Saving Humanity

Chapter Twenty-Three: Dangerous Waters

Chapter Twenty-Three: Dangerous Waters

Ian

"Sa tingin ko, ayos na kami dito," Pauline informs the driver. She's sitting adjacent to me, at the back of the driver. Andre is silent beside her. "Bababa na kami at maghahanap na lang ng masisilungan."

More or less, fifteen minutes have already passed since we managed to escape themonsters chasing us. Fifteen minutes of silence and staring at one another, wondering where this guy will take us.

"Nahihibang ka na ba?" the driver replies, not taking his eyes off the road. He's still wearing his rifle like a sling bag on his left shoulder, the weapon itself tucked on his right armpit. "Tumingin kayo sa paligid. Sa tingin n'yo ba hahayaan ko kayo na bumaba?"

He's right. We're still at the expressway, and there's nothing but trees and a long stretch of road, as far as the light from the moon would allow us to see. Still, I don't trust this guy. Ever since we woke up from the Sleeping Syndrome, we never met anyone else outside of our little circle. Well, except for those military guys who took Jared and Holly. But we've gotten this far without letting anyone else join us, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Andre, however, has a different opinion.

"He's got a gun, guys," he states, wide-eyed. He keeps his voice low so that the driver won't hear. "A freaking gun. And he's built like the freaking Hulk. I'm sure he can protect us."

"Well, that makes him even more dangerous." Beside me, Felicity counters. "Sa tingin ko, kailangan na nating bumaba, bago pa siya kumilos nang masama laban sa atin."

Pauline sighs. "We have to make a decision now, before it gets too late."

I weigh our options in my mind. If we get off this vehicle, we're going to have to walk until we reach the Sanctuary, unless we find a working vehicle, which will be hard because of the EMP that those extra-terrestrial fucktards deployed recently. But at least, we'll be sticking to our original plan.

If we stay with this stranger, we will have someone to "protect us"  like Andre stated. We'll also have an access to an actual working vehicle that we can use to take us to our destination. Everything will be perfectly aligned if we chose to stick with this guy, but there's a catch.

He's a complete stranger. And stranger tends to have an ulterior motive.

"Where exactly are you taking us?" I ask.

The stranger's eyes meet mine through the rear view mirror. "Bakit mo tinatanong?"

I shrug. "Well, if you won't allow us to get off, it's only natural for us to know where you'll be taking us, right?"

"That's right," Pauline agrees. "Kailangan naming malaman kung mapagkakatiwalaan ka ba namin."

The stranger laughs. "Iniligtas ko kayo sa mga humahabol sa inyo. Hindi pa ba sapat na pruweba iyon?"

Pauline sighs. "Just tell us where you're taking us."

The stranger's laugh disappears abruptly, almost like it has been cut off. He's silent for a while. Then after a few seconds, he finally answers.

"Hindi ko pwedeng sabihin sa inyo."

Nagkatinginan kami ng mga kasama ko.

"Why?" I ask.

Again, the stranger takes his time to answer.

"Dahil kapag nalaman ninyo, wala akong ibang pagpipilian kundi patayin kayo."

A gasp escape from Felicity's mouth. She takes my left hand, gripping it so tightly it almost hurts. Andre's eyes is wide with fear. Out of all of us, Pauline is the only one who seems unaffected. She calmly meets my eyes for a brief moment, then her gaze drifts to the back of the stranger's head, ice-cold.

"What do we do now?" Felicity whispers to me, her voice tinged with fear.

Before I could come up with an answer that won't scare her any further, we all jump involuntarily as a loud laugh booms out of the stranger's mouth.

"The fuck?" Andre blurts out.

We all look at one another, scared and confused. There can only be three reasons why he's laughing. First, he's not really serious abou twhat he said earlier. Or it's the laugh of triumph because he captured us without putting much effort and will probably kill us once we arrive at wherever he's taking us. Or he's just plain crazy.

After a few moments, the stranger stops laughing. He looks at us through the rearview mirror.

"Biro lang," he says, out of breath. "Dadalhin ko kayo sa bahay namin."

"Namin?" I ask.

"Oo. Kasama ko ang pamilya ko."

That's strange. If he's with his family, why would he take us to his house? I wouldn't do that if I were him. In this kind of situation, the last thing that I would do is to let a bunch of strangers near my family. Who knows what they would do, if given the chance.

I ask him the question on my mind, and he just shrugs.

"Mukha naman kayong mga normal na teenagers," he answers. "At kung sakaling man na may plano kayong gumawa ng masama, kayang-kaya naming depensahan ang mga sarili namin."

"With a rifle like that, I'm pretty sure that we don't want to cause you any trouble," Andre says with a nervous laugh. Pauline nudges him with her elbow and looks at him sharply.

"Tama ka diyan," the stranger glances at Andre for a brief moment. "Hindi ninyo gugustuhin na gumawa ng gulo. Marami kaming ganito sa bahay." Then he adjusts the strap of his rifle, making his point.

I look at the back of his head. I still don't trust him. And I still don't think that staying with him is a good idea.

"Sasama ba tayo sa kanya?" Pauline asks under her breath. "We can knock him off, steal his gun and truck and get the hell out of here."

"We can't do that," Andre counters. "He has a gun."

Felicity looks at me, waiting for my opinion. One thing that the alien invasion taught us is to trust our hunches. If we feel that something is wrong, we bolt without any hesitation. It has saved us on many occasions, and because of it, we managed to stay alive.

But right now, my hunch is telling me to stick with this guy, because he's capable of protecting us.

"Let's stick with him," I declare. "For now, at least. We can get some rest, and then we'll discuss our next move in the morning."

Felicity nods. "I agree with Ian."

"I guess we don't have much choice, anyway," Pauline says with a shrug. "Let's just hope that his family won't butcher us in our sleep."

"We can take turns watching each other's backs," I suggest. "That way, we can get more bearing in our surroundings and get as much rest that we could get. Then we plan tomorrow."

"We plan tomorrow," they echo in unison.

 I'm fully aware that we're treading on dangerous waters here. This guy can butcher us at any moment if we let our guard down. I just hope that I didn't just put the lives of my companions on the line with my decision.