John watched from the balcony as his father's vehicle, a black jeep, veered into the busy streets, where traffic congestion is slowly building up.
His father has rushed out to purchase food supplies for this upcoming "apocalypse". Of course, there is a chance of his entire family being wrong, that they were hallucinating altogether and are about to let a lot of money go to waste. But they aren't willing to take that risk. It was all too absurd… yet too coincidental and realistic.
He leaned forward against the metal railing, gazing deeply into the night sky.
Two moons emitting a dreamy milky glow dapple the night sky.
"This planet, Terra. We exist here, yet we are not from here…" John's thoughts trailed off temporarily as a glimmer of a star drew his attention. "Apparently, I am from Earth."
He chuckled, trying to wipe off the disbelief bothering his mind.
John's current memories, from childhood to adulthood, belonged to his life on Planet Terra, yet somehow, he also has memories of an entirely different life. He has made different friends, gone through different events, and even lived on a different planet.
Accessing the internet, John searched up the key words "Earth" and "apocalypse", where he found hundreds of related posts coming all over the globe from various social media platforms. Most of them were very recent, the earliest post being less than 5 minutes before John woke up. Scrolling between pages, more comments and posts came pouring in, approaching towards the thousands.
Confirming his speculations of an incoming apocalypse, John took the initiative to screenshot several of the top posts and its users before retreating from the website to concentrate on his tasks at hand. Who knows, these users seemed really knowledgeable. Might come in handy.
Making use of the knowledge he can recollect, John searched his home in and out for useful items that can be utilized, organizing them into categories. Despite lack in knowledge due to the fact that his memories were limited to his 18 year old self, he had decent instincts for choosing items deemed important. What else to expect from a person who has experienced an apocalypse.
Most of his past memories were locked, sheer darkness floating in his brain. While few parts have been recalled, integrating into his current memories.
Planet Terra is extremely similar to Earth, consisting of all of the materials and minerals Earth posses, and identical stage of technological advancements. Even it's language and culture developed similarly to Earth. If it weren't for their geographical distinction, John would have believed that Planet Terra and Earth were exact clones of one another.
Unlike Earth, Planet Terra's surface is covered by 50% land and 50% sea. And in terms of size, there is much more to explore as Planet Terra's volume is 100 times larger than planet Earth, possessesing strange phenomenons that science cannot explain. As a result of its size, Planet Terra has a population of 750 billion, nearly a hundred times more than Earth's populations.
Or at least, before the apocalypse occurred.
John's eyes dimmed for a moment before it lit back up with a speck of hope. "But here I am. Alive. Along with my family!"
He glanced behind his back at a lovely portrait of his family hanging on the wall.
His sweet family of 5, each making unique expressions at the camera. His Dad's awkward smirk; His mom's perfect smile; His little brother's quirky smirk and rebellious middle finger; His little sister's emotionless look; and lastly, himself, carrying a flat and blank expression.
A "perfect" family of 5. (That quarrels a lot)
John observed the picture for a while, gently sliding a finger across the portrait as he balled his hands into a fist of determination. His past life indicated that he was the last remaining survivor of his family. This time, he has vowed to protect his family at all cost, even at the cost of his own life.
Wasting no more time, John picked up his phone again to redial his brother's number, urgently hoping that he'd finally pick up.
John was all alone at home.
His father, using their family's only vehicle, is on his way to purchase supplies in bulks while his mother is taking public transportation to pick up his sister, Mary, who was supposed to have a sleepover at her friend's house located at the on the opposite side of town.
The only one uncontactable was John's little brother, who is unfortunately on a three day field trip in another country.
John cursed at the sight of no one picking up the phone. "Such an unfortunate timing. Pick up the phone dumbass."
His brother, although a phone addict, was also a nature-lover who always mutes his phones in order to, 'not disturb nature', when he's outside.
Pacing in circles uneasily, his phone finally received an answer. "Hey, whassup dickhead, you called me like 10 times—"
John was never so grateful to hear his brother's cracking, puberty-hit voice. Just as John began to speak, one of the many dark shells in his memory cracked open, emitting a blinding light. Devouring the darkness, it reveals itself to be a newly gained memory before integrating into John's mind along with the other memories.
Digesting the memory, a chill of fear jolted down John's spine as goosebumps formed all over his skin.
Without a second thought, he exclaimed at his brother. "Shut up and listen Jason. In five minutes, you need to hide somewhere safe and barricade all the doors! Zombies are coming and you need to collect bottled water…"
As John desperately tried to give out as much advise as possible, a zap crackled from above him and his phone lost connection.
The ceiling lights switched off instantaneously and the entire apartment settled into a pitch black state.