Doomsday survivalist: A Guide to survie
Rule 6: Cat and mouse
From the shadows, Lisa crouched low behind the low hedge lining Ryco's property. Her fingers clenched tightly around the straps of her bag as she glanced at Carlos, who was peering around the corner with a frown that didn't quite hide his excitement.
"They're in there," Lisa whispered, her voice a harsh hiss. "I can hear him. Ryco… talking. He's… he's telling them everything."
Carlos's grin was sharp, hungry. "Good. Good. That means he's blind to us—he thinks we're still dumb enough to fall for his charm."
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Don't call me dumb. You know the plan."
He leaned closer, voice dripping with eagerness. "Right. You pretend to like him. Scam the money. Get him to spill more secrets. Then we… we take what we want."
Lisa tilted her head, listening harder. Through the thin walls of the house, Ryco's voice cut clearly. "Do not trust Lisa or Carlos. They're… untrustworthy. I want you all to keep that in mind."
The words froze Lisa in place. Her jaw tightened. Carlos cursed under his breath. "He… he knows!"
"Shit," Lisa muttered, her mind racing. "That changes everything."
Carlos's eyes lit up with a dangerous glint. "Doesn't matter. We improvise. If he won't let us scam him… we blackmail him. Find something—anything—he cares about or is hiding, and we use it against him."
Lisa exhaled slowly, a wicked smile spreading across her face. "You're right. We adapt. We wait. And when the time is right… Ryco won't see us coming."
The two of them crouched lower, scanning the property. The soft glow of the living room lamp cast shadows through the windows, revealing the silhouettes of Ryco, Jake, and the rest of the group inside. Ryco's voice floated through, calm, commanding, but always cautious.
Lisa's eyes narrowed. "He thinks he's so smart… predicting the future, winning the lottery, preparing for snow in the Philippines—but he doesn't know everything."
Carlos smirked, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "No one does. That's why we're going to play this perfectly. And when we do…" He let the thought hang there, heavy with menace.
Lisa nodded, crouching low again. "First… find a way to get close. Watch his habits, his routines. He won't trust us. But he'll slip up. Everyone does."
And with that, they melted back into the shadows, unseen, plotting. Their whispering laughter echoed faintly as they disappeared into the night, two predators circling their prey.
Elisia's house was quiet, too quiet for six people sitting in one living room. The curtains were drawn, the hallway light dim, and Marcus stood with his back pressed against the door like he expected someone to break it down.
Rayco sat at the center of the room, elbows on his knees, hands locked together. The others circled around him—Jake on the couch arm, Cyrus leaning against a bookshelf, Ghelle hugging a pillow, Elisia pacing.
No one wanted to speak first.
Marcus broke the silence. "If this blows up, a lot of people are gonna panic. Or worse, the government grabs us for spreading classified crap. They'll label us terrorists or something." He kept glancing at the peephole like it was breathing.
Cyrus nodded. "Yeah. Those two are our biggest problem right now. And we can't act against them, because that'll just confirm their suspicions. We need a way to block them off. Or misdirect."
"What if…" Ghelle raised her hand a little. "What if we just let them join us?"
Everyone stared at her like she'd grown another head.
Elisia frowned. "Are you serious, Gel? They're the same people who betrayed Rayco before. They got him killed in his last life. Why would we take them in?"
Ghelle shrunk a little. "I was just thinking… if they're involved, they might stop poking around."
"Or leak us," Elisia shot back.
The tension thickened.
Marcus cracked his knuckles. "There's always the other option. We take them out. Clean. Quiet. I've got people who can do it. Just say the word, Ray."
Rayco didn't even look up. "No."
Marcus stared at him. "Ray—"
"No," Rayco repeated, voice low but firm. "Killing them isn't an option." His hands trembled on the table, the only sign that something heavy was stirring inside him. "Because we're still going to need them."
Jake's brows shot up. "Need them? For what?"
Rayco swallowed hard, eyes drifting downward.
A memory—sharp, cold—flashed through his mind.
He exhaled shakily as the past opened like a wound.
Flashback
The corridor lights in the old hospital flickered as Rayco ran, lungs screaming. He could hear them—dozens of feet pounding behind him, the wet snarls echoing off the walls.
Lisa's voice screamed from somewhere deeper inside, "HELP! RAYCO, PLEASE—!"
Carlos was dragging her arm, both of them covered in blood. A metal gate was half-open behind them, torn by something powerful.
A horde of shrieking, starving infecteds spilled out from the dark behind them.
Something they unleashed by accident.
Rayco gritted his teeth and ran back for them.
"Move!" he shouted, pushing Carlos forward just as a zombie grabbed his shoulder. The thing bit into his jacket and tore fabric free.
They barely escaped.
Rayco almost didn't.
Later that night, shaking from exhaustion, Lisa confessed through tears:
"There was a lab… underneath… Doctor Suarez was working on a component—an early strain, something frozen… something ancient… He was close to something. That's why they were hiding it."
And later, in year five, Rayco watched that same doctor—the only one close to a real cure—get ripped apart by a Tyrant-class infected.
Rayco snapped back to the present, chest rising and falling faster.
Everyone noticed.
Jake leaned closer. "Ray… what did you remember?"
Rayco's jaw tightened. He forced out the words slowly.
"In my past life… Lisa and Carlos accidentally opened a hospital facility basement. They released a horde that nearly wiped an entire block.that contain dozens of high clss zombies, But… that accident exposed something important."
The room fell silent.
Rayco lifted his eyes, hollow and serious.
"Lisa is a nurse in that hospital. Carlos is a guard there. He has access to every door—including the underground lab."
Cyrus straightened. "The lab? The one with the early sample of the virus?"
Rayco nodded.
"That lab," he said, voice low, "holds the first component. The thing that eventually led to the cure. That's where the real fight begins."
Ghelle covered her mouth.
"So… we need them," Elisia whispered. "Not as allies. But as… keys."
Rayco nodded once. Slowly.
"And if we push them away?" Jake asked.
"They'll panic. They'll expose us. They'll drag people down with them."
Marcus kicked the couch leg out of frustration. "So what? We just let them run around? Spy on us? Use you for money? That's—"
"No," Rayco said. "We don't let them get close. We don't let them know more. But we don't provoke them. We need them alive… for that moment."
His voice softened, but there was something haunted underneath.
"In my past life… I didn't know why Lisa and Carlos mattered. I only understood after it was too late. This time… we use the window before everything collapses."
Jake let out a slow breath. "So what do we do now?"
Rayco looked at each of them, one by one.
"We proceed with the plan," he said. "But from today on… we treat them as unpredictable variables. Not enemies. Not allies. Just pieces we move at the right time."
He looked down at his trembling hand again.
"And when that hospital opens… we need to be there first."
Carlos and Lisa's POV — The Start of Their Blackmail Plan
Carlos lit a cigarette the moment they stepped out of Elisia's subdivision. He dragged hard, chest rising, pulse jumping under his skin. Lisa kept glancing over her shoulder like Rayco's shadow might crawl out of the dark.
"Put that out," Lisa hissed. "Someone's gonna see."
"And what?" Carlos exhaled smoke through his nose. "They'll think we're gangsters? Relax."
Lisa crossed her arms. "We were right outside their window. We heard everything. If Rayco tells the cops—"
"He won't," Carlos cut in. "He's hiding something big. Government-level big. If he snitches, he's done too."
Lisa bit her lip. "Still… he knows we heard. He's acting weird. He didn't even look surprised when I confronted him."
"Yeah," Carlos laughed, humorless. "He looked like someone who knows too damn much."
They walked down the dim street. The quiet felt heavier than usual.
A jeepney lumbered past, headlights brushing across Lisa's face, revealing the panic she tried so hard to hide.
"So what now?" she whispered.
Carlos flicked his cigarette to the gutter. "Easy. We dig."
"Dig… what?"
"Anything," he muttered. "Something to pin him. Something to use."
Lisa frowned. "Like what? He's just a nerd who suddenly got lucky."
Carlos shook his head. "No. He's hiding stuff. He knows the weather. Lotto numbers. Predicting disasters?"
He snorted.
"He's either a psychic… or a fraud. And if he is a fraud, we get something on him. Photos. Videos. Anything shady. Then we squeeze him."
Lisa swallowed. "Squeeze him for… money?"
"For everything," Carlos said, eyes glinting. "He's got millions now. He's gathering people. Supplies. For what? If he's prepping for something, we can use it."
"And if we can't?"
Carlos smirked.
"Then we make him pay for running from us earlier."
Lisa didn't like the sound of that, but she didn't argue.
They kept walking, and neither noticed Rayco's eyes watching them from a dark rooftop.
Rayco Rejoins the Group — Countermeasure Meeting
Rayco didn't enter through the front door of Elisia's house. He climbed up the wall, hopped the balcony railing, and slipped inside her room.
His heart still hammered from what he overheard.
He didn't like being hunted again—not by zombies, not by people.
He dialed Jake immediately.
"Bro, we've got a problem," Rayco said the moment Jake picked up. "They were listening. Both of them. They heard everything."
Jake cursed loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear. "What?! How?!"
"No time," Rayco said. "Call the others. Meeting now."
Everyone regrouped fast. Elisia's living room lights were now completely off, leaving only a desk lamp on the floor. The five sat like they were waiting for a storm.
Jake spoke first. "Alright, Ray. What happened?"
Rayco rubbed his temples. "Carlos and Lisa weren't just eavesdropping. They're planning to blackmail us. Or worse—they want to take advantage of everything we have."
Marcus's jaw clenched. "I knew those two were pests."
Cyrus asked quietly, "Do they know about the apocalypse?"
"No," Rayco said. "They only caught the snow part. They think I'm just predicting things—guessing lotto numbers—whatever."
Ghelle sighed. "So they think you're some weather psychic?"
"Pretty much."
Elisia leaned forward. "Okay. If they're starting something… are we fighting back or lying low?"
Rayco shook his head. "We can't push them. If we corner them, they'll lash out. If they lash out, the police get involved. Then everything gets exposed."
Jake scratched his cheek. "So what's our move?"
Rayco pulled out a notebook and set it on the table. It was messy with scribbles, timelines, electricity cut-off schedules, the virus incubation pattern, early outbreaks… everything.
He pointed at the date circled in red.
"Day one. Eight months from now."
Everyone tensed.
"The moment that hospital's basement opens," Rayco continued, "we need to get there before anyone else. Before they unleash the horde. Before the doctor disappears. Before the cure becomes impossible."
Elisia shivered. "So… Carlos and Lisa really are the key to locating that place."
"Yeah," Rayco admitted bitterly. "They open the door. They start the mess. Their access is the reason the doctor got exposed."
Marcus shook his head. "You're telling me we need to keep two snakes alive?"
"Exactly," Rayco said.
Jake groaned. "That's insane."
Rayco leaned back, face tired.
"I know. But we're not here to kill people. We're here to survive the end of the world."
The room went silent for a long moment.
Then Rayco added:
"We'll manage them. Distract them. Feed them half-truths. Make sure they don't panic or expose us."
Ghelle nodded slowly. "So… strategy."
"Exactly." Rayco pointed to each of them. "We treat them as risks. Watch every angle. But don't let them know we're watching."
Elisia raised her hand. "Should we… uh… tell my dad? He's a precinct officer. He can help."
Rayco shook his head hard. "No. We tell no one. The more people know, the faster this spirals."
Jake laughed nervously. "So basically… we're guarding two bombs."
Rayco nodded.
"Ticking ones."
Day 152.
Only 213 days left before everything falls apart.
The mall was noisy as usual, which helped hide Rayco's nerves. He leaned on the railing beside Jake, watching people shuffle around with their shopping bags, completely unaware the world was heading toward a cliff.
Jake let out a long breath. "Alright, so walk me through this again. Because honestly? This whole thing still sounds insane."
Rayco rubbed his temple. "It's the safest play, Jake. We let them think they've found something dirty on me… then let the cops do the rest."
Jake raised a brow. "And your brilliant idea of making them 'find something dirty' is… showing them your phone full of life-size sex dolls."
Rayco glared at him. "You saw why. If they ever talk about that creature or what they overheard? No one will take them seriously after this. They'll sound like clowns."
Jake chuckled under his breath. "Still wild, man."
Rayco didn't disagree.
Flashback — Elisia's Living Room, Two Days Ago
The group had gone quiet after a long argument. The tension was thick enough to taste. Everyone was drained. Everyone except Rayco, who suddenly lifted his head with that dangerous spark in his eyes.
"I have a plan," he said.
Marcus straightened. "Please tell me it doesn't involve killing."
"No," Rayco replied. "But we're going to bury their credibility. Permanently."
Cyrus blinked. "How?"
Rayco pulled out a brand-new phone. "We leak something embarrassing. Something stupid. Something that makes them focus on that instead of us. And no matter what they claim—no one will believe them."
Jake frowned. "And what embarrassing thing are you planning to—"
Rayco swiped the screen.
A gallery of full-size, uncensored sex dolls popped up.
The entire room froze.
Jake dropped his voice. "You are actually going through with this?"
Rayco looked dead serious. "If it keeps us off their radar, then yeah. I don't care if I look pathetic. Better pathetic than dead."
No one argued after that.
Back to the Present — The Mall
Jake finally walked away to set everything up, glancing back at Rayco with a grin. "Good luck, Romeo."
Rayco shot him a look but didn't bother replying.
A few minutes later, Lisa and Carlos approached, all confidence and fake smiles. Lisa even waved at him like they hadn't chased him over rooftops days ago.
"There you are," she said sweetly. "You look… stressed, Rayco. Something bothering you?"
Rayco studied her carefully. She wasn't just pretending to be friendly—she was probing. And when she casually said, "We heard some things last time, remember?" something clicked.
So they were listening that night.
His stomach tightened.
Lisa stepped closer. "Let's talk. Just the three of us."
Rayco shut her up quickly with a raised hand. "Fine. Money, right? That's what you want? I'll pay."
Her eyes flashed. She thought she won.
They met in the parking area. Carlos pushed him against a car, trying to look intimidating, while Lisa demanded a ridiculous amount of cash.
Rayco played scared. "Okay… I'll transfer it. Just don't hurt me."
He trembled just enough to sell it.
But the moment Carlos took the envelope, sirens wailed.
Police cars boxed them in.
Jake watched from a distance, arms folded, almost proud.
At the station, Lisa and Carlos immediately screamed about "classified things," "creatures," and Rayco "hiding something."
The officers didn't buy a single word.
Especially after checking Rayco's phone.
The screen lit up with a naked, human-sized doll.
Then another.
And another.
Rayco's face went red. "I—I don't have a girlfriend, okay? Don't judge me."
One officer dragged a hand down his face. "I can't believe we wasted our time because of these two."
Carlos yelled threats at Rayco until the officers cuffed him harder. "You're getting six months for blackmail, intimidation, and death threats," the officer snapped.
Rayco hid behind the man like a terrified rabbit.
The officers rolled their eyes, convinced Carlos and Lisa were complete lunatics.
Problem solved.
Later — Elisia's House
Jake flopped onto the couch, laughing so hard his stomach hurt. "Man… I swear… Rayco, I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd actually go through with it, but damn that worked."
Ghelle was wiping tears from her eyes. Marcus nearly fell out of his chair. Even Elisia couldn't hold back a smile.
Rayco could only mutter, embarrassed, "Shut up."
Their laughter echoed past the windows, warm and relieved.
But Inside the Jail Cell
Carlos sat alone, fists clenched, rage boiling in his eyes.
Footsteps echoed down the hall.
A figure stopped in front of the cell—shadowed, calm, wearing a long coat.
Carlos slowly looked up.
The stranger spoke softly.
"So you two know something you shouldn't."
Carlos swallowed. "Who the hell are you?"
The figure smiled.
"Someone who needs that information. Tell me everything… and I'll get you out."
The lights flickered.
The storm outside grew heavier.
Something dangerous had just entered the story.
To be continue.