Tonton ate his lunch hastily on Wednesday. As agreed, they would be gathering again that afternoon. After what happened to Jamie, his parents were hesitant in letting him go out of the house. Worse, the outbreak was getting more serious that he might be infected easily. But he needed to get out and meet with his friends. So after much haggling, he was permitted only for few hours and only in the afternoon. He should be back before sundown or else, he would be grounded.
Having no choice, Tonton agreed and had to follow the rules. Last night, he called Jamie's parents and his friend was officially declared as missing person. The news broke his heart. He was hoping that Jamie would be found or that he would be coming home, but neither happened. It was uncertain where he was but they had to do something. The Biker Brothers knew some truths and what they knew could help them find their friend.
After lunch, he dropped by de Jesus' residence. Jamie's parents looked devastated and seeing them that way was unbearable so that he also wept with them. They said they already had posted and distributed posters. They could only hope that some people would call them to give them some good news. So far, there was none. According to the police, nobody saw Jamie when he left Bogart's place. There were also no video recordings of him from the nearby establishments. It felt like a dead-end already.
Tonton was gloomy when he left them. His sadness made him more resolved to search for their friend. He biked hurriedly, eager to see his Brothers again. True enough, there were "missing person" posters pasted in many poles and concrete walls. Yet, the posters were not similar to one another. He knew that what Jamie's parents prepared where posters in beige color with Jamie's face in the middle and some words below it. Other posters were light green in color with a different face. He could not read the words because he was too far and his eyeglasses were not so helpful after all. He stopped and took one of the green poster.
"Missing: Jamie de Jesus," Tonton read the inscriptions on the poster, "Patient Zero. Look for him. He is the cure to the outbreak."
Tonton was dumbfounded. There was no way his parents could put those things in the poster. Besides, Tonton could not understand why would Jamie was the cure. His friend only had chickenpox last week and it was Loduvico who healed him. There was somethimg fishy about the posters, as if they were meant to malign Jamie. As he kept thinking about it, anger slowly built inside his heart. What if it was all Dr. Alvarado's doings?
Furiously, he started pedalling his bike and within few minutes, he arrived at Kiko's place. He was still clutching the poster and anger was still written all over his face when he called out his friend. Hurriedly, Kiko went out and approached him with a newspaper in one hand.
"What's that you're bringing?" Tonton asked.
"It's tabloid," Kiko answered. "Haven't you read the news this morning? I think there is an article here about Jamie. What about you? What is that you're holding?"
"A missing person poster," Tonton said. "But I don't think Jamie's parents made this. There are some bad stuff here about Jamie."
"Same with this news article. What is written here can put Jamie in danger."
"We better hurry up and tell Bogart."
Kiko nodded and immediately hopped on his bike. They moved fast and reached Bogart quickly. Bogart was finishing his afternoon sandwiches when they arrived.
"There are still several sandwiches, guys," Bogart offered. "Help yourself. Then drown it with some freshly squeezed orange juice."
The two devoured their food and afterwards, they gathered in Bogart's room. Bogart sensed some urgency in his friends so they quickly got down to business.
"Both of you seem tense," Bogart opened the meeting. "Is there something wrong?"
"Plenty, I think, "Tonton answered. "I saw these posters on the way here. Something is wrong about what is written here."
"And this news article is also saying harmful things about Jamie," Kiko said as he opened the page where the article was. "Read this."
The boys read the article and studied the poster. When they were done, they were all infuriated.
"The things they wrote about Jamie are sick," Tonton commented. "They are all lies. And they could not even put the name of the writer."
"Come on," Kiko said. "It's tabloid. They just put anything in there and say it comes from anynomous person."
"And this poster here," Bogart added, "it sounds similar to the article. They claim that Jamie is patient zero and he has the cure."
Tonton: "Yeah, I think this two are connected."
Kiko: "Both sound like asking people to find Jamie, not because they care for him but because he has the cure."
Tonton: "That's the sick part. It urges the people to hunt Jamie like an animal."
Bogart: "It is really fishy that both of these come out at the same time. The article is published the moment Jamie goes missing."
Kiko: "I agree. I looks as if they were planned."
Tonton: "I believe they are meant to cover up something."
Kiko: "What do you mean?"
Tonton: "I think somebody really did kidnap Jamie and to avoid being tracked, he made it appear like people are hunting for Jamie."
Bogart: "I get it. The more suspects, the less likely the true culprit will get caught. He could even get away with it."
Kiko: "We won't let him."
Tonton: "Of course, we won't..... We won't let Dr. Alvarado get away with this crime."
The two looked at him. It was clear in Tonton's eyes that he believed that Dr. Alvarado took Jamie. They also believed the same thing and their friend's resolve made them braver.
Kiko: "Let's rescue Jamie."
Bogart: "And let's kick Dr. Alvarado's ass."
Tonton: "Payback time."
And the room was filled with fury and strong will.