7. Survivors

“What was that?” August asked.

“No one moves,” said Carla.

“They are going out,” August whispered. They looked at him but he continued blinking. And when he opened his eyes again, he saw that there were only a few zombies inside the building. Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard again. They heard gunshots too.

“Something is happening.” Carla went to the window and looked outside. Some zombies were going to the garden. “They are going after the sound. This could be our chance!”

“No!” August stopped her.

“What do you mean no? They are leaving us alone. Now is our chance!”

August when near the door. He blinked and the system came out in front of him. He clicked the map. There he saw the red figures that were the zombies going to the garden. But there were also white figures entering the park.

Location: Rizal Park

Supplies: Food. Water.

Zombies: ???

Survivors: 50

August frowned. The survivors suddenly become a lot. “Let’s go out,” he said. He started removing the table. They helped him and then they opened the door.

“Gather some weapons,” Carla said.

Joseph, Leo, Nicka, and Jude gathered weapons. August was about to go out but Carla stopped him. He looked at her in confusion.

“We need to stay close,” she said.

“I know. But the zombies are going somewhere. I think it was rescuers that came.”

“We’ll see.”

The six of them went outside the room. In front were August and Carla. In the middle were Nicka and Jude. In the end were Joseph and Jude. They all walked silently outside of the building. They can still hear the gunshots, and sometimes some explosions.

August saw from his map that more people were coming from the road. Why can't I see what kind of people are going to arrive? ’ he said. His fear subsided a bit, thinking that help had come. Outside, he saw that the zombies were going down the road. What was the source of the firing?

“Soldiers?” Carla frowned. She saw a  man in uniform from afar. “They are soldiers! Let’s go there!” she said.

They all run to the soldiers, while they also shoot the zombies. Because of what they did, the soldiers noticed their presence.

“Be careful! Survivors ahead!”

“Take them to the vehicle!”

August and his companions were relieved because they were finally saved. Five soldiers came to them and cleared their path.

“Run!”

“Let’s go!” Carla said.

Finally, they reached the soldiers. They helped them enter a vehicle, and they immediately went out of the park.

August couldn’t help but feel devastated by what he saw outside. Suddenly, everything became different. The cars were left alone in the middle of the streets. Some buildings were on fire. He could see blood everywhere.

“What the hell happened?” August whispered. He shook his head and rested his back.

Location: Army Camp/ Covered court

Supplies: Everything

Zombies: 0

Survivors: ???

August blinked. He looked around and saw more soldiers inside. He saw some survivors lying on the ground. There were some people in white checking on the injured. It looked like an evacuation center. But the outside was heavily guarded.

“Get down!” a soldier ordered them as soon as the truck stopped.

August got off the truck and followed his companions. They were guided to a room. But Carla and Nicka were guided to another room.

“Where are we?” Jude asked.

“It looks like a camp,” Joseph answered.

“We should be safe here,” said Leo.

“Then my family could be here!” Jude felt a little hope.

August didn’t say a word. The place was really a camp. Looked like the soldiers were gathering survivors and keeping them safe. Which was right because they all needed it. Inside the room, they were examined one by one. The woman soldier said it was protocol to keep them all safe. They were stripped down and bathed. They checked their scars to see if it was a bite. August, so one man had a bite mark. He was immediately dragged out of the room.

“What will happen to him?” August asked the soldier. He couldn’t stop his curiosity.

“He will be taken care of. Please change your clothes now. Show this stub in the next room, and someone will give you vitamins and your bed.”

August took his ticket and sighed. He was wearing a new t-shirt and pants. The soldier who made him wear a white wristband with his name listed. He saw his companions were still being examined. So, he decided to leave the room first. Plus, they were not really together.

“August!”

August stopped and turned around. He saw Jude rushing at him. Like him, his clothes were different already, and he had a wristband.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes.” They continued walking. “I asked them. They’ve been saving some survivors around Manila. My family might be here.”

They entered the second room. Unlike the other rooms, there were people in line here going to a table where a soldier was sitting. The two of them line up with the other people.

“Can you look around?” August asked.

“I need to.”

August gave his stab to the soldier. She handed her a small container containing his food. It was rice and chicken adobo. There was one banana too. When he went to another table, the woman gave him a bottle of water. The last table gave him a card and a pamphlet.

“This is your block and seat number. We don’t have a room for now. Your blanket and pillow were already there.”

“Thank you.” August smiled at the soldier. Then he went out of the room. "This is a true evacuation, and your family may be present."

“I hope so. But it says here we can’t go out of our room.”

August skimmed the pamphlet. He frowned while reading the instructions. “For safety protocols, are we in the same block?” He looked at Jude’s card and saw that they were in the same block.

“I can’t stay here.” Jude looked at the soldier guiding the people. “Sir, can I know where we could check the survivors’ names?”

“You can look for it later. We will have another meeting. We will announce.”

Jude nodded. “Thank you.”

The two of them continued walking. August kept looking around. He noticed the court had been converted into a small hospital. They were surrounded by benches above, where some survivors were already sitting. There he realized that they were at the Araneta Coliseum. This place could occupy a lot of survivors.

August sat in their chair. Each survivor had four chairs on which to rest. They had pillows and blankets already on the chairs. Jude was next to him, and they decided to eat proper food. Not long ago, they saw Joseph and Leo coming too. Then Nicka and Carla

More survivors arrived as time passed. August studied the pamphlet. It was more like instructions about the zombies. If they were bitten, they won’t be saved anymore because they still don’t have a cure for it. If a person turned into a zombie, they couldn’t be saved anymore because their body was already dead. They needed to be killed by damaging the brain. No one knew where it came from or how it happened. But everyone was infected already.