Marcus Diaries | A Collection of One Shot Stories

Out of Need | A Short Story (002)

"You have to submit yourself now, young man. You can't go anywhere," a voice echoed coming from an aged uniformed man, foot marching, while silence took over the streets.

"Just get lost!" the guy gaspingly mumbled, his utterance swallowed by his nonstop breaths as he ran and shifted his direction to a route, leaving him free from whoever that man chasing him. He, again, ignored the idea of stealing goods to feed her children, young starving children.

"I'm sorry, Lord. I just need to do this," he silently whispered to himself.

He swung his head back to take a glimpse of his predator, when suddenly-

Thug!
The guy bumped into someone.

"Why on earth are you blocking my way? Back off!" he protested.

Still gasping for breath, he looked at the stranger from his head to toe. The man looks like a beggar; filthy, foul-odored, and sickly. From its appearance, his judgment was right.

"G-give me a-a f-food, please?" the stranger humbly requested, coughed after.

Quite swayed with the stranger's situation and anxious at the same time that the uniform man might have found him once again, the guy hurriedly offered him a canned good, and a small slice of bread. Then, he continued running with a last glance towards the stranger as to bid goodbye.

---

When he opened the door, his children were so happy when he bring something home, offered them a kiss, and joyfully ate together.

"Son, will you please turn the TV on?" he demanded.

"Yes, father," his son replied.

For a moment, an image flashed on the screen. He abruptly stood up, now heart pounding, and body shaking. A touch of frost ran down his spine.

"An escapee, a patient of COVID-19 who has severe condition, has escaped from Southern Philippines Medical Center," the woman in a semi-formal suit announced on the news.

He was terrified. The escapee looks so familiar.

"No!" That was the only word he had in mind.