Encounter

Jun doesn't care what people think of him. He stopped caring a long time ago. After experiencing a lot of things, he learned that people will always see you how they want to see you.

He knew that the girl was not human anymore, and he won't explain or justify himself to anyone.

He nudged the body a few more times, making sure it's dead.

"S-sorry!... I'm just not used to seeing things like this..."

"Hey! We're actually the same! This is my first time bashing someone's head." Jun said with a grin. "Shocking, right? I have some bad news for you, though."

Jun practiced swinging the bat left and right while looking at a particular direction.

Jake followed where he was looking, and his face soured.

A woman was forcing her way out a car's window, but due to the opening being too small, her waist got stuck, and only half of her body got out.

The woman's mouth was dripping with blood, and her yellow eyes kept staring at them the whole time. Her belly's flesh started getting scraped, and it caused dark blood to flow down the car's window. She growled every time she moved an inch, maybe from the pain or the stimulation of having prey in front of her but not being able to do anything in return.

"I think you'll see a whole lot more of this in the future! So, do you want to try?" Jun asked as he tried to hand the bat to Jake.

"No... not with my leg like this... maybe in the future. And I don't think that this is the right time for us to be casually talking in the middle of the street." Jake said after he looked behind them.

A group of infected was crawling out of an overturned jeepney. Only a few had intact bodies while most of them have broken arms and legs that are facing outwards.

Just then, a gunshot rang inside the bank. "Let's go inside. I hope it's safer there.", Jun said as he took a last look at the direction of the jeepney.

***

The inside of the bank was a mess. The chairs scattered on the floor and the atmosphere is suffocating.

There are approximately nine people inside the bank, two middle-aged women who seemed to be depositing money, a teenage boy wearing a black hoodie, the male manager who has a bandage on his head, Pablo, and four female employees.

Everyone inside the bank had frightened expressions like they're waiting for something. Their attention was focused entirely on something on the floor that they didn't even turn their heads when someone enters the glass door.

Pablo was standing in front of the counter. Behind him was a female employee with bloodstains all over her left arm. He cautiously stepped closer to the section of the overturned chairs.

There was a body in the middle of the scattered chairs. It was a body of an old woman facing up towards the ceiling, that same grandmother that fainted and took a long time to wake up earlier. A dark puddle of blood had already formed behind her back.

"What's the big deal here? Isn't it dead already?"

Everyone flinched when they heard a loud voice.

They turned their heads towards the source and only managed to calm their beating hearts when they saw that it was the same young man from earlier.

The young man confidently walked as he went near the body. He kicked one of the body's legs then said, "See? It's dead. What are you so scared of?" 

He surveyed the room then sarcastically apologized.

"My bad. I guess it's normal for normal people to be scared of dead bodies," he said while chuckling to himself. "You should see the situation outside, and you'll probably piss your pants," he then turned to Pablo saying, "On that note, do you mind locking the door? It would be a big problem if those things got inside."

Pablo was still pointing the gun in his direction but relaxed after a few seconds. His breathing became stable, and the crease on his forehead disappeared. If it were earlier, he would've ignored what the young man would say, but it was different now. He felt that something was different from the old lady when she charged at him. Like she was more energetic and had this unique brilliance in her eyes.

Pablo ran while taking some keys in his pockets. He only relaxed after shaking the glass door and seeing that it was securely locked. He was going back to Jun when he heard people talking at his back.

"Ha... Pitiful grandmother, she just bit someone then she got shot. What kind of system is this? Is this how guards protect people? They're killing people instead! This guy's lucky! I didn't bring my phone with me; else, I would take his picture and post it to social media!"

"That's right! Where's the logic in this?! Is there even a law in this country! My son always bites my hand when he gets pissed at me. Oh, that poor grandma..."

Pablo's countenance paled after listening to those words. His head lowered as he stared at the floor, thinking if what he did was the right thing.

When he was applying first aid and heard a loud shout from the bank, he hurriedly came running inside. When he got inside, he saw the grandma chewing on an employee's arm. 

He repeatedly told the old lady to stop, but she didn't seem to understand what he was saying as she continued chewing. 

The only good thing about this was there were barely any teeth on the grandmother's mouth. 

Even though there were a few left, it just caused some scratches which can be treated with some first aid.

They succeeded to separate the two when the male manager decided to help the guard by pulling the grandma from the back. 

When the manager released the grandma, it ran towards Pablo, and so he fired.

The shot went through the heart and the manager behind the grandma was so scared, he froze like a cat that got its tail stepped on.

It was his fault.

He got scared.

He realized that something changed from the old lady, which prompted him to defend himself.

She was thin when she came this morning but looking at her now; she became a lot more thinner since her skin was hugging her bones too tightly. The color of her eyes earlier was black, but it was yellow now. When he saw the grandma running to him, he remembered how they met at the front door. She was weak and could only walk one step at a time. He even had to guide and help the old lady sit into a nearby chair.

As despair and guilt were eating his conscience, a chiding voice echoed in the room which managed to pull him back from his current state of mind.

"Idiots. Didn't even know that they just got saved."