soldier sya at 1 month siyang nag ensayo upang magtrabaho sa Beta 2.

Kate Galvez wasn't even from Northern Cities. She's from metro. Napunta lang siya sa kung nasaan siya ngayon dahil sa nasa maling lugar sila ng pamilya niya noong mga oras na iyon. Just outside the walls that the have built before the fall, everything seem so peaceful and fun, and what was that word that we all missed that we have lost when the virus started? Freedom.Yeah, sounds like a dream, right? Us being free in the world where there's no virus and we're walking, talking, and laughing freely without wearing any mask.

Naaalala niya pa noong mga sandaling iyon na masaya sila ng nanay at tatay niya na kumakain lang sa isang fastfood chain sa mall and they were asking her about her life at school. Then, she remembered how her mom died first. Kung paano tumalsik sa mga paa niya ang dugo ng nanay niyang nagkalat sa sahig. Yes, she remembered everything.

Do you remember who you were before it all started? Cause she did. She was just a normal student before and now she's a civilian soldier, stuck alone in her own apartment, 8 floors above the ground. Kung noon ay bolpen ang madalas niyang hawakan, ngayon ay mabigat at mahabang baril na ang hawak niya at may kasama itong kutsilyo.

5 days ago, naubos ang stock niya ng pagkain at tubig na lamang ang meron siya mula sa gripo na mayroon pa rin tulo. It's day 8 at dalawang araw na siyang hindi nakakakain. Ilang araw na din mula nang may marinig siya sa radyo o sa labas ng apartment niya. Tila ba biglang naglaho ang lahat at mag-isa na lamang siyang nabubuhay. Last woman standing. Natawa siya nang maisip ang ideyang iyon. Syempre, mapait na tawa. Pati tawa ay may bahid na din at malayo sa nakasanayan nating tawa.

There's nothing she could do but cry again. She sat on the floor, hands on her face, and she wept like there's no tomorrow. Yun lang kasi ang magagawa niya.

Not until 20 minutes later, she heard an ambulance rushing out on the road just another block from where she is. Tumayo siya at nakita niya ito. Mabilis na dumaan ang ambulansya na may malakas na wangwang at hindi man lang ito huminto upang tignan kung may buhay pa sa street. Hindi ito huminto upang iligtas si Katie.

Sa likod ng ambulansya ay may mga nakasunod na mga infected. They were fast and unlike the other infected they have encountered. She saw those infected on her street move towards the hoard of infected on the other street. Nakita niya ang mga neighbors niyang naglalakad papunta sa agos ng mga infected.

One time, she thought they were different unlike the creatures they called "Zombies". Iniisip niya kasi kung paano kapag hindi naman pala talaga sila patay. Na nasa loob pa rin sila ng mga katawan nila at natatakpan lang sila ng virus na dumapo sa kanila. She tried her hypothesis and she ended up getting herself kicked out of the scientist team. Yep, she was admitted as one before.