This is my contribution to
kspence92 's
I Am Legend story on the other forum
The Fall of the Queen City of the South: K-V in Cebu
January 3, 2010
Cebu City, Philippines"Damn it, there goes our festival," 17-year old Danilo loathed, reading the large announcement of Facebook that the Cebu Provincial Government was cancelling Sinulog, the grandest festival in the Philippines.
This cancellation was done in accordance to the WHO recommendations on mass gatherings and non-essential gatherings. KV was burning through North America and Europe.
It had not reach the Philippines, at least not yet. The only news so far in Asia was that there an outbreak of bird flu in China. It had caused concern to the country, which has essentially banned all travel from affected countries by the K-V. Nonetheless, there were concerns that the virus has already slipped passed the net. Travelers could have entered from backdoors or other countries. The Department of Health had stated no one has tested positive.
"I was looking forward to partying on the streets on that weekend," Danilo ranted.
His rant was understandable. Who would get bummed out missing the best festival in the country? Especially if it is only two weeks away?
On his Facebook feed, the organizers of Cebu MusicFest also announced that the concert would be cancelled for the time being. Cebuano netizens complained that they would not be able to see their heartrob Kris Allen, who won the previous season's American Idol, along with the dance group Jabawockeez and the band Boyce Avenue.
However, cancelled festivals and concerts would be the last of Cebuano's concerns.
******
January 17, 2010What was supposed to be a festive scene in the streets of Cebu complete with parades, floats, dancers in colorful costumes, confetti, banners, and partygoers were scenes of empty streets, save for the occasional vehicles and passerbys. The red and yellow banners, the images of Child Jesus, and loudspeakers playing the Sinulog beat remained as a symbolic gesture that festival and faith was there. Police cars and military APCs made sure people followed the health protocols. The Holy Mass held in Basilica Minore de Santo Nino was televised instead.
Cebuanos hoped that perhaps next year Sinulog would return with even better street parties.
Unfortunately, the schools would never return to normal and the concerts would never happen.
******
February 3, 2010The Philippines confirmed it's first case of the Krippin Virus. A traveller who took the long route from the United States via Japan got it. It was too late, as many passengers, airport staff, security personnel, and even health workers got it the bug. It then spread throughout the capital. The densely-cramped overpopulated situation of the National Capital Region ensured the virus would have an unlimited number of hosts to spread.
Panic buying set in as millions of people attempted to escape Metro Manila before it was quarantined. NLEX and SLEX was flooded with cars, buses, jeepneys, or anything with wheels as panicked citizens rushed out of the capital. They would inadvertently bring KV to most of the surrounding provinces of Luzon.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, already in a poor stagnated state since the 1990s due to corruption, mismanagement, and bureaucratic red-tape for its modernization program, were deployed to secure the roads but the soldiers and marines themselves did not have the heart to fire on their fellow terrified citizens. 70% of the AFP would abandon their posts and would join in the exodus. Thousands of them would die from infighting among loyalist units or to the virus themselves.
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February 4, 2010
Malacanang Palace
Manila, Philippines"Madame President, we have to get you out now!" screamed one of the Presidential Security Group agents at the second female president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"I am not abandoning the capital!" the President shouted, furious at the ongoing station.
"With all due respect, we've lost the capital the moment the virus reached the country. There's just too many people and too little of us. Our military is not capable of this. We cannot save everyone," said the National Security Adviser
"Where shall we go? Shall we go to Baguio? It's deep in the mountains and the roads could be blocked."
"Too risky. It's still within the island of Luzon. Plans are to evacuate you to Palawan." said the head of the PSG.
"Palawan? Why not Cebu?" Arroyo asked. "It's the second largest city of the country, located in the geographic heart, a major economic center, along with a port, airport, and a significant military presence."
After all, Cebu was where she got bulk of her voters in 2004. It was also the same place she was inaugurated for a second term.
"Cebu is being secured as we speak. Some Air Force units from Villamor Air Base are on their way to Mactan. However, we deduced you would be safer in Palawan. It's isolated and sparsely populated."
Before she could object, the PSG literally dragged Arroyo into the lawn of the Malacanang Palace where a Bell 412 in blue and white marking waited. It was the equivalent to Marine One. Arroyo got a glimpse of the people outside the palace, waiting to be housed. She saw some of them were bleeding from their eyes and nose. They would never be sheltered.
Boarding the helicopter, Arroyo saw the chaos unfurling below. The entire Metro was in chaos. Many parts were on fire. It could not be put out as the Bureau of Fire Protection were either among the dead or went on their own. She felt guilty. Compared to the Hello Garci scandal and the 2007 attempted mutiny, this was nothing.
As the helicopter flew over Manila Bay, the President could see fleets of ships trying to escape the bay. Many of them from cruise liners, tankers, ferries, simple tugboats, or even makeshift rafts. The nearby U.S. Embassy was already evacuated as its flag no longer remained, its occupants having been evacuated to nearby flattop before the virus reached the capital.
A few hours later, the helicopter landed in Palawan after making a stop in Gozar Air Station in Lubang Island. The air station was still online while the island and nearby Mindoro remained unaffected, it would only be a matter of time before the refugee ships would arrive here. President Arroyo watched the lush green hills and tourqiouse blue waters from the window of the helicopter. It was beautiful sight, she thought. Only if she was on a vacation. However, this was not a vacation. There was a lot of work to do if the Republic were to survive.
She kept silent and prayed that God would forgive her for abandoning the capital. The people of Manila and the rest of the Philippines definitely would not.
********
Same time
Somewhere above the skies of the Visayas
The C-130 carrying a handful of Air Force and Army officers barely escaped Villamor Air Base as it was swarmed by refugees, both infected and uninfected alike.
The Air Force pilots at the cockpit would never forget the scenes of people trying to escape. Some where crushed by the landing gears of planes. Others tried to hold on to doors at the side, only to meet their gruesome end by falling to the ground.
"All those people," The lead pilot thought.
He, along with his co-pilot and the military officers, counted themselves lucky to be aboard this flight thanks to their ranks. They had orders to head to Cebu and link up with the AFP Central Command to turn the second largest city in the Philippines as another national redoubt similar to Palawan.
"We'll be approaching Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in 30 minutes." The pilot announced.
Unfortunately, one of the officers aboard had the bug and hid his condition, thinking he'd be saved once he would arrive in Cebu.
********
The air traffic controllers in the adjacent Mactan Cebu International Airport picked up the frantic calls of mayday from the approaching C-130. The pilot said they had a sick personnel on board. The civilian air traffic controllers then relayed to this nearby commander of the air base, who ordered every armed personnel to surround the plane.
As the plane's ramped lowered, the officers ran out panicking. They were bleeding from their eyes and mouths. Panicking, the Air Force security personnel opened fired, killing some of them but not before specs of fluid and droplets spread to those who tried to restrain them.
An order was made to dispose of the infected bodies and quarantine those who came into contact with those infected military officers. However it was too late. Some of the workers assigned to disposal were infected by the airborne strain, which then spread throughout the Air Base. From there, it spread to the city of Lapu-Lapu and finally reached the main island of Cebu. A small naval base located in Mactan hurriedly evacuated their personnel and patrol and headed to the Camotes Islands, which they would protect with their small patrol crafts only armed with .50 caliber machine guns and 7.62 general purpose machine guns. Unfortunately, they could not protect entire island of Cebu, much more the entire Central Visayas region. They were too small in number to interdict all refugee boats. Their protection would only reach as far as the waters around Camotes.
The population of Cebu immediately defied stay-at-home orders and fled to the bus stations and seaports as major cities were feared to be hit by the worst. The army and the police were issued shoot-to-kill orders but like the nation's capital, majority openly defied those orders since they did not want to kill unarmed civilians. They too would join the mass exodus to anywhere rural. What was supposed to be the blessing of Cebu that the island was divided by long mountain range ended up as useless as terrified refugees camped into the rural portions, some bringing the K-V would them. Others tried to go to the resort of Bantayan, which too would fall because refugees could not be screened. The refugees would spread out to Leyte, Masbate, Samar, Bohol, Negros, and Siquijor, bring the virus with them and turning these paradise islands to areas littered with corpses. Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was stated to be taking part of the evacuation, but ultimately she joined among those who fell the virus.
It could not be said how the evacuation of Cebu was like for it was very chaotic. By the time society reached to pre-2009 normal levels in the early 2020s, it was found that only 10,000 people had managed to survive the island that was depopulated by the KV.
********
I was only 13 when the K-V Pandemic began. It started around Christmas season in 2009 but it would not reach the Philippines until January 2010.
It was another boring night here in Tubigon, which is just across Cebu. Classes had been transferred online to Skype because DepEd didn't want to expose students to this new virus that was affecting the world. The virus killed 70% of those it infected while the remaining 30% turn into vampiric monsters. I personally did not expect to see vampires in real life. I always thought they were the stuff of fiction, like zombies which my guy classmates speak of when they play Left 4 Dead in the nearby internet cafe.
One night after class, my parents said we should go. I asked why. They said the virus had reached Cebu and it was only a matter of time before refugees from our nearby island would flood Bohol. I woke my little sister Fiona, who was just 9 years old.
As I got out into our car to the port of Tubigon, I could see from the night sky across the horizon lit in the orange hue of the flames coming from Cebu City. My dad was correct, we needed to go. We lucky managed to board a Lite Ferry RoRo that was full of passengers. The ship was forced to leave as more residents tried to evacuate to whatever watercraft they could manage to board to. I was crying because I didn't understand the situation. I just covered Fiona's eyes as she was too young to comprehend what was going on.
My father talked to the captain and asked where the ship was going. The captain said that we were headed to Palawan where the government has set up a national redoubt. I've always dreamt of visiting Palawan, which was advertised as paradise with the green-blue waters and lush green hills dotting the background. I guess was taking a twisted form of vacation.
The moment we arrived in Palawan, we were screened until we came negative. Surprisingly, the island held out. We even hosted refugees from China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other Westerners that were stranded at sea when the pandemic began. My sister and I went back to our "normal" lives once more in Palawan. We went to school and lived our new lives here.
I am just glad I survived. Many of my classmates from Tubigon did not make it here. I miss a lot of them. I am 24 now while Fiona is 19. We've been living here in Palawan for a decade. More on more, I always wondered what would have happened if this damned virus never existed. I would have got to enjoy my teenage life more, try college, get drunk, party, go on karaoke, or even audition for Pinoy Big Brother.
However, it's bad for me to complain. Others would have definitely want to be in my place of being alive.
