The Smartest Ones That Managed To Go To The Top And The Ones Who Are Lucky Enough To Join

Date: May 14, 2022 | Time: 10:36 am

'Why did this guy save me? He doesn't have any reason to help me...'

The girl that Philip saved on his arms spoke in her mind with confusion, fear, and restlessness

The girl was an attendant on that expensive clothing store, so she was wearing a themed attire that represents the store . She's wearing a red, almost maroon, colored coat on top of a white polo. She was wearing a short skirt, flesh colored stockings, and broken heels. She has short black-brown hair that only reaches along her chin and she has a black watch on her right wrist

'Why did he say that we should go up and not go down? Wouldn't be more preferable if we get out of this place as soon as possible?'

The girl wanted to ask Philip a question but she couldn't because she's still very scared and she's too stunned to move

Philip continued to take his time and walk back around the terrarium on the fourth floor. He wanted to recover his energy even just for a little while no creatures and infected are around. He also wanted for the girl on his arms to calm down a little so she could regain her strength on her legs

He's still contemplating whether he would still go to the north, where the other set of escalators are located, or go towards the east side, where the secret passageway that goes to the cineplex is located. Not a lot of people know this passageway because not a lot of people pass through there

It's not a common way and leads to almost nothing after all. Well, to common people and tourists at least, because this side of the Gateway mall connects the Gateway Tower that has 31 floors in total

If people came from the Gateway mall itself, they have to go to this east side of the mall and go down to the ground floor that's directly connected to the Gateway Tower. The ground floor of the Gateway Mall is not connected to the Gateway Tower and people have to go to the second floor to reach each area of the building

There was another route that Philip knows that's located at the same level of the cineplex. But people have to go through a long passageway, go up a tight stairwell, and reach a weird area where a 7-11 convenience store and a coffee shop is located. Then finally, there is a connected hallway that leads to the Gateway Tower where offices will be located

There is also an exit that leads to the garden rooftop of the Gateway mall itself. This will also lead to an elevator that goes down across Gateway Mall 1 and Philip is near on that elevator shaft

Philip knows this Gateway Mall like the back of his hand because of his adventures when he was in highschool and senior highschool, particularly grades 10 to 12

During his highschool on grade 10, his school is literally just next to the Araneta City, just adjacent to Aurora Boulevard and two blocks over near Gateway Mall 1. The school is Stella Maris College, a private school and a Catholic school that used to be an all girls school but accepted male students two decades ago in 2002. Although, the college is still only exclusive for girls because the professors and instructors in the college are nuns and sisters that will be teaching sisterhood

Every dismissal and after school at 3:20 pm, he always roamed around Araneta City and do sightseeing, sometimes eat food at any restaurant with his friends that he made along the way. He was the only male in the friend group and sometimes there are two to four females

Of course, since the school was an all girls school, there were a lot of female students, so Philip made a lot of female friends platonically

But whenever they go around Araneta City, he and his ex developed feeling for each other and that's where they started dating

Because of that, he would go to the most secret place and adventure around with his ex, finding all sorts of good food and coffee shops and they could hang out together along with their friends. He knows every nooks and cranny of the Araneta City

But of course, that stopped ever since they graduated. At that point, everything went down hill for his romantic life that was affected by his family problems that's connected with financial problems and his own personal and mental problems

After he graduated, he transferred to a university around 700 meters away from Gateway called T.I.P, Technological Institute of the Philippines, for his two years in senior highschool, plus first year college before the pandemic happened. The university is still located along Aurora Boulevard and it's over seven blocks away from Gateway

After remembering the pathways of Gateway, he then decided where to go. That will be to the east side because it would be extremely easy to reach the cineplex rather than on the north side

This is because at the north side, where the escalator is located that leads directly to the cinema ticket station and popcorn station, the food court is located and a lot of people would have definitely been there. If the creatures came from the fourth floor near the escalator that leads to the third floor, there would be a lot of people that have been infected around there

He then hoped that the infected didn't climb up the cineplex since the escalator is the only way to go upwards on that location. People in the cineplex should have defended that area, at least just one side that goes up because these infected won't be able to climb the escalators that's going down and they would just stumble down

It would have been a great defending point to keep off the infected from climbing up

He then finally passed the roundabout next to the terrarium and carefully walked across the hallway. At this point, he pressed a button along the wire of his earphone to turn off the music. Though, he didn't want to turn the music off since he was listening to a lo-fi song of a pretty popular streamer that is named after a flower and he was vibing to it

He turned the music off so that he could hear better and listen to some suspicious stuff along the floor. Ever since he was staying in his grandmother's house, he always had his earphones on, even when sleeping, except for taking a bath. Due to this, his hearing has adjusted to a lower tone of sound in respect to his surroundings. By turning off the music or removing his earbuds, he could hear more clearly and better than an ordinary person

He has been doing this for at least two years since the pandemic arrived

The mall became relatively quiet also, except for the screaming outside and on the ground floor that leaks through the exits and entrances

The floors aren't covered and closed after all. There are big openings in between floors that goes through all the floor, except for the cineplex and the basement

The noise doesn't only come from the ground floor but it also, as Philip expected, came from the food court

The growls of the infected were louder than usual and as Philip could see from afar, the infected seemed to be falling off from the cineplex. He doesn't have a relatively good eyesight, but the eyeglasses that he have helps a little bit

This could mean that there are people at the cineplex that has been defending the floor and they were doing a great job. This made Philip excited but also wary since there are already people on the top floor

He didn't expect for most people to go up and defend the floor. He would commend them for their smart decision, unless people were just initially trapped there and they decided to defend it

He would also take a note that there might be hundreds of people in the cineplex since it's already been a week since a certain movie of magician superhero that caused problems within the multiverse has premiered

But it's still early in the day and the malls just opened around 30 minutes ago and he was sure that cinemas usually open one or three hours from now, depending on how special the movie is

So, Philip doesn't have to worry on having hundreds of people hiding on the top floor

He then quickly walked forward and shifted towards the east hallway going towards the east side. He carefully threaded through even though the hallway is just around 10 meters long

He passed by a stall with flowers and teddy bears, a stall that sells blizzard ice creams, and a stall that sells those delicious mango graham shakes and ice creams

Fortunately, there were no one near around the escalator, but he could hear loud growling sounds and screams at the ground floor through the gaps in between the escalator and glass railings

He quickly went on the escalator while bobbing and weaving his body back and forth as he's still carrying the girl

After this escalator, he would reach the secret passage towards the cineplex and at that point, he would be relatively safe. Before he stepped on the escalator, the girl called out to him. He didn't step on the escalator to bring him up to the fifth floor to add a dramatic atmosphere as the girl is about to talk to him

Besides, he feels like someone will be waiting for them on the entrance of the secret passage

"Hey, are we going to be okay? Is this really happening?"

The girl asked in a trembling voice with a fearful tone

"Hmmm... I'm going to say that we are going to be okay as long as you're with me, but no promises. I didn't want to be that guy, but... Yeah. I didn't want to give you false hope and yes, this is happening... We might not be okay also"

"Mm... I'm scared..."

The girl started to tear up once again. She tightly clutched the black sheath of the katana and shifted her left hand on to Philip's chest gripped his clothes tightly

Philip just looked down on the girl's face as tears began to flow on her cheeks. She began to hiccup and catch her breath while she was resisting to wail. She sniffed her nose to not let any snot flow out

She couldn't help but be emotional because she was overwhelmed with feelings. Her friends died and turned into infected in front of her and the people that she thought was her friends abandoned her in desperation to save themselves

She's also worried for her family at her home and relatives that are also at work. Considering the situation that they are in right now, no one's safe and everyone's in danger or they are already dead

"Hey, what's your name by the way?"

Philip asked in a kind manner. He has to give an impression that he's happy all the time so that none of the people around him sees him as someone who's miserable

This is his personality. He keeps on smiling even though the situation is bad or sad. He has to, or rather, this is his defense mechanism

Even if he's in despair, his only choice is to smile and be happy, even if a lot of negative emotions has been kept inside of him because he couldn't relieve himself of it

He didn't want any conflict nor he didn't want anyone to see that he's suffering or something. He's too broken to the point he once experienced extreme depression for over a year. He then didn't know his true self and he kept questioning who he was

He didn't want to ask for help, but he's screaming for help internally. He wanted for people to see that he's suffering, but no one could see it because he's always smiling and they could see that he seems happy by what he seemed to be doing all the time

Philip is a happy-go-lucky kind of person

Because of this, the girl slightly calmed down and spoke

"Amy..."

"Amy... Philip"

"Philip..."

The girl Amy then tucked the sheathed wooden katana and her head closer and hid her face

Philip then smirked and he finally stepped on the escalator. He didn't try to ask Amy if he could walk since he's considerate enough that she's currently emotionally unstable. He slowly got up as the escalator moved him upwards

At that point, as soon as his head is on the same level of the fifth floor, he abruptly turned his head to the left because he saw movement on his peripheral vision

Fortunately, it wasn't infected nor the creatures, it was two men equipped with a chair and a mop and one girl who's keeping watch

"Hurry!!"

One of the male urged Philip to hurry up and he took steps up the escalator. He then quickly walked towards the secret passage and the two men shoved him inside. He almost stumbled forward, but good thing his balance is good. An accident could've happened since he was carrying Amy

Philip frowned and he wanted to confront the two men on why they have to shove him. But he's understanding and it might because the situation is too grave that they couldn't help but be harsh

Philip has finally arrived in Gateway Cineplex

~~~

Date: May 14, 2022 | Time: 10:45 am

Philip walked forward and passed yet another coffee shop with open comfortable couches and coffee tables

As he walked further inside the cineplex, he was surprised by the amount of people inside. He could count at least more than 70 people with 20 of them fighting the infected off of the escalator, above the food court

There are well built men and teenagers, old uncles, and one or three women that wanted to help fending the infected off. Each of them has chairs and round tables that they use to block the escalator

He then saw several people peeking outside the doors of Cinema 5, also known as the Dolby Atmos Cinema for its surround sound that gives a 3D effect on movies. The cinema is right in front of the escalators, next to the popcorn station, next to the restrooms and a hallway leading to a game center of zoning some time

Considering that there are several people hiding inside Cinema 5, there should also be a lot of peoole hiding on other cinemas since there are ten cinemas in the cineplex. Philip then became worried by the potential amount of people in the top floor

He then saw several people pulling large arcade machines from the arcade center just behind the cineplex. They seem to be pulling them for barricade and Philip exactly knew where they are about to put it

He looked to the left and there is a large hallway that encompasses Cinema 6 to 9 and Cinema 10, also called the Platinum Cinema, VIP Cinema, or the first La-Z-Boy Cinema in the Philippines, next to the top of the terrarium

A lot of barricades has already been set out on the end of the hallway, before the terrarium and they have almost made a wall. There are glass containers, an air hockey pool, several chairs, and cardboard cutouts

At this point, Philip went towards the single couch in front of the coffee shop and he placed Amy on the chair to rest

"Take proper care of these for me. I'll be back, okay?"

Philip placed his small backpack closely next to her and he point to the sheathed wooden katana

"..."

Amy nodded several times and she didn't ask where Philip was going

He instead went towards the men that was pulling the arcade machine and helped them in front of the doors to the male and female bathrooms

"Let me help..."

"Thank you! We could always get a helping hand!"

Philip also lifted the claw arcade machine and slowly walked towards the terrarium as they turned right

"Who had the idea to create a barricade?"

Philip asked the man beside him that was also lifting the machine

"No one, we all just had the same collective idea to create a barricade so that these zombies won't be able to reach us!"

"..."

Philip waited until they reached the end of the hallway and they were about to put the claw machine against the glass container when he stopped the other man

"Hold on"

Philip gently placed the machine down in the ground a few meters away from the barricade. The man had no choice but to also put it down since it's heavy

"What's up? We don't have time to waste"

"May I suggest to remove the barricade?"

"What?! You're crazy!"

"Zombies will reach us if we didn't cover this exit!"

"Are you insane?"

"If you want to put our lives in danger, then you're not welcome here!"

The surrounding people exclaimed angrily as they heard Philip's suggestion. They couldn't help but look at him with disgusted eyes

"Tsk..."

Philip clicked his tongue and looked at the loudest person near them and looked at him with questioning eyes

This is why Philip always chose to stay quiet his entire life. People or humans always selfishly think of themselves and prosecute the ones who oppose them

Meanwhile, the man that Philip helped only looked at him with slightly annoyed eyes but filled with curiosity

"Can't everyone hear what I have to say first?!! Haaa?!!"

Philip shouted and this only made people angrier

"Make sure you have a good reason why we have to remove the barricade before we teach you a lesson!"

One of the strong looking men that was protecting his girlfriend stood up and approached Philip in a threatening manner. He looked like one of those people who are prideful and ignorant. He also looked like a narcissist because looks is only what he got

"Then why don't you back off and listen well?!"

Philip didn't back down from the man's threats and his big stature. He faced the man and their faces were close to each other

Philip wasn't smiling anymore and his eyes started to swirl. His body was heating up due to anger and his first experience of this direct confrontation

"Hey man! Back off!"

The man that Philip helped shoved the shoulder of the man that was threatening Philip. Another guy also slid in between Philip and the man to avoid a fight and one of the friend of the threatening man tried to stop and pull him away. A nobody tried to pull Philip away in his fear that Philip would throw punches

Of course, Philip let himself be pulled away because the nobody had good intentions, while the threatening man seemed offended or angry as he kept on resisting being stopped. Several other more men tried to stand up and stop a fight if it would happen. The girlfriend was just standing behind with her arms crossed seemingly annoyed towards Philip as well

"Ken, stop!"

One of the men called out the threatening man, who is apparently named Ken

"Why do you want to listen to him?! It is clear he wants to kill us!"

"Have you heard what he has to say?! How could you say that?!"

"If you want to die, then listen to him!"

Ken shoved everyone away and then turned his back as he walked towards the main lobby of the cineplex. The girlfriend followed behind

"..."

Everyone was quiet and they looked at Philip

"So, what do you have to say?"