Persona Non Grata

Scene 10 - The Partisan

The fighting continues as I sprinted my way across Calle Victoria - which was the street that I had taken earlier to go to Señor Mercado's house. Along the way, I saw a handful of my classmates, along with them Quintino, running towards my direction. From a distance, I can hear the fierce exchange of gunfire as I drew closer to the school. Señor Mercado's patients live just around this street, so it is likely I'll run into him sooner or later.

"Get away from here, Francisco! The tulisanes are coming!" warned Quintino as he sprinted, waving his arms about as if trying to disperse a flock of ducks.

An interesting thing indeed, because Señor Mercado warned me of this days ago and I never expected this to happen so soon.

Moments later, Quintino slowed down in his pace to approach me.

"It's not safe here Kiko! The tulisanes are numerous and they are armed to the teeth. Come away!" Quintino invited, tugging the sleeve of my coat.

"I can't go just yet. Señor Mercado is out there! I need to find him!" I refused.

"You're going out there to look for your former employer?! Are you crazy?! He's as good as dead! You're not even armed! The plaza is going to be overrun any minute now! Let us flee while we still can!" Quintino invited once more, who seemed eager than ever to flee.

"You go on ahead to safety. I can't leave without him. Señor Mercado was like a father to me. I owe the man a lot." I told him, giving him a tap on the shoulder.

Quintino gave a huge sigh. "You are spectacularly stupid for someone with such high intellect, do you know that?!" he teased, as he responded with a tap on my shoulder. "Well, it's not as if I can persuade you otherwise, eh? I'll go on ahead and lay low. Meet me in the panciteria once you're out...and don't die! We still have a thesis coming up!"

"Why, thank you for such words of inspiration!" I sarcastically replied.

Quintino gave a smirk. "I'll be off now, my friend. May God keep you safe." he replied as he took off without another word.

Minutes pass, and the fighting seemed to become more intense. I can see around fifteen soldiers marching double-time on the far side of Calle Victoria. On the other hand, the tulisanes - which seemed to number around twenty, charges towards the soldiers' direction, brandishing their bolos and firing their rifles in succession.

This street is obviously compromised, and I have no choice but to take other routes. Luckily, Calle Cabildo seems to be clear of hostile forces, and I can take this path to cut through Recoletos and go to Calle Escuela where Pepay the dancing girl lives. I know for a fact that Señor Mercado makes his rounds around this area because I sometimes go there to...never mind. What matters is that this woman may be one of Señor Mercado's patients, and she may give me clues about his whereabouts.

With this in mind, I started to make my way across Calle Cabildo. The street was so awfully quiet and barren despite the fighting in the distance that it felt like I was walking into the darkest depths of Hades itself. However, as I just passed one of the cafés in the area, the silence was broken with the sound of feet shuffling in the distance. Being on high alert, I immediately made myself scarce and hid behind one of walls of the structures lining the streets, which happen to belong to the café I once frequented during my earlier years in college. Carefully, I moved my head outside the cover of the wall to peek, and to my surprise, I saw a man wearing a salakot, armed with a revolver and a bolo. The man walked slowly as he prowls along the street in the most conspicuous manner. His head moves slowly from left to right, as if scanning the surroundings carefully.

From where I hid, I tried to study his features as much as I can, and from what I can gather, he seems to be just a frail old man. His loadout tells me he must've been one of the tulisanes, but something tells me that his presence here is not by accident.