A Sliver of Light

The final massive wave vanished along with Kaia's dissipated energy. Witnessing the disaster caused by the sudden emergence of the sweeping light, she falls to the ground, holding on to Bulan's arm for support, unable to stand up from the intensity of the shock.

Kaia, who had never once flinched or cried visibly for years, was showing emotions she had never shown before. Her tears began falling; sniffles were suddenly heard, and as Bulan looked at Kaia's face, he was affected by the uneasiness she felt through all the things they had gone through while the others were now gasping for their final breath.

"Arghhh!" cries of wailing Kaia became louder and louder; she couldn't bear the thought of all the people who had escaped Maharlika being swept back into it, dead.

All the life her eyes can see is hers and Bulan's, who would not have thrived without the uphill grotto in the city square.

Most of those who ran as soon as Kaia yelled to flee failed to seek refuge and were washed away in the surge, while others who did find shelter were buried in the quake-damaged structures while being swept along by the tides. Both the crashing waves and the searing lava devoured their helpless bodies.

These dead bodies began to reappear one by one. Some had bruises from the boiling surge, while others were blue from drowning. Others, on the other hand, were nowhere to be found.

Until---

"Uwahhh! Uwahhh! Uwahhh!" An infant's bawling reached their ears as they began to be swallowed by despair.

In the same grotto Kaia and Bulan were in, a baby not even five months old was being carried by his mother while tied down behind the statue. When the woman looked up and saw Kaia and Bulan directly in front of them, holding on in the same position as them, she began to break down.

The mother boldly tethered herself to the grotto while the calamities occurred without giving an inch of concern to what was around them. She was wet, scared, and postpartum. She immediately had a fleeting sense of relief and passed out as she observed other survivors together in stunned condition.

Kaia then cradled the infant in her arms, and Bulan untied the bindings from the mother's wrist and laid her down on the damp patio to let her rest for the night. Unexpectedly, Bulan took off his thin polo shirt, and Kaia, who was close by, was flabbergasted by what Bulan could have been thinking.

Bulan seemed not to notice Kaia's suddenly odd behavior and continued with what he was doing. He hung his polo on the grotto's railing and walked in Kaia's direction.

Kaia seems bewildered and utters, "Stop! Stay where you are!"

Without the slightest bit of idea, Bulan kept walking in Kaia's direction and reached for the baby in her arms. Kaia's face flushed red as a result of her misunderstanding.

"Thank God there's no light, or else I might be better off dead," she thought while handing the baby into Bulan's care.

Kaia murmured in a whisper, "Maybe if everything goes back to normal, I should stop watching so much drama; it made me think that body warmth is the remedy to cold, hehe."

After several hours, Kaia, who had fallen asleep while overthinking things, awoke in a state of disarray.

"Cold!" she said, in her raspy voice.

Kaia crept toward Bulan, wondering what had happened to the child. She noticed the child lying peacefully in Bulan's arms, wrapped in Bulan's polo. This time, the child's clothes were hanging, and Bulan made the infant wear his dry shirt to keep him warm.

Kaia was relieved and went to check on the baby's mother, especially since she was still recovering from childbirth.

The woman gasped and exhaled a heated breath. She has a fever.

Kaia then reached out to Bulan's and said, "Bulan," while slightly tugging his shorts.

"Mmm," he uttered.

"The lady has a fever; the baby's mother has a fever." Kaia expressed concern.

Though half awake, Bulan stood up and checked on the mother's temperature. He tossed the baby to Kaia, and he lifted the baby's mother.

Kaia said, "Where are you going?"

"To the hospital."

"The water was three meters deep, enough to drown us all, especially since you were carrying her."

Bulan, who was immersed in contemplation, realized it had not been a day since the catastrophe.

Bulan became aware of that and turned to glance around when he noticed something blinking. "Kaia, would you mind if you went to that blinking thing?" he said.

She held the baby and responded, "Uhh, yeah. Why?"

"Can you get it? I think it's a solar street light."

Unsure of what was going on, Kaia turned toward the flickering lights and noticed a broken lamp post.

She said, while her eyes were locked on the lights, "Bulan, I don't think I can get it."

Kaia's anxious look caught Bulan's attention right away; it was a bombshell.

Kaia questioned, "There's no way we'd get there, right?"

"Do you know how to swim?" Bulan asked in a hushed voice in response.

"What? No! "

Bulan responded swiftly, placing the sick woman on the ground and saying, "Okay."

"Don't tell me you're risking your life to get that," Kaia added.

"Of course, what choice do we have? We have a child and a sick lady with us; how are we supposed to get through this flood without a sliver of light?"

Despite disagreeing with his statements, Kaia kept quiet and attended to the infant while fixing the woman who was lying on the wet floor.

The flickering solar streetlight was on the rooftop of the building across the grotto, and the only way to reach there was to swim through the flood, oblivious to the dangers.

Knowing all of this, Bulan jumped into the water alongside the rubble and corpses to reach the other side and obtain the tiny ray of light that illuminated their night.