There's always a way (2)

*Knock knock*

Silence.

In the dim hallway of the second floor in the apartment building, the tall figure of a man illuminated by the soft blue light from the sunrays coming through the light grey clouds in the sky, passing through the wide open white stained glass window, waited for a moment before putting his knuckles against a door.

Rando knocked again.

*Knock knock knock*

A bit more louder this time, but not so loud that it could be heard from other rooms other than to where he was knocking on.

'Anyone inside should have heard of it... unless they're asleep, of course.'

*woosh*

The gentle winds blowing on his ears came from the outside.

July 23, 2023

Three years after the start of the disastrous and horrible war in 2020, and 6 months after the end of it. And just like any other year's July, this year's July marked the start of the rainy season in the Philippines.

If Rando remembered correctly, it just rained about two days ago.

'Or maybe it was three days ago, hmm.'

Rando was used to talking to himself.

Ever since he was a child, he never had what you'd call a "lot" of friends. There were always very few, and always less than the number of fingers on one's hands. This made Rando, who was already introverted, become even more like the stereotype.

As Rando never really had someone to always talk to, he just used to talk to himself all the time before, until he got used to it.

This explains why sometimes one would read Rando's monologue (or dialogue) as if he was responding to me, the narrator— because he was talking to himself.

Rando looked at the surprisingly still working and ticking wall clock that the owner of this building conveniently put up against the wall beside the door he was standing in front of. There he saw three stick figures chasing each other. Unfortunately the last in line was so slow that the other stick figures already passed by him and tapped him more than a hundred times or so already in the past few hours. Currently, one of the stick figures is walking slowly and is taking his time in getting away from the big and black number two figure behind it.

Basically, it just turned 2 PM.

And for some reason, Rando had not heard from any of his neighbors in the apartment building during the past hour and thirty minutes that he was knocking on their doors.

And he was already very very worried.

'If they are not answering my knocks, then it could only mean three things; they're either asleep, they're out, or... that they're de--'

The door in front of Rando suddenly opened.

"What is it?"

A feminine voice.

Rando who was imagining stick men running around in circles while he was staring at the clock, turned to face the woman who just opened the door he was knocking at.

He was, first of all, shocked at the sight of another person and couldn't help but be elated at the sight of another human being.

"Finally! A person!"

Second of all, he was amazed at the woman's beauty.

"Sharp features, pinchable cheeks, and really bright eyes!"

Third, he was awed by her great body.

"Good legs, balanced and proportioned, great shoulder length."

And last but not the least, he was kind of glad that the person he found looked like she had worked out a lot as her muscles are, although not as big as body builders, but certainly are defined.

"Surely you could do a lot of things!"

Now.

Understand that Rando was speaking in apocalyptic terms. And just a few hours ago, he was muttering about finding people in order to build a base to withstand the existences and the disease. Coincidentally, the first person that he found not only had a great body full of potential, but also a hard working person who managed to work out the hell out of those muscles.

Basically, the woman who just opened the door was the perfect ally to build a base with.

But there's only one problem.

"Thank you."

*slam*

Well, thinking about it, that was bound to happen.

Isabella used to be a model for a women's magazine in the Philippines. She was scouted when she just entered college and was offered to be a model for a rising clothing brand.

At the time, Isabella was offered a yellow bill for each picture, aka Php 500.00 for each shot, but she was not sure whether she was being scammed or not. She had heard stories before, and she was really wary of such offers.

Thankfully though, the person who came up to Isabella gave her a calling card, of which Isabella was able to verify after checking the site and the email that was listed on it. She was indeed being scouted.

Isabella was really tempted at the offer as her family was relatively poor. They could eat three times a day, and her parents were able to send both Isabella and her sibling to school with daily allocated allowance. But they weren't living luxuriously.

Her family used to live in the numbered barangays in Davao City, not even in the named ones. Their house is located in a low income residential area, and there were a lot of people who lived there.

Like, a lot.

But like any respectful Filipino child would do, Isabella asked her parents for permission first.

She was permitted, of course, just after she was reminded so greatly that no matter how much she models, Isabella should always and ALWAYS prioritize studying first.

Modeling proved her beautiful, and a degree proved her smart. Isabella was both, and as a 19-year old freshman in college, she became a working student.

Being a model at such an age was rare, and after her classmates found out, of course there were people who became either fans or haters.

Isabella wasn't really a popular model, nor was she a popular student. But after the first semester had ended, the name Isabella Cortiz suddenly became a hot topic.

"She wasn't the cherry, but she was definitely creamy." Or so the other students said.

___

Rank 1 - Daniel James Barongato (Mechanical Engineering)

Rank 2 - Isabella Cortiz (Architecture)

___

She ranked first in her class rankings and second in the general ranking, which brought attention to not only her as a student, but her as a model.

She suddenly had suitors, men who wanted to "taste the cream" chased after her. And when she refused them, other girls would, for some reason unbeknownst to man, speak wrongly about Isabella.

She was even bullied by said girls and was once followed by them on her way home just to bully her.

And so she started to work out and learned self-defense against her bullies. And the next time she was surrounded again, she just slapped the other girls immediately and ran away.

I could write a whole novel about her experience in school, but what is important is that she was used to men coming to showoff and ask her to be their girlfriend, and what Rando said wasn't even close to some of the worst things that was said to her. In fact, Rando complimented her. But what Rando said was...

'Too creepy for me.'

So she just closed the door.

*knock knock knock*

"WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN!"

Isabella could hear Rando's flustered knocks and voice. She was starting to get annoyed now.

'All looks but no manners.'

She thought.

Isabella opened the door again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you."

'I swear if he's selling something I'm gonna flip.

She was tired of people coming to her door just to sell something, which was why she moved to this apartment, far away from her first apartment.

*Coughs*

Rando cleared his throat and said,

"Before that, Hi, I'm Rando, what's your name?"

"Isabella, why do you ask?"

"Well well well, Isabella. The world has gotten to chaos and monsters made of blood has risen. We need to fight together and survive together if we ever hope to live after through this ordeal. I know the cure of the disease, so join me!"

.

.

.

Well, this was bound to happen.

"Excuse me, what the fuck are you talking about? You're crazy."

And once again, the door slammed in front of Rando.