By the time they reached the clinic, Eli's watch read 4:20 PM. The two-story building stood at the edge of the barangay, its white paint already dulled by age and weather. The sign above the entrance still read Barangay Health Center, though some letters were missing. Beside it stretched an empty plot overgrown with weeds that swayed in the faint breeze, whispering against each other like dry paper.
Paolo leaned forward in his seat, scanning the area through the windshield."It's too quiet," he murmured, almost to himself.
Eli kept both hands on the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the building. "Quiet's better than screaming."
Paolo didn't answer right away. His gaze kept drifting to the weeds. "Or maybe it's the kind of quiet that waits for you to step inside before it rips your throat out."
Eli glanced at him briefly. "Optimism looks good on you."
From here, the clinic looked deserted. No movement in the windows. No sign of people outside. But that didn't mean it was empty.
They stayed in the car a moment longer."How do you want to do this?" Paolo asked. "It's probably locked. What if there's… people inside?" He didn't say creatures, but the word still lingered.
"We check first. From the outside," Eli said.
"And what if they're nearby?" Paolo's eyes scanned the street. "We're not exactly in a fortress here. Night's coming."
Eli looked at the sky. Clouds were thickening—dark, heavy ones. He remembered the last time it rained, and his stomach turned. The air had smelled like burnt metal, and the black rain had followed.
He unbuckled his seatbelt. "I'll go look."
Paolo's head snapped toward him. "Alone? Are you serious?"
"You can't run with that leg," Eli said flatly. "I need someone here watching the street. If you see anything—anything—coming out of the weeds or the road, you shout or honk."
Paolo's lips pressed into a hard line. "So I just… sit here while you go play bait?"
"No. You sit here and save my ass if something sneaks up."
Paolo stared at him for a few seconds. His voice softened, but the worry didn't leave his eyes. "Just… don't make me honk, okay?"
Eli gave a faint nod and stepped out.
The air outside was warmer than expected, heavy with dust. Knife in his pocket, arnis stick in his left hand, Eli crossed the cracked pavement toward the building.
The main door was a solid wooden panel—locked. He moved along the side, finding a narrow alley between the clinic and its neighbor. The second floor loomed overhead, its wide sliding window shut but not barred.
He circled back, pulled the car closer to the wall, and climbed onto the roof. The metal shifted slightly under his boots.
He peered into the second-floor window. Inside, dim light pooled in a dusty office—papers scattered across the floor, a door ajar at the far end.
Locked."No choice," Eli muttered. He reversed his grip on the survival knife and drove the pommel hard into the glass. CRACK. The sound ricocheted down the empty street.
He froze, scanning the area. Nothing moved.
Pushing the shards inward, he slipped through. The air inside was stale—disinfectant laced with something sharper, metallic.
The hallway beyond was narrow. His steps were slow, knife in one hand, stick in the other.
The third door on the right was where it happened.
A shape exploded from the dark—fast, low, a blur of teeth and claws. Eli barely had time to raise the stick. The creature slammed into it, the force rattling his bones. Skin stretched wrong across its skull, jaw hanging too wide, eyes like glassy pits.
It lunged again, claws raking for his throat. Eli sidestepped, shoving it hard into the wall. The impact barely slowed it—it rebounded, tearing the stick from his grip with a swipe that left his shoulder screaming.
He ducked as its claws sliced the air where his face had been. Pain burned down his upper arm—a shallow cut, but hot and wet.
He countered low, driving the knife across its abdomen. The creature shrieked—high, metallic—doubling over but not stopping.
It came again, faster.
Eli planted his boots, let it commit to the lunge, then caught it by the back of the head. He yanked it forward, twisting his body with the motion——and in one brutal, practiced arc, he drove the blade into the base of its neck and sliced.
The blade caught on bone, jerking in his grip before it tore clean through. The head thudded to the floor. The body collapsed in a twitching heap.
Eli crouched, chest heaving, ears straining for more movement. Nothing came.
The rest of the second floor was empty. But in one room, four bodies lay still—two adults in clinic uniforms, a teenage boy, a young girl. Blood pooled darkly beneath them, the boy's arm draped over the girl protectively.
Something in Eli's chest tightened. He didn't speak, didn't curse—just stood there, breathing through the weight in his throat. He'd seen death before, but the smallness of the girl, the way the boy's arm had fallen across her protectively, even in death.
Eli's jaw tightened. His eyes lingered a moment, then he forced himself to move on. He checked the rest of the second floor, then headed down the narrow staircase to the first.
The main entrance was bolted from the inside. He unlocked it, stepping out into the fading daylight.
Paolo was still in the passenger seat. His eyes widened when he saw Eli emerging from the building. Eli could see the faint tension leave his shoulders.
"What happened? You look…" He trailed off. "Was it bad?"
Eli leaned into the open car window. "Four dead. Two staff. Two kids." A pause. "One creature. I took care of it."
Paolo's Adam's apple bobbed. "…Kids?"
Eli nodded once.
Paolo exhaled slowly, his gaze darting to the building, then back to Eli. "You okay?"
Eli's eyes flickered, then looked away. "Does it matter?"
"Yeah. It matters," Paolo said, the words coming quicker now, like he'd been holding them back. "If something happens to you… I don't—" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "I can't do this alone."
Eli studied him for a beat, his face unreadable. Then he said quietly, "Good thing I'm still here."
It wasn't much, but something in Paolo's grip on the steering wheel eased, just slightly.
The clouds above were thickening fast, the air cooler now. Thunder rolled faintly in the distance.
Finally, Eli said, "We should move the car inside. Bolt the doors. We'll figure out the rest after dark."
They worked without speaking, the silence heavy but no longer empty—something unspoken binding it together. The storm would break soon.