THE OWL'S NEST 2

Chapter 5: The Raven

The Drunken boy from the Christmas accident turned and got stunned. A dark figure with Red eyes was in his room. He immediately knew who he was. But why was he here?

"Sir Owl?" The Boy was careful with his tone.

"Bakit ka naka wheelchair?" The Owl's robotic filtered voice had no emotion.

The Drunken boy looked down and hid his despair with a weak smile.

"Sir, naaksidente kasi ako nung pasko e. Di ko talaga sinasadya. Naka inom kasi ako. Naka bangga ako pa ako ng pamilya na pa uwi palang. Tinulungan nga nila ako pagka tapos, tumulong sila sa pag papa gamot. Kaso, nagka kumplikashon. Kinailangan nila putulin yung paa ko."

The boy broke down while trying to reach for a leg that wasn't there anymore. The Owl stood there in the dark without a word.

The boy spoke again "ser, sana ma ligtas mo rin yung mga katulad ko. Pede mo sila saluhin bago sila ma hulog.. Bago sila ma saktan.. Nagtitiwala kami sayo, Owl. Itong krisis natin, marami saamin ang mangangailangan ng tulong sayo."

Earlier that day, Will wasn't able to accompany Kate to have her tested for the virus. He was up all night trying to track down the Drunken boy.

Will went straight to Kate's place. At 7:30pm, the house was weirdly quiet and no lights were turned on. Will snuck in through the window by Kate's room. He saw her in bed turned over.

"Kate?"

"Without the top doctors from all over the world, the hopes of getting an antidote against the virus seems bleak." a CNN reporter said on the news.

Alvin Agila and the President were watching this at the Palace. "Ano ijo? Nakuha mo na ba?" The President asked Alvin Agila. "Opo shempre. Sakto 2 doses lang. Heto." He replied. As the President injected the antidote into his bloodstream. The President started choking immediately. As the President's mouth foamed, Alvin Agila sat at the President's chair.

"Hmm they were right. Mejo kulang pa yung gamot. Kelangan nga ng plasma ng specific na tao na malakas ang antibodies." Agila smiled as he watched the President crawl.

"As it is, I think it's just poison. It's nothing. Just like you. Isn't that right, Father?" Agila said as his Father's eyes rolled at the back of his skull.

On the other side of the city, Will snuck into Kate's room at night time, hours before he went to the Drunken Boy's home.

"Na track ko na sha sawakas! Kate" Will was frantic. He wasn't sleeping anymore. Kate would try and message him but would never reply. Will has missed out birthdays, family gatherings, and a medical check up that was massively important.

At work, Will was demoted for always being late in signing in during the day time. Now that they were in Enhanced Community Quarantine, they were permitted to work from home. The management changed their minds in taking him in as one of the managers. Eleanor, Will's team leader, was disappointed in him. She'd learned so much from him and yet, his performance was just gone. Concerned, she would try to talk to Will all the time but it was no use.

Back in the present time, Kate sat up slowly without facing Will.

"Halos di na kita na kakausap ng matino." Kate said.

"We talked about this. May role ako sa bansa natin na would take much of our time." Will said.

"Role mo mag track down ng bata na walang laban sayo? 'Our' time?? Mine's going to run out soon." Kate replied.

"What do you mean? What happened kanina?" Will asked.

"Nag try na ko mag pa-confine nung sinabi nila sakin. But instead pina uwi nila ako. Wala na kasing space sa ospital." Kate said.

Will was in shock. It was worse than the accident. It shook him out of his rails a bit and got to regain focus a little bit. "Sorry ..i didn't know" was all he could muster. Ashamed and now aware of his irresponsible actions.

"This.. All this isn't your priority anymore. You want vengeance, you won't find it here. You want to be that kind of a hero? Go out there and don't come back here." Kate said flatly.

Across town, Eleanor was excitedly waiting for her father to get out of jail. She was already planning special dishes to cook at home while a quarantine was happening. The virus was spreading so fast, that the government decided that they should quarantine that afternoon.

The gates opened and saw Mr. Wolf was walking carefully out of the gates. The guard inside thought he was playing around and so he shoved the old man out the gate. Mr. Wolf almost dropped to the ground but Eleanor got to catch him in time.

Eleanor glared sharply at the guard inside.

As she held her father for a few seconds, she felt that her Father was a bit too warm. They sat in her car for a while. Eleanor observed her father closely. There's a fever. But no dry coughing or anything else.

"don't worry anak. Wala akong virus." Mr. Wolf assured his daughter. He was proud that his little girl, his trusty Raven, grew up to be a good observer. Eleanor gave her father some paracetamol for the fever while they drove home. "Nevermind." she thought. "Uwi na kami"

The fun was cut short when they suddenly encountered a checkpoint.

Each checkpoint around the country had one Agila Drone for back up. The drone glared at them while Eleanor stopped. She lowered her window as the soldier went to talk to her.

"magandang gabi." the Soldier said as he checked her temperature with a temp gun.

"This one has a fever." the other Soldier announced to the others referring to Mr. Wolf. Eleanor was immediately on edge.

Suddenly, the large Agila Drone flew to the hood of the car. A voice that sounded like it was on the phone in the other line spoke.

"well well! Si Mr. Wolf. Yung Vigilante sa bus! I'll take this one mga sir."

The Agila Drone ripped the roof open like paper and flew away with Mr. Wolf.

The soldiers stood still with blank faces as if nothing was happening. Enraged, Eleanor yelled and demanded them to return her father immediately. Everything in her mind was being mixed up. The happy thoughts of the Afritada she cooked earlier that day and the surprise Red Ribbon cake that was waiting in their small refrigerator back at home. Then the horror of witnessing her father being taken away all over again.

There was no control here. All she could do is watch the mechanical raptor rip open the roof of their car.

"detain nalang ren natin ito. Magulo e." one of the Soldiers said. One of them grabbed Eleanor and it all started.

She pulled the soldier's arm towards her and grabbed the soldier's hand gun. Ruger 57's weren't heavy at all she thought. She shot the soldier's arm and it spewed out steel and black oil.Instinct was driving her actions now. Years of weapons training from her father took over Eleanor marking the birth of the Raven.