After ending the call, Riane cried. He felt betrayed and hurt. He wanted to shout and scream. However, he calmed down. There are more pressing matters than that. He tried contacting other people but he found out that the signal is out. He tried again but it was not working. As he was rummaging through his inventory, the lights went out. A few seconds later the backup electricity turned on. He operated the generator. After doing the things he needed, he turned on the surveillance cameras outside his house. He monitored the storm. He thought that his house couldn't stand the strong wind and rain. However, his house got a good foundation which made it impossible to fall. As the minutes goes on an explosion shook the earth. He saw through the camera, there was an explosion, 3 kilometres from the east. He knew that the nuclear powerplant exploded. Due to the strong storm as well as the unmanned facility, the maintenance wasn't done so it exploded.
Night came, he made dinner and ate while still monitoring the outside world. Just as he thought this was no ordinary storm, there were no cars nor people passing by the road. After finishing up his dinner, he washed everything he used. He took a shower and brushed his teeth, then he prepared to sleep while still leaving the monitor on. As he slept, he only hoped that this was a nightmare. In the middle of the night he heard noise coming from the surveillance cameras. He woke up due to the noise , as he got close to the monitor he saw through the screen, a man with his young son, breaking in the house. They were wet and soaking. There were no lights in the house since the generator is only connected to the cameras and to his basement. The father and son duo were rummaging through the kitchen to find food and water. They also opened the fridge. They found food, canned goods, bottled water, and some vegetables in the fridge. Riane watched as the father lit up a fire using his wooden furnitures to light up the kitchen. The son coughed loudly due to the cold. The father then began to cook food on the stove, he made a soup and he assisted his son to drink it. They sat beside the fire as the wind whistled, they huddled together to keep them warm. "Magiging okay ang lahat anak ko. Magpakatatag ka. Okay? (Everything's gonna be okay my son. Stay strong. Okay?)" The father said as he hugged his son. The son only nodded. They dozed off as the fire crackles and slowly burned out. Riane who watched it, went back to sleep. Not intending to let them know that he is there watching them. He let them be. He knew that he hid the entrance to his basement.
Morning came and still the storm rages on. As Riane eats his breakfast he watched the father and son explore the house. They found his room which he emptied out, he only left the sheets, pillowcases, and blankets in case there are people who will go to his house. They also entered his bathroom. He heard them talking to each other and also heard that they decided to stay in this house until the typhoon ends. The son's cough got worse making the father worried. He rummaged through the kitchen and bathroom to find medicine. He found a cough syrup and gave a spoonful to his son. Riane then noticed that they were wearing rags. He concluded that they are homeless or from the slums. He didn't notice last night due to his sleepy eyes and darkness. He then saw the father get a large pot and put water in it. Riane's house had a large water tank outside the house made out of concrete. He made sure that it was full before locking himself up in his basement. After filling the pot with water, the father then let it boil. As the water boiled he poured it in the bathtub. Then he filled it with cold water from the shower. After checking the temperature, he called his son and bathed him thoroughly. He had found where Riane kept his toiletries. After bathing his son, he rummaged through Riane's closet and found the smallest shirt he could find, an underwear, and a shortpant. He then told his son to put it on. While the son put his clothes, the father also took a bath and changed his clothes. Then Riane noticed that there is a dog outside the house. It was all wet, however he noticed that the dog had red eyes, foaming mouth, and an unnatural posture for a dog. It kept growling at the door. He had smelled the humans inside, Riane then brought out his phone and took a picture of the dog. He also brought out his notebook and pen. He wrote all the details about the dog. He can't find the cause of this unusual behaviour. If it's rabies then the behaviour would be different, this was new to him. As the father and son got down, they heard the growling dog outside. The son whimpered, the father covered his son's mouth and let his son quietly go upstairs. He slowly peered through the peephole and saw the dog. The dog who smelled the human up close barked unnaturally. The bark is deeper and had a gutteral hint. It then moved his eyes to the peephole which made the father fall through the floor. The dark then starts to slam its body towards the door and scratch it. The father ran upstairs and locked the bedroom door and barricaded it with the wardrobe. The dog got inside by breaking the windows. It had an unnatural strength as it easily broke through the windows. It ran upstairs and started barking and growling at the bedroom door. Riane watching all of it, was writing everything he observed.
Few hours later, there was a group of people in heavy-duty raincoats who barged in the house. The noise attracted the dog. It ran fast towards the noise. He growled at the group. The group was surprised, a person slowly walked up towards it, it seems to be a woman in her twenties. She slowly extended her arm intending to calm the dog down. No one noticed the unusual behaviour of the dog as well as it's unusual appearance. As the hand approaches the dog. It bit the hand, the woman screamed and tried to push the dog. The group also tried to help but the bog locked its jaws. The dog then forcefully fulled the hand which it ripped off from the woman. She screamed in pain and terror as her hand left her body. The dog let go of the severed arm and jumped and bit the woman's neck, killing her instantly. The terrified group ran in a scattered manner. The dog chased them one by one. He killed almost everyone, he then chased the final survivor out the periphery of the cameras. The dead bodies were scattered all around the house. Mauled faces, acattered limbs and broken bones. Their eyes wide open in horror and terror. The father and son duo who were scared due to the commotion didn't dare to open the door and stayed inside the room for a whole day. Riane observed that the dog never returned. He sighed in relief for the father and son. The next day the father went outside the room alone. He then saw the dead bodies. He vomitted right there and then. After steeling himself, he cleaned up everything and quickly disposed all the dead bodies outside the gate. He locked the gate and found two large bottles of gasoline. He then poured one bottle around the house. He also poured some on the gate.
The night came and Riane watched outside the gate, two dogs were fighting, they had the same manner and conditions with the first dog. They were fighting due to the dead bodies. They growled at each other as they eat the bodies. Riane observed them for a long time until they disappeared after eating all the corpses. Not even bones were left. Riane speculated their origin. He had heard rumours of animal experiments near the nuclear plant. He heard rumours about the secret government facility of animal experimentation in the guise of the nuclear powerplant. If the facility blew up, it means that these animals were experiments and mutated due to exposure of nuclear radiation. He thought that it would impossible since radiation is fatal to any living beings. Unless if they are not. He got chills thinking of it. It would be impossible. He couldn't wrap his head around it. Where would the government get the funding of such experiments. The country is already poor. However, if there is two or more organisations outside the country supporting and funding it, it would be possible. Riane's mind raced, he wrote everything he thought in his notebook. Riane remembered what Alec had said to him. He thought of every possibility. He slowly put names of the Elite and the Rich. Most of them were foreign families. From China, Spain, USA, and finally from Japan. Almost all of them were foreign and influencial families. He also named local families. Filipino families who were rich during the Spanish Era. He then brought out an old book about the families. He found what he was looking for. The families were rich enough to stay as a noble during the Spanish Era. From generations to generations they had been staying as the richest locals throughout the history of the country. He then slowly connected the dots. It seems that it was not the typhoon that he had to worry about. There is something deeper than he thought. This thing could take down these powerful families once the public knows of this secret. He had observed before that these families were close to each other. Marrying their children to the other. He also went to his past written records about these families. They were really connected to each other. Leading the public into ignorance. Making that they are just generational rich families.
It was already morning when Riane finished his research and speculations. He as an upcoming historian had a lot of books stored in his basement. And files in his computer and phone about everything. Riane then saw the father and son reading his documents. The father couldn't understand some of the technical terms. However he taught his son to read and write. Riane thought that this duo were already owning the house, which made him chuckle. He then yawned and laid on his bed. As he closed his eyes he went to sleep immediately.
He woke up to a commotion outside. He saw through the surveillance camera, a disheveled father with his missing son. Riane's heart raced. He then surveyed all the cameras until he saw something that made his heart ache. He saw the son crying outside the gate, his eyes turning red and his teeth were falling out, his skin turns into reddish as his nails slowly turns sharp. His teeth replaced by sharp ones. He screams in pain, his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth were bleeding. His blood were black. It seems that he got contaminated by the nuclear radiation. He never thought that the results would be this drastic. As the rain soaked the son, his cries turned to growls like an animal. Then a mutated dog rushed towards and they fought off. The kid a bit smalled than the dog was mauled off. The dog then dragged the dead body towards the center of the city. He then saw the father crying. He poured gasoline on himself just as he opens the lighter. He heard a voice from the walls. It was Riane. "Huwag sa bahay ko. Kung gusto mong sunugin ang sarili mo, punta ka sa labas. Malinis ka pa naman. Tanggalin mo yang suot mo, pati na rin yung dati ninyong damit. Kuha ng isang drum sa garage. Ilagay mo lahat duon. Tsaka lagyan mo ng gas at sunugin mo. Para hindi ka maging katulad ng anak mo. Na contaminate na siya bago pa kayo nakapasok dito. Sa pagkaka alam ko mabagal ang impeksiyon nito sa katawan. Kung gusto mo pang mabuhay para sa anak mo. Gawin mo lahat ng sinabi ko. (Not in my house. If you want to burn yourself go outside. You're still clean. Remove your clothes, also your old clothes. Get a drum in the garage. Put all the clothes there. Then put gasoline in it and burn in all. So you won't turn into your son. He was already contaminated before you came here. As far as I know the infection is slow to the body. If you still want to live for your son, just do everything I told you to do.)" The father although confused still did what the voice said. He then heard the voice say that he should take a long bath. The voice then instructed the father to open a secret compartment. There is a Hazmat suit and a gas mask inside. Riane's mother is a Bio-chemist. The voice instructed him that use it when he plans to go outside. The voice also told him to barricade the windows make it seal tight and unbreakable. Riane instructed everything through the voice feature of the cameras. The father asked him where he is. In which he ignored the question. The father got the hint and didn't ask further. The father did every instruction. As the night falls, Riane continued to study the effects of the radiation. If they did experiments to the dogs long before the explosion then the dogs might be more dangerous. As the explosion before happened it seems that the son was too close. Maybe he inhaled some of it or the father unknowingly let his son drink a contaminated water. The symptoms are common to colds. During his observations to the son. The first stage was cough, it gets worse and worse, then next is fever and weakened body, then finally the mutation, red eyes, sharp teeth, bleeding black blood, sharp nails, mania, and tendency to be animalistic. Early mutations are still weak however, long exposures can enhance the body. However it seems that they are not dead but they feel severe pain during the mutation. They are also susceptible to pain. As indicates the fight between the two mutated freaks. Riane then put down his pen and saw that the father is crying to his sleep. Riane was a bit sad but he brushed it off and slept.
In Italy, Alec had been working himself off to find Riane's parents and siblings. He found out that they are in vacation in Switzerland. He got really concerned when he heard no news about Philippines. It seems that the Families cut down the news about Philippines. No one new what is happening to Philippines right now. And no one cared. Alec took a flight the next day to Switzerland and find Riane's parents.
He found them in the airport making a commotion due to the fact that there are no flights going to the Philippines. Alec then talked to them. "What happened? Why can't we contact Riane? Why can't we go back to the Philippines? The staff couldn't give as an answer. Alec tell me what,'s going on?" Riane's mother asked Alec in a worried voice. He also saw worry in Riane's father and two older brothers' eyes. "I'll tell you everything I know but not here. Come with me first." Alec answered in a hushed tone. The Aven family agreed and followed Alec in an isolated hotel.
"This happened a week ago..." Alec started.