Saving Humanity

Chapter Forty-Five: Time to Wake Up, Part Five

A/N: This is the last chapter of Saving Humanity. Maraming salamat sa mga matiyagang naghintay. Since 2017 ko pa ito sinusulat! Please, wait once more for the Epilogue.

Chapter Forty-Five: Time to Wake Up, Part Five

Holly

Nagtulong sina Ephraim at Bea na buhatin ang walang malay na si Raf. Samantalang si Ian naman ay inalalayan nina Felicity at Dr. Valdez. He regained his consciousness some time while we were looking at the dead body of the President. Andre is holding my sister.

Nagdesisyon si Jared at ang kanyang ina na huwag na munang ilabas ang kapatid niya. All of us are too weak to handle him. Baka kung ano lang ang magawa niya. Nagpresinta si Kris na tawagin si Kenji upang tulungan kami.

Lahat sila ay umalis na ng chamber, maliban sa amin ni Jared at ang nanay niya. I told him to leave his brother for a short while to catch his breath, but he doesn't want to. Ayaw ko namang iwan silang dalawa rito kaya nagdesisyon ako na samahan na lang sila.

The entire place is eerily quiet now. We have nothing but dead bodies and trapped children as companions. The President still lies down where he was shot. Kung kanina ay malakas ang loob ko na titigan siya, with my adrenaline gone, I can't seem to even spare a glance at him.

Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na patay na siya. Earlier, he seemed undefeatable. Halos mawalan na ako ng pag-asa habang napalilibutan kami ng mga sundalo niya. I thought we werenät going to make it out of here alive. But here we are.

Wala kaming ideya kung anong nangyayari sa labas. I'm sure Felicity and the others can handle it. With their leader gone, the remaining soldiers won't have any choice but to follow our lead.

"Why were you with the President earlier?" tanong ni Jared sa ina niya na bumasag sa katahimikan ng paligid. "Did he force you to come with him as a way to overwhelm me?"

His mother shakes her head, then smiles softly. "Kinausap ako ni Ephraim tungkol sa nangyari. My first instinct was to confront the President, pero naisip ko na kapag ginawa ko iyon, baka ikulong niya lang ako kasama ninyo. That's why I had to pretend that he has my loyalty."

"How did you manage to convince him?"

"It's a long story, Jared. I'll tell you all about it once we manage to get your brother out of here safely."

Jared seems to be satisfied with the answer. He turns to me.

"We still haven't found the antidote."

Napatingin ako sa nakasaradong pinto sa kabilang dulo ng hallway. We still haven't checked it out. Paano kung nasa likod nga ng pinto na iyon ang antidote? How would we be able to unleash it without jeopardizing our safety?

Malinaw na sinabi nina Gerald at Bea na delikado sa amin na direktang ma-expose sa antidote. It needs to be unleashed into the air for it to work and wake the people up. Pero paano? Should we blow this place up? Or will the antidote be disintegrated with the fire?

We still have a lot of time, now that the President is dead. Hindi ngayon ang tamang panahon para pagurin ko ang sarili ko sa pag-iisip.

I must've been staring at the closed door, because Jared suddenly speaks up.

"Do you want to check?"

I nod, slowly. Wala namang mawawala kung kukumpirmahin namin ang existence ng antidote, hindi ba?

Halos sabay kaming tumayo ni Jared. His mother starts to follow us, but he instructs her to stay. We slowly approach the door, our footsteps echoing.