On His Way Back

Kaia's lips raised slightly, revealing a concealed grin in the dark, eerie night full of unimaginable terror, as she realized Bulan had made it safely, and all that remained was his safe return.

After literally waving the solar light in Kaia's direction and showing his triumph. Bulan looked around, looking for something that might be useful in the future. Just like how he managed to get a hold of the axe and the first aid kit.

He then noticed how huge and wide the rooftop is, and he later realized that it overlooks the entire city. Bulan, nauseated by what he witnessed, saw a total disaster.

The once-mighty structures were now leaning on one other as though they were interdependent. Amidst the flooding, a fire broke out at the largest supermarket in the area. It was intended to be the location where he placed his mind to grab some food, but it had now been reduced to ashes. Finally, the city looked like something only seen on New Year's Eve on the beach: full of fireworks, but this time it was sparks. Sparks may cause the entire region to be grounded only a few minutes later, resulting in another wave of victims.

It was a difficult sight to bear.

Bulan, on the other hand, gathered the confidence to be more mindful of the situation. He pointed his torch towards the water's surface and saw something very unpleasant. His face darkened and paled, and he shivered in terror that one day, maybe even an hour later, he might be one of those. Carcasses are floating everywhere, filling up the roads flooded with water.

Bulan initially assumed it was merely floating debris carried away by the flood, but it is not. It was the bodies of thousands of people who were swept up in the unforeseen tsunami while fleeing the city. A never-ending, now-full flood of corpses.

Despite his fear, Bulan directed the light at Kaia.

He saw the lady who had saved him from the lava earlier in his vision; she was drenched in water, wearing a flimsy shirt and leggings, as well as shoes with a little opened sole and loose laces.

The kid, who was only five months old and shivering in the cold, was in her arms, and Kaia was doing her best to keep the baby warm.

And to her right, the child's mother was laying on the surge-damaged concrete, breathing and blowing hot breaths of air from her abnormally high temperature brought on by her frail body from giving birth.

After realizing how bad the situation was, Kaia suddenly glanced in his direction with a fairly peculiar face. She wore a soft grin and gleaming eyes as if reminding Bulan that all he had to do was make his way back to them safely.

At that very moment, Bulan pulled himself together and rummaged through the four-cornered rooftop and all the mess.

Surprisingly, he discovered an extraordinarily huge pair of ice boxes, which he believes are used as fish containers in the adjacent port, as well as a rope, a bamboo pole, and a paddle drifting aimlessly outside the rooftop terrace.

He leaned over the edge of the rooftop balcony, attempting to grab the aimlessly drifting paddle in the waters below.

He then tinkered with everything he had gathered into a makeshift boat, thinking that the water would soon be grounded, as the water kept on rising and could soon reach the dangling electrical cables. And without anything that could move them beyond the water, they should not hope to survive another day, for all that has been waiting for them is death in the cold, steep grotto, famished.

Bulan started thinking back to his days as a Boy Scout in middle school, attending camps. And now that the situation has intensified, everything that he once felt was child's play for survival in an entirely peaceful society has tremendously aided him.

After another thirty minutes or an hour, after he left the grotto, an earthquake struck again.

It shatters the previous leaning structure in the blink of an eye, and just an inch remains until the entire city's waters are grounded.

He then shone his light in the direction of Kaia and the others, noticing that they were simply holding onto a section of railing that had escaped being carried away by the water or damaged by the earthquake. To protect themselves from any falling debris, they dove and covered their heads, trembling.

They were unaware that Bulan, who was watching from a distance, had noticed something that led him to move quickly.

The statue's cracking.

He collected everything he had and said, "Shit! I need to get out of here!" as he packed everything into the makeshift boat.

His axe, the kit, and everything else he found was tossed into the boat like junk, and he used all of his might to hoist them to the rooftop's balcony.

He hooked the boat's front to the rooftop railing with the rope he found, then let it fall to the water only a floor below, hoping it wouldn't turn upside down and render his efforts futile.

Thankfully, it did not.

He then proceeded to leap and dive into the water before climbing onto the improvised boat. Just to make sure that if he ever jumps directly to it, it won't be destroyed.

His imbalanced weight made it difficult for him to get into the boat, and if he tried to push through his ideas, the boat would likely capsize.

Later on, he finally decided.

He pushed through Kaia's and the others' locations by pushing the boat while swimming, allowing him to be the improvised vehicle's temporary engine.

However, as he went straight to them, he suddenly shouted, "Watch out for the statue!"

Kaia, who sees Bulan and hears his warning, leaves the infant in an undamaged area of the grotto and goes back to get the baby's mother. Before the entire statue collapsed and turned into ruins.