Prequel: Beginning of a New Era
New York City, New York: 5:45 pm
"Good evening New York City, we just got word that Yael is LIVE in Saran right now as we speak." announced the news anchor on screen.
"Let's switch to him right now. Yael, can you hear us?" the reporter asked into his earpiece.
"I hear you loud and clear Yael." A dark-haired man appeared on the screen, his blue coat bright amongst the local Saran people surrounding him.
Having no time to prepare for his flight ten hours ago in New York City, Yael couldn't even kiss his son goodbye as his WWTA station producers rushed him out the door. His hair was messy and uncombed from the long flight to Saran. His camera woman, Audra, was no different. She looked worse with her hair braided tucked behind her hat. Luckily for her, she didn't need to be on camera.
News doesn't wait for anyone to be ready. Both Yael and Audra have been in these kinds of situations before. Once during the Ukraine invasion by Russia and another time when rebels took over a city in Kyiv.
No one carried a camera better than Audra, from the moment they were partnered up; Yael knew he couldn't work with anyone else. Heck, she was his son's godmother and best friend. As Audra moved the camera around their surroundings, we can hear reporters behind him talking to their own TV stations.
Yael made his way to the front of the yellow police line, where a few hundred yards was the meteorite that hit the city the night before. Standing before Audra and behind the meteorite, Yael spoke into his microphone.
"Good morning everyone, this is Yael Haddad from WWTA Channel 12 news. Coming live to you at Ground Zero in Saran, Kazakhstan. Just look at this massive scene unfolding on us today.", spoke Yael as he moved closer to the meteorite.
"The size of this thing is enormous, and the crater alone is 1,200m in diameters. The meteorite literally engulfed the city of Saran and destroyed multiple buildings surrounding it. As you can see behind me, nothing is left, everything has turned into debris. It has been only a few days yet the debris in the air has not settled. Just look around us,"As Yael turned to face the crowd of reporters, you could barely see the other reporters in the fog.
"It is truly incredible to be standing here a few yards from the massive crater." Yael spoke.
"Yael, what is the status of the people?" asked the news anchor in his earpiece. Yael surveyed the area and then turned back to the camera.
"Well, at this point in time, there are no known survivors as of this morning. The impact, as you can see, created a wall of fire still burning behind us. The fireman and police force are working nonstop to calm the situation and the survivors of Saran down. Maxwell, it truly was a catastrophic event no one had seen coming,"Just as Yael spoke the words, behind him a red glow can be seen inside the meteorite.
"Whoa, what is it doing? Audra, come get a closer look. It seems like the meteorite is glowing, wait, what is that? It's flashing now, what is….OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!" Screams of panic are heard as the screen goes dead.
Back at the studio everyone is panicking, trying to control the situation.
"Well folks, it seems like we lost connection with Yael. We'll be going into commercials and will be right bac—-," before the reporter could finish his words, the lights and window in the tv station shook as the ground rumbled in New York City.
….
Saran, Kazakhstan: 7:25am
The meteorite flashed red again as the ground shook. Yael, sensing danger, turned toward his camerawoman Audra.
"Audra run!" Yael screamed as he grabbed Audra's hand, leading her out of the chaos of reporters and civilians running away. The meteorite turned dark red with intensity before it grew brighter and brighter. It was too late to run as the meteorite erupted, letting out a powerful red flash that escaped, flooding the world in a deep crimson for a few seconds.
With one last look at Audra, Yael covered his body over Audra as searing fire course through his body melting his skin.
….
Huttingson, Pennsylvania: 7:37 pm outskirts of the city perimeter.
It is night time in Huttingson, Pennsylvania. There is a line of unmoving cars as far as the next town can be seen. Mr. Yang rolled up his window silencing the traffic noise, the hot night air lingering in the car. Mr. Yang, a thin man in his late 40's, let out a heavy breath of frustration as he pushed his thinning gray hair out of his eyes and away from his glasses. His hands are bruised from years of his hard work as an immigrant 25 years ago. A young man in 1980, not knowing the language and broke, he took a chance on a one way plane to America. Now he, along with his wife of 18 years own a local store in Huttingson, Pennsylvania. A true American dream.
Not a single car has moved. With another sigh, Mr. Yang felt hopeless. He was hoping to be home and in bed by 9 pm but with this traffic he would be lucky to be in his pajamas by 11 pm. He knew he would have a hard time waking up in the morning tomorrow to open the store at 6 am. His old age, already giving him a hard time.
"What is up with this traffic? Ai yah!" a frustrated Mr. Yang hit his steering wheel, just as a siren came up behind them and passed them. In the passenger side Mrs. Yang, a small woman of 38 years, gave her husband a soft glare. She was petite but don't be fooled by her size, she can carry two loads of 25 bags of potatoes with no help. Her husband calls her the Hulk. A name she wears proudly at the grocery and at home when the kids are not listening to her. A streak of gray strains of hair frames her plump face.
Mr. Yang gave a soft apology to his wife. He turned and looked behind him, his 17 year old daughter Annaliya was playing with her 6 year old brother Zachary. He gave a small smile and turned back to watch the red glare of the cars in front of him.
Annaliya had just turned 17 that day. Her little family went out to dinner in the next town. She was young and petite like her mom, her long black hair hidden beneath her favorite hoodie. Her hoodie helps her to escape her reality
Annaliya looked up just as her dad turned and widened her eyes as she stared out the windshield.
"Dad! What is that?" shouted Annaliya.
Up ahead a bright red light can be seen right at the horizon. Wind picked up as trees swayed around their car.
Within seconds debris covered the whole car. An eerie silence filled the city.
"Daddy?" cried Zachary. Annaliya turned to him and tried to soothe him as her father was too stunned to say anything. Just then they heard a screech of metal hitting metal. Annaliya turned to look outside and could barely see the car next to them. All of a sudden the car next to them was hit with another car as flying cars fell before them.
Screams from people outside woke Mr. Yang from his confusion and he turned to his family and gave them an encouraging smile and spoke,
"Everything is going to be okay." Just as he spoke those words a car door smashed through the windshield hitting Mr. Yang. Mrs. Yang and Zachary screamed, as Annaliya looked on in horror. Slowly the car they were in was hit by an enormous wind and lifted up into the sky. The last thing Annaliya saw was the scared face of her brother, before she was thrown out of the car as a red light passed through her.
Huttingson, Pennsylvania: 7:37pm same place just before the city was hit.
On a hill just a mile from the highway sat a young 24 year old man. Sam with his liquor bottle and pistol in hand watched as the 95 highway was stuck in traffic and laughed as people were swearing and bumping into each other. He watched and wondered why people bothered to go anywhere, when eventually everyone is going to die anyways. Taking his badges and medals out of his pockets he threw them and remembered the day he got them.
"Captain of the third squadron, we hereby award you this medal in honor of your heroic duty to your country."
"Captain my ass," he seethed silently. He remembered looking behind him, no one else was rewarded, because no one else survived. His platoon was wiped out by a group of terrorists in Iraq. He should have died with his platoon, but his soldiers thought he was too valuable to lose and protected him until the bitter end. Him without a scratch survived while his comrades, soldiers and friends all died. A coward, he was a coward. And he was going to die a cowardly death.
With confident hands he lifted the pistol to his head. Just as he was ready to pull the glock, a blinding white light flashed in the horizon.
He coughed as the air around him turned into dust. He couldn't see in front of him. After a few minutes the dust cleared up a bit and he could see again only to be slammed into a tree, as the wind picked up. He saw cars being pulled and lifted up by this strong wind and crashing into other cars. Before he blacked out he swore he heard a bald eagle cry with the wind. A red light washed over the city.
Rome, Lazio, Italy: 11:30 am. The busy city of Lazio
"The girls are going to be here right?" Said 16 year old Mattia as he smoothed his gel haired back.
"Certo, fratello. They will be here. You know the ladies, they take a long time to get ready. And stop fixing your hair, Becca would love it even if you have it sticking out in different places", said Tommaso, his fraternal twin brother.
Laughing Tommaso dodged his brother's punch.
"Shut up will you, besides don't you need to get ready for Andrea," commented Mattia as he looked back in the mirror to fix his hair.
"Unlike you, my Andrea likes me the way I am." Snickered Tristan. Just as Mattia was about to punch Tommaso again the doorbell rang.
"They're herrrrreeee" sung Tommaso, going out of the bathroom to open the door.
A little while later.....12 noon.
Tommaso and Mattia waited in line as Becca and Andrea waited for them by the sitting area chatting happily away. Tommaso was trying to touch Mattia's hair while an annoyed Mattia tried to stop his hands from reaching his perfectly gelled hair.
All of a sudden, a tremor in the ground shook the movie theater. Tommaso and Mattia looked at each other as the tremor stopped and breathed a sigh of relief. Both looked to the girls and saw that they were shaken but fine.
As Tommaso and Mattia rushed to the girls, the ground beneath them shook violently and opened a hole separating where their girlfriends were. Another tremor shook, jolting the twins backwards which caused both of them to lose their footing as the girls and other patrons fell into the hole. Mattia screamed in agony as Tommaso with tears in his eyes tried to pull his brother up and out of the building.
"Alzare, dai, hurry we have to get out of here the building is going to collapse", shouted Tommaso pulling Mattia to the door.
Just as they reached the door a blinding wave of red light passed through them. Mattia recovered first and noticed the ceiling about to fall, thinking quickly he pushed Tommaso out of the door.
"Mattia!!!!", screamed Tommaso.
Tommaso watched the building collapse with his brother inside.
China, Yunnan, Kunming: 8:45 am, outside school house.
Students from a nearby school huddled around a bruised 12 year old boy. One student had his fist ready to beat up the boy again, just as his fist came close he was pushed back, holding his stomach. In front of the kid stood Xiāng, in a fighting stance ready to beat anyone who dear.
"Awww! It's Xiāng, Iron Dragon of the Kunming province." Shouted one boy.
"I heard she beat down the Redtail gang with one finger." Shouted another.
"Let's get out of here, I still want to live." Said another as he left followed by the rest.
Satisfied that the bullies left, Xiāng turned towards the victim and helped the boy up. Only to find that he also disappeared. Sighing, Xiāng went back to her trash bags full of cans and went on her way. After a moment, she felt the ground move. Letting go of her bags she went near a tree to hold on. The earthquake stopped.
She watched as buildings crumbled to the ground. Something was causing sinkholes. Left to right, she heard screams coming from all the buildings in front of her.
A lady came out screaming that her baby was inside; a cry can be heard. Without thinking she dove right into the fallen building. She maneuvered quickly to the sound of the baby. The baby was surrounded by fallen debris, luckily the baby was unharmed.
Xiāng carefully snatched the baby up and sprinted back where she came from. A blinding red wave passed through her, the force of the light pushed her back onto the ground. As she regained herself and sat up a fallen column crashed towards them. Scared, she closed her eyes and flung one of her hands out to protect herself; even though she knew it was no use. She waited for the end, when it didn't appear she opened her eyes and noticed the column hanging in the air. Frightened she placed her hand down but when she did, it continued to fall. Placing her hand back it stopped.
Quickly thinking she moved her hand to the right, and found that the column moved to the right also. Moving her hands she carefully placed the column onto the ground and carried the baby outside where the mother took her baby from Xiāng. Xiāng ignored the many people around and sat down on the sidewalk and examined her hands. 'What the hell was that?', she thought.
Graz, Austria: 9:59am, in a couple's home.
A whimper can be heard from the couple tied up on the floor.
"Oye, Shut up mates! Can't a guy work in peace. Geesh!" yelled 25 year old Davis as he reached for the jewelry and cash in the safe. "Jackpot matey! Boy do I know how to choose the right house."
Stuffing the entire stolen item in his bag he gave a slight salute to the couple and escaped out the window. Seeing his bike, he climbed on as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a detonator and pushed the bottom. He watched as the house he stole from exploded before driving off on his motorcycle.
Smiling, he continued on his way. As he was leaving he noticed a black shadow coming in front of him. It was already too late as it wasn't a shadow but hundreds of crows. They slammed into him and he was flung from his bike as the earth started to quake and a bright wave of red light passed through him. The crows still hovered above him as he passed out.
Sierra Norte, Oaxaca, Mexico: 9:00 pm, street corner.
19 year old Camila Navarro stepped up to the street light and lit a smoke. Leaning against the pole she stared at the darkened sky and puffed out smoke. A car pulled up to her, the window rolled down, a middle aged man was behind the wheel.
"How much." The man asked.
Flicking the smoke onto the ground she stepped up to the car and leaned in, her breast practically in his face.
"How much are you willing to give?" she purred and smiled at him.
1 hour later…
Camila searched for her clothes in the dark room of the man's pet shop. Putting on her underwear and bra, she looked at the display case in front of her. A snake slithered in front of her.
"Inland Taipan, world's deadliest snake." She said reading the information. Smiling, she tapped the display case. "You and I buddy; we're the deadliest beings on earth." She said as she stared back at the man she shot dead.
An earthquake rumbled beneath her causing her to scream and fall on the ground. The display case with the Inland Taipan snake also slid and fell and broke. Before she could react the snake lunged for her and bit her on the chest as a blinding wave of red light engulfed the pet shop.
Cottbus, Germany: 8:00 am outside in the woods of Cottbus
26 year old Curtis studied the five wolves in front of him. The five wolves were huddled together eating their fresh kill. Curtis a young animal anthropologist, specifically the wolves had been with this group of wolves since they were young. Many had thought the prehistoric animals had been extinct but a year ago on a trip to see some gray wolves in Germany, Curtis stumbled upon the prehistoric youngin's of the Dire wolves with no one to look after them. Curtis thus took upon himself to look after these animals. He came to love them like family as they also came to love him like family. They recognized Curtis Curtis as the dominant male in the group. All five of the wolves were colored red and huge as a polar bear. Curtis loved watching The Jungle Book as a child and named them as his favorite characters. There were 3 males and two females in total; Mowgli the oldest, King Louie, Baloo, Kaa and Akela.
As he observed them a few feet away, he noticed Mowgli kept looking at the sky.
"What is it, Mowgli?" Curtis asked. The wolf kept looking at the sky. Then in a second he growled and howled, the others soon followed.
Alarmed Curtis got up and as the five wolves backed towards him. Without warning Akela and Kaa latched onto his shirt to pull him away while the others continued to howl.
Not knowing what to do, he followed Akela and Kaa as they kept pulling him. Just as he turned around to call the other three males the earth trembled beneath him, as trees fell around him. One came crashing down above him, but Mowgli jumped and pushed the 100 ton tree away. They all ran as Akela and Kaa led the way. The ground under Curtis gave way, he tripped and fell onto a rock knocking him out. All five wolves stopped to crowd around him while howling. A wave of blinding red light covered the area.
Washington DC, America: 10:00 pm, White House.
34 year old Saanvi Bhatt, U.S Secretary of State rushed along the hallway of the White House reaching the double doors at the end of the corridor.
In front a wide screen T.V displayed the news reports of the crater and meteoroid. Standing before the T.V was President Zacharyarias, the youngest president of the world at only 38 years old and his wife, first lady Sienna Anders.
"Mr. President, chairman of Kazakhstan would like to give thanks for your help. Also, we need to prepare for your speech tomorrow morning. I am sure America wants to know more about the crater and meteorite." Saanvi said, coming up to the president handing some papers for him to look over.
"Thanks, Saanvi . Kazakhstan needed our help, I wasn't about to turn a blind eye. In these times the world is coming together as one to help rebuild humanity. As for the speech tomorrow, I am prepared. Remember I am the president of the United States." He laughed, turning his eyes back to the screen.
"As for the crater, it's still too hot to move, but looking at the size of it must weigh at least the size of an elephant. For now we're just waiting for it to cool down so we can go and analyze its alien structure," he stated.
A small gasp from his wife, caused him to stare intently at the screen. A blinding red light came from the meteoroid and then the screen turned black. Stunned, the president stepped back.
"What just happened?" Saanvi whispered.
A horde of feet came charging through the door, standing before them was the vice president, Secretary of Defense and armed men and women.
"Mr. President, we've just been informed of an explosion at the meteoroid site, causing significant devastation across the world. There have been reports of Earthquakes all over the world; from China, Italy, Australia, and in the US. It is best we move you into the safe house." The Secretary of Defense voiced.
Zacharyarias still hadn't moved from his spot.
"Mr. President. It's urgent that we move you to the safe house. We need you", spoke the Secretary of Defense again.
Standing upright and firm, President Zacharyarias faced his cabinet.
"No, the people of the United States of America have the right to know and prepare for what is going on. Prep the station. We're going live NOW!", commanded President Zacharyarias.
"You heard the president, so move your asses." voiced Saanvi . Within seconds everyone was rushing around to go on live.
Just as he was in front of the cameras the ground trembled beneath them causing the structure of the White House to start falling. The officers in the building rushed to the President's side and the First Lady, ready to move out and protect them from the quake.
"Is this because of the meteorite?", shouted President Zacharyarias.
"I don't know," the Vice President responded as more and more of the ceiling was falling.
In the hallway the building shook as people clamored to safety. A red light blinded them for a moment before shattering the glass windows. Everyone hit the ground for cover. Screams from outside spilled in.