Society collapsed.
It tooks mere minutes for social media to be filled with discussions about the System announcement. In less than an hour, it was theorized that every human on Earth had heard it. Shortly after, it was discovered that no matter how many or which languages an individual spoke, the announcement had been perfectly comprehensible to all, as if it had been spoken in an universal language. In three days, human civilization ground to a halt.
Sitting on his bed, Liam picked up his phone in annoyance, cursing under his breath that the thing hadn't stopped vibrating for an hour. After seeing who the caller was, his face contorted even more. Why was he calling again? He stared at the screen for a few seconds before deciding to pick up the call.
"What do y-"
"If you don't get the fuck over here, I'll stop paying for your apartment and food."
The impatient voice on the other side of the call belonged to Arthur. Liam's heart dropped in guilt before he managed to mutter a response. Had it not been for Arthur, he would have become a starving homeless man. Liam had never allowed himself to forget it.
"You should have never paid for those in the first place. I told you I'd be fine."
Arthur sighed, his distorted voice through the phone sounding notably calmer, as if he was explaining something to a young child.
"It was either that or shoving you in one of the rooms in here and I let you choose. I'm just worried. We both know everything's already gone to sh*t."
"Oh come on, it isn't that ba-"
Liam's response was interrupted as he swiftly turned his head to the right, looking through the window. A full second later, the sound hit his ears.
BOOM
Flames rose high into the sky, turning the area around the building they had come out of into an inferno. What exactly had caused such a big explosion, Liam did not know.
"What the fuck was that!? Oh fuck no, I'm going to kidnap you if I have to but I'm dragging you out of that hellhole.", said Arthur, his voice clearly reflecting his exasperation.
"I'm telling you, it's fine. Who even cares what might happen?"
"I do, bitch. I already asked someone to go pick you up. As soon as he arrives, get to the vehicle as fast as possible. It's bulletproof."
"Huh, that's cool."
Liam sounded utterly unimpressed, clearly having his mind on something else. The sounds of gunshots in the distance proved to be very distracting. After the System announcement, people had started acting as if they had only one month left to live. Many around the world quit their jobs and obligations and did whatever they wanted. As a result, crime rates surged massively. It was complete anarchy.
"I've heard that there are several prisons riots going on right now. It's only going to get harder and harder to find proper food and shelter. That's why you gotta get here."
"Alright, so be it. I'll wait for the car you sent. Can I take Albert with me? He's helped me calm down sometimes."
Arthur's response over the phone sounded surprisingly mischevious.
"Oh, sure, bring whoever you want. But what are you talking about? I never said it was a car."
As if waiting for that cue, a faint but rapidly approaching sound of rotary blades was heard by Liam. He dropped his jaw, incredulous. Meanwhile, Arthur laughed gleefully.
"Y'know that big open empty lot near your building? Go there. The pilot's notified me that he'll be there in a few minutes."
"You've got to be shitting me", replied Liam, still in disbelief. "Alright, see you soon."
The young man quickly got ready and packed up everything he needed. Afterwards, he called Albert and explained the situation. The older man, taken by surprise, decided to simply go along with it. He sounded well, but Liam knew the past day had been a struggle in terms of supplies and safety. As for the other tenants, he knew nothing much. Some had predicted the current scenario and left less than a day after the System message, others a day after that. In nothing but a few days, the building looked more abandoned than ever.
After getting ready, both left the building and hurried to the empty lot. The smell of smoke and metal drifted in the air as they made their way through the empty streets. In spite of being in a hurry, Liam couldn't help but notice the shut windows and turned off lights inside the nearby apartments, as if people were afraid of being noticed inside their own homes. The atmosphere of fear was contagious and his heart started beating faster, his muscles tensing up.
'Maybe they aren't even inside', Liam thought. The city was relatively empty. All of those who could and wanted to had already left, likely planning to go somewhere with fewer inhabitants. Of course, some failed to escape and were robbed or killed on their way.
The two men walked quickly, Albert proving himself to be unexpectedly capable of keeping up with the much younger man, a fact that Liam appreciated greatly. Thankfully, their journey was quite uneventful. However, the two men couldn't help but freeze when they got to the lot.
The big black helicopter in the middle was what caught Albert's surprised eyes, but Liam's gaze was on the men surrounding it. They were all muscular and bore serious expressions, but their most eye-catching features were the carbines and assault rifles they held, as well as their completely black uniforms.
'...A private army?'
Two of the men split up from the group and headed towards them. Behind them, the others shifted formation in seconds, covering up both of their positions and making sure to have full vision of the area around the helicopter in a 360-degrees angle.
Liam narrowed his eyes and prepared himself to react to any sudden movement. There was no telling if one of the soldiers would suddenly decide to turn on them. Everyone had heard the System, after all. Reminding himself of that, Liam almost impercebtibly lowered his center of gravity, glancing at Albert while he did it. The older man next to him looked relaxed, almost harmless. However, the youth could see the cold glint deep in his eyes. It was only noticeable by those who were used to seeing it, even if only in the past. Liam realized the old man was just as ready to act as he was.
Fortunately, the two soldiers never raised their guns. The taller soldier spoke first.
"May I know both of your names?"
His voice was emotionless, but Liam knew that the man would be willing to point his gun at their heads if they gave the wrong answer.
"Liam Allister and Albert Lane."
The soldier observed their faces closely before taking out a piece of paper from his back pocket and examining it. He then silently nodded, his face expressionless as he let them pass and guided them to the helicopter. After they got in, all the soldiers systematically covered one another's backs as they got into the vehicle, which rose up less than a second after the door closed.
Through the vehicle's windows, Liam was able to see the city below. In stark contrast to the way it was before, there were very few cars driving around, although there were many parked by the sidewalk that would likely never be driven again. The youth could even make out small bands of scavengers here and there, breaking into stores and stealing objects that had been too expensive for them to buy in the past. There were a few buildings on fire, but none compared to the one Liam had seen from his room's window. It was a chaotic picture.
The helicopter continued on its way, not caring about Liam's musings and observation of the city below. Soon, they arrived at the suburbs and then past that. It was the way to the airport.
10 minutes later, the helicopter started to descend and landed in front of a private hangar. The hangar was completely gray, save for a symbol engraved on its sides. Even so, it was far from empty. Tens of people walked around the hangar and in and out of a luxurious white jet, overseen by a tall young man in an impeccable navy blue suit. The youth stopped giving out instructions and walked towards the helicopter, his green eyes glistening with joy as he bore a sincere smile.
Liam got out of the helicopter and shared a hug with his best friend, his heart lighter.
"It's good to see you, Arthur."
"Yeah, it's good to see you too. Now come on, we're almost ready to take flight. Let's hurry and get into the jet", replied the other man, his voice both happy and serious.
Arthur then turned to face Albert and shook his hand firmly.
"It's good to finally meet you, mister. I hope we can share a conversation later."
Albert nodded in acknowledgement, clearly bewildered. The older man thought to himself, 'I must be getting old... I'm not even that surprised anymore. Still... a jet?'
The three men walked towards the private jet, both Liam and Albert looking around and at the vehicle up and down, as if they were children at a candy shop. This only itensified after they entered the plane. The interior was luxurious to say the least; the floor was covered in carpet while light beige couches and seats were lined up against the walls. The whole ambience was enhanced by the warm yellow lighting, as if they had walked inside a sunset.
Both Liam and Albert were lost for words. Meanwhile, Arthur comfortably sat on a couch, before taking off his pristine brown dress shoes and smiling at them.
"Come on, have a seat. Can't be standing there all day", he obnoxiously said.
The two men look at each other before awkwardly sitting down, fidgeting in their seats, while several attendants took care of their luggage. After mentally taking note of how soft the seats were, Liam decided to ask the question that had been on his mind ever since Arthur first called him.
"So... Where are we going?"
His friend laughed out loud, making it clear he had been waiting to hear that ever since they arrived.
"Thought you were never gonna ask", laughed Arthur, before taking a dramatic pause and looking at Liam, who was staring at him as if he were a struggling vermin.
Uncaring, Arthur smiled.
"We're going to a private island. My father and his army are waiting for us there."