Day 1: Lost in the Forest
She didn't know how many hours she had walked alone in this creepy place. Lost in the forest, she was isolated from her group, who were headed to Simpkins to volunteer and help sick and homeless children.
Simpkins was a place where the war never ended; where ordinary people were separated from the wealthy and powerful. It was a place divided by life status, education, and money. People living downtown needed help and caring from those with big hearts.
She continued to walk, not knowing where her feet were taking her. Her heart was beating fast, and she was totally drained. She needed a glass of water to refresh herself; her stomach was empty and needed food. She didn't even know when her last meal was.
She kept moving, hoping to see a sign of a small town or a way back to the city, but she had no idea where to go. She sat down to rest her feet for a while, suddenly feeling afraid. What if terrorists saw her, or a wild animal that eats humans?
Her body started to shiver, and she cried. She was even more frightened because the whole forest was covered in darkness.
She stood up and quickly started walking again. Suddenly, she heard a car engine and the voices of a group of men, chattering and laughing. She ran fast, thinking this might be the help she had been praying for—a hope that would take her away from this creepy forest.
A little hope came into her heart as she finally saw a truck coming, and the voices of the men grew nearer. She could already see the highway and the vehicles.
She stood in the middle of the highway, waving her hand.
"Help... Help... Please help me..." she shouted, breathing heavily.
She could hardly stand any longer; her body was shivering.
A man approached her, with a gun slung on his shoulder and wearing a fatigue uniform. She smiled, knowing she was in good hands, before her vision faded.
"Salamat.... Maraming Salamat..." she said in her own dialect.
"Ma'am... get up... Open your eyes." These were the words she heard from the man in the fatigue uniform. She wanted to open her eyes, but she lost consciousness and fell into the man's arms.
Day 2: Meeting the Strangers
She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was lying on a bed with something attached to her arm. She moved and tried to say some words. She saw two men standing near the door, wearing fatigue uniforms and guns slung on their shoulders.
"Nasaan ako?" she asked in her own dialect.
The two men noticed her, stopped talking, and approached her.
"Ma'am, how are you feeling?" asked the man with blonde hair. "Are you okay?"
"Nasaan ako?" she repeated in her own dialect.
"What did she say?" asked the other man wearing a cap.
"Ma'am, do you speak English?" asked the man with blonde hair again.
She froze and stared at the two men, now recognizing them by the patches on their uniforms. They were soldiers, Arland soldiers.
"Ma'am, are you okay? Do you understand me?" the blonde-haired man asked again.
She just stared at the two men in fatigue uniforms, speechless and surprised that she was now with the Arland Soldiers.
The soldier wearing a cap went to the table next to her bed, picked up the phone, and dialed.
"Sergeant, she is awake," he said, delivering a single message to his superior before hanging up.
The two soldiers kept talking to her, trying to approach her, but she was totally rattled. She wanted to ask for food, but no words came out of her lips.
After half an hour, the door opened, and a man came into the room, also wearing a fatigue uniform. The two soldiers saluted the young officer, and she figured out that this man was their superior—the man they had called earlier.
"Any details you get from her?" he asked his two men.
"No, Sir, I think she can't understand English," answered the soldier wearing a cap.
She chuckled and started to laugh, surprised that they thought she couldn't understand what they were saying.
The man they called Sir came closer to her. He smirked and crossed his arms before asking her a question.
"How do you feel, Ma'am?"
She just looked at his face and the uniform where his name was printed - HERRERA.
"Maybe that was his last name," she thought to herself.
The young officer moved closer to her and sat on her bed.
"Get off my bed," she said bluntly.
"Oh... sorry."
"So, Ma'am, you know how to speak English?" asked the officer named Herrera, as printed on his army uniform.
She didn't answer, looking around again and thinking.
Her stomach rumbled loudly, making her feel hungry after almost a day without eating. She felt a little shy because she was sure they had heard it.
"I am hungry... Do you have some food? It's almost a day since I've eaten anything." Her eyes pleaded with the three soldiers in the room.
"Alright then..."
The young officer asked the two soldiers to get some food for her.
Now alone with Officer Herrera, she remained quiet, observing him. He got some paper and a pen and started writing something. She wondered if he was writing down all the questions he wanted to ask her.
A moment later, the two soldiers arrived with the food she had requested.
She grabbed the food, not caring what she looked like; all that mattered was filling her empty stomach.
After she had eaten, she wanted to take a shower, so she asked for a favor, and the officer allowed her to clean up.
"Can I get my bag? My personal things and my phone are in there."
"Oh, this will not be too hard anymore. I thought you couldn't speak English," the officer smiled bluntly.
"Of course, I do." She sounded calm and kind, not wanting to antagonize them. "But I need my bag before I take a shower. Can I get my bag, Sir?"
"Well, we need to check it first."
"Seriously?" Her face turned red, feeling shy; they shouldn't do that, those were her personal belongings. Did they need to do that?
"Oh... this is unbelievable," she said to herself and remained quiet.
After an hour of waiting, the soldier with blonde hair came into the room with her bag. She grabbed it instantly, checking if all her things were still there.
But her phone was missing. She looked again in every pocket of her backpack, but she still couldn't find her phone. She thought maybe she had misplaced it or left it in the forest.
"Have you seen my phone? I need that; I need to contact my friends..."
"Sorry, Ma'am, but we need to check your phone first, then we will give it to you once it has been checked."
"Not again..." She breathed heavily.
She just nodded and glanced at the window, thinking about where her friends were at that moment.
She shouldn't have insisted on going through the small town; she wouldn't have been separated from them. As they traveled to the town, she enjoyed walking until she realized she was lost and didn't know how to return.
There was nothing she could do for now but stare at the soldiers and look outside the room. She just kept thinking and trying to figure out what would happen next, living with the strangers.