Survivor

A familiar song plays in Carlo's head as he feels floating into the nothingness. All he see is dark, and nothing more, not his arms before him as he stretches it. The song begins to play louder as if the source of the sound is getting closer to him.

"Pana-panahon ang pagkakataon..."

Carlo's mouth suddenly opened in tune subconsciously and he continued the line, "Maibabalik ba ang kahapon?"

The idea suddenly refreshed his mind as the sound and tune becomes audible to him. "Chances differ from time to time," Carlo first said and then continued, "Can we bring back yesterday?" He concluded the translation of the line.

"Tagalog?" Carlo feels reminiscent about the song and its language. "Why is it so familiar to me?"

Carlo's mind begins to become playful once again as the song plays. In front of him, a unfamiliar memory is played. Something different, as if it were a different version of him from a different timeline, universe or world.

"Mr. Carlo?" The sound of a woman's voice called him.

Memory flashes in front of Carlo like a record being played. He closed his eyes and feel a gentle sensation in his lips. A familiar scent of a woman's breath as her warmth envelopes him. He opened his eyes and beautiful woman is in front of him.

"Hey, beautiful!" Carlo spoke charmingly in front of the woman he kissed.

"Hey handsome!" She replies seductively lying on her side facing him.

Thunder suddenly sounded, the scenery changed. Carlo suddenly feel the rain in his face. The drops feel heavy, his whole body is wet all over. He is wearing a rain coat, underneath is a unfamiliar uniform from a unfamiliar nation. It's markings and the flag in his shoulder is also different.

"Carlo, what the heck are you doing?" A soldier shouts at him frustratingly.

"What!? Carlo yelled, annoyed at the soldier's shouting.

"It's the sergeant, he asked you why are you not moving?" A private shows up in front Carlo.

Firefight suddenly erupted and explosions happening everywhere. A sudden sharp sensation was felt in Carlo's shoulder as something might had exploded close to him. He was thrown to the ground to the foxhole where he was digging earlier.

"You humans misinterpret us, Gods! Despite of your ignorance, the Punong Bathala, the creator tolerated you despite of your acts being too offensive to us!" An angry voice said to Carlo.

"This is random!" Carlo blurted out of the blue in reply to the voice that spoke to him in darkness.

"Whatever, you humans are creative, enough to baffle us, beings you call as Gods!" The voice replied towards Carlo's comment on his words earlier.

Carlo wondered what happened to him. Random things suddenly happened out of the blue. He doesn't know if he is still conscious or not, but these images, memories, dreams and strange things happened almost frequently.

"You are almost dead!" A voice once again said to Carlo.

"Huh?" He surprisingly reacted.

"Don't you know of the basics of apparitions?" The voice once asked him.

"No, because you could be anything!" Carlo retorted.

"Good!" The voice paused, "You are not like those foolish mortals who cannot differentiate a demon's call from an apparition from above. Still, you are an amateur in my eyes!" The voice continued.

"Since you have the brain not the same of those stupid mortals, I will let you be. However, if you prove me wrong, I may change my mind!"

Carlo's mind clears and his head feels light. The sharp tingling sensation earlier is gone and his body feels warm once again. Moments later he was able to open his eyes once more.

A figure of a woman appears in front of Carlo, she is the only thing that looks clear as his eyesight blurs probably from the fatigue of his injuries. He can tell because I am having difficulty in moving his body. Despite of that he can also tell that his body is rapidly recovering as well. It is because he felt that he is feeling better and his body is somewhat responding as time passes by.

"Huh?" Carlo responded from a sensation of being touched in the cheeks.

"Are you alright Carlo?" A faint voice of a woman once more calls him.

"Y-yeah!" Carlo replied to her.

"You look like a mess, but some miracle have made you alive." The woman replied.

Carlo cannot see her face as his vision still is blurry. He is starting to weaken once more as his senses started to fade.

"Could this be my last?" Words formed from Carlo's mouth but no voice comes out from it.

"Manage his heart rate, he is slipping unconscious once more! Medic, I need help here!" The woman calls help.

Gunshots and buzzing bullets fly towards Carlo's surroundings. Two people approach him, he felt he was being lifted up and placed by a cloth or something. Suddenly he felt pain as he was lifted by a stretcher and being rushed out of the place.

Slowly Carlo's consciousness fades and the sound becomes non-existent. He could not hear a thing and his mind is blank once again. Floating in the nothingness of the void, cold once more.

"Don't you get it? Human!"

The thunderous unknown voice opened Carlo's eyes which made gasp for air. He look at his surroundings and see the Civilian Defense Unit members taking care of him. He tried to lean on his right shoulder but felt pain and groaned. Two members of the C.D.U. went near him and tended on his injuries once more.

"Sir, he's alright!" A militiaman from the C.D.U. calls a familiar figure from afar.

"Good, we need him alive!" The Arabian accent of the man made Carlo recognize him.

"You're lucky to be alive from that ambush, Sergeant!" The Arabian man looks at Carlo's wounds and stands up.

"Where am I? What happened!?" Carlo asked the man in front of him.

"Your unit got wiped out. Someone tipped you off as you approach the enemy camp. Your mission lead is nowhere to be found while the remains of your mech suits are being gathered for scraps by the insurgents. It's an ugly sight and will make the headlines tomorrow!" The man explained to Carlo.

Carlo memory returns as he remembered the ambush that he said earlier. There were people who helped him survive the ordeal. Probably it is them.

"Take a rest, you need a lot of sedatives!" The man said and administered a vaccine to Carlo's left shoulder.

The sensation felt familiar as the drug enters Carlo's veins. His consciousness fades almost to nothingness once more and he feel this time that he was floating.

After Carlo was sedated, Cobra talks to an unfamiliar man. The two had their lengthy discussion in his hideout. Before Carlo could lose his consciousness a conversation between Cobra and the man who had Slavic accent caught his attention.

"He looks like an interesting subject. I hope in doing this it would not cause friction to the Atlantic Alliance and the Confederation of Slavic Block states. We do not want another cold war or another conflict with them..."

After hearing that line, Carlo's mind becomes blank he could not hear, say, or react to what the two are talking. All what is left for him to hear is the familiar tune in his head. As if it reminds him of something he wished to do probably in his life, the past or the future. He does not know and he was not sure, but he will find out one day!