"Hey Ivo. How's the arm?" Matthew peeked through the driver cab's doorway and placed a hand on Ivo's shoulder. Ivo got jolted out of his somnolence and stared at the sling on his right arm.
"I...forgot that I got hurt." Ivo ran his left hand along the sling and up to his shoulder. He unfastened the strap that hung around his neck and removed the entire sling.
"Hey, come on Ivo. That's not cool. Just let it heal for a b—. "
Ivo held out his left hand to tell Matthew that he was still all right. He stretched out his right arm slowly and then rotated it by the shoulder. The bandages on his shoulder were caked with coagulated blood but not discolored with pus.
"Your wife's a good nurse. I feel better," said Ivo while massaging his right shoulder. "You know, I'm surprised that this train still runs. Normally, the MRT's conk out whenever there's a nationwide black out."
"Well, that changed with the new president," said Matthew. "DOTC redesigned public infrastructures so that they'll run on back-up generators. And they still tap into the public electric grid but they also redirect a portion of the electricity for storage in case of emergencies like this."
"I'm glad my exorbitant taxes have been put to good use then," commented Ivo in jest. "So, let me ask again." Ivo's tone suddenly shifted to that of seriousness. "What's the plan?"
Matthew smirked upon hearing Ivo's persistence. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway to get himself comfortable. "We'll stop at Shaw Boulevard station and then wait until sunrise. After that, we'll make our way to Greenfield district where we'll leave via helicopter," Matthew explained.
"Helicopter, huh? Sounds cool! And what about those monsters? What do we do with them?" Ivo leaned against the chair and folded his arms to mirror Matthew's stance.
Matthew shrugged at the question. "There's nothing we can do. Just like in Quezon Avenue, we fight through them." He noted the look of frustration on Ivo's face upon hearing his answer and grinned as if he won an argument.
"Oh, great. Not again." Ivo unfolded his arms and slumped his shoulders.
"Don't worry. You said you rocked in Counter Strike. Right?" Matthew gave a sarcastic grin. Ivo snorted in annoyance and turned his chair forward to focus his vision elsewhere.
"Hey," said Ivo while his eyes scanned the dark landscape before him. "I know that it has been five days since everything went to shit but I still have no idea what's going on. Would you mind sharing what your Intelligence Department has told you?" Ivo turned his chair again to stare at Matthew who became apprehensive after hearing Ivo's question.
Matthew gave a long sigh after seating himself down. "Do you remember back in 1992 when a certain showbiz reporter suddenly went missing?"
"Um..." Ivo raised his eyes to reminisce. "Danica...Miclat...was it? I don't know man. I was five back then. I barely remembered the news when I was that young."
"Her last whereabouts were in Manila South Harbor. Our sources said that she found something strange in the harbor, a sunken ship that suddenly appeared," said Matthew.
"And there was treasure in that ship? And she was trying to score a scoop?" asked Ivo.
"There was no treasure," Matthew answered. "Instead, she found monsters."
Ivo remained silent after hearing what sounded to him was an incredulous story. "And how did you guys know that she found monsters in the ship?"
"Because NBI found the footage. It was damaged by slat water but they sent it to experts in the US to restore it. When NBI got it back, they saw it." Matthew stood up and stared straight into Ivo's eyes. "And the same ship reappeared in Manila South Harbor five days ago. When NBI tried to raid it, the monsters came out."
