"Argh..."
A groan echoed as the smoke began to clear. Two figures slowly emerged. The building behind them had collapsed completely—thankfully, they hadn't been inside. If they had, they would've died.
"Mom?" Seran called out, his voice shaky as he scanned the surroundings.
"I'm here, son," his mother replied gently.
Turning to his right, Seran saw her alive and unhurt. Relief flooded his chest as he exhaled deeply.
"I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered. "Come on, let's go find Dad and Nerez."
He helped her to her feet, and together they stepped out of the thick, gray smoke only to freeze in horror.
What is an apocalyptic scene?
This… this was one.
Dust choked the air, the sky was a sickly brown. Flames licked broken structures, and smoke rose like spirits into the heavens. Hills were warped and collapsed. Cries, howls, and shouts echoed everywhere.
From where they stood on elevated ground they could see everything. The entire city was in ruins.
"Seran… your brother… your father… Are they alright? We have to find them," his mother cried, panic in her voice.
A mother's instinct. Even in the face of disaster, she thought first of her family. She didn't stop to wonder what had caused this. Terrorist attack? A war? It didn't matter. She just wanted to find her loved ones.
"They'll be okay, Mom. I believe it," Seran said, trying to reassure her as she steadied herself.
Together, they navigated the ruined landscape, heading toward the direction of the police station.
But as they walked, Seran felt... strange.
It was as if his body was burning from within. His vision would blur, then sharpen unnaturally. Sometimes he saw things that weren't supposed to be there , a flash of a collapsed wall ahead that would suddenly be gone. At one point, he even saw their home again, perfectly intact, before it vanished into ash.
He shook his head repeatedly, trying to rid himself of the strange hallucinations. His mother noticed.
"Are you alright, dear?" she asked gently.
"I'm fine, Mom," Seran muttered, shaking it off again.
A few minutes later, they spotted a massive shadow looming in the distance. Their hearts sank.
It was the meteor.
The closer they got, the heavier their breaths became. The structure was immense, hundreds of meters tall, embedded deep into the earth. And it had fallen… right where the police station had been.
There was nothing left of the building.
"No… no… NO!"
His mother broke into a run, stumbling toward the meteor's base. Seran followed, watching as she fell to her knees and began pounding weakly against the rock.
"You can't die like this… You promised me we'd raise our kids together… that we'd grow old together… Where are you now?"
Her voice cracked as tears poured down her face, her fists useless against the massive rock.
Seran was about to approach her, to comfort her.
But then....
He froze.
His body stopped responding. His eyes widened as a terrifying vision played in front of him:
The meteor falling.
Him and his mother, crushed.
Blood. Ash. Screams.
Their bodies, shattered. The area scorched beyond recognition.
And then… behind the meteor…
He saw Nerez.
"Nerez is alive…" he whispered, his voice hollow.
The vision vanished.
He snapped out of it, gasping. Was it a hallucination? A dream? A premonition?
It didn't matter.
"Mom! Mom!" Seran shouted, hurrying to her side. "He's alive! I saw him, he's behind the meteor!"
His mother looked up, eyes red and swollen. "Is he… is he also gone? Seran, did you really see him?"
"I did and he's alive," Seran said firmly, smiling despite the pain. "Don't lose hope now, Mom. Please."
He gently helped her up and led her around the giant crater.
Then the stench hit them.
A foul, thick stench of blood and decay.
The ground was littered with scorched flesh, torn limbs, and melted remains. The heat of the impact had cleared the area, no trees, no animals, nothing living.
"Urgh…"
His mother gagged, and Seran caught her, steadying her as he too held back his nausea.
"It's okay, Mom… Just hold on."
Then he saw it.
A body.
Intact.
Lying motionless on the ground.
"Nerez!" Seran cried, rushing forward.
His mother followed, her tears halting at the sight of her other son.
"Seran… why isn't he waking up? Is he… is he really alive? You said he was alive," she cried, her voice trembling.
"He is. But we have to move, now. I feel like something's wrong. Something terrible is coming," Seran said, heart pounding.
Was another meteor coming? Was the vision wrong? Would the giant rock fall backward this time?
He didn't know.
But everything in his body screamed: Run. Now.
He bent down and lifted Nerez into his arms.
"I'll carry him. We're getting out of here."
His mother wiped her face, trying to stay strong. But inside, her heart was shattering.
If Nerez was alive… that could only mean one thing.
Her husband, their father was gone.
She bit her lip and began to cry silently.
Hearing her soft sobs, Seran clenched his jaw.
He felt it too.
The pain.
The loss.
But he was the eldest now.
And he had to be strong.
Because if he wasn't… who would be?
**********
After walking several meters, Seran suddenly stopped.
Why?
His heart was pounding erratically, as if trying to break out of his chest. Breathing became difficult, shallow and panicked.
He didn't understand it at first.
But then it hit him.
The vision.
Was this the moment it was pointing to?
Was it about to happen?
Slowly, Seran turned around. The massive body of the meteor loomed in the distance. He knew what lay on the other side, devastated, broken people crying helplessly, trapped in grief. Just like in the vision. The way they all died.
He couldn't let that happen.
He gently laid his brother down as his mother turned to him, confused.
"Seran… what's wrong? Is your brother too heavy? You can't carry him?" she asked through her tears. "Don't worry I'll help you."
"No… no, forget it, Mom," Seran replied quickly. "I just… I need to go back. There's something important I have to do."
His mother grabbed his arm. "No, son. We've already lost your father. We couldn't even find his body… there's nothing left to bury. Let's just leave this place. What if there's another attack?"
Seran's expression was firm. "Mom, please… believe me. This isn't about that. I just can't stand by and watch this happen."
"Seran… what are you talking about? Stay here!"
"I have to save them," he said quietly. "That rock… it's going to fall. Any moment now."
His mother's eyes widened. "How do you know that? Seran, no. Come back. Please…"
"I saw it, Mom." He turned to her with a determined look. "Even if I'm wrong… they shouldn't be under that rock. I have to try. Please stay with Nerez."
He turned and ran.
"Seran!!" his mother screamed after him. But he was already gone.
"Forgive me, Mom," Seran thought. "But I can't watch them die like that. They're people like us ,grieving, lost, broken. I can't let them give up… and die without knowing what's coming."
As he neared the rock's front, he was greeted by a sorrowful sight...hundreds of survivors huddled together, their faces stained with tears. The air was heavy with despair. Some stared blankly, others held the hands of lost loved ones, lifeless and cold. The world had ended for them already.
But then..
He felt it.
The tremor.
The tension in the earth.
It was happening.
"No!! Everyone, move! That rock's going to fall!!" Seran shouted.
But his voice was drowned out by their grief. It was like shouting into the void. No one listened.
They didn't care anymore.
Some were even whispering prayers to die.
"Please! Listen...."
BOOM.
The ground trembled violently. The meteor began to shift, cracks forming near its base. Dust exploded from beneath it.
Seran's eyes widened.
It was falling.
"RUN!!!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
This time, the sound of death finally woke them.
Children screamed. Mothers grabbed their babies. Men, once stoic and hopeless, now scrambled for their lives.
Seran's heart leapt.
Even when we say we want to die… when death truly comes, we run.
That instinct to survive...
It never dies.
He joined them, dashing ahead, but he was stronger.faster. He pushed injured people forward, helped others rise, yelling for them to move.
"Maybe… maybe I can save everyone," Seran thought, a flicker of hope on his face.
But then
That hope died.
A colossal shadow stretched over him.
The meteor wasn't just massive..it was monstrous. At least a kilometer tall and over two hundred meters wide. And they'd only been running for seconds.
They were still within the kill zone.
This is a death sentence.
Seran stumbled slightly as the realization struck. "No… they won't make it. No one will. I… I'm going to die."
Time seemed to freeze.
He looked around.
Terrified faces. Screaming children.
The will to survive, burning in every eye.
But the means to survive?
They didn't have it.
Images flashed in his mind, his brother, unconscious. His mother's tear-streaked face.
His father… gone.
"No… I won't die. Not yet. Not like this. If I can't save everyone…"
He looked down
A little girl had fallen directly in front of him.
Her eyes were wide, filled with fear and hope.
Red from crying, trembling from shock.
Maybe her mother was already dead. Maybe she had no one else.
But right now ,she had Seran.
Without hesitation, he dashed forward, picked her up, and kept moving.
He bent low, running faster than he ever had.
But then
Another vision.
A part of the rock would shatter mid-air, crashing down… directly onto his path.
Even at his speed, even with his strange new strength ..he wouldn't make it in time.
If he dropped the girl now… he might survive.
But she would die.
Keep her with him?
They'd both die.
He looked at her again.
She clung to him tightly, trusting him with everything. In her eyes, he saw no doubt only belief. She had no one. No mother. No father. Just him.
And now… he had a choice.
Let her go and live.
Or hold on and die with her.
What would Seran do?
*******************†************************†********