2022 December 41st, 10 pm. Terra's power shutdown, resulting in chaos and panic.
2022 December 31st, 10 pm, Earth descended into darkness.
This information was part of his newly received memory.
Stumbling towards the faint moonlight seeping through the balcony curtains, John collided into a table. "This doesn't make sense." He muttered, rubbing the bump.
Planet Terra has an orbital period of 554 days and rotational period of 36 hours, meaning that it has 554 days in a year and 36 hours in day.
Since the 18 hour clock divides the 36 hour day into two periods, 10 hours into the night on Terra is equivalent to 6 hours 40 minutes pm on Earth, whereby 10 pm on Earth, should have been 15 pm on Terra.
According to his calculations, the night should have still been young!
Reaching his balcony, overwhelming horror enveloped John.
Frozen in fear, he witnessed darkness engulfing the once illuminated city. Spreading like wildfire, the city lights dissipated at an exponential rate.
Soon, everything in John's vision turned gloom.
High above, the two moons veiled the city in a mellow yet eerie hue.
****
Hallmark Residences, Unit 8, Floor 8
9:55 pm
The infuriating sound of alarm blared at full volume as an arm, imprinted with sleep marks, reached towards it.
Struggling to press on the 'snooze' button, the clumsy fingers unleashed a barrage of taps. After several misses, they successfully pressed onto the button, ceasing the unpleasant blares.
"That was such a pleasant dream." Lying on a bed with an arm draped over his head, a teenager pushed himself up to a sitting position, letting out a long yawn. He dreamt about himself, floating within an ethereal ocean, warm and cozy…
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he noticed the dark sky outside his window.
The sun hasn't risen? I must have taken a quick nap. The teenager thought while stretching out.
All of a sudden, he felt a twitch in his brain as a blaze of light detonate within his mind.
Memories came rushing in.
The Earth. Its people. His past life.
His appearance remained the same. But he was no longer Ethan on Earth. He is now PQ from Planet Terra.
Concurrently, the swaying fan beside his bed halted its movement, as if an invisible force has cut off its power.
Outside his window, a breathtaking phenomenon occurred.
Reflected on his Iris, fiery asteroids penetrate into the planet's atmosphere, tearing the clouds as they continue splitting into shooting stars.
A cacophony of colors shroud the meteors as they crash towards the planet's surface.
The mere sight of crashing meteors created an intense ambience, causing PQ to tremor uncontrollably.
He felt pathetically vulnerable, like an hopeless ant awaiting to be crushed.
Fortunately, the tremor stopped when the meteor decided to decrease in size and speed. Instead, smaller meteorites detached from the incoming masses like swarms of bees leaving its hive, covering a vaster ground.
Amongst the meteorite shower, two of them were heading straight towards his direction.
They parted ways, one striking the inner city while the other fell into the neighboring city.
Weirdly, the ground did not quake when the meteorites hit.
How can an indestructible force not create mass destruction?
PQ woke up from his dumbstruck state.
Before he could further contemplate, he heard a commotion outside, and he decided to take a peek through his window.
Through the faint moonlight, he saw a fat neighborhood security guard pouncing towards a family of 4. While 3 of the family members reacted and dodged to the side, the woman, who seemed to be the mother of of the family, was tackled to the ground. Pinning her frail body with his weight, the security guard bend down, tearing off pieces of flesh from her neck.
The woman, eyes wide open with fear, tried to scream for help, but all that came out was the gargling of blood.
The father of the family shrieked at the sight of his injured wife, launching his fist at the security guard's face.
The impact of the punch knocked the security guard off the mother, but he immediately got back up, glaring his fangs and pouncing towards the father.
Following this attack, screams of agony and pain arose from every direction.
Near the pool, an old man in his seventies lunged his teeth into his unsuspecting grandchild's arm. Flailing in pain, blood gushed out the child's wound, dying the clear water blood red.
On the west side of the neighborhood, a young woman cried aloud. The tiny chihuahua she was taking for a walk sank its fangs into her ankle, its eye enlarged and blood shot.
"Zombie Apocalypse!"
PQ gasped, backing away from the window. He felt his stomach churning from anxiety, beads of sweat sliding down his forehead.
Wiping off his sweat, he ran towards the kitchen to grab a weapon.
Although knew he was safe at home because his parents just left for a business trip, probably on a flight right now, he still wanted a form of protection.
His apartment was pitch black, the only source of night being the moonlight seeping through the windows.
"Weird. The lights aren't working." Failing to switch open the lights, PQ's face turned pale as he realized what it could mean.
He ran to the balcony, only to witness every apartment complex submerged in darkness.
If it was truly a worldwide blackout according to his memory, then his parents might be on a plane without power… which means…
"Nooo…"
Words strangled PQ's throat. His head ached from distress and the world around him spun rapidly.
With a kitchen knife in his hands, he stumbled back into his room. He needed to check if there were any messages from his parents. He needed them to be alive.
'Hi P!'
'Our flight is finally on time! We will be arriving at about 9:30. Take care of your little brother while we're gone."
PQ saw three messages, two of them sent at 6:28 pm.
Praying for a miracle, PQ scrolled down to the last unread message, latching onto a thread of hope.
'PQ. Don't forget about the food in the fridge. We'll call you soon. Love you.'
It was sent at 9:40 pm.
A sigh of relief escaped his lungs. The needle that hovered over his heart dissipated, allowing PQ to finally breath again.
As long as they did not perish in a plane crash, there was still a chance of them being alive.
Holding onto this tiny speck of hope, tears pooled around his eyes as he clenched the knife tightly, whimpering in joy and solace.
Despite knowing internet is down, PQ picked up his phone, and carefully constructed a message, not forgetting to proof read the sentence twice before delivering the message to his mom.
"Thanks mom, I will definitely enjoy the food. Please stay safe."