When the zombie epidemic broke, everything changed. Or so that’s what people said happened. For Nathan, things were pretty much the same. He still had to wake up at five in the morning to beat the morning rush, he still had to toil in front of a computer for twelve hours a day (with no overtime pay), and he still had to court death every night as he traversed the length of the EDSA highway.

Things may have changed abroad, with the chaos and disorder being reported on television, on the radio, and on the internet. But life was pretty status quo in Metro Manila—with the added inconvenience of zombies. Of course, certain ways of life had been altered. That’s unavoidable, Nathan mused as he waited for his bus ride to the nearest Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station.

Number one change was avoiding the walkers; zombies that could walk, and would follow you until you tire and let them gnaw on you and turn you into one of them. But Nathan has had great experience with avoiding bums, the taong grasa—the street people who seem to have given up on sanity, and the thugs who would try to snatch your bag as they ran. Zombies didn’t run. That alone was a point against them in Manila.

Of course, there have been times when Nathan almost mistook a zombie for a taong grasa. That almost got him bit and turned. Thankfully, he was able to do his evasive maneuvering perfected by years of shopping at Divisoria.

The second biggest change was traffic. People carpooled now because there is safety in numbers. So there were less cars on the road. Of course, this meant more bus drivers who drove like the demons of hell were after them—which is not that far from the truth, if you think about it. But if, before, people cursed at them for hitting road-crossers and ensuring said jaywalkers were dead; they were cheered on now.

That’s because no one sane would cross roads and risk getting confronted by the zombies on their own. So the only ones that would jaywalk are the zombies themselves. And Nathan didn’t think anyone would argue for their rights…

Riding the bus nowadays wasn’t that different either. Nathan held tightly on the handrail as the bus he was on careened to the right, stopping beside a group of commuters. People quickly filled in. No one made eye contact. Everyone held their belongings closely to themselves. People knew that if something happened, it would be every man (or woman) for themselves. Good Samaritans get called up to Heaven far too quickly.

Reaching the MRT station, Nathan alighted and lined up behind the gates that used to be for keeping order in the lines. Its purpose now were for keeping people safe. And the traffic police by the road no longer herded people in; their job now was to ensure that no zombies would be able to come close. And the security guards who used to poke sticks into bags without looking inside, had been given new jobs: they were eye-checkers; tasked to see if a commuter’s iris responded to the shining of their handheld lights.

And third big change, the last one, was the content of news. Previously, when news of killings reached the desk of newsreaders, they read these articles with a solemn delivery. These days, there was a certain cheer in their voice as they tell of how so-and-so defeated a number of zombies in his or her area.

Yes, defeated. While violence is still rampant in the metro, there were less cases of mindless killing nowadays. When people are pissed off, they now look to zombie-killing to dispel their wrath. Of course there have been cases when people say they mistook someone for a zombie. But those cases are few and far in-between.

Nathan alighted from the train when he reached his station. Ayala Station. The malls weren’t open yet—not that the owners would risk a Dawn of the Dead scenario happening—so Nathan had to travel through the parking lot, and then cross a few roads, before getting to his place of work. Working in Makati, this is where things get tough.

As Nathan raced down the steps, he could feel the vibration of the Station as hundreds descended with him. There is strength in numbers, but when there you are in Makati on rush hour, said strength could turn against you. And as feet thundered on the steps, Nathan hoped that his shoes wouldn’t give out as he raced from the MRT station to the crossing, and then to his building.

With a nation of runners, thanks to celebrity-endorsed marathons, Nathan was going to have run faster not to get crushed.

Zombies were the least of his problems.