Betrayal is one of the words that always come along with greed.
I, Anzai, whose dreams are fueled with greed was born to witness how real that is. Never trust anyone that's what I was told by the people that taught me when I entered the underworld business. The second I ignore that teaching I become the man I am today. A young man living a life full of regrets. But now I'll try to never make the same mistake. No matter what, and how.
"Smile. Sweet. Sister. Sadistic. Surprise. Service."
I thought under the stars as I listened to the Bon Appetit the opening song of the Blend S anime that aired in Fall 2017.
I just finished my meeting with a group called Mio a short version of Money Is Ours robbery group. They are the patrons of the bomb business I have. Most of my customers are big shot groups and gangs in region 8 and even some in Central Visayas.
I just started it five months but because of the demands of the high number of criminals all over, I normally earned 800,000 a month. Aside from Mio all of my patrons are a good payers. It's probably because they are reselling this to a much higher price.
Normally I don't need Mio to be one of my customers, but I needed specific information from them. But until now I couldn't get what I want. Even I told them that its the payment they can give to the mountain of debt they had.
I started this job not just for the money but for that information. Well, back to square one I guess.
I'm sitting on a motorcycle waiting for my self-proclaimed butler. He rescued a pathetic gang of thieves that obviously just forced themselves to be one.
I hope they'll learn from this.
The sound of gunshots is gone a long time ago so he should be here any minute now. I don't have any more things to do so I can finally get my body rest.
"Boo."
As I thought of that someone tried to startle me from the back. An average-looking guy about 6'3 feet. Aside from his freaky emerald green eyes, there's nothing special to him. All girls are just easy that they get easily twist their heads every time they saw him.
"Finn, figured you'll come back here traumatized or you'll be delivered in a coffin tomorrow. How come you're unharmed."
He let out a cheeky smile. "You worry too much. You know me. I'm someone who always smoothly gets the job done."
I raised my eyebrows. "That sounded like someone that's completely different from you."
"I can't believe that after all the great things I did for you. You still think of me as a failure."
"Great what?" I scowled at him.
"By the way, you know that I can ask them to hand over the cash they have. How come you still asked them to transfer it to your bank account?"
The jerk changes the topic. I get off the motorcycle.
"The authority already knew that bank account. The bank may already freeze it so they wouldn't be able to withdraw from it anymore."
"Huh?" He said in an instant. He furrowed. "Then how come—"
"The money had been withdrawn a long time ago. Before the police could move. I also use a different account other than what I gave to Pabuto."
I answered him. I'm the one who started this so I prepared for where this move will head to.
Finn sat on the motorcycle and kick the starter. He probably didn't get a thing of what I said.
When the engine started I ride in the back.
"So what are you going to do now?" He asked.
What huh? Now that one of the reasons why I started this business is gone the only reason for me to continue is for money.
But that's not enough reason to stick with it. This job is very difficult. Just getting gunpowder and other needed things take too much time and money. Since this job deals with criminals my life is always at risk not just with them but for the authorities also.
I just stick with it because I wanted to know something that's very important to me.
But making money legally will be hard with my current situation.
What I want, if I were to enter another business, one that can get me back to the top.
Finn didn't second what he asked. He rolled the throttle then the motorcycle moved forward.
We drive into the darkness with the moon's help to guide us that for some reason, is too big at the moment.
This motorcycle's fairly new I think. I don't know since it's not mine.
The engine sounded normally but the noise it's emitting is the loudest you can hear in the area. Along with the sound of the crickets beside the road.
It's been seven years since that apocalypse happened. In the present, that event results differently for some people. There are some people who live their lives to the fullest, people who were imprisoned in the past, people who cherished their lives and others, and people like me who only keeps moving forward for their own dreams and goal.
On this day, the growth of the black markets was off the chart. There have been rumors before that even the government was relying on illegal activities to keep the country running.
Philippines was the country that had been dealt with a lot of damage. It's no surprise why they resorted to that. I'm not saying that its a good thing though, in fact I think that because of that the country was having a hard time going back to normal.
Well even I knew that but for me, it's sad but it's the truth, greed was the foundation of those who have dreams and goals in order to keep moving forward. It's hard to be inspired to work hard in this world with an unsure future. Now, later, anytime our lives were always at risk, especially because we don't even know a thing about them, except for the horrors they brought.
In the modern-day Samar, the effects of that event are marked even today. We're driving on a highway but there's not a single street light on the road. It is said that those attacks started in Samar before they spread to the world. For that reason, most of the cities in Samar had been flattened that also includes Tacloban. The government issued an order to only let five to ten cities in the province to have resided. It's preparation in case that incident happens once again it's easy to evacuate the citizens.
An hour or two had passed then we reached San Juanico Bridge, which is so illuminating. This bridge had been recognized and cared for by everyone in the province. Amidst the destruction that happened to the two provinces, it's connecting, the bridge remained standing. In fact, it's the only infrastructure that remains in one piece in the region.
We passed through the bridge and finally reached my hometown, Tacloban. It's a much smaller city now than it was before. At a glance, it still has the same vibe as it was back in the day. A city filled with lights and different types of buildings and businesses. But these only are the streets inside the city. In the outskirts a scar that still didn't heal marked on the city. Remains of the buildings that had been wrecked by those creatures.
The San Juanico reminds us of hope, but there are these ruins that remind us of the soul-crushing reality.