Saving Humanity

Chapter Eight: The Lone Man in the Middle of the Night

Chapter Eight: The Lone Man in the Middle of the Night

Holly

Sandy cried for an hour before she finally calmed down. Dumiretso na siya sa pagtulog pagkatapos.

As for me, sleep is far away from reach. I tried multiple times to succumb to the dark and comforting pit of unconsciousness, but it seems that my brain has too much activities going on that sleep would be utterly impossible.

Ang daming mga bagay na tumatakbo sa isip ko ngayon. Random thoughts and questions about this Institute, the extra-terrestrial beings, and life itself. Siguro ay ito ang epekto ng ilang araw na pagkawala ng malay ko.

I can hear Sandy's soft breathing on the other side of the room. Honestly, hindi ako sanay ng may kasama sa kwarto. Sa bahay kasi, may sari-sarili kaming kwarto. Malaki ang pagpapahalaga ko sa personal space ko.

But I have no choice here. Besides, hindi naman masamang maging roommate si Sandy. I can feel that she's a good person.

Huminga ako nang malalim at tumitig sa kisame. My jumbled thoughts continue to swarm inside my head until, finally, sleep claims me.

*****

"Do you want to join the military?" Sandy suddenly asks me during breakfast.

"Why the hell would I do that?" tanong ko. "Besides, hindi naman sila basta-basta kumukuha ng mga ipapasok nila sa military, diba?"

"It's different now," Sandy answers, putting a spoonful of soup in her mouth. "Anyone who wants to join the military will undergo training. Wala ng age limit or anything."

Makes sense. Since the world is technically experiencing an apocalypse, certain rules aren't recognized anymore. But I know that the President won't be using the military to save people. Siya nga mismo ang nagpapasok ng mga extra-terrestrial beings dito.

Ang hindi ko lang maintindihan ay bakit niya nagawang ibenta ang sarili niyang bansa sa iba? Anong ipinangako sa kanya ng mga aliens para pumayag siyang ipasakop ang Pilipinas? Wealth? Immortality? Ganu'n na lang ba ang kapalit ng kalayaan?

Also, aside from the weird flying vessel that we saw right before the EMP, there had been no sightings of the extra-terrestrial beings. Hell, we don't even know what they look like.

Something's fishy here. What if out own government was the one who set out the airborne virus that put everyone to sleep? What if there's no alien invasion at all? Is it possible that all of the things that we've read in document were all fabricated?

There's only one way to find out. We need to get the President to talk, to tell us what really happened that night. We need a solid plan on how to trick him to tell us everything. It seems impossible, though. We don't even know where or how to start.

"Holly?" Sandy's voice cuts through my trail of thoughts. "Will you join?"

"You should," pangsang-ayon ni James. "Nakita ko 'yung daring escape mo. I can confidently say that you can survive in combat."

Napangiti ako sa sinabi niya. Then I shrug. "Let me think about it."

*****

"Do you think I should join the military?" I ask Jared while scrubbing the pot in front of me. We were asked to wash the dishes after breakfast, a dozen other teenagers with us.

"I don't know," Jared admits. "Hindi naman kasi tayo magtatagal dito. But, you in the military might help us formulate a plan to get out of here."

Right after we get some information from the President, we need to get out of here immediately and find our companions. We can't just walk out of here, with the soldiers guarding every exit. We need to distract them long enough for us to get out of here.