The other day, Ralph woke up and prepared to go to university.
Due to what happened the day before, his parents were little interested in making conversation and even Torvi was ignoring Ralph.
Ralph did not force a conversation and ate in silence, then he went to the garage and took the bicycle to go to university.
As it could take a while for him to be called to testify at the police station, he was not anxious and tried to forget that a little.
After cycling for a few minutes and arriving at TULA, he did the usual and went to the room where he was going to study at that time.
It was a biophysics class, by professor Renata.
Professor Renata was a woman of Russian parents who was entering middle age, had red hair and blue eyes.
Even though she was almost forty, she was still very pretty and looked young.
No acquaintances of Ralph's appeared and he thought they had no interest in this subject, as it is actually optional for their course.
After arriving at the classroom and greeting the students, Professor Renata started writing on the board.
"Did anyone know about Aurora that happened yesterday?" She suddenly asked, making the students laugh. Who didn't know?
"I bet everyone just thought about why it happened, or the effects of it on the earth, but did anyone here think about the effects of it, on life?"
After hearing the teacher's question, everyone was silent.
Seeing this, Ralph then said:
"I did not know of any effects of the aurora on living beings, I think everyone here wants to know the reason for this question, professor.
Renata smiled charmingly and said:
"You must be Ralph, I heard about you from Professor Letícia."
Upon hearing this, Ralph frowned and had a bad premonition.
"But how good is youth, to be dragged by the police together with someone as beautiful as Leticia, oh!" She said dramatically.
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Ralph, who said:
"What is it? Have you never seen anyone dragged by the police?"
"Hehe ..." Renata laughed and then said:
"But back to the subject, the reason I asked this question ... is why it should be asked."
Some were confused, but Ralph understood clearly.
It is not because something seems unlikely that it should be disregarded. A common aurora cannot affect living things, but that aurora was far from common.
"I talked to some colleagues from the scientific community, and some of them immediately started studying the possibility of a side effect on living cells."
"Some think that at most there was a higher incidence of charged particles and radiation, while others think that there is something more."
"But I particularly think of something stranger."
Renata then pointed to what she had written on the board: "Bioeletromagnetism"
"You have probably heard of this, and this is an extremely important field for everything in modern society, from medicine to cell phones or radio towers. Much of today's technology has been tested to see if it has negative effects on people."
"Every living thing has its bioelectrocity, and with it its own magnetic field. In fact, everything in the universe has its signature, whether in the form of electromagnetic radiation or by gravity or by other means."
"What I'm trying to say with this is, how some electromagnetic event that occurs in the outer reaches of the atmosphere can affect electrical systems down here."
"Do you understand what I'm getting at?" Renata asked while writing on the board.
Most students understood, she was making a connection between bioelectrocity, life on earth and electromagnetic events in the exosphere.
Ralph started to get more and more interested in the subject, and watched the rest of the class very carefully.
After students spent two hours swallowing complex information, the class ended.
Ralph took a deep breath and put his hands on his head, he was feeling like he was about to go crazy, the subject may seem easy at first, but he was no longer in high school.
The number of key elements and equations filled several sheets of Ralph's notebook.
He then decided to take a short break before going to the next class, which was to be by experimental physics, with professor Alex.
This was one of the few classes where Ralph had fun, because he liked it enough, enough to ignore tiredness.
He then went to the cafeteria and found Jord next to Clara, a colleague of theirs.
Ralph knew that they were very close and that Jord wanted to date Clara, so he didn't bother and just greeted them both briefly.
He drank some water and went to the lawn that is a little away from the cafeteria, and there he lay with his headphones, just as he did the day before.
Some time later, he felt someone lift his head and put it on thighs.
Opening his eyes, he saw Ana smiling strangely.
"You really like to show up, huh?" She spoke while flicking Ralph's forehead.
"... Has the news circulated so much?"
"How can not? All the teachers talked about it, including Leticia herself."
Ralph smiled bitterly and said:
"I was drunk, and she was stressed, I think that makes things balance."
Ana looked at him with ridicule and said:
"I heard that Professor Letícia's admirers were planning something against you."
"Hmph! Those semen heads, what can they do?"
Ana was silent and seemed to be a little sleepy.
"It looks like someone didn't sleep well." Ralph spoke.
"... But I slept." Ana said as she put her hands on her head.
Ralph was about to speak again when he started to feel very drowsy.
He struggled to keep his eyes open, but then ... it started, the event that would change the whole world and humanity.
Auroras started to appear all over the world, however, all were only one color, white.
Before anyone could react, the auroras intensified in such a way that their brightness overshadowed the sight of whoever was on the space station, they were also suffering from drowsiness.
From space, not only the earth, but everything started to be dyed white, the sun, the stars.
It was as if the universe was ending in a great flash.
Every living thing on earth went into a deep sleep, even the bacteria went into a strange state where their metabolism became extremely slow.
It is not known how much time has passed, in fact, the time seemed insignificant.
It was as if the universe had been erased by an eraser, and a blank sheet was all that was left.
~ Boom ~ Boom
Ralph started to wake up, did he hear sounds ... of explosions?
Getting up quickly, he saw Ana lying beside him, unconscious.
He then looked around, and what he saw was smoke covering the sky and buildings on fire.
He heard the sound of explosions and bangs over and over.
"But what's going on?" A student spoke as she got up not far from Ralph.
~ Ying
Ana shivered and woke up startled by the sound of the explosions.
"But what the hell happened?" Ralph asked himself.
He then looked at the cell phone time, and saw that it was 4:00 pm.
-I slept for eight hours !?
He thought.
Ana was also frightened by everything that was happening and took out her cell phone to look at the time, having the same reaction as Ralph.
"Run! There is a gas pipe under the university!" Someone suddenly shouted.
Ralph and Ana got up quickly and started running for the exit.
Everyone who woke up did the same thing, since an exploding gas pipe was no joke.
The apocalyptic scenario around them was proof that they had to be on the lookout.
After running for a while, Ralph and Ana left the university, but they kept running anyway, as it was not safe where they were.
But what they didn't know is that the whole world was in chaos, just eight hours of human absence caused many systems to fail, accidents to occur, and many people to die.
No government can react, since everyone had entered the same state of deep sleep.
After they ran as long as their breath allowed, Ana and Ralph took shelter under an overpass.
Other people had the same idea.
Ralph and Ana took their cell phones to try to communicate, but the communication networks were either extremely unstable or inoperable.
Ralph took a deep breath and thought about the next step he should take, Ana did the same and they both came to the same conclusion.
After exchanging a short look, they both started looking around and looking for a car.
After searching for a while, they found a car with the door open parked on a street, with the key inside.
They cared little for the Law at that moment and Ralph started the car without hesitation.
"My house is closer, let's go there first." Ana spoke and Ralph agreed.
After Ralph drove for a while, avoiding debris and uncontrolled cars, they arrived at Ana's house.
It was a house with high walls and an electric fence, it was of a similar pattern to Ralph's house.
Ana got out of the car and opened the gate with a key so Ralph could get in.
"Daughter? Are you okay?" A man who was supposed to be Ana's father came out of the house and asked.
"I'm fine, Dad. Where's my mom?" Ana asked as she looked worriedly at a wound on her father's forehead.
"She's in there with the radio, listening to an official government broadcast, come on, we should listen too." Ana's father said and went in again.
Ralph got out of the car and Ana closed the gate, and then they went into the house.
The house was a mess, it was like a hurricane had passed through it. There were ashes everywhere and a strong burning smell came from the kitchen.
Fortunately, Ana's father and mother suffered only minor injuries.
They were in the room listening to a radio broadcast.
"... The federal government is enacting a state of martial law, the army along with all the other forces will take to the streets to try to maintain national order. The police and firefighters are overwhelmed and cannot do much more. The government recommends their citizens to stay at home until the situation is cleared up and order resumed. The government said that there is a similar situation all over the world, and everyone needs to come together in such a difficult time. "
After hearing this, everyone in the room was hardened.
Ralph mostly, since he doesn't know how his family is doing.
The mother must be home, he doesn't know if Torvi will be there too. His father must be at work.
Ana noticed Ralph's expression and said:
"Go ahead, we're safe in here."
Ralph looked at Ana with a little concern but nodded and went to the car.
After Ana opened the gate to leave, Ralph said:
"Talk to me as soon as the communication networks are back to normal."
Ana nodded and closed the gate after Ralph left.
Ralph did not hesitate and went straight to his house, but due to various debris on the roads and the traffic in vehicles, it took him a while to arrive.
After parking the car in front of his house, he got out and ran to the house.
After opening the gate and entering, he shouted:
"Is anyone at home?"
"I'm here!" Torvi's voice resonated.
Torvi was in the room with the radio in his hands, she must have heard the broadcast too.
"Are you alright?" The two asked the question at the same time.
The two then faced each other and Ralph asked:
"Where's our mom?"
"She left the car early, saying she was going to pick up our father."
Ralph frowned and asked:
"Isn't Dad with another car?" But he then remembered that the car was seized because of him and still needed to be released.
Ralph cursed himself and said:
"Check the food in the kitchen, and the gas as well. We need to know about our stock, since we don't know how long this chaos will last."
Torvi nodded and went to check, returning soon after with a bitter smile.
"We haven't done the shopping for the month yet, our inventory is almost over, it will last a few days at most."
Upon hearing this, Ralph firmly determined his heart and said:
"Write a note to our parents, let's go to the market, now!"
Torvi frowned and said:
"I think it's best to wait for our parents."
Ralph smiled bitterly and said:
"You didn't see the traffic outside and the chaos on the roads, our father works on the other side of the city, they will take a long time to get back."
After hearing Ralph, Torvi understood his point of view and agreed.
"Wait a minute, we need something." She said as she ran somewhere, returning shortly after with a baseball bat.
Ralph laughed without meaning to and nodded in approval.
After they left the house, Ralph locked the gate and went to the car.
"Whose car is this?" Torvi asked confused.
Ralph just smiled and started driving.
Torvi then opened the glove compartment and took some papers, after seeing an identity of someone she did not know, she spoke ironically:
"From drag racing to theft, you're likely to be arrested this time."
Ralph remained silent, but a little cold sweat ran down his spine.
"It's not theft if I return it." He spoke to Torvi with a bitter expression.
Torvi just shook his head, but did not blame his brother for the situation.
After driving for a few minutes, Ralph finally made it to the market.
"It seems that a lot of people had the same idea." Torvi said as he saw the crowded parking lot and the loot going on.
People were just picking up merchandise and leaving without paying, as if in a panic.
After thinking for a moment, Ralph parked outside the market parking lot in a nearby alley, it was already dark and the visibility of the alley was difficult.
"Why did you stop here?" Torvi asked confused.
Ralph didn't answer and just got out of the car with the baseball bat.
After approaching the market, they realized that the situation was much worse than they thought.
There were people running with goods everywhere, some were just looting TVs and other electronic devices, while others were just stealing food.
Even those who worked in the market participated in the looting.
After grabbing a shopping cart, the two started running into the market.
Without hesitating, the two went to the canned food wing, which was almost empty.
If they had taken a little longer, they would not have found anything.
After taking as much as possible, the two ran to the hygiene wing, and took essential products to stay civilized.
After that, the two went to the grain wing, took several bags of rice and beans.
After that, they went to the meat wing, and took the rest of the meat that the others had not ransacked.
The cart was almost full, and they went to the fruit wing and picked up some oranges and bananas.
With the cart full, Torvi was almost running for the exit when she was stopped by Ralph.
"Think a little sister, what happens after the food runs out?" Ralph asked as he started to push the cart elsewhere.
After thinking for a moment, Torvi understood and ugly sweat ran down her spine as she followed Ralph.
Ralph had already come to the market numerous times, and he knew many other exits besides the main one.
After running with the cart for a few seconds, they arrived at the unloading area of the goods, some people were there too, but everyone was more concerned with the stolen goods themselves than with the others around.
At that moment, Torvi understood then why Ralph had stopped in the alley, was close to this unloading area and was safer than being in the parking lot.
As they ran to the car, they heard sounds of gunshots coming from the market and people screaming.
Cold sweat ran down their spines, they made sure not to go through the parking lot, or they could get into even greater chaos.
After arriving in the car, they started to put everything in the trunk, without bothering to be organized.
For some unknown reason, Ralph was very uncomfortable being in that alley, so he hurried and started the car already in gear.
Torvi was taken aback by Ralph's sudden acceleration and looked at him, she noticed that his face was a little pale and he was shaking a little.
Thinking that he was just a little nervous, she didn't blame him, since any normal person would be nervous in such a situation.
After leaving the alley, however, they heard a loud noise from behind.
Looking in the rearview mirror, Ralph saw men exchanging shots in the alley he was in.
Ralph praised the very intuition that had saved them internally and started driving back home.
On the way back, Torvi also looked a little pale and started to tremble as she remembered the exchange of gunfire in the alley.
If they had taken a little longer ...
The situation seemed to be getting more and more chaotic in the city, since on the way back they saw people being robbed, shops being looted and even more exchanges of fire.
"Who said zombies are needed for something like this?" Torvi spoke bitterly.
Ralph gave her a disapproving look and said:
"DON'T TALK DEATH FLAGS!"
The current situation was strange enough, what would zombies be in the mix? Ralph was startled to think.
But he soon got rid of these distracting thoughts and concentrated on the way to his home.
After they arrived, Torvi opened the garage door and Ralph got in the car. Their parents seemed to have arrived since their mother's car was there.
"Ralph? Torvi?" Their father entered the garage while Torvi closed the gate.
Ralph got out of the car and was startled to see blood all over his father's body.
"What happened? Whose blood is this?" Ralph asked in alarm.
The father made a frightened expression, as if he had remembered something and shook his head.
"Do you want to kill us with worry !?" Ralph's mother said as she looked to see if there were any injuries to Torvi and Ralph.
"We're fine, mom." Torvi replied.
"We got some supplies, they're in the trunk of the car." Ralph spoke as he sat on a bench and took a deep breath.
The father and mother then looked at the car and at Ralph and asked in unison:
"Whose car is this?"
Ralph smiled bitterly and Torvi explained.
Upon hearing that Ralph had stolen the car, they were irritated but calmed down to remember the situation.
"I'm going to start taking things out." Torvi said as he opened the trunk.
"Wait, leave it in the car." The father interrupted her and said.
Torvi was a little confused at first but soon understood his father's intention.
If the situation worsened to the point where they needed to leave the house, would they have time to put things back in the car?
So, instead of taking things out of the trunk, she went to her room to pack a suitcase just in case.
"Dad, whose blood is this?" Ralph asked after Torvi left the garage.
Tom's expression hardened again and Ralph's mother said:
"It happened ... Something at the company where your father works ... Something bad."
Hearing this and seeing that his father was shaking, Ralph decided not to ask any more questions.