THE SURVIVAL
Rhian heard a loud sound of thunder, and it seemed as if she were drowning in water, with large raindrops falling on her face. Her brow furrowed, and she thought that her body was in a lot of pain. She couldnʼt open her eyes because of the heavy rainwater dripping on her face.
Even in such a situation, she was able to raise her hand to cover her face to prevent the rain from getting even more wet on her face. Pagkatapos niyang imulat ang kaniyang mga mata, na-realize niyang mayroong tubig na umaagos mula sa kaniyang kinahihigaan. Ganoon na lang ang pagkagulat niya, especially since she was lying in the mud, and when she tried to get up, she wondered even more why there was so much soil covering her body.
She coughed as she swallowed the water that flowed from her, but when she tried to stand up, she couldnʼt get up immediately because the ground he was on was so high. Another reason was that she didnʼt understand what was happening or why she just woke up lying in a large hole in the ground that must have been dug up.
Dahil sa lakas ng ulan, malapit na siyang matabunan ng putik kung hindi pa siya makakaahon sa hukay na iyon, and only then did she realize that her gun was missing. She tried to find it under the mud; maybe she could find it, pero kahit anong gawin niya, hindi niya pa rin ito mahanap. In her mind, she doesnʼt want any other way to fight the strangers, but the gun will be her only weapon to save herself; if she loses that, she wonʼt be able to save her life anymore.
She tried to climb out of the mud and left the pit where she woke up. She had no idea why she was in this place, sa lugar kung saan hindi naman pamilyar sa kaniya, at mas lalo siyang nagtaka kung bakit may mga malalaking krus na nakatayo sa bawat malalaking bato na para bang puntod. She was in a cemetery, but where is this place?
She tried to stand up and walk, but she still stumbled because she felt she had a lame leg. Mayroon din siyang naramdaman na may mga sugat sa kaniyang katawan; hindi na niya iyon inisa-isa at ipinasawalang-bahala ang mga pasa sa katawan. Hindi siya sumuko; ipinagpatuloy niyang hanapin ang baril dahil napakahalaga niyon para sa kaniya.
Until she finally found it, she saw it scattered on the grass na punong-puno ng putik. She observed the whole environment, and although she didnʼt know what time it was, it was dark all around, and she couldnʼt see any light. Only the thunder and lightning gave light and noise to the environment, with the full moon in the sky.
She just knelt in front of the grave, checking the whole place where she was, and she tried to remember what happened to her before she woke up and landed in this place, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldnʼt figure out why she lost her memory at this moment. “Shit! Где я?” (Gde ya?” means, “Where am I?”) bulong niya. “Anong nangyari sa akin? Bakit ako narito?!”
She also tried to shout while looking up at the sky and the big raindrops falling on her face. She was also getting cold from the extremely cold wind that was hitting her, and her whole body was shaking because she was already wet from the rain. Muli siyang tumayo, kinuha ang kaniyang baril, at nagpatuloy sa paglalakad, kahit siyaʼy paika-ika.
She never knew when the rain would stop. She didnʼt know where she was going, especially the place, or maybe where else she could end up instead of going home. She remembered her friends; for sure, they were worried about her. She looked for a shelter where she wouldnʼt get rained on and might get sick.
Her phone is gone; it was with the riding-in-tandem that she encountered that afternoon when she was at the park. Fortunately, she left one of her phones in the backpack where her important belongings were, but her wallet was also inside the bag that was taken by the two men who chased her.
She remembered what Sarah had said—the woman who had given her advice to be careful with people who might be interested in her. Times are really different now; even ten years later, everything seems to be the same.
Sa loob ng maraming taon, na walang masyadong pakalat-kalat na modus at kriminal sa paligid, ngunit isang tao lamang ang gumagawa ng karumal-dumal na pagpatay sa mga taong inosente, and even during those ten years, it still couldnʼt be identified. Ni walang nakakaalam kung ano ang kaniyang hitsura, o palatandaan na ang taong iyon ay isang serial killer.
Rhian thought that maybe that serial killer was the reason why she was here in a secluded place, at ikinamulatan na lamang niyang nasa isang hukay siya nakahiga at natatabunan ng putik; she didnʼt know when, but she would wait even if the sun came out so she could find a way back to the boarding house or to her house, hoping to survive the darkness of this place and the bad weather of rain and cold wind.
Sumilong siya sa isang malakong puno, kung saan napakayabong into at hindi na siya masyadong nababasa ng ulan; thatʼs all. Tinatablan pa rin siya ng lamig at napakalakas ng hangin at the same time umaanggi na nanggagaling sa mismomg puno na kaniyang pinagsisilungan. She just shook her head. If she stayed in that place for a long time, the serial killer might come back and catch her again, and maybe that time she wouldnʼt be able to survive.
Hugging herself, she found a way, but she wasnʼt sure if he was going the right way or not. But that was no longer important to her, and she continued walking just to get away from that place. He was able to run when she felt better, but because of the heavy rain, the path was muddy.
Suddenly she heard a strange sound; she didnʼt stop walking, and she took it even further, until... “Beeeep!” She heard a loud car sound, and she stopped in the middle of the road, where the car was stopped and its headlights were on high beam.
Agad namang bumaba ang driver, sigurado kung ayos lang ba ang babae. “Miss? A-Are you okay?” Ngunit bago pa siya tuluyang makalapit sa babae, agad na itinutok ni Rhian ang baril sa lalaki kaya naman, agad itong nagtaas ng kamay. “W-Whoa, miss! Calm down, okay? I... Iʼm not a bad person,” sabi ng lalaki na mayroong panginginig ang kaniyang boses.
“Помоги мне...” (Pomogi mne...” means, “Help me...”) Iyon na lamang ang nasambit ni Rhian mula sa kaniyang bibig. “Please, help me. I need your help!” Napabuntong ng hininga ang lalaki at pinagmasdan ng seryoso ang dalaga na humihingi ng tulong sa kaniya.
Hindi siya nag-alinlangan ang lalaki na pasakayin si Rhian sa kotse nito, habang nagmamaneho, panay ang sulyap ng lalaki sa backseat, kung saan naroon si Rhian, nakaupo ng tahimik at niyayakap ang sarili. “You donʼt have to worry, miss. Everything will be fine,” sabi ng lalaki, at nang marinig iyon ni Rhian ay agad napakunot ang kaniyang noo.
“How did you say that? There is no guarantee that everything will be fine,” sabi niya. “Whatever you say, the reality is that the situation is getting worse than I expected, to everyoneʼs expectations.” The man didnʼt speak again, but he knew and understood what the woman was saying.
Itʼs like he doesnʼt worry about meeting a person na nasa isang madilim ng parte ng lugar, naglalakad sa gitna ng ulan, at basang-basa pa, lalo naʼt babae ito. Rhian didnʼt agree to be dropped off at her home location or return to the boarding house. She first wanted to figure out why, out of so many opportunities, this happened to her now.
The man insisted that the woman stay at his rest house first, especially since she didnʼt agree to send her to the hospital even though he had already covered all the expenses. Pinapasok niya ang babae sa loob, binuksan ang mga ilaw, at pumunta sa itaas para kumuha ng damit na pampalit.
“Oh, magpalit ka muna ng damit dahil basang-basa ka at nilalamig ka na.” Itinuro ng lalaki kung nasaan banda ang banyo para makapagpalit na si Rhian, at nang matapos na siya, mayroon siyang tuwalya na nakabalot sa kaniyang katawan dahil hindi pa rin niya natitiis ang lamig.
She was silent until a few minutes passed when the man made coffee for the two of them. She placed it on the table, but what caught his attention more was the womanʼs gun. The man sat on the other couch across from Rhian, and the silence was broken when the man began to speak to introduce himself.
“I am Vahn Darrel Cromwell y Fernandez, a detective officer and a team leader of Task Force Alert.” He took out his patch and identification card that confirmed that what he was saying was true, and Rhian looked at it immediately, but she didnʼt say anything.
“You can tell me everything so that I know what happened to you and how you ended up in that place that, as far as I know, no one goes to anymore.” Their eyes met each other, and it could be seen in each of their eyes that there was the same expression.
Rhian didnʼt speak, and she avoided looking at the man. “Itʼs just surprising that you, a woman, are in the middle of the road, and there is no light around, wet from the rain, and...” He looked down at the womanʼs gun. “You have expensive guns that are rarely used by law enforcement. May I ask you something? Isa ka rin bang...”
“No,” tipid na sagot ni Rhian habang hindi pa rin nakatingin sa lalaki. “Iʼm not belong to a law enforcement. May nangyari lang na...” She stopped speaking again, but she didnʼt know what to say next. She thought that this might be the opportunity to cooperate with the detective officer in front of her now; this man may be the answer to her questions.
“Then what really happened, miss? I need to hear all of your statements.” And thatʼs where everything started about how she ended up with that man and why she made so many statements from the beginning about how she and her friends were together.
Nasa loob na siya ng kuwarto ngayon, at the guest room, because the man let her stay there. She just sighed as she heard the thunder and the noise of the rain outside, which she knew was still not stopping. Some time has passed; when she saw the wall clock earlier when he arrived at this rest house, it was past three in the morning, and now that the sun was about to rise, she still had no sleep.
She still canʼt sleep well. She feels her body getting hot, but the whole surrounding area remains cold.