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Chapter 22: Befriending Death
Last Updated:
2025-04-20 12:27:46
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Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 23: Welcome to the Bottom of Hell
I don't think Caite and I would be ever going to be okay after what she just did to ourselves. She’s insane, for gods' sake! I honestly don’t know who’s crazier—Caite with her sadistic streak, or the people who literally eat other people now.I mean, who in their right mind slices open a corpse just to smear its blood all over themselves? I know she’s smart, but this is too much.She just went ahead and draped guts around our necks, just “to cover up our scents.” Because apparently, to those creeps, we’re just food.Bahala na. At this point, faking it is my only shot at staying alive.A housefly buzzed past my ear and God, it’s disgusting. I hate feeling germy for even a second, and now that I’ve had sticky blood on my face for days, it’s driving me insane.Grilled meat and steamed sausages? Never going to be the same again. I scowled even more because, yeah, I really do smell like the dead. I want to wash my face, but Caite won’t let me. If the world wasn’t ending, I’d have ditched h
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 1: The Feast
On the sixteenth of April each year, the Fortalejo family would extend their invitations to their whole clan, including the ones who are not closely related to them. This is for celebrating the last day of the Pahinungod festival, which is a three-day feast that has been observed since the year 2047. It had been over three decades since Talia Fortalejo started their family tradition of gathering on this day as a gesture of thanksgiving to the gods and the ancestors who had come before them. It was also a way of honoring the rich history of the Segunda island and the bountiful harvest that sustained them. However, it is unfortunate that the true spirit of this gathering has gradually faded away over time. It used to be full of love, joy, and unity. Now, it's just an event where people only show off their expensive clothes and family jewelry. But most of all, people only came here to maintain their connection to none other than Aroñes Fortalejo, a name that is often whispered in hushed
Last Updated : 2021-08-27Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 2: In Flames, We'll Drown
The speed of the bus slowed down when it turned in another direction. The rocky grounds of the parking lot show that we finally arrived at our destination. We were all in high spirits as we walked through the dirt path into the deep forests of Mount Ampacao. Trixie started to harmonize with the music coming from the distance. The closer we got, the louder it became. The Night Cirque was just up ahead. Its large neon signboard beamed so brightly, successfully luring tons of people. The whistling sounds of the engine and the joyous screams of people on their roller coaster ride welcomed us when we entered the Night Cirque. The vibrancy of this place really pops out, especially the banderitas. Not to mention that this land is so wide, it even has an entire lot dedicated to the musical festival! The committees behind this event did an impressive job for making the whole place look enchanting and pretty exciting. A photo of us, featuring the stamped carnival logo on our wrists
Last Updated : 2021-08-27Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 3: House of Mirrors
Snow-like ashes fell from the sky. The night became more suffocating and foggy than before. If not for Trixie slapping my face, I would remain petrified like an idiot in the middle of haywire. Unfortunately, the only exit point was the entrance itself, so we ran as fast as we could, dodging fallen debris from ruined establishments and avoiding the flames as we made our way through the perya. We held each other so tight. I could feel our pulse resonating against each other. Our breathing was rapid and shallow as we tried to make sense of the chaos around us. All of my focus was interrupted, and everything else faded away as Trixie stumbled down to the ground, twisting her ankle in the process. I tried pulling her up, determined to help her walk, but each time we tried, we always caught off balance, causing her to cry out in pain. At that moment, I knew Trixie's injury was more serious than I initially thought. I glanced at her ankle and saw a deep laceration, caused by the
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Wailing screams echoed in the distance, making my heart skip a beat. Shadows seemed to lurk in every corner of the old buildings that lined up the road leading to our rendezvous. The orange hues of the streetlights made it even more eerie, reminding me of the flames and chaos I had to endure earlier. I ran faster, but this only intensified the cold, crisp air slicing into my face like a thousand tiny daggers. Its pressure whips past through me, freezing my body in its grasp and draining the energy out of me. A faint sound stopped me from running. I rummaged through my purse. My phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with Shae's name. Hope surged through me as I answered the call. "Shae! Are you okay? Where are you?" I couldn't understand what she was saying. The volume of her voice was really low and choppy. I also think she couldn't hear me so I moved into a different spot. "Can you understand me now?" I asked. "Yes! Yes, oh my Gods!" She's on a total breakdown right
Last Updated : 2021-08-27Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 5: Bury It All
The mirror in front of me reflected the same fear in Trixie's eyes when I left her behind the booth. I turned on the faucet and let the cold water cascade over my skin. I tried so hard to scrub away the filth and blood that clung to me. Despite my efforts, I still couldn't get rid of the guilt that had settled deep within me. thud-thud-thud I honed in on the thumping sound from the girl's restroom. I thought about Trixie, about how she had been mauled by a zombie. I thought about Shae, about how she had become one of them. Their desperate cries for help echoed in my mind. It was a haunting reminder of what I had done. In my whole life, everyone has been waiting for me to slip up. This night was supposed to be me breaking free from their expectations. I can't believe I made another mistake. If only I had never suggested to escape the gathering, they would still be alive. But, now they're gone and I had to live with the fact that I'm the reason why they're dead. Panic gripped
Last Updated : 2021-08-27Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 6: Walking Time Bomb
Fear and desperation could lead us to do some stupid things. Every time I bumped into someone, they were not in their right minds to think — either they push you aside or hurt you outright. Help was almost impossible to find in times of catastrophe. So, when Caite appeared in front of me and hugged her, oh, I fucking regret that. My emotions carried me away — I even forgot how much I hated her. I was the first to pull away from the hug. My arms dropped awkwardly to my sides as I avoided her gaze. How could I look at her properly? Come on, me and my friends used to taunt her online for petty reasons—stupid jokes that spiraled into something cruel. I did so many horrible things to her, yet here she was, saving my ass like none of it mattered. To escape the thick silence between us, I bent down and picked up the portable hologram I had dropped earlier. My hands moved slowly, deliberately, as if dragging out the moment would somehow make this less uncomfortable. I slipped it into my b
Last Updated : 2021-09-15Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 7: Echoes
The car slowed down as we passed a line of abandoned vehicles on the side of the road. Bloodstains marred their surfaces when I peeked inside. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Maybe the Grove is already overrun by zombies," Caite said, her voice tinged with uncertainty. I could see the hesitation in Vino’s expressions. He was starting to doubt our plan too, but we needed to meet our friends as we had planned earlier. “Look, we should still head to the camping site,” I suggested, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “We agreed to regroup there.” Caite shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “But what if it’s too dangerous? We could be walking into a trap.” “We can’t just leave them behind,” Vino countered, his brow furrowing in thought. “We need to at least check it out.” “Fine,” Caite relented, though her tone suggested she was still uneasy. “But if it looks bad, we head straight to the District Hall for backup.” I nodded, feeling the weight of our decision. With tha
Last Updated : 2021-09-17
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Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 23: Welcome to the Bottom of Hell
I don't think Caite and I would be ever going to be okay after what she just did to ourselves. She’s insane, for gods' sake! I honestly don’t know who’s crazier—Caite with her sadistic streak, or the people who literally eat other people now.I mean, who in their right mind slices open a corpse just to smear its blood all over themselves? I know she’s smart, but this is too much.She just went ahead and draped guts around our necks, just “to cover up our scents.” Because apparently, to those creeps, we’re just food.Bahala na. At this point, faking it is my only shot at staying alive.A housefly buzzed past my ear and God, it’s disgusting. I hate feeling germy for even a second, and now that I’ve had sticky blood on my face for days, it’s driving me insane.Grilled meat and steamed sausages? Never going to be the same again. I scowled even more because, yeah, I really do smell like the dead. I want to wash my face, but Caite won’t let me. If the world wasn’t ending, I’d have ditched h
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 22: Befriending Death
The library hadn’t breathed in hours. No more shadows skating across boarded glass. No drone humming overhead. Just me, Caite, and the kind of quiet that made you hear things that weren’t there. My phone was the only thing with a pulse. I found a charger under a mountain of receipts and old ID cards in the librarian’s desk. Miraculously compatible. And I used it the only way I knew how. Beep. The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please try again later. Rina. Britt. Gabby. Call. Redial. Call. Redial. Like if I just hit it fast enough, loud enough, desperate enough—one of them would pick up. One of them would exist. Beep. The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please try again later. “Jane…” Caite muttered without lifting her head. She was buried in books. Anatomy. Molecular biology. Radiobiology. Virology. Surgery. Stuff with words too long to say out loud. Pages spread around her like she was building a nest out of science. “I swear, if I get smarter I’ll ph
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 21: Triangle's Tip
“Don’t stop. Keep going,” Caite said like she had any idea what she was talking about.But we kept running anyway.Down the slope, through branches that clawed like desperate hands, mud clutching at our boots, shadows stretching long and mean across the path. Every step felt like dragging the past behind us—blood, screams, the cold sting of names we couldn’t say anymore.Then the forest spat us out onto the cracked edge of the old highway, the bottom city yawning ahead just before dawn. The sky was a bruise. Our lungs begged for mercy. Our legs didn’t listen.“There,” Caite rasped, pointing to a low building half-sunk in ivy and silence. “Library.”We bolted across the empty street. The door creaked open like it hadn’t been touched in years. We shoved it shut and dragged a battered bench in front, the thud echoing too loud. Caite dug a hammer from her pack. We didn’t speak—we just moved, boarding up windows in a rhythm that sounded like panic wearing work boots.She took the left. I t
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 20: The Ones Who Walk Away
That night, we moved in the dark.Caite rolled up the maps and tucked them under her jacket. I packed the rations into my backpack, careful not to clink the cans together. My hands were slow, deliberate, like they knew this was the last time they’d touch anything here. Caite zipped up the last of the bags while I double-checked the load. We were leaving tonight. Just the three of us.Tito Weston stood by the edge of the clearing, arms crossed. His face was unreadable, but his eyes… they were tired in a way I hadn’t seen before. Not just sleep-deprived or worn thin from another chase through the woods. This was something deeper. Bone-tired. Soul-worn.“Everything’s here,” he finally said, voice rough. “Food, medkits, iodine tabs, lighter.” He walked over, pulled something from behind his back, and held it out to me. A compact silver handgun. Standard grip. Full mag. Clean. Reliable.“For protection,” he said.I hesitated for a second. Then took it.The weight settled into my palm like
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 19: There's No Rest for the Wicked
It had been hours since we heard it, but the fuzzy voice through the static still echoed in my mind. ...puso ng isla… sinaunang karunungan… …ang banal na ubasan… magdadala sa santuwaryo It's deep-cut stuff. Only someone born here would get it. And I knew it meant something. It meant refuge. I didn’t tell the others. Not even Caite. But she knew something was up. She kept throwing glances at me across the campfire like she was trying to read a book she couldn’t open. I gave her nothing. Not until we were alone, kneeling beside the gear pile under the tarp. “It’s in Panimo, the island's center,” I told her in a whisper. “Woodpine Valley University is located in there. A safe zone. But the only way in is through the old ossuary beneath the church.” Her mouth parted slightly. “How can you be sure?” “I grew up hearing stories from Lolo. ‘When the light is low, seek God below.’ He said it's a passage they used to say when hiding during storms. Or wars.” “And you just...
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 18: Cryptic Poem
Ginny was gone. So was Carmen. Jia too.We stayed in our temporary campsite. Seb had just finished sharpening the edge of a wooden spear. Adrian kept pacing, muttering numbers and map coordinates like they were holy verses. Rory wouldn’t talk. Weston tried, but she stared right through him, like he was air.It was Caite who broke the silence.“We can’t just sit here and cry.”“Who’s crying?” Rory snapped.Caite didn’t flinch. “You, inside.”That shut everyone up.We spent the rest of the day like that—half grieving, half scheming. Chief Andy took stock of supplies while Brie and Mat cleaned what weapons we had left.The drone may be gone, but not our fight. They wanted blood? We were ready to give them hell.Seb pitched noise decoys. Adrian suggested mimicking old military distress beacons. Weston described pressure-triggered tripwires using broken mine casings. Everyone added something. It was messy, desperate, but alive. Something we hadn’t felt in a long time.Then came the questio
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 17: Red Dawn
We rested longer than we should’ve. Trying to breathe—each breath heavier than the last. We couldn’t make the sounds we needed to. No one could cry, not even if they wanted to. The silence was loud enough.When the first light came, everyone decided that it's time to bury her.The ground was cold under my fingertips, and the air smelled like wet leaves. We didn’t even mark the grave. Just piled the earth over her body.Caite paced. She looked at the ground when anyone tried to say something about Ginny. I almost thought she was going to break again. Maybe I wanted her to. She was always the one with words for everything. Always the spark.Now... nothing.I didn’t know what to say either. I was starting to forget how.I stared at the spot where we left her—too much like something I should’ve done differently, but I couldn't do it now, could I?But then the windows behind us shattered before I could process it. I heard Tito Weston shout, but it wasn’t a call to action. It was a warning
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 16: Fool's Errand
The drone hovered just above us like an obedient pet, its whirring quiet enough to blend with the wind. No longer a threat, not since Adrian disabled its tracker. He gutted the thing’s surveillance feed too. Now, it only saw what we wanted it to see. It moved when we moved. Stopped when we did. We split into two teams. Adrian and the others stayed to protect the satellite. The rest of us were on supply duty—Chief, Tito Weston, Mat, Leo, Carmen, Caite, Ginny, and me. Every day was the same: scout, scavenge, and pray the creepers didn’t catch our scent. "You’d think the zombies would get tired after running nonstop," Mat grunted as we navigated a ruined highway covered in wreckage. He nudged a fallen sign with his boot. “Welcome to hell, population: us.” Caite snorted. “Do you ever stop talking?” “Not unless someone blows me up.” “Tempting,” I muttered. "Basta if I die, I want a burial where the creepers can’t find me. Drop me in the ocean or launch me into space.” "You’d
Killing Lies (English-Tagalog) Chapter 15: Turning Tables
The distant moans of the undead became a constant reminder of our grim reality. Their decaying stench clung to the air as we trudged through the desolate streets. After the harrowing events of the previous day—bringing down one of those relentless drones—we knew time wasn't on our side. The military's puppets would be searching for their lost toy, and we had to act fast. In order to make our plan work and turn their weapon against them, we needed to scavenge for food, equipment, and supplies. But time really is a commodity we scarcely possessed. The frame of abandoned establishments silhouetted against the violet dusk, like a fossil from a world we no longer knew. The sun was already setting down again. Everyone needed a rest. And so, we set a camp in the middle of the broken road. Someone got the fire going, and everyone gathered around it. The flames crackled, but its warmth barely touched the cold that clung to our skin. I sat apart, a little farther from the group, hugging
