Outside, Adrian walked with five soldiers and the three girls. They were all covered in thermal blankets as the night was chilly. Around them were the corpses of the zombies.
It was a disturbing sight from the girls but they felt a sense of security by being around Adrian and his n.
"How many were killed in this?" Chandrika courageously asked.
"About 40 of them were killed, five were injured," Adrian replied.
"How did this happen?" Glaiza added.
"We don’t know, we are going to figure it out. We believe she has been infected ever since she was in Boracay. Our dical team inspected the body and found out that she has a bite in her legs. She hid it. But what’s more troubling is that she took a long ti to turn while those she bit turned instantly."
"That ans the infection isn’t consistent," he continued. "So turn fast. So don’t. We’re still trying to understand why."
Chandrika nodded slowly, taking that in.
Her arms stayed wrapped around herself under the blanket, not from the cold anymore, but from everything that just happened.
Aubrey walked close beside her, quiet now.
Glaiza stayed on the other side, her eyes scanning the ground, avoiding the bodies.
They moved past another row of corpses.
Then, a voice.
"Chandrika!"
Chandrika froze.
Her head snapped up.
"Dad...?"
Marco was already running toward them, breaking past the periter line before one of the soldiers could even react.
"Sir—" one of them started.
Adrian raised a hand slightly.
"Stand down," he said.
Marco reached her in seconds.
He didn’t stop.
He pulled her into a tight embrace, his arms wrapping around her like he was afraid she’d disappear if he let go.
"You’re alive..." he said, his voice breaking. "You’re alive..."
Chandrika didn’t speak at first.
She just held onto him.
Tight.
"Dad..." she said quietly.
Behind him, Liza approached slower.
Her eyes moved over Chandrika first.
Then Aubrey.
Then Glaiza.
Taking everything in.
The blankets.
"...You’re safe now," Liza said softly.
Chandrika nodded.
"Yes... we’re safe."
Marco pulled back slightly, his hands still on her shoulders as he looked at her face.
"Are you hurt?" he asked imdiately.
"No," she said. "I’m okay."
He looked at her a second longer, like he was trying to confirm it for himself.
Then he nodded.
"Good... good...Wait...where is Sophia?"
Chandrika’s grip on the blanket tightened.
Aubrey looked away imdiately, her lips pressing together as her breathing started to shake again.
Glaiza lowered her head, her fingers curling into the fabric at her side.
Marco noticed.
His expression shifted.
"...Chandrika?" he asked, quieter now.
Chandrika didn’t answer right away.
She looked down.
Then back up at him.
"...She didn’t make it," she said.
Liza’s eyes softened, her gaze dropping for a mont as she understood without needing more.
"How?" Marco asked, his voice lower now.
Chandrika hesitated.
Just for a second.
"...There was chaos," she said. "The infected... they broke through. It spread fast."
Aubrey turned slightly, her shoulders trembling.
Glaiza stayed silent.
Marco looked between them.
He didn’t press further.
Didn’t ask for details.
He saw enough.
"...I’m sorry," he said quietly.
Chandrika nodded once.
"Yeah..."
Liza stepped forward then, closing the distance.
She placed a hand gently on Aubrey’s shoulder.
"It’s okay," she said softly. "You’re here now."
Aubrey didn’t respond.
But she didn’t pull away either.
Liza’s hand moved to Glaiza next, giving the sa reassurance.
"We’ll take care of you," she added.
Adrian stood a few steps behind, watching the exchange, giving them space.
Marco let out a slow breath, then pulled Chandrika into another brief embrace.
"You did well," he said. "You made it out."
Chandrika closed her eyes for a mont.
"...We had to," she replied.
Marco nodded.
Then looked at Adrian.
"Thank you," he said.
Adrian gave a small nod.
"We got to them in ti," he replied.
"Co," Liza said gently. "Let’s get inside."
Then he turned.
"Sir?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Return to your posts," Adrian said. "Maintain periter security. No one moves between zones without clearance."
"Yes, sir."
They split off imdiately.
Adrian headed in the opposite direction.
Toward the dbay.
The doors slid open as he stepped inside, and the sll hit him first—antiseptic, blood, and sothing tallic lingering in the air. Beds lined the room, occupied by the injured. So were conscious, others not. dics moved between them with urgency but control.
One of the doctors looked up as Adrian approached.
"Sir."
"I need to know what caused her to do that. You are a doctor, so for sure you may know sothing about how the infection works."
He glanced toward one of the beds first, making sure the dic beside it had things under control, then turned fully to Adrian.
"Sir, I’ll be direct," he said. "What we saw out there doesn’t follow a normal infection pattern."
Adrian’s eyes stayed on him.
"Explain."
The doctor nodded and motioned for him to step a little closer, away from the others.
"The initial carrier—the woman from Boracay—had a bite wound that was already in a partial healing phase. That suggests she was infected for at least a day, possibly longer."
"And she didn’t turn."
"No," the doctor said. "Not imdiately. She retained motor function, awareness, even the ability to move freely among civilians without raising suspicion."
Adrian’s jaw tightened slightly.
"And the others?"
"They turned almost instantly after exposure," the doctor replied. "Seconds to under a minute. That kind of conversion speed indicates a very aggressive transmission phase once the virus activates."
"So what changed?" Adrian asked.
"That’s the problem," the doctor said. "We don’t know."
He exhaled slowly.
"There are a few possibilities. One—viral mutation. The strain she carried might be different from what it becos after transmission. Two—viral load. The amount of pathogen transferred during a bite could affect how fast the host turns. Or three—host factors. So individuals may resist progression longer than others."
Adrian glanced briefly at the covered body across the room.
"aning she walked around as a carrier."
"Yes," the doctor said. "And that makes her more dangerous than the ones that turn imdiately."
A short pause.
"Is it airborne?" Adrian asked.
"No confird evidence of that," the doctor replied. "All cases so far are linked to direct contact—bites, blood exposure. But we can’t rule out evolution."
Adrian nodded once.
"What do you need?"
The doctor hesitated for a second.
"...A specialist," he said. "A virologist. Soone trained specifically in infectious diseases at a molecular level. What we have right now is field observation. If you want to understand this fully—how it spreads, how it changes—we need deeper analysis."
"I’ll find one," he said.
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