"NIGEL..."

The voice of a man woke him up. He opened his eyes. He was greeted by the thick pillar of black smoke, the blue sky with patches of white clouds, and the bright sun that was hurting his eyes. His head was ringing. He felt pain all over his body and he was unable to move. His thoughts were screaming, his head was ringing, triggering his most recent memory. In the blink of an eye, he instantly rolled over and realized he was not wearing a shirt. He pushed himself back up. He felt the pain of bruises, and the burning sensation of the abrasion on his arms, back, stomach, and shoulder. He was thrown out of the taxi and it was pretty bad. He was lucky that he survived.

He looked around and witnessed the aftermath of the crash. The black vehicle that hit them was wrecked, crumpled like paper, and its engine was smoking. The windshield was broken and the driver was also thrown out away. It is not just them. Their collision triggered a series of crashes. Many vehicles were involved, damaged, and scattered on the road. Dead bodies were everywhere, lying around and inside their crashed cars. Only a few survived, they were injured, and crying over their broken bones and scraped flesh, shaking and coughing blood, and calling for help.

The accident halted the traffic. Cars were stranded up ahead and behind the crashes, but no one was in there, as if the people abandoned them in the middle of the road accident. Their taxi on the other hand was flipped over by the impact, its gas was leaking and pooling on the ground. The driver was still inside and he kept coughing and crying. He heard groans behind the vehicle, and right there, he remembered his mother. Quickly, he rushed to the taxi to check on her. His heart was beating so loud, afraid his worst thoughts would come true. 

"Ma!"

But he didn't expect what he witnessed after reaching the other side of the vehicle. He was spooked. He saw his mother lying on the ground eyes directly staring at the sky. She was very pale. The veins on her arms, legs, neck, and face were visible, swollen, and black. It wasn't normal anymore. She was trembling and struggling. She looked like she was fighting for her life. He quickly approached her and kneeled beside her. He turned her to her side when she couldn't stop vomiting odorous black fluid. 

"Help! Somebody? Help us!" he cried.

He rubbed her back, trying to ease the pain she was feeling, and hoping this would end. He called for help over and over again, but no one answered. He didn't even hear the siren of the police cars and ambulance, as if no one called for rescue. The second his eyes landed on his mother's eyes, he noticed her pupils were dilated. Her breathing slowed down and then she stopped struggling and vomiting. He laid her back again but she didn't move, she was still staring at the sky blankly, with a drop of tear steaming from her left eye down to her ear.

"M...Ma?" His voice cracked as he shook her. She was unresponsive. "Ma!"

His world stopped. He felt dizzy. He didn't hear anything as he screamed out loud all of his frustrations and pain. His wails echoed in the road as he pulled her closer and placed her on his lap. He hugged her tightly. His tears were like rain that kept flowing down his cheeks, blurring his sight. He can hardly breathe. He kept shaking her body and calling her, hoping she would move or groan, but still, nothing. His hand was still shaking when he reached for her neck, trying to feel the pulse over her carotid artery. But there were no signs of life. He leaned closer to her nose, trying to hear her breathing, but then again there was nothing. She was gone and that fact was the only thing that he couldn't accept. It was the hardest pill to swallow.

It was too much, the pain was too much that his cries didn't produce any sound, silent sobs that could never ease the pain. All those memories with her flooded his mind. Sweet memories but a big slap on his face, for the truth, as he will never get to experience those again with her. He will never see her face ever again, hear her voice call his name and her sweet laughs, see the way she looks at him, smell her best dishes, hug her, and kiss her on the cheeks. She was gone and he got nothing left but himself.

"Ma!"

Until she suddenly gasped with both of her hands balled into a fist. She's alive! Her dilated eyes moved and she gazed at him. He covered his mouth with his hand and cried more, but this time, it was a relief. He was relieved to know she was fine, but that feeling never lasted as he felt fear in the way she looked at him. It was different...it wasn't his mother. Maybe it was because of her dilated pupils and her silence as if nothing happened to her. But he brushed off that feeling. He wiped off his tears and eased his sobs, trying to find words to say. He's happy. He's glad.

"Ma---"

In just a snap, he was spooked when her mother suddenly screamed an inhuman roar and attacked him. The next he knew, with her incredible strength, she was on top of him with her hands choking him. Her grip on his neck was very tight and her black eyes were staring directly at him, along with a black fluid that kept dripping from her mouth and nose. He held her fingers trying to pull them off. But as he was gasping for air, he was also losing strength. He can't get her off. He punched her arms and violently kicked in the hope of pushing her off, but her strength remained the same, no matter how hard he punched and resisted, it didn't affect her. He didn't know what was going on but was sure it wasn't his mother anymore. He can't breathe, and his eyelids can barely stay open. 

But as he was about to pass out, a loud explosion near them blew off her mother.