Capítulo 4: DON ALGO
After miles of walking, we saw a quiet subdivision that looks like abandoned. It has a double gate full of barbed wire and a post with a woman holding a telescope. She is the lookout who watches every outsider.
"Anyone, let us in?" My mother asked, but the woman didn't answer. She is watching us. Maybe she is waiting for us to turn.
"We need help," I said.
She whistled, and the first gate suddenly opened, and five men went out holding guns. They looked at us and doubted us because we were covered with blood and Sarge was wounded.
"We are not infected," Linda said.
"We are doctors, and we can help in your medical situation", She added while looking at my mother.
"Let us in, please", My mother begged.
They pointed their guns at us and opened the second gate while looking at us. One of them checked us one by one to see if we got bitten, but they didn't see any bite marks because no one of us got bitten.
"Clear"
"Let them in," The woman at the top said.
"Thank you"
As we entered, they immediately closed the gates and walked with us. I looked around the place and saw children playing—women were gardening, cleaning and washing like an ordinary day while men were making an improvised weapons in case the zombies got inside. I saw writing on the wall saying, "Welcome to Don Algo."
"Welcome to Don Algo" The man came from the white house and greeted us.
"You said you're a doctor?" He asked my mother,
"Yes. and she is also a doctor", She answered and pointed at Linda.
He looked at us for a while, took a deep breath, and said, "Get inside."
We went inside his white house, and he let us sit on his couch and looked at us again.
"Where are you come from?"
"Imus", Roel answered.
"And you are in charge of the group?"
We looked at each other, and Roel answered, "We are all in charge", And the man sighed and rubbed his palm on his legs.
"How's out there?"
"Terrible"
"Are the dead still walking?"
"Crawling and running like a jaguar, but not all of them."
"How is that?"
"We don't know."
"Are you got bitten?" He asked, and he looked at Sarge.
"Nope, I got this when our truck crashed because of the running zombies", Sarge answered.
"We need a place to stay."
"Everybody needs it now, " he said and looked at Edwin.
"Why is he quiet?" He asked.
"He's deaf", I answered.
"I let you in because I saw soldiers in your team and doctors, but once anyone of you started a fight here. You will be kicked out of this place."
"You can trust us."
"Okay, I am Ferdinand Rodriguez, leading this place. I am a former lawyer, but since humans started eating humans. I lead this place because our mayor is already a zombie," He said.
"We will set rules that soldiers will help protect the place. We will take turns while the women will help make food. We don't know how long we will stay in this situation, but we are already preparing for the worst thing that might happen," He added.
"Are we clear?" He asked.
"Yes," We answered.
"Okay, I will show you where you will stay later because, doctors, you need to follow me."
My mother and Linda followed him. He brought them to a small room where we could still see it, and we heard him saying, "This tiny box here is our medical kit that you can use to cure his leg" He opened the box hanging on the wall and showed it to my mom and Linda.
"This tiny room will be your new hospital for free because the money right now has no value", He added, and we understand.
"Bring him here."
Luis and Roel bring Sarge into the tiny room, and he lies down on the bed. Ferdinand checked his wound and said, "Not that bad, but you have to stay here because I will show the others the house where you will be going to stay."
"Follow me," He told us.
We went out of the white house and followed him to the house three houses away from his, and he opened the door and let us in. The house is clean with complete appliances that we can enjoy, but I don't know if there's Wi-Fi, but it doesn't matter because what matters now is we have a place to stay with no zombies.
"You have to conserve everything here", He reminded us.
"Suit yourself and behave," He said, and he was about to leave when Luis called his attention.
"If you don't mind. May I know who owns this house?" He suddenly asked. Ferdinand just looked at him without an answer.
"I'm sorry for asking. I know it doesn't matter who," Luis said, laughing to cover his embarrassment because of his stupid question.
"Yeah, It doesn't matter," He said, and he laughed again.
"They are zombies now, " Ferdinand answers, making us look at them.
"But we threw them out, " he added, and he looked at us and waited for another question before he left, but nobody asked. He walked outside the house and closed the door while my mother and Linda followed him because Sarge needed them.
I can finally rest now. I stretched and sat on the couch beside Luis and leaned my head to feel the softness of the couch. It was a long day for us, and it is nice to know that there is still a safe place to live because we didn't expect how we would survive. I took the remote beside the couch and turned on the television. I can't find a channel because all channels were down except for NTN or National Television News. I higher the volume because I want to listen to the full details of what is happening. I got goosebumps when I saw the infected all over Luzon except for the base in Tugegarao, Legazpi and Sorsogon. The southeastern end of Luzon. The nearby island like Masbate, Marinduque, Mindoro and Palawan is not accepting people from Luzon anymore, even though they are still part of Luzon. They don't care if their relatives can't go home as long as they are protecting their place, and I understand because it is the best thing to do for me. The Visayas and Mindanao are doing the same. They are not accepting people from infected places no matter what happens.
I took a deep breath and turned off the television because there was still no explanation for what was happening. How did this all start, and what is the cure? Of course, I don't want to die eaten by the zombies or be one of the zombies.
"Alice", Luis called. I looked at him, and he asked me, "You like?" Showing me the can of Royal that he got inside the fridge.
"Yeah, sure", I answered, and he threw one to me, and I caught it. I immediately opened it and drank it. It is cold and refreshing that I almost finish it in one gulp.
"Are you alright?" I asked Edwin when I saw him staring into nothing, and I made a sign language for him to understand me even though I didn't know how, but he nodded and understood me, and he answered using sign language, but I didn't understand.
"He is thinking about his wife, and he can't believe that his wife got eaten by the zombies", The soldier said, which I didn't expect she was a woman. She is a beautiful woman; her looks are close to the goddess.
Edwin does the sign language again, and the woman soldier reads it for us. "He is outraged, and he will go to kill all the zombies."
"I understand" And tapped Edwin's shoulder because I felt like he would burst into tears again because of his outrage.
"By the way, I am Calyn but call me Cali, and this is my twin brother Zackery but call him Zack," She said, and we shook hands.
I looked at Zack; he was good-looking, like his sister. I didn't know they were twins, but I noticed that we were in the truck before the crash and that they were always bucking up each other. I thought they were couples, but I was wrong because they were twins.
Luis turned on the radio and played some music. He played the song; Candy in the sun from Swirl 360 which made me remember the summers I had and the happy moments of my life because the song is relaxing and can give good vibes. They took a drink from the fridge, opened it and enjoyed the music, except for Edwin, who is still staring into nothing because of his wife's death. I enjoyed the music because I am unsure if I am still alive tomorrow. After all, our life situation now is uncertain.
"Kids" My mother opened the door and broke the happiness. We all looked at her, waiting for what she would say.
"Ferdie is calling us. It is time for supper," She said and made an out gesture.
We followed her to the garden, where we saw a long table with food, chairs and other survivors waiting for us with Ferdinand. They are looking at us with a smile showing that they welcome us. I smile back at them as my thank you for their warm welcome. I looked at the food on the table, which made my stomach rumble because I didn't know that I was already hungry until I saw the food, and I didn't notice that it was already afternoon and it was time for supper.
"This is where we eat because I want to see everybody getting their share. I want a fair share for everybody since we are maximizing our food because, again, we didn't know when the zombies would walk around," He said, acting like a true leader.
"Have a seat, and tomorrow we will start the hunt for food. I will tell you your shifts, but now let's eat and have some rest," He added, and we sat next to each other and started eating when we heard a gunshot that alarmed everybody.
"Sorry. There's just one infected here," The woman at the watch tower said.
"Oh, she is Antoinette, but we call her Anton", Ferdinand said and introduced us to the woman at the tower, and the woman saluted us and smiled.
"You" And he pointed to Cali.
"Later at night is your shift to watch at the tower."
"I want to go to her," Zack said.
"No, soldier, one watcher at a time."
"But it is night. " Better if it is two," Zack suggested, and Ferdie looked at him and said, "Okay."
"No! No! No!" Anton shouted while getting stutter, and we heard gunshots now that alerted everybody, especially the defence. They took their guns and ran to the gate with us. While the children and the grandparents are scared, hoping that there is nothing worst will happen.
I saw the infected jumping and climbing at the post, trying to reach Anton while the others were stung by the barbed wires because they wanted to get inside. Maybe they were alerted by Anton's first gunshot, or they could smell humans inside, arousing their appetite for human flesh.
"Mom, where is Sarge?"
"He is sleeping."
I wanted to go to Sarge to wake her up for the worst thing that might happen, but my mom stopped me because she could see that the situation was under control. I saw the defense using their improvised weapon made of sharpened iron and steel to kill the dead, but they didn't know the right spot to kill them.
"Target their heads," I said and grabbed one of the steel from one of the defenses, pierced it hard to the head, and pulled the steel back again.
They saw what I did, and the zombie I pierced didn't stand or move again. They copied what I did because they already knew how to kill the dead, but those jumping and climbing used a gun to kill it. We killed every zombie that we saw and tried to get inside. Until the zombies were all dead, Anton went down and wiped the blood from the zombie on her face.
"What was that?" She asked,
"Those aggressive ones?"
"We already met them along the way."
"We saw zombies running like a jaguar and crawling like a lizard but not climbing like a monkey and jumping like a kangaroo." My mother said that made Anton take a deep breath because she was surprised about what she encountered. She thought zombies were lame and just walking around looking for humans to eat, but she was wrong.
"We need to put two watchers at the post and double our weapon," He said while looking for his defence team.
"Children and elderly need to be armed", He added and looked after the children and the elderly.
"It is for your good. Now that we already know about the aggressive ones," He added that everyone agreed because we understood.
"I am sorry that our supper got interrupted. Let's proceed and start working for the double defense."
We continue eating because we have work to do after our supper. We need to double the defense, like adding additional weapons and putting another gate with barbed wire so the zombies cannot get inside. I make myself full because I need energy, and after eating, we put our plates at the sink, and the elderly will wash them while the children need to sleep. Don Algo is like a big community of survival led by Ferdinand and followed by the obedient citizen.
Ferdinand, gather us all and instruct us what to do. He told the doctors to go to sleep because we needed them if one of us got hurt. That is why they need to charge themselves. I hugged my mom and kissed her goodnight.
"You, take care," She said.
"I will, mom" She went inside the house with Linda.
"You," Ferdinand said while pointing to the twins.
"Sir?"
"What is your name?"
"Cali",
"Zack",
"You go to the tower now and watch for the zombies."
"Yes, sir," The two saluted snappily and went to the tower.
"How about you?" He asked Edwin, but Edwin didn't answer.
"He is deaf, and his name is Edwin," Luis said. Ferdinand looked at Edwin and asked if anyone could do sign language, but nobody answered because the one who can is already at the tower.
Until a young girl that looked seven years old answered, "I can."
"Nita, I told you to go to sleep now," The teenage boy said.
"I am sorry for my sister," He said.
"No, that is fine," Ferdinand said. He faced Nita and told her to tell Edwin that he would be a watcher in the morning with Anton, so he needed to rest now because they would start their duty at 6 am and up to 6 pm, but Edwin answered, and Nita interpreted it to us.
"He will stay to help make a weapon," The cute Nita said.
"I can help too. I want to make a weapon," She added.
"Tomorrow, you will, and we will teach you how to use it", Ferdinand said, looking at the girl.
"Nita, please" Her brother begged her to sleep inside the house.
"Okay, Grandma, let's sleep," Nita said and called her grandma, washed the dishes and went inside the house.
"We need to divide the defense and the hunter starting tonight." Ferdinand started because of what he witnessed a while ago.
"Jaxx, Macky and twenty of your team will stay here as a defense. Including you," He said while pointing at Roel.
"I am lieutenant Roel, and I can go for a hunt." Lieutenant Roel Loyola bravely said.
"Okay, well, Sarge will stay here then", Ferdinand agreed.
"Alice, Luis, Alfred, Les, Aaron and the fifteen with the lieutenant will go with me for the hunt, and we will be the hunter."
We looked at each other, and Les asked, "When will it be?"
"Maybe tomorrow"
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes, before we ran out of supplies." He answered,
"We didn't know what would happen. So we have to prepare," He added. That makes everybody agree.
Ferdinand Reyes gave us tasks based on what we could do. He divided us into two groups. One is the hunter, and the other is the protector because we need to find supplies. I am of the hunters with Luis, and that is fine as long as my mom stays here because she is safe here than going out with me. I like Ferdinand and how he governs the Don Algo because he only lets someone leave with a task. He considers and never discriminates.
Aside from our guns, we have started making additional weapons because tomorrow, we will arm the elderly and the children since the infected are not ordinary zombies. I mean, some of them are aggressive. They can run fast, climb the post and crawl into the wall, which makes them so dangerous. That is why the elderly and the kids need to protect themselves just in case the defence is not there to protect them.
After making weapons, we added a barbed gate as well, but we did it slowly because we wanted to avoid catching the attention of the infected and attacking us, especially on this night.
"Are you alright?" Roel asked.
"Yeah, just tired", I answered. He smiles at me and walks away. Roel is a tough guy, and I admire him for that because even though he only has one arm, he still manages to fight and be brave. He is a real soldier, and I salute him for that.
"Everyone, That is all for tonight," Ferdinand said, looking at the gate we built.
"Let's all rest except for the night shifters", He added.
We went inside the house except for the twins because it was their time to watch at the tower. I saw my mother sleeping. I kissed her on her cheek and whispered, "I love you," because I felt sorry about what happened to Craven. She never sees Craven again after she leaves for work because it is too dangerous now to go back to our house.
"Alice", She said softly when she saw me staring at her.
"Is the meeting done?" She asked.
"Yes"
"Lay down beside me and sleep," She said.
I closed my eyes and felt her arms wrapped around me. I am lucky that I can still feel my mother's embrace, unlike Craven. She is still alive but considered dead alone in the house. I close my eyes and fall asleep.
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