Ivan sighed, his frustration bubbling up. He wanted to point out that running to a high place might have been a good idea for the short term, but it was hardly a long-term solution. Then again, he had done the same thing.
His instincts had taken over the moment the outbreak hit. It had all been so random, so fast. There was no time to think or plan. If only he had seen this coming, he could have stocked up on real supplies instead of surviving off a dwindling stash of noodles. But he'd been stingy, too careful about spending money, and now he was paying the price.
Should've grabbed more than just noodles, Ivan muttered to himself, lampooning his frugality.
His mind wandered, thinking back to those chaotic first moments when the world flipped upside down, the panic on the streets, the noisy alarms. And here he was, still stuck in a high-rise with no real plan.
___
After their conversation, Ivan focused on a task that had been on his mind for a while. He went to a nearby wall and pinned up a hand-drawn map of Metro Manila, his city. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means; the map was rough and lacked detail. It showed main roads, some landmarks, and the general layout of the city. Despite its imperfections, it was better than nothing. He'd created it as a backup plan for when his phone battery ran low. At least with this, he'd have some idea of where he was and where he might need to go.
Next to it, he pinned another map—a rough sketch of his apartment, drawn from his memory. The map showed the basic layout of the rooms and the locations of windows, doors, and key spots. It wasn't entirely accurate, but it was a start. It gave him a sense of familiarity and a small measure of control.
One step at a time, he told himself. Small goals keep me sane.
Ivan turned his attention to his wardrobe. He was running dangerously low on clean clothes. His aversion to used clothing made it hard for him to consider wearing anything from the basket of used clothes that had piled up in the corner of the room.
As he sifted through the clothing, he stumbled upon an old picture of himself with his family when he was a child. The photo showed a man with black hair and glasses, a woman with black hair, and two children: a boy (him) and a girl (his sister). He clicked his tongue in frustration and quickly stored the picture away, pushing the feelings aside.
He resumed his search for clean clothes, carefully separating the ones he could use from those that were beyond saving. He knew that this small supply of clean clothes wouldn't last forever, and the thought of having to wear the used ones made him shudder.
It's just clothes, he thought, trying to steel himself. But I need to stay as clean and prepared as possible.
He worked methodically, setting aside the clothes that were still usable.
After changing into the last of his clean clothes, Ivan grabbed the walkie-talkie, his fingers hesitating on the button for a moment before pressing it. "Hey, you there?"
The silence stretched on for what felt like forever. He thought for a second that maybe the toy had finally stopped working. Just as he was about to give up, Lucy's voice crackled through, breaking the stillness.
"Yeah... What's up?"
Her voice was muffled, and Ivan could immediately tell she was eating. He frowned slightly. "What are you doing?"
There was a noticeable delay before Lucy responded, her voice still full of whatever food she was chewing. "Eating..."
Ivan rolled his eyes. Typical. "Okay, does your phone still have power?" he asked, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah, why?" she said, sounding a bit disinterested.
"I need you to send it up for a sec. I'll take some pictures of the maps I drew. The city and apartment maps. Just in case you need them later."
Another pause, and then a lazy, "Aight..." came through, her voice muffled again. He could almost picture her lounging around, mouth full of food, completely relaxed in the middle of an apocalypse.
Ivan sighed as he set up the rope and bottle system to receive Lucy's phone. After a few moments, the bottle clinked, signaling that the phone was ready to be pulled up. Ivan retrieved the bag and pulled out the phone, immediately noticing something odd.
What the… he muttered to himself, staring at the phone. It was encased in a bright green frog-themed phone case, complete with googly eyes that stuck out like little antennas and even had tiny limbs dangling from the sides and bottom. The sight was so absurd that Ivan had to do a double-take. He couldn't believe this was the phone of someone.
____
You're just asking to get made fun of or something, he thought
He shook his head, trying to push the ridiculousness aside. Focus. He pressed the power button, but the screen remained dark.
Great... just great. He remembered instructing Lucy to unlock the phone before sending it down, but it seemed to have turned off by itself. He picked up the walkie-talkie again, slightly annoyed.
"Hey, the phone's screen is off. I need the password to unlock it," he said, trying to keep his tone neutral.
"Huh, strange. I'm sure I unlocked it earlier. Oh well, it's 120104," Lucy replied, her voice casual, as if handing out her password was no big deal.
120104... Ivan punched in the code and watched as the phone unlocked. He quickly navigated to the camera app, snapping a few photos of the maps on his wall. He made sure the pictures weren't blurry, zooming in on key areas to ensure the details were captured clearly.
While he worked, a thought nagged at the back of his mind. This girl is so carefree... she really just gave me her phone and password without a second thought.
As he took the pictures, he couldn't help but think about the situation they were in. She's surviving, just like me, but the way she acts… it's like she doesn't fully grasp how dangerous this is. He shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside as he finished his task.
Once he was done, Ivan carefully placed the phone back in the bag and sent it back down to Lucy. As the bottle clinked again, signaling that the bag had reached her, he found himself staring out over the cityscape. Metro Manila... the city that never sleeps. Now, it feels like it's in a deep, unending nightmare.
He stepped back inside, his mind swirling with thoughts. Lucy's carefree attitude contrasted sharply with his own anxiety. Maybe it's her way of coping, he thought. But as he considered the risks they were both facing, he couldn't help but wonder if her nonchalant approach would eventually catch up to her.
She's too trusting, he realized, almost in disbelief. But in times like these, is that trust a strength or a weakness?
The question lingered in his mind as he moved on to his next tasks.