IMMUNO (Taglish)

Chapter 11: Mommy's Little Girl

It was a good 10-15 seconds of kissing.

I couldn't blame myself. I honestly thought that the man I love was actually dead, but now he's here. Alive! I will kiss him as long as I want. I was kind of surprised na hindi ako umiiyak at this moment. It may still be the adrenaline.. I guess.

But then I realized hindi lang nga pala kami ang magkasama.

Napabalikwas ako nang maalala kong nasa harap namin si Julia. Not that we're so dedicated in keeping what Jerome and I have in secret. Obvious naman sa reaction ko kanina sa may gate ng compound nina Julia kung gaano ako ka-"concerned", noong akala kong kinain na si Jerome ng mga infected.

Ugh. Such a thought gave me goosebumps. Anyway.

"Uhm, Julia." sabi ko. "I-I can explain.."

"Explain what?" tanong niya. Nakangiti siya at naaninag ko si Mona Lisa sa hitsura niya. "Akala niyo ba hindi ko napapansin noon pa?"

Bigla siyang tumawa ng mahina. Pero kita ang saya sa mga mata niya.

"You guys are so cute together." dagdag pa niya. "Mga tinginan niyo pa lang sa bahay, alam na alam ko nang may 'something'".

"So, it's okay with you?" tanong ni Jerome. "It doesn't bother you at all?"

"Sus. Why would it bother me? I mean, c'mon, are you guys living in 1983? It's 2019 and we're in the middle of a freakin' virus outbreak." sagot ni Julia. "Aside from surviving this chaos, I think it's also good if we can love whoever we want." Sabay kindat. "Anyway, we better get going. Since we're travelling by foot, kailangan nating makahanap either ng sasakyan o ng bahay na matutuluyan once abutan tayo ng dilim."

Pareho kami ni Jerome na nalaglag ang panga sa little speech ni Julia. She's freakin' awesome! Sa tinatagal-tagal naming magkasama sa iisang bubong, ngayon lang ako nagstart na makita ang kabaitan niya. I felt quite guilty sa mga pagsusungit ko sa kanya noon. It made total sense kung bakit siya minahal ni Jerome, dati.

We continued our journey and surprisingly, kakaunting infected lang ang mga naencounter namin kahit sa main highway ang binabaybay namin.

It also gave us more chance to learn dealing with the infected, especially ngayong na-confirm naming kahit immune ako sa virus, the infected didn't recognize that. They still tried to kill me just like the other normal people.

Although you will never really get used to killing them. Each of them may kani-kanyang buhay noon. May pamilya, possibly may mga anak, may mga goals at pangarap. At sa isang saksak ng kutsilyo sa noo, parang lahat ng 'yon nawala.

It helped a lot na palagi kaming nireremind ni Julia na they're not the people they were, before they got infected. That their instincts were to kill us, and that we're only defending ourselves. It's definitely not like we're killing them for pleasure.

She told us that our motivation should come from the lives of others striving to survive this plague. That once we reach the DOH Headquarters, a cure will be developed, and the future of mankind will be restored.

Hearing it was kind of a long-shot. Pero saksi ako sa sarili kong immunity. And the fact na buhay ako ngayon, means there's still hope.

"Kailangan natin makahanap ng kotse." Sabi ni Julia. "Para mas mabilis tayong makarating sa DOH."

Isang diretso at tila walang katapusang highway ang tinatahak namin on foot. Tagaktak na ang pawis namin at mauubos na rin ang baon naming mga tubig. Lagpas isang oras pa lang kaming naglalakad pero pakiramdam ko ay pang isang buong araw na ang naubos kong energy.

"Sumilong muna tayo do'n." Sabi ni Jerome. Tinuturo niya ang bakanteng lote sa gilid ng highway na may nakatanim na malaking puno ng alatiris. May mahabang upuan ito sa ilalim na tila nang-aakit ng mga pagod at uhaw na manlalakbay tulad namin. "That's a good spot. Makikita kaagad natin kung may papalapit na infected."