THE next day, Natalia woke up to a dead bird laid down beside her. She sat up on her bed and looked at the little creature with pity. It was so sad to think that there were times when her aunt had to buy a love bird and kill it for her to eat. But no matter how merciful she was, that wouldn’t satisfy her empty stomach.

After eating the poor bird, Natalia got dressed and cleaned up her room. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw Cjay and his exposed decaying topless body in the living room. He was folding his black hoodie when he felt her presence and turned his head to her direction.

‘Swallow!’ she commanded to herself as saliva slowly crept up her throat.

Sure, women drool over Cjay because he looked gorgeous with handsomely-shaped body, short layered hair with a side fringe, and his sharp, deep set eyes and thick eyebrows, but in their situation, Natalia was salivating because his scent was so strong it made her stomach rumble. Her eyes stared at the way his decaying skin peeled off on his chest and stomach, it felt like she was pulling off the skin of a lechon baboy (roasted pig) at the very sight of it. His skin was grayish except for the reddish part on his stomach.

“You,” Cjay pointed at her. “You’re the one who brought me here, right?”

Natalia scolded herself to snap out of her fantasizing feasting on Cjay’s body. She should not entertain the hunger she was feeling or else, she might attack him. She would not dare to attack also, because having not eaten a single corpse for three months had already dulled her in-born abilities and made her weak. Natalia would definitely be no match to this zombie. Cjay must be brain-dead, but if he managed to survive among the humans, then she should not underestimate him even if she was certain that her impression of him as an idiot would remain constant.

Natalia nodded her head. “Yes. It’s me.”

“Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?” he asked brusquely before he felt the reddish skin on his stomach with his fingers. He hissed at the pain that touching it had caused him. “What do you think are you going to get in exchange for helping me?”

‘Do you really think I planned to help you? You’re supposed to be my meal last night!’ Natalia frowned and crossed her arms before deflecting. “How are you? Where’s Aunt Hilda?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “That woman? She left because they’re going to make rounds. She doesn’t look like an Aegis.”

Maybe, Natalia was a little too sensitive when it comes to her Aunt Hilda, but she could not help her irritation. Cjay spoke of her aunt as if he doesn’t respect her at all. What does he even mean with her aunt not looking like the brave, honorable medic that she is? He did not curse her aunt but the awkwardness was all over his face as he replied to her. If he only knew that Aunt Hilda was the only reason why he was still alive . . .

Natalia fell silent, so Cjay, who seemed to feel more awkward at her silence, resumed folding his hoodie and checking the reddishness of his stomach’s skin. Meanwhile, Natalia fell into one of her tendencies to overthink.

She was processing her first ‘sober’ interaction with Cjay. So, far, it seemed that the Cjay she sees on TV was the same Cjay in person—that arrogant celebrity with a main character syndrome. He was one of the cancers in the showbiz industry, but do ordinary citizens like her have any choice when there was a limited number of celebrities available? Because unfortunately, there was no Internet access in Citadel. The government reasoned that limiting their access to the world wide web was for everyone’s protection, although Natalia and Aunt Hilda had a guess that it was also a form of damage control, of preventing mass panic.

During an epidemic, show business must be the least important industry to exist, but cynical-minded Natalia did not question this. She already had a theory that the government supported this because they were using media entertainment to divert everyone’s attention from their current crisis and give the government more freedom to operate the way they wanted to execute their plans.

“Oh, what are you still doing here?” she snapped. “You’re already awake, so go on. Go home already.”

‘If you’re not going to leave, I might make you my breakfast.’

“I can’t just leave here,” he answered back. “As you can see, this damn—” Cjay gently poked his stomach again and hissed in pain.

 ‘Such an idiot. He knew that it hurts but he kept on poking the red on his skin.’ Natalia had to stifle a mocking laugh, but she might fail at it so she had to retire to the kitchen.

Cjay followed her with his gaze. “Hey! I am not yet done talking! And you’re not yet answering my question! Why did you help me? What for?”

She stopped. ‘I really should have eaten this arrogant idiot. Now, I have to make up stories.’ She turned to him and sulked. “I helped you because you’re the president’s son. Obviously, I expect a reward in return.”

The young man smirked mockingly. The spark in his eyes was an obvious sign that he already knew it. Natalia could not explain the puzzlement that made her heart thump, because at their distance she could still feel the weight of his intent stare into her eyes.

There was this kind of knowing in his eyes. Something teasing or suggestive, but the way his eyes stared didn’t match the rest of the expression on his face. That was when she knew that he was only being annoying. Natalia recollected herself and waited for him to explain himself.

“Come on. Tell. Like what reward? In cash?” Cjay shoved his hand in the pocket of his folded hoodie. There was a hint of insulting chuckle in his voice. “I only got a few pesos in here, because it’s hard to stuff my massive wealth in this little pocket—”

Natalia shook her head. “Fine. I’ll get my reward from the president then. You’re on your own now.”

Cjay pulled out his wallet and checked. Both of the gasped sharply when the door burst open after being kicked by a heavy, military boot from outside. A group of men in gray uniform flooded in Natalia’s apartment, scouring every corner of the area while some of them stayed with the two of them in the living room.  She was shocked when two of them pointed their long guns at her.

It wasn’t long before the armed men in the living room exchanged glances. That’s when Natalia noticed their scrunched up noses and that weird twist on their faces. It finally occurred to her that it must be her and Cjay’s combined putrid smell. Because of her odor, people already stereotyped her as a garbage collector, what more now that she’s in the same room with the zombie who was a celebrity-slash-president’s son? She would not be surprised if she will be arrested for busting the olfactory nerves of these soldiers.

The soldiers gradually moved on from the blockbuster collaboration of Natalia and Cjay’s rotting smell. It disappointed Natalia because that only means these men won’t be leaving anytime soon.

One of the soldiers approached Cjay and introduced himself.

“I am Commander Winston. Mister President sent us here, Sir Cjay.”

“What the hell . . . ” Cjay seemed at loss for words. He must be as surprised as she was.

The men became highly alert when Natalia walked toward Cjay and Commander Winston. She placed a hand on her hip the moment the commander glanced at her, acknowledging her presence.

“What are you doing here? How did you know that he’s here?” she asked out of curiosity. To be honest, she was bothered about how the president’s militia just barged in unannounced. She had to question because, isn’t this a violation of her rights?

“We are given a special order by the president, miss,” Commander Winston answered formally. He looked so stoic but the way his eyes discreetly scanned her did not escape her. “The presidential son, who also happened to be a zombie, had been missing for about ten hours. It is not just his safety that’s at risk here, but yours too and everyone here in Citadel.”

“Yes, but how did you find out that he’s here?” ‘Did Aunt Hilda tell them?’

Cjay stood up from the sofa. When she looked at him, he had already put on his hoodie and pulled it down to his stomach. “My GPS is on,” he answered blandly before turning to Commander Winston. “Let’s go. Take me home.”

Commander Winston’s eyes shifted between Natalia and Cjay. Cjay got the hint that the man was still suspicious of her so he explained on her behalf.

“She did not abduct me. She helped me. I got drunk last night so she took me here.”

Before anyone could speak, Cjay already went ahead and left the apartment without looking back. Unbeknownst to her, he intentionally went out so that the militia would already stop asking questions. When Natalia turned to the commander, he was already hand signaling to his subordinates to leave the apartment which they promptly obeyed and followed Cjay outside.

Natalia did not get out of the apartment to check them in the hallway. Instead, she carefully closed the door so that she could finally breathe. She was still bewildered from how fast everything just happened that her knees wobbled as she sat down the sofa. Natalia had to bounce to her right before a metal spring poked below her thigh.

‘I’m so lucky, Aunt Hilda stopped me from eating that idiot. Fuck that GPS, those soldiers easily tracked us here.’

***

Cjay winced as he endured the painful burning of his stomach due to the amount of alcohol he took last night. His hand laid flatly on the side of his stomach while sitting on his bed with his back against its head board.

President Carlos stood at the foot of the bed, giving him a last-minute ‘lecture’ before attending his meetings. As usual, he was still wearing his white barong and black slacks.

“Be grateful that someone helped you out there! What if—”

“Dad,” he groaned, “I am already home, alright? Can you just, please, stop? My gut is already hurting!”

“That’s what you get for being so stubborn!”

He sighed heavily. “You might be late for your meeting.”

“And who is this young lady? Why did you sleep in her house? You know that you can’t just hang out with anybody. Cjay, just one mistake . . . Just one fatal mistake, Cjay! One mistake and we’ll definitely be put in the hot seat! Our people might drop all their considerations for a zombie like you to co-exist here in Citadel and demand your death!” President Carlos brushed his hair up with his fingers in frustration. “You know your condition, Cjay. You’re aware that some of the people here are still scared of you. If they’re not scared, they secretly loathe you for being the only one given a second chance at life while their loved ones just simply died as zombies.”

Cjay did not know what to respond to that because he was also confused. Of all the zombies out there, why was he chosen to be medicated? Why is he the only one allowed in Citadel? He knew that it wasn’t just because he’s the president’s son. There must be something in him that convinced everyone here to let him stay, because even if his father is the president, he’s just one man. And one man is not as powerful as a whole nation, or a big populace that fits for a city. Everyone could have kicked him and his father out of Citadel if they were not convinced that it was okay for a zombie like him to stay here.

But the biggest puzzle as of this moment, was how could an ordinary person in Citadel help someone like him without a second-thought?

Was that smelly young woman only after money? A reward from the president?

Well, she already said it herself. She only wanted a reward, so he had to take it for what it is.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry because I won’t be hanging out with that woman again,” he said bitterly. “Her apartment reeks and it is just so deteriorated, her holed sofa poked my butt for who knows how many times? Plus, she admitted to me that she only wanted a reward from you.”

“As usual,” his father sighed. “I’ll take care of that reward today, once I am done with my commitments. Just get rested here.”

The president turned away and left Cjay’s room.