My name is Jack Roberts and this is my story,

This morning I was out to the Supply Distribution Center; the State Government got the local mall, SM Calamba. They turned the vacant lot beside it into a distribution center when all of Luzon was locked down.

The streets were a shadow of what it used to be, you can almost count how many people were walking on the streets. Most of them are now carrying supplies on a paper bag or carton boxes. Before, they used to wear warm smiles, but now all they wear is a face mask or some kind of protective gear to cover their faces and the gloomy feeling of the crisis.

After picking up my ration at the distribution center, two men in olive drabs with gas masks carrying M4 Automatic Rifles approached me. They were members of the National Guard of Laguna.

"May I have your identification card, sir?" one of the men said. I quietly handed my identification card and license card.

"Are you living near here?" he asked as he was checking my identification documents. I just quietly nodded.

"Are you going to take the Lawa Road route?" he continued to ask, just like I did before I nodded, but one of the men distanced himself against us and used his two-way radio. He looked at me as he finished using his radio.

"I am afraid I cannot let you pass right now. No one is allowed to pass through Lawa Road." said the guy who used the radio.

"Why?" I replied, "I live there. There is no other route that can take me home." I continued.

"You'll have to wait for our all-clear signal, we are about to lock down the distribution center, no one gets in or out. There is an ongoing investigation around that area." the National Guard soldier replied as he returned to my identification documents.

"You can wait inside of the Distribution center or at the parking lot." The National Guard soldier continued as he and his fellow soldier moved along and screened everyone in the Distribution Center.

It was around 6 o'clock in the evening when they gave the all-clear signal to us. Most of the people in the distribution center scrambled and rushed to go home. I had my vehicle, a 2004 Toyota Revo, a compact MPV. I took a different route which was heading towards Lawa Road. I paid no attention to what the person on the speaker that was around the distribution center was saying, I kept driving. As I silently drove over the road, I am bothered when I couldn't see anyone, not even people going to their homes. As if I am alone, taking this road. It was quite dead, although streetlights were lit, no other living soul was seen except me.

It was past half six when I arrived at our village entrance, I was a bit bothered when I honked my vehicle, and no one opened the boom barrier. I turned off the engine and picked up the Tire wrench I had under my seat. I got out and approached the guardhouse, I was thinking of calling someone, but my instincts told me not to.

As I reached the guardhouse, I checked if there was anyone in, but I was bothered when not even a single soul was there. I lifted the boom barrier, and placed some kind of stopper to keep it from falling down, went back to my vehicle and drove inside of the village.

I was bothered, my instincts told me that there is something wrong. Not a single light was lit inside the houses of our village as if no one was home. I continued driving slowly towards our home. I felt fear as I approached our house. I felt bad when our own home didn't have any lights either, I took a quick glimpse over our garage, but my father's pickup truck wasn't there. That time I felt something was really wrong, I parked over the driveway and locked my car and the doors of our house. I slowly moved towards the door of our home, when I reached the doorway, I realized it wasn't fully closed. I slowly opened the door, exposing the dark halls of our residence.

"Dad?" I gently whispered against the cold, dark rooms of our home. I locked the front door and investigated what was going on.

As I checked every nook and cranny of the house, I can't find where my Dad was, nor his whereabouts, but I was also bothered by the scent of our home. It smelled strong as if it was sprayed by a strong disinfectant. I returned to my vehicle and picked up the supplies on my compact MPV, and left it at the countertop of the kitchen.

Then all of a sudden, I heard a loud bang against the door. I thought it was my father.

"Dad?" I called as I approached the door, but then again, there was a loud bang and another. It felt different, it felt weird. I silently ran upstairs and barred the door of my bedroom using my bed and held on my baseball bat.

Everything went silent, the pounding over the door has stopped. I checked my phone, but the signal bar was dead, there haven't received any text message nor any missed call, I struggled to stay awake and kept observing my surroundings. After a tedious battle from within, my body gave in to the sweet allure of slumber.

The following day, I was awakened by the sounds of the helicopter that was flying around. I could barely make any sense of what it was telling, it was distorted and loud. I fell down on my belly and crawled towards the window. As it approached me near my location, I could clearly hear what it was saying.

"To all remaining military personnel, civilian officers, National Guard and State Troopers. Order 51 is authorized. I repeat Order 51 is authorized." said the man behind the speaker on the helicopter.

It continued to hover around the area.

"To all citizens of the State of Laguna, Governor Rommel L. Harding has declared a state of emergency. You are all advised to stay and secure your homes, lock your doors and windows, and avoid contact with others at all costs. Do not attempt to make contact with others. Await for further announcement." it continued as it steadily hovered above me.

"I repeat, do not make an attempt to leave your homes. Stay inside."it announced as it flew away from where I was.

I decided to assess my surroundings through my window. I saw a woman outside of our house, she was limping around, but I paid no attention and such and kept observing. I decided to remove the improvised barricade on my door and went downstairs. I decided to check if we have power, but to no avail, it was cut off. I searched for clues all over our house where my father could be. When I wasn't able to find any indication around the kitchen and the service area. I decided to inspect his bedroom.

I started to check his bedside table, where I found some documents. After deciding to scan those documents, I discovered it contained the profile and background of his employees. However, I found it odd when I saw the results of the psychological and physical assessment of each employee. As if they were screening people, but for particular unknown reasons. One of the evaluations to an employee stated that "marksmanship skills - Above average."

I was disturbed when I read those files, my father works for a telecommunications company. It would be very unusual to assess your employee's marksmanship skill set. I brushed my discovery off and tidied up the files I read. My father would be appalled if he discovered I went over his things.

As soon as I tidied up, I searched in his cabinet. Some clothes were missing, indicating he packed up hastily as some of his items were scattered, and only a few of his clothes were missing. It was a definite relief that he managed to evacuate, but it didn't solve the question about his whereabouts. I continued to search his cabinet, and I found the pistol he usually kept at our house in Taguig. A 9mm Pistol made by Norinco, the Chinese state arms manufacturer. It was based on the TT-34 pistol made by the Russians back in '43. This is very peculiar, my father never touched this pistol nor brought it to a different place. I picked my father's pistol with the holster and wore it as I closed the cabinet. I saw a folder hidden beneath the box where he usually keeps his watch, I took it and closed the cabinet. There was a large mark in all capital letters that were on the cover of the folder; it read, "CONFIDENTIAL," Security Clearance V only.

I decided to read the file, the content of the file was indeed informative, very unusual for a telecoms company to have, I did not bother to finish it. I went down and secured the windows and every other exit in the house, I took the cleaver knife from our knife rack and went outside.

The woman outside our house was still there, she was groaning as if she was in pain.

"Ma'am, excuse me. Are you alright?" I asked as I cautiously moved towards her. My instincts tell me not to approach her closely. My heart pumped faster as our distance against other grew near. Fear didn't enclose by the body until I saw her face, it was pale as a white sheet of paper, she groaned as she limped towards me, her mouth was salivating as if she just found a sumptuous meal.

"Ma'am, please stay back," I said as I slowly distanced myself against her. "I have a gun, and I know how to use it." I pulled the gun from its holster and aimed it towards her. She continued to go forward, towards my direction as I slowly, yet carefully backed towards our house.

"Ma'am, one last chance. Back off." I firmly said, this time with a different tone, a more serious determined tone, yet this did not bother her, she continued to walk limply towards me. I cocked the gun and aimed towards her direction.

"I said, fuck off!" as I shot her at her chest area. My wobbly footing, the awkward stance of firing, and the recoil of the gun pushed me against the wall, the sound of a gunshot rang across the area, echoing over the silent, dead place. She fell down the pavement, dead, bleeding. Blood ran across her clothes, staining it with a brownish, almost viscous liquid, it appeared to have the same texture of blood, but it didn't have the same color.

I immediately composed myself after realizing the fact that I killed someone. I am an agent of positive change, I am supposed to save lives, not end it. Slowly, I approached her body, I was mortified when she moved and growled, she screamed and tried to pull me towards her, I jolted and tripped down, dropping my pistol towards the gutter. She struggled, but she was crawling towards me. She was slowly gaining speed in my direction. Fear clouded my judgment, fear shackled my body as if it was accepting my fate. However, my instincts kicked in, I reached for the cleaver knife and threw it at her.

I have never done this before; it was a huge gamble with a huge risk. I was very lucky when it got through the head, causing her to fall. She didn't move anymore as the cleaver knife cleaved her head; though it got lodged at her skull, I was reluctant to pull it from her head, but I have nothing else available at home. I picked up my pistol that fell over the gutter and aimed it towards her in case she would rise up again. I carefully approached her as I grasped for the cleaver knife that lodged, but to my relief, she didn't move. I pulled it out of her skull and vomited with the sight after realizing what I had done. I composed myself and pulled her body away from our house, towards the vacant lot near us. I wiped the cleaver knife clean using the corpse's clothes and headed towards our neighbor's house.

I repeatedly knocked over and over to our neighbor's door, as I waited for a response, I saw scratches at the door, and I found bloodstains over the pavement. I kicked the door down and readied my pistol. Their house was small, so I could see most of the area, there was a blood trail leading towards the service area. I slowly moved towards that direction. My eyes darted all over the area in search of a beast, maniac, or whoever responsible for this madness. I reached the doorway and kept my eyes opposite of the countertop.

"Mr. Smith, where are you?" I called my neighbor softly, as I grew near towards the doorway leading to the Service Area, I heard a growl, a familiar sound. My heart raced as I quietly peaked on the doorway, I was shaken by what I had seen.

Mr. Smith was lying dead, his white shirt was painted crimson by his blood, his entrails were scattered all over the pavement, a little girl who was devouring Mr. Smith's inside. I kept my composure and paced myself slowly away from the little girl. I accidentally hit Mr. Smith's coffee table, it made a loud sound that stopped the devouring sounds that the little girl made. She growled and peeked through the doorway of the service area and stood. We exchanged glances, I raised my pistol towards her, as her beady, dead eyes looked over mine, sweat started to form over my head. There was a deafening silence, I could hear my own heartbeat. Her saliva drooling all over her. Time seemed to stop as we both stood still, winds blew outside of the house of the dead, as both of us remained motionless.

Bang.