Beyond the Boundary | ?

28 | Laruan

“YOU'RE HERE! 'Buti naka-survive kayo.”

I quickly got out of the capsule. My knees wobbled, causing me to fall on the metal floor while roughly gasping for air that my chest started to hurt. Napahawak kaagad ako sa dibdib ko para masahiin iyon.

Nag-angat ako ng tingin sa nagsalita. It was Mr. Siarez, standing in front of me with his hands behind him, and he's smiling as if his biggest experiment succeeded.

“H-Help...” I stopped to catch my breathe, “help my... my f-friend.”

Napasunod na lang ako ng tingin nang sinenyasan niya ang mga tauhan niya na asikasuhin ang mga kaibigan ko. I quickly turned around to look at Caesonia who was unconscious again, Reivohr who's at the verge of crying while trying to lift Caesonia up, and Zeigmund who was also having a hard time keeping his life.

I felt like my energy was drained so much. Nanginginig ang buong katawan ko lalo na ang mga braso at paa ko. Ang braso na itinukod ko sa sahig bilang suporta sa katawan ko ay nanginig at nawalan ng lakas kaya napahiga na lang ako sa sahig.

I wanna sleep.

The last thing I saw was someone lifting me up before I completely lost my consciousness.

--

A VIOLENT BEEPING sound woke me up. Nang imulat ko ang mga ko, bumungad sa akin ang puting kisame at ang pamilya na amoy ng silid. Iginalaw ko ang ulo ko para dahan-dahang tingnan kung nasaan ako, at napapikit ulit ako nang makitang nasa parehong silid na naman ako kung saan kami pinasok bago pinadala sa lupa.

The boys were already awake and Reivohr was sitting beside where the still unconscious Caesonia was lying down. Zeigmund was behind him, his arms were crossed against his chest.

I groaned when I tried to push myself up. Napansin nila ang ingay ko kaya napabaling kaagad sila sa direksyon ko. Both Rei and Zeig turned their body towards me, worried and surprised, but Zeig quickly strided towards me at unupo siya sa dulo ng kama ko. He bended his body a bit lower to match my face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Mabilis naman akong tumango. Wala na akong ibang masabi kaya binaling ko na lang ang tingin ko kay Caesonia na wala pa ring malay.

Ngayong nasa mas maliwanag na lugar na kami, nakikita ko na ang mga pasa sa mga braso at paa ni Caesonia na sinyales na pinuwersa siya. Just thinking about those disgusting creatures sexually assaulting her makes me want to go back and kill all of them.

But all of this wouldn't have happened if I just stayed put. Hindi pa sana sila madadamay at malalagay ang kanilang mga buhay sa delikado kung hindi ko sila pinilit na samahan ako.

All of this because of my selfishness.

Napabaling kami sa direksyon ng pinto nang marinig namin ang pagbukas no'n. Pumasok si Mr. Siarez kasama 'yong doctor na nagdala rin sa amin dito dati.

Mr. Siarez nodded as he gave each of us a glance. “Mm, glad you all are back alive. This is rare for volunteers to come back alive.”

I was speechless. Napakunot ang noo ko at tinapunan ko siya ng masamang tingin. He just smiled at me.

“We'll be commencing an interrogation later,” sabi ng doktora na kasama niya. “Your cooperation is a must. You have to tell us everything you saw there. I'll come back here later with some of my colleagues to start the interrogation and some tests...”

“Pwede ba kami umuwi?”

Napabaling ako kay Reivohr nang bigla siyang nagsalita. He was looking down at Caes' bed, and he looked so sad.