How to live (3)

There are many mysteries in life that confuse and obstruct our ability to reason out what just occurred, and we might never have a chance to understand how such things could actually happen. Things such as how our consciousness came to be, how life actually began, and why your partner cheated on you can confuse us sometimes. We may end up spending hours and days, months, or even years, just to try to figure out why they happen/happened.

Of course, other people have given their answers to such questions, and they could be right.

But we will never know for sure.

What we do know is that such mysteries in life don't need us thinking about it, they just sort of happen.

Like how Browney was able to tell that Rando was infected and how she knew that Rando needed to use the soap.

Oh, and Browney is the name of Rando's dog.

It's a popular name for dogs in the Philippines, especially for brown-furred dogs such as a golden retriever.

Although golden retriever dogs usually look closer to golden yellow with their fur, Filipinos love to simplify things and a large majority of the Filipino people tend to call any brown or nearly-brown dogs Browney.

Rando was the same. He wasn't particularly creative in naming things, much more for a dog, and he didn't really want to think too hard about it.

Browney was originally an army dog, and a lot of Rando's comrades wanted to name her Hazel because of her eyes.

But Browney was assigned to Rando, so by the time his comrades had thought up a good name for her, Rando had already decided.

"The dog's name is Browney, okay."

Said Rando as he took Browney's leash and left for a run outside their compound.

His comrades were left inside their compound in slight frustration.

Partly because of the name, and partly because everybody wanted the dog.

But they didn't hate Rando for it, it was just a name for a dog after all. And besides, they could just convince Rando to name Browney as Hazel Browney so that they could call her Hazel.

They were a merry group of people, but they're still kind of envious towards Rando. After all, only one dog was given to each battalion, and Rando was the lucky chosen one out of 799 other soldiers in the Kaibigan(1) Battalion.

He was lucky because he was chosen and he was chosen because he was lucky.

These words sounded sweet to Rando. Illogical, but sweet. And the sweetness of being luckily chosen and chosen luckily proved to be a bigger blessing than what he could have ever imagined.

Just as Rando was thinking about how dreadful it was to be infected with the disease, Browney came to save him.

Well, more like barked to save him.

"Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"

She kept barking at Rando and constantly pointed her nose at the box of soap that she dropped on the ground. It was clear what Browney was trying to say.

"Is my dog telling me to use the soap?"

Rando said as a small smile slowly grew out of his always serious face.

He ran towards Browney as he was exclaiming, "Browney, you're such a huge blessing and no one can tell me otherwise!" again and again and tried to hug Browney.

Of course, as Rando was about to reach Browney, she realized that her master was trying to hug her and immediately ran towards the other side of the room, farthest from where Rando currently was.

Rando's reaction was much too simple for a 28-year old man that has already gone through the war with the most destruction ever done by the superpowers in the history of humanity as of yet. But it was just that he was simply too elated at the fact that he might get out safely from his current predicament. Rando was scared when he knew that he might be infected, but his dog seems to know how to help him.

Rando didn't know if other dogs could also tell if other people are infected, but he definitely can.

Rando also realized why Browney is running away from him.

So he picked up the box of soap on the ground and sprinted towards his bathroom.

When Rando went in, he immediately took off his clothes and dropped them on the ground as he rushed towards the drum of water(2) in his bathroom.

But he halted his steps.

A thought flashed in Rando's mind.

'Shit, I'm not the only one infected.'

His clothes are, too.

Rando turned around and stared at the floor.

Well, not really at the floor but at the clothes on the floor.

'What do I do with these?'

Suddenly, infections became a hygiene problem.

But it has always been a hygiene problem, though.

Even if you are clean but your surroundings are not, then you'll still get dirty. And if the surroundings are clean but you yourself are not, then the surroundings will get dirty.

And currently, such is the problem.

Rando has five options on what he should do with his clothes.

One, he throws his nearly destroyed jacket and shirt outside his window.

Two, he throws all the clothes on the floor outside his window.

Three, he can wash it clean in hopes that the disease gets killed.

Four, he can burn all the clothes on the ground.

Five, he can take a shower first and deal with the clothes later.

'Let's erase number five first. If I take a bath now and leave the clothes on the ground, I'll still be infected the moment I go out.'

'Let's also not throw these away outside, people might pass by and they might get infected.'

Rando's tops might have been destroyed, but his pants weren't, so he couldn't burn the pants.

'Alright, I'll burn my jacket and shirt, and then wash my pants.'

Rando's apartment has a little balcony that opens from his bedroom, and one can see the lush grey color of the broken buildings right outside his apartment and a very large area full of growing green grass from afar.

All apartments in his buildings are like this, and it was only really used to dry clothes.

There was a metal trash can on Rando's apartment balcony, and that's where Rando burned his tops.

He took a few pages off of a book that he has on his living room shelf and threw it along with his clothes. Rando burned one piece of paper and dropped it inside the trashcan before smoke started to be visible.

'Is it enough?'

It might be enough, and it might not be. But Rando can just put more paper if his clothes aren't burned all the way.

He went back towards his bathroom and turned on his washing machine.

It was surprising how he had electricity but there were no lights that were on in the dark hallway outside of his house.

But that wasn't a mystery to Rando anymore.

'Must have been something as big as that collector that charged through the hallway. wonder if there are other people still inside the building.'

Rando hasn't left his apartment in a month after all, and he was alone, too. So when he went to burn his clothes, he just walked across his rooms naked, and also walked back naked.

'No one's gonna know anyway.'

Thought Rando as he was put his clothes inside the washing machine,

He checked if the washing machine was rolling and if there was water that was coming in, before he went near the drum of water in his bathroom.

Rando placed the box of soap back on a shelf that is also full of boxes of soap. He already has a soap opened and placed on the soap dish near the drum of water, and that is what he's gonna use.

"Well, If my detergent worked, no reason for a soap to not work, right?"

Rando said before taking the plastic tabo(3) and pouring water on himself.

He was hoping, hoping that soap can kill the disease, and that his dog would hug him again.

Ah, if only it was that simple.