Humanity
as I , we who lost the will
There will be no Heaven or hell
Reincarnation nor second life
the soul of man will wander
the forsaken land
Live and thy shall breathe
Die and thy shall perish!
Jose was shocked when he heard the voice in his mind, at first he can’t understand the message, as the content was so deep to apprehend by a simple minded boy like him.
Hell?
Second life?
Forsaken land?
It doesn’t make any sense for him. What can he expect, he didn’t even have the chance to finish his primary school, so it made his mind hurt trying to understand the meaning behind the message.
Yet, since Jose was so sociable and have experienced to talk to different kinds of people, he have established a strong sense of perception in evaluating a man. In the mysterious voice, he sense a strong oppressive and emotionless tone.
Jose truly believed the message was a warning for an upcoming danger. While he’s still thinking about the message, the blinding light from the golden spherical object gradually lessened. Jose regained his sense of sight, however he almost forgot that he’s currently hanging at the edge of a 10 ft. tall building. Tension surged to his body, fortunately he increased the force of his grip in holding the shoulder bag. In spite of that, he felt that his arms will not be able to hold on much longer.
“Someone, help me!” Jose yelled nonstop while trying to check his surrounding if he will received a response. However, after a minute, just what he expected, no one bothered to aid him, maybe he’s not the only one who received the mysterious message. Maybe there were some people who received and panicked or maybe there were some who don’t really care.
What else Jose could do but to rely to himself, he observed his surrounding and found a gap at the edge of the roof which can be used as a base support handle. Now he need to reach it, but sadly it’s beyond his grasp.
“Think... think… I need… an object… a rope?” Jose considered, then again he was currently suspended in the air hanging by only a shoulder bag, any careless movement will lead to death. Where will he get a rope in this kind of situation? He thought to himself.
Being so resourceful and cunning sometimes will save one’s life. From his experiences, Jose realized that life will not always give you what you exactly need, so he learned how to improvise.
Jose’s right hand was already pre-occupied, only his left hand can move. So using his left hand he tried to reach an object from his waist, the belt. What he intended to do was use his belt from his pants as improvise rope.
However, “Oh god, did I wear my boxer today?” Jose thought as he remembered that he have a habit of not wearing any undergarment when he was planning to do a job (stealing). If he removed the belt there’s a tendency to expose his lower body completely.
As he recalled the reason of his bad habit, he couldn’t stop cursing his younger brother, he was told not to wear undergarment to lessen the friction to make him be more flexible when running or climbing. “Curse you, Mark!” he cried.
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Somewhere in the outskirt of the city, “achoo!” Mark sniffed…
Meanwhile, Jose was still praying that his *hidden weapon* will not be exposed. Suddenly…
*zppppshh*
He loosened his belt using his left hand then his pants went down… Fortunately he did not lose his pants thanks to his shoes. But today was not his lucky day, his nightmare happened… he was not wearing his boxer... His *hidden weapon* was currently exposed waiting for any unfortunate eyes to see the awkward sight.
Jose didn’t know what to do. Even if it’s a matter of life and death, people tend to be wary about their reputation. If anyone saw the scene at this time, a man hanging in a 10 ft. tall building without pants and undergarment to cover the evilest part of a man; they will definitely have a trauma.
To Jose’s fortune, not a single life form saw the traumatic scene. Everyone was busy trying to gather information about the sudden appearance of a golden spherical object and the mysterious voice.
At the moment, Jose already have the belt. He tried to fling it and hope on one way or another to stick it in the gap of the roof; but no avail. After countless attempt he deemed that a hook was needed to attach in his belt to make it effective, another dilemma.
He pondered and recalled that he still have the legendary indestructible Nokea 3310 that when used as a hammer could crush even the toughest concrete. He then searched his jacket pocket and successfully got the old phone. Using his full effort, he has inserted the phone in the steel part of the belt.
When Jose was already satisfied with his survival tool, he swung his improvised equipment in the gap and successfully affixed the hook through it. To check if it will be able to support his weight, he gently pulled the belt. Confirming that it’s secure, he slowly climbed. Using his left hand, the improvised rope and his right, the shoulder bag.
Success, when he got to the rooftop the first thing he did was to put on his pants and gasped for fresh air. Jose was so elated, and promised to himself that after the incident, he would wear undergarments every day.
“huuu, what to do next?” Jose asked himself as he checked the surrounding if there’s a new development to the commotion. Indeed, he was startled when he saw that the golden spherical object transformed… The size and color did not changed but the spherical shape changed into an hourglass. He found out that every second, few grains were falling from its upper glass to the lower glass base. An estimated 24 hours will be sufficed to complete the hourglass cycle, for Jose, this was a bad omen.
Nevertheless, he prioritized checking his brother condition so he decided to go back to the old warehouse.
While moving in the street, Jose saw many hooligans taking advantage of the event, they plundered, stole and razed private property; he also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity but he did not have the time to get involved since he needed to return in their hideout as soon as possible to ensure his brother’s safety.
It’s already evening when Jose returned to the warehouse, the lights were off, and electricity was gone so what he saw were lighted candles. It made the surrounding spooky, in addition, the syndicate were cautious that some might use the event as a chance to escape so they asked everyone to stand down in their respective place. It made his search for his younger brother more difficult. As time flies, he already asked the majority of any news regarding his brother, yet no one saw him. Without any other choice, Jose directly asked the boss.
In a room full of expensive furniture and paintings, two men could be seen inside; one sitting in a sofa posturing like a king and the other one kneeling in the floor like a servant.
“Boss Wang-un, I am Jose, your humble servant, wished to know where did you ordered my hopeless younger brother to sell his newspaper, I’m afraid that due to the chaotic situation outside, my younger brother will be in danger.” Jose said in a respectful and unassuming tone. He did not do it because he really admire or respect the boss, he did so to lighten his Boss Wang-un’s mood.
Yet even Jose respectful attitude did not affect the boss as he said” Haha! Do I look like a lost and found booth? As if I care for a single crippled boy.” then he called out his bodyguard outside to get rid Jose from his room. But Jose did not lose hope, as he about to be dragged outside…
“Boss Wang-un please be merciful, your respectful servant, I, will promised to proclaim to everyone your noble deeds and offer you an expensive phone as a compensation just tell your servant’s younger brother location.” Jose humbly replied, but back of his mind “Fuck your mother Piglet, when the time comes I will burn you alive, an eye for an eye – tooth for a tooth.”
When the boss heard the word “expensive” he started to think, Jose’s eyes suddenly lit up, he knows this would be the best chance, so he added “Boss Wang-un, everyone knows that you are so classy and refined. When you walk, girls will cower in admiration from your handsomeness, so not an ordinary phone can match up to your prestige. Thus I offered to you the most well-known phone in the world, the undefeated, undying - Nokea 3310 with its weight not less than five hundred grams no one will be disrespectful to you since you can use this as a hammer to punished those insolent man.”
Jose then slowly gave the old phone to Boss Wang-un’s hand however what transpired next was Jose’s misfortune. Boss Wang-un suddenly smashed the old phone in Jose’s face.
“Boy! Get out of here with your fucking phone” Boss Wang-un said angrily
Jose was forcefully thrown out, the negotiation failed. He did not gained any useful information but rather a black-eye.
It was already twelve midnight, Jose cannot be at ease knowing that his younger brother and other companions were still outside in the midst of chaos.
His determination roused up, for him Mark was his only family left so he couldn’t endure staying here waiting for any news. So with resolve determination burning through his eyes, he will searched every corner of the city just to find his brother.
He prepared himself, Jose packed few goods; a bat for protection, 3 bottled water, 10 packs of biscuits and an old phone as a secondary throwing weapon.
Fully prepared, Jose was certain to find Mark, He then went to a familiar guard keeper to bribe him with money to let him pass the gate and told him he will be back before morning. The guard accepted the deal since he knew well Jose that he will never try to escaped from the syndicate.
The journey started, Jose planned was simple, to look first in the nearest public market which was 2 kilometers away. It would only takes 10 minutes to travel there if he use a public transportation but as of now every vehicle were still not operational so he was forced to travel on foot.
Only few people could be seen outside. They preferred to stay at home to protect their property than leave their belongings even theirs an unknown threat from the golden hourglass. They can’t be blamed, majority of the citizen can’t get out of the city as main roads were completely blocked off; roads were full of blockades – abandoned cars, burned furniture and miscellaneous objects.
Finally, after an hour, Jose saw a familiar signage of the marketplace, “Pasig Wet Market”. Not knowing where to start searching, he yelled out his younger brother name, hoping his brother will reply, but what he saw was few curious residents.
Feeling anxious, as he checked the golden hourglass in the sky, it’s already half-complete from filling up the lower glass. He only have exactly 12 hours to find Mark before the undetermined event to happen.