"Roland, there are still vehicles here. There might be injured individuals inside," Edna shouted urgently, hoping her husband would hear.
"Okay, I'll come right after I take care of our child's two friends," Roland shouted back, currently attending to Agnes, his daughter's best friend.
Without hesitation, Edna sprinted towards the vehicles involved in the accident. She was uncertain about the number of people seriously injured or worse, those who had lost their lives. The extent of the damage to the vehicles caused by the truck's impact spoke volumes. It was nothing short of a miracle that they had managed to avoid being hit by the truck's uncontrollable speed. Among the vehicles, Edna wondered if her daughter's friends were also among the victims.
Edna swiftly arrived at the site of the wreckage. One sight caught her attention immediately: a man lying in the middle of the road. She couldn't determine if he was still alive or dead. The man wore a motorcycle helmet and showed no sign of movement. His motorcycle lay about five meters away from him. Another striking scene that caught her eye was a luxury car, barely recognizable due to extensive damage on the right side where the truck had struck it. Inside, three lifeless bodies could be seen. About five meters from the car, the truck driver's bloodied body lay, having been thrown from the shattered windshield. Judging by the severity of his head injury, Edna believed he had succumbed to death. Within the truck, a woman's head emerged through the broken windshield, blood flowing from her neck, a testament to the impact of the shattered glass. Maybe she was the truck driver's wife.
Approaching the vehicles, Edna faced the challenge of deciding which victim to attend to first. Her knees trembled from the trauma of the accident. This was her first time being in such a life-or-death situation, without any formal training in life-saving techniques.
She turned her attention towards the man lying next to the motorcycle, unaware that he was her daughter's boyfriend.
"Are you alright?" Edna asked, tapping him gently on the shoulder to assess his consciousness. The man, lying face down, had visible bleeding on his left leg.
Filled with apprehension, Edna refrained from moving him, hoping he was alive. She continued tapping until she heard him groan, providing relief as she realized he was still breathing, his helmet still on.
"Hang in there, help is on its way," Edna reassured him, scanning the area in the hope that other motorists who witnessed the accident would come to their aid. However, there was a noticeable absence of passing vehicles on the stretch of the National Road. They seemed to be alone, with no other people in sight. Edna also observed that the rain had stopped, leaving behind a somber atmosphere devoid of recent precipitation.
The man continued to moan. Edna hesitated to remove his helmet, fearing a severe head injury beneath it.
"Just hold on a little longer, help is coming," Edna comforted him, before turning her gaze towards her husband, who was rushing towards their location.
"Roland, hurry! There are still injured people here," Edna shouted, rising to meet her husband.
Unexpectedly, the luxury car carrying Argel, Henry, Lourdes, and Mercy suddenly ignited in flames. Edna let out a piercing scream as the vehicle became engulfed in fire. She hurried to the car's door but couldn't open it; it was locked from the inside.
"Roland, help me!" she cried out, desperately tugging at the car door, attempting to open it, but to no avail.
Roland urgently rushed towards Edna to enlist her help in saving the people trapped within the vehicle, which was now ablaze.
"Stay back, Edna, it's too perilous. Attend to the motorcyclist first," Roland instructed his wife firmly.
Edna paused, torn between her judgment and her husband's directive. However, when she fully comprehended the grave nature of the situation they were in, she opted to follow his command.
"Stay safe," Edna said to Roland with worried undertones.
"I'll manage. The gentleman on the motorcycle requires your help; he's Rose's boyfriend," Roland gently informed his wife.
"Boyfriend...," echoed Edna, her voice saturated with surprise. This revelation about their eldest daughter's love interest left her perplexed. Was she the last to learn about Rose's romantic life? She wondered how long Roland had known. After all, she was the mother and had been faithfully present throughout Rose's formative years. Why was she the last to learn of her daughter's romantic involvement? She yearned to question Roland about it but understood that this was not the moment for such discussions. Lives were hanging in the balance of the accident victims, including a close friend of their eldest child, Rose.
Edna returned to the man lying on the road, while Roland hurried toward the blazing car to aid those trapped inside the nearly crushed vehicle.
"Be careful, Roland. Save them!" Edna shouted desperately at her husband, who now stood beside the injured Karl. Roland met Edna's gaze and smiled, nodding in agreement with his wife.
The fire continued to intensify, consuming the car. Roland seized the door handle, attempting to open it. However, the vehicle, housing Argel, Henry, Lourdes, and Mercy, was securely locked from the inside. Despite Roland's efforts to force the door open, it remained unyielding.
Meanwhile, Edna diligently administered first aid to Karl to staunch the bleeding from his wounds. Using torn fabric from her skirt, she tended to the young man's injuries, carefully placing a piece of cardboard to immobilize his broken foot. She wished to remove the helmet and see the face of her daughter's boyfriend.
Aware that time was of the essence for the people inside the burning car, Roland began praying for strength. His hands illuminated as he gently rotated his index finger. Suddenly, he heard a soft click near the car door, prompting him to swiftly open it. Roland confronted the trapped heat and white smoke, which smelled of burning rubber. Without hesitation, he lifted Argel beside the driver's seat and carried him under a huge banyan tree, ten meters away from the car. He then promptly returned to rescue the other injured individuals still inside the burning vehicle.
While Roland was occupied saving their child's friends, Edna thought of removing the helmet from the motorcycle rider, Karl. She approached the young man's head, holding his black helmet. Although she wished to call Rose, her primary concern was for Julius and the trauma he might be enduring from the accident. Consequently, she decided not to contact Rose and focused on supporting her brother Julius instead. Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the area, jolting Edna from her seat without warning. It felt as though her eardrums had shattered, leaving her with a persistent ringing sound. Amidst the chaos, screams echoed around her, but their source and meaning eluded her. Regaining some composure, she spotted Rose hurrying towards her, cradling a tearful Julius in her arms.
"Mama!" Rose shouted, panting as she rapidly approached.
"Rose! Julius!" Edna screamed, her voice drowned out by the aftermath of the explosion.
As Rose drew near, Edna embraced her daughter and the visibly frightened Julius. Despite her trembling knees, Edna compelled herself to stand, her thoughts racing to Roland.
"Where's your dad? Where's your dad?" she urgently inquired of her eldest child. Abruptly, she paused, the realization hitting her that she had left Roland behind, saving the injured inside the burning car.
"Roland... no, this can't be happening," she whispered, turning her gaze towards the epicenter of the deafening explosion. The car, where she had last seen her husband rescuing four people, was now engulfed in flames. "ROLAND!" Edna screamed, dashing swiftly toward the remnants of the burning car scattered in fragments.
"Mama!" Rose called out, attempting to restrain her, but the still sobbing Julius clung tightly to her. She was on the verge of pursuing her mother when her attention was drawn to a man lying on the street near her. The man, clad in a black jacket, seemed familiar to Rose, especially with the helmet he wore. She had personally selected that helmet when Karl took her to purchase it at a motorcycle shop in a mall in Angeles. Making an error with that helmet was not an option for her, as it was the same one Karl had on when she last saw him a while ago. A tremor ran through Rose's hands as she realized that Karl was the man being tended to by her mother on the street. Suddenly, Rose's knees gave way, and she sat down on the concrete road with Julius by her side.
"Karl..." was the sole word that escaped Rose's lips as she delicately removed the young man's helmet. Tears welled up in her eyes, deepening her concern as he softly moaned in pain. She instinctively covered her mouth when she slowly removed Karl's helmet, and tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of his condition.
"I'm so sorry, Karl. I take full responsibility for what happened to you. Please forgive me; I didn't allow you the opportunity to explain. I'm sorry, I'm sorry Karl," Rose sobbed. She then planted a kiss on Karl's forehead and tenderly ran her fingers through his hair. Julius, in the meantime, ceased crying as he quietly observed his sister and the wounded young man.
Ten meters from the exploded vehicle, Edna abruptly stopped in her tracks. Tears streamed down her face as her eyes desperately sought her beloved husband.
"Roland, where are you?" she cried out. Despite her desire to approach the blazing car, the intense heat and acrid smoke from the explosion kept her at bay.
"Edna!" Roland shouted to her, a plea unheard amidst the chaos. Positioned beneath a towering Banyan tree, Roland was accompanied by four injured individuals he had rescued from the wreckage. "Edna, my wife!" he called out once more.
This time, Edna caught wind of her husband's voice, and her gaze swiftly shifted to the massive tree. Despite her continued heavy sobs, Edna hurried toward her husband's location, her emotions a tumult of tears and profound concern for her husband. Roland greeted Edna with a tight embrace and a tender, lingering kiss. It felt as if they had yearned for each other, and had been separated for an eternity. For Edna, it seemed like the longest moment of her life. Despite their lips parting, she continued to sob, deeply moved by the overwhelming emotions of their reunion.
"Damn you! You scared me. I thought you had left us. Never do that again, Roland. I can't bear the idea of losing you, not just in my life but in the lives of our children," Edna tearfully declared to her husband, while Roland tenderly caressed her back.
"Shh, don't say that. I will never leave you; you are my family. Even death cannot take you away from my life. Remember that, Edna, my love. I will never abandon you and our children," Roland replied, overflowing with love for his wife.
"How are they?" Edna asked, her gaze shifting to the four injured youths lying under the Banyan tree.
"Three of them are safe; they probably just lost consciousness due to the impact of the dump truck on their car," Roland explained to his wife.
"Three? But there are four of them; what happened to the other one?" Edna inquired again.
Roland sighed and gently pulled away from the embrace with Edna. He sat on the grass and hugged his knees. "I couldn't save one of the young men. He was already dead when I found them. I prioritized the three who were still alive, and as I was retrieving the body of the deceased, the car exploded," Roland sadly explained to his wife.
Edna pondered Roland's explanation of rescuing the four individuals from the burning car. How could he have removed all four so quickly? Considering that three of them were nearly as heavy as the one he couldn't save. Plus, there was the distance to the tree where he left the rescued victims.
"Where is Rose?" Roland now asked his wife.
"She's over there with Julius, helping the man with the helmet," Edna quickly responded, pointing to the location of their two children.
"I don't know how Rose will feel when she learns that her friends are all the victims in the accident," Roland sadly said to Edna.
"W-What are you saying?" Edna responded incredulously to Roland's revelation about their eldest child's friends.
"You heard correctly, Edna. All of your child's friends are involved in the accident," Roland reiterated to his wife before standing up.
"Merciful God, what will our child feel when she learns this? And on top of that, one of them died in the accident," Edna spoke sorrowfully. At this point, she stopped crying, but the profound sadness and worry about what her husband said regarding their eldest child's friends still lingered. Edna looked at her husband's face. "W-Who among our daughter's friends died?"
"The driver of the car, Henry," Roland answered.
Before Edna could respond to her husband's revelation, they were jolted by distant screams. The couple exchanged glances and swiftly redirected their attention to where their two children were. Edna's eyes widened at the alarming scene unfolding before her.
"Julius?!" she exclaimed.
"Rose!" Roland shouted. In unison, three runes on his hands illuminated, and he hastened towards their two children, who were under assault by dark, smoky figures gliding in the air.