No Escape Series #2: No Resolve

Chapter 05: The Survival

THE SURVIVAL

Rhian heard a loud sound of thunder, and it seemed as if she were drowning in water, with large raindrops falling on her face. Her brow furrowed, and she thought that her body was in a lot of pain. She couldnʼt open her eyes because of the heavy rainwater dripping on her face.
 
Even in such a situation, she was able to raise her hand to cover her face to prevent the rain from getting even more wet on her face. Pagkatapos niyang imulat ang kaniyang mga mata, na-realize niyang mayroong tubig na umaagos mula sa kaniyang kinahihigaan. Ganoon na lang ang pagkagulat niya, especially since she was lying in the mud, and when she tried to get up, she wondered even more why there was so much soil covering her body.
 
She coughed as she swallowed the water that flowed from her, but when she tried to stand up, she couldnʼt get up immediately because the ground he was on was so high. Another reason was that she didnʼt understand what was happening or why she just woke up lying in a large hole in the ground that must have been dug up.
 
Dahil sa lakas ng ulan, malapit na siyang matabunan ng putik kung hindi pa siya makakaahon sa hukay na iyon, and only then did she realize that her gun was missing. She tried to find it under the mud; maybe she could find it, pero kahit anong gawin niya, hindi niya pa rin ito mahanap. In her mind, she doesnʼt want any other way to fight the strangers, but the gun will be her only weapon to save herself; if she loses that, she wonʼt be able to save her life anymore.
 
She tried to climb out of the mud and left the pit where she woke up. She had no idea why she was in this place, sa lugar kung saan hindi naman pamilyar sa kaniya, at mas lalo siyang nagtaka kung bakit may mga malalaking krus na nakatayo sa bawat malalaking bato na para bang puntod. She was in a cemetery, but where is this place?

She tried to stand up and walk, but she still stumbled because she felt she had a lame leg. Mayroon din siyang naramdaman na may mga sugat sa kaniyang katawan; hindi na niya iyon inisa-isa at ipinasawalang-bahala ang mga pasa sa katawan. Hindi siya sumuko; ipinagpatuloy niyang hanapin ang baril dahil napakahalaga niyon para sa kaniya.
 
Until she finally found it, she saw it scattered on the grass na punong-puno ng putik. She observed the whole environment, and although she didnʼt know what time it was, it was dark all around, and she couldnʼt see any light. Only the thunder and lightning gave light and noise to the environment, with the full moon in the sky.
 
She just knelt in front of the grave, checking the whole place where she was, and she tried to remember what happened to her before she woke up and landed in this place, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldnʼt figure out why she lost her memory at this moment. “Shit! Где я?” (Gde ya?” means, “Where am I?”) bulong niya. “Anong nangyari sa akin? Bakit ako narito?!”

She also tried to shout while looking up at the sky and the big raindrops falling on her face. She was also getting cold from the extremely cold wind that was hitting her, and her whole body was shaking because she was already wet from the rain. Muli siyang tumayo, kinuha ang kaniyang baril, at nagpatuloy sa paglalakad, kahit siyaʼy paika-ika.
 
She never knew when the rain would stop. She didnʼt know where she was going, especially the place, or maybe where else she could end up instead of going home. She remembered her friends; for sure, they were worried about her. She looked for a shelter where she wouldnʼt get rained on and might get sick.

Her phone is gone; it was with the riding-in-tandem that she encountered that afternoon when she was at the park. Fortunately, she left one of her phones in the backpack where her important belongings were, but her wallet was also inside the bag that was taken by the two men who chased her.
 
She remembered what Sarah had said—the woman who had given her advice to be careful with people who might be interested in her. Times are really different now; even ten years later, everything seems to be the same.

Sa loob ng maraming taon, na walang masyadong pakalat-kalat na modus at kriminal sa paligid, ngunit isang tao lamang ang gumagawa ng karumal-dumal na pagpatay sa mga taong inosente, and even during those ten years, it still couldnʼt be identified. Ni walang nakakaalam kung ano ang kaniyang hitsura, o palatandaan na ang taong iyon ay isang serial killer.
 
Rhian thought that maybe that serial killer was the reason why she was here in a secluded place, at ikinamulatan na lamang niyang nasa isang hukay siya nakahiga at natatabunan ng putik; she didnʼt know when, but she would wait even if the sun came out so she could find a way back to the boarding house or to her house, hoping to survive the darkness of this place and the bad weather of rain and cold wind.