Batingting Alpha

Chapter 1 : Metal World

Chapter 1 The Metal World

The sky is fiery-red, like a sunset all throughout the day. In fact, every sunrise starts out looking like a massive nuclear explosion splashed across the sky. Towering mushroom clouds stack one on top of each other. Gazing up, the fiery red clouds contrast with a pale, grey sky. A scene so poignant that it seems to paint an eternal picture of hell. A nightmarish masterpiece straight out of people's minds from the olden days. Times when they believed that religion and politics would save humanity from what they imagined to be the future. A premonition they weren't able to witness. A dream of the past.... and now the reality of the future.

Wind bursts are like raging sandstorms scraping one's skin down to the bone. The air is heavy with the stench of metal and ammonia. At first it dries your eyes and paralyzes your sense of smell for weeks. Pretty soon it will render both useless. You breathe and you'll suffocate. You live and you'll die eventually. Trees and plants are nonexistent at least to the survivors. Your only option to live? An improvised filter mask.

Kaliwanag is about the age of 10 and is a puny young man. He is the prettiest young man ever to survive in this cruel world. Cute eyes that glimmer all the time. His nose is notably Filipino, with a not-so-defined bridge that ends with a bit wider nostrils . People who meet Kaliwanag always marvel at how all of his facial features complement one another. He is charming and at the same time quiet, energetic but frail. He frequently accompanies his brother as they traverse vermilion mountains of trash surrounded by blood lakes of rusts, grimes, and molds.

Wearing a worn-out grey sando and a plastic cape to protect him from the harsh environment,Takipsilim is the older brother to Kaliwanag or Kali as he calls him. Even though they are brothers, they look totally different. You can say that Kali got his mother's genes while Tak from his father. While Kali can be an absolute charm, Tak looks like an eternally brooding general toughened by the circumstances and the harsh weather. Tak is always serious and always alert. He is dark. almost like a carabao. due to long hours under the sun.

Kali is two years younger than his manong, big brother in the ancient language, but suffers under the responsibility given to him. Tak hates that he has to burden his younger brother but what choice does he have? It is left upon him to figure out how they will survive in this dreaded land. A land once called the "Pearl of the Orient Seas" by the people in the past .

"Faster Kali, we don't have all day!", Tak's disappointed scream echoes in several peaks of metal mounds.

Kali sighed and looked up to his brother "Kuya! We've been doing this for almost two years! Can we just slow down for a bit? I just wanna play there!" The younger sibling pointed out eagerly what seemed to be a broken kid's slide, poking out in the hills of steel.

"You can't go there Kaliboy!" Tak exclaimed. "This is the last day of Himabuyan (March). We won't be able to make it to another low tide 'till next year! I can feel it! We will discover something great! Think about it! Maybe we can find some batteries for your toy! ! How about that?"

"Ah yes!" Kali cheerfully shrieks as he forgets about play and turns to climb faster and with more enthusiasm than before.

Tak and Kali's every day journey to the dire refuse mountain is always routine, strict and organized. This is except on Baylubaylo (Thursdays) and Danghos (Fridays) where they spend their time tinkering with what they have scavenged. The two do this throughout the year as a means to win food as a prize from the Militias monthly UTAK contest. It's a grand tournament between communities where they need to pitch their inventions in the hope to win a sack of moldy food and almost decayed root crops like potatoes.

"This is the spot! Kali, come let's set up the fog catcher!" Tak shouted as he unloads his backpack. He is gently unpacking metal rods and some tattered tent material.