Lovudico took his usual spot at the market area, somewhere between the wet and dry goods, and near the public highway. Unlike usual days, the citizens of Subangdaku were flocking the marketplace. The crowd was so large that people could hardly walk because of the limited spacing. In fact, people were pushing each other in order to purchase the merchandise they needed. Though they were wearing face mask, they did not observe physical distancing. In essence, most of what the mayor had implored in the live telecast had fallen to deaf ears. In their excitement to stock up on supplies, they risked contracting and spreading the unknown disease.
Lovudico felt so much pity for them. He climbed up a raised concrete platform in the sidewalk and began giving his sermon.
"People of Subangdaku," Loduvico said, "I am here to tell you about the bad news and the good news. The bad news is that a devastation will sweep through the district, causing division and unbelief which will lead to so much agony, hatred, and frustration. But everything will not last forever. For those who believe, salvation will come to them.... "
Loduvico's words were lost in the crowd. A few people gathered around him, especially the old and the sick. Hearing him gave them temporary relief and hope.
"Listen everyone, 'I am' is finally here on Earth and you have just missed his coming, " Mang Tomas words' reverberated in the noisy area.
Loduvico heard him and turned to his right where the voice originated. There was Mang Tomas in his tattered clothes standing on concrete stairs. Like him, he was also giving a speech to a small group of listeners.
"Beware citizens of Subangdaku," Mang Tomas was saying. "The things we saw last week are just the beginning. We are yet to experience more spectacles in the coming days."
"What do you mean?" a listener asked. "There are more meteors to come?"
"No, my child," Mang Tomas answered. "More unexplainable things are yet to happen in Subangdaku."
"Oh no, please tell us that it is not true," begged another person from his audience.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, my child," Mang Tomas said. "I will speak only of the things I see."
"What are the things you see?"
"The future."
"Can you speak to us in plain words? What exactly do you see?"
"I cannot speak of them. Greater danger will happen if I do so."
"Please, you are scaring us."
"Fear is good, my child. It drives us to do the right things."
"But is this outbreak part of the things you see?"
Mang Tomas nodded, making his crowd more restless. Meanwhile, Loduvico was also tending to his own flock. By then, a few people already joined his audience, amazed at the words he was speaking and curious of what they meant. Even more stunned were the people he worked and dealt with in the marketplace.
"Lodie" one acquaintance called, "since when did you become a preacher?"
"When the angel descended from heaven and spoke to me," he answered upon hearing the person.
"Why you?" another one asked. "You are just the son of a carpenter and of a vendor."
"I am the chosen one."
They laughed, surprised at how bold he said those words. They laughed, thinking that he was only kidding the people. But when they realized he was serious, they stopped.
"Is this really for real?"
"Real is the grief that awaits Subangdaku," he answered. "Real is also the salvation that will come."
"Prove to us that it is real," one of them demanded.
"Show us a miracle," another one added.
"But he had already performed a miracle," one of the female vendors in the sidewalk said. "He healed some children two days ago."
"Children? Why children? They could just be playing around!"
"Yes, it is so easy to bribe little kids!"
The people laughed again. Loduvico was not offended; instead, he was only saddened by their faithlessness and cluelessness. His sadness stirred emotions within him, that he wanted to embrace them and take them out of their miseries.
"It shall be," Loduvico finally said, "like you wanted."
He looked around him and found an old woman. She had been listening to him since the first time he began preaching. Being old, she was inclined to believe promises said to her. So when she first heard Loduvico, she was instantly filled with hope.
"Woman," Loduvico called her and reached out his right hand, "come here."
She obeyed and went up to him. Once she was in front of him, her throat itched that she coughed hard, so hard that she went down on her knees before him. With one last cough, the woman spit blood on the pavement. Disgusted and afraid they would get infected too, the onlookers stepped back.
"Watch," Loduvico spoke in a loud voice, "as the hands of heaven frees this woman from her sickness."
Slowly, he bent down and lifted the old woman by her shoulders. As she rose, bright light shone on his hands and warmed her, while a chill wind passed by the spectators. When she had finally stood up, she felt relieved from her cough.
"It's gone," she whispered. "Oh no, my sickness has finally left me."
She embraced Loduvico in gratitude. There were tears in her eyes. Indeed, the pain in her chest and throat that she had been feeling for days had finally gone.
"Believe," Loduvico addressed the crowd, "and you too shall be saved."
However, the crowd still had doubts. Some were amazed but most did not believe in miracles. In this modern time, miracles could not just happen.
"What makes you different from Mang Tomas?" one person asked.
"Who is Mang Tomas?" another asked.
"That man over there," she answered and pointed at Mang Tomas who was also preaching in the nearby crowd.
"Oh, that one? He had been telling about the end of the world since the meteor crash."
"He really creeps me out. He also just came out of nowhere and gave scary prophecies."
The crowd began talking among themselves. Indeed, the preaching and prohecies of Mang Tomas in the streets had been heard by many already. But Loduvico?
"Are you also a prophet?" a girl asked.
"I am who I am," Loduvico answered her. "A messenger has been sent ahead of me."
"You mean Mang Tomas?" a man asked.
"So you both are the modern Jesus and John the Baptist? John came first to announce the arrival of Jesus."
"You said so," Loduvico simply said.
"You two are sick!" a man mocked.
"You can't be serious with this shit!" another shouted.
Like before, the crowd slowly thinned as people left, still unbelieving and worried about the outbreak. While they went away, Mang Tomas inched towards Loduvico while a group of three boys rode their bikes to pass through the market area....