Another group (part 1)

Baptiste was the business partner and an old friend of Nicolas. They both came to Singapore to try an expatriation and entrepreneurial journey together. He moved with his wife, Jiajin, and a pair of friends, Geoffrey and Delphine.

Baptiste was average in high, 177 cm, with a very lean and athletic body. Even with his 10 dollars cut, brown hair, brown eyes and a pair of blue glasses, his square jaw with a five days shaved beard made him quite attractive.

In his life, they were three main activities, working, doing sports and eating.

Jiajin, shared Baptiste's passion for food, hunting the last trendy restaurant or looking for their next foody trips. Her second passion was shopping and browsing the last uprising influencer videos. She was from Shanghai, she moved to France where she lived for 8 years, met Baptiste and got married to him.

Average in high for a Chinese girl, she had shoulder length black hair with a retro style that was the new Asian fashion. She was wearing thick glasses and had two moles just above her lips on the left side.

Geoffrey was about the same height as Baptiste with a slightly overweight but muscular body. He was already missing his hair, but it did not really bother him.

What matters more was that even after two years of hard work, doing sports regularly, he succeeded in building muscle, but could not get rid of his belly. This depressed him a way more.

Mixed raced issued from a love romance between a French woman and a Hong Kongese, he had spent most of his life in the south of France.

With Delphine, his partner, he decided to follow Baptiste and Jiajin to Singapore. He was expecting to use this opportunity to get closer to his father and gain international work experience. Delphine and Geoffrey have been in a relationship for six years.

Delphine was the same height as Baptiste and Geoffrey with a very lean body, black hair, a very white skin and lots of tattoos.

Every Sunday, the group of four was used to going to practise sport from 9a.m. to 1p.m. and often finished with lunch together. They were training in a famous indoor facility with a Ninja trail and climbing walls.

---------

Singapore, Serangoon, Sunday, 02:50 PM UTC+8, D-Day.

Baptiste and Jiajin have just reached home when they heard sirens all around them.

"Pipouuu*, why is there an alarm?" Exclaimed Jiajin

"How am I supposed to know Pipou?" Baptiste replied while unpacking.

Both used to call themselves Pipou, a sweet name they have been using since the beginning of their relationship.

Baptiste, still sweating from his training session went directly to the shower and after 5 min, he came out worried.

"This is still going on?"

"Pipouuu I think we are in trouble, some of my friends are telling me the government is asking us to go find some safe cover." Said Jiajin almost crying.

"Ok, don't worry, let me send some texts."

After picking up his phone, Baptiste realized it was flooded of text messages, and most of them were bad news. Five minutes later, the situation was clear, a shower of meteorites was about to fall, and they had to find some shelter.

Decisively Baptiste grabbed Jiajin by the arm and pulled her out of the couch. "Ok, get ready with the minimum, I'll pack up some food and water and we go to Geoffrey's place, they have a bomb shelter."

"I am scared pipouuu!" Jiajin was not helping at all, waiting for Baptiste to show some care for her.

Baptiste was a very loving husband, but when he had to be decisive, he knew better than to waste time.

"Alright, alright, pull yourself together, we have to rush to Geoffrey's condo now!".

The condominium of Geoffrey and Delphine was not that far from theirs, 15 minutes on foot, but this was already too much, they had to rush.

"Ok, finish the backpacks with all your valuables, put on your sports shoes, I'll fetch the bike." Said Baptiste while handing a bag with some food and his most valuables.

He went straight to their second bedroom where he stored his bike, checked if it was in good conditions, got some more stuff and went outside the apartment.

"Come on! time to go! The meteorite shower is planned in about 15 min we need to rush!"

Taking one of the bags on his front, he pulled the bike through the corridor and called the elevator. Jiajin was following. "How are we supposed to go there with only one bike?" she said.

"You'll be sitting while I will be pedalling. For about a kilometre, I think it won't be a problem."

Reaching the ground floor, they started to ride the bike. At first, they were clumsy, they almost fell twice before reaching the entrance of the condo.

"Can you try to stay still!" Baptiste was trying his best to stay patient.

"I am still; it is your fault if we are falling!" wailed Jiajin.

"Try to grab me without hugging me too tight, I need to be able to move, and put your foot behind."

"Pipou! I don't want to ride the bike anymore!"

"A little effort, it won't be long!"

They went through the neighbourhood complaining and encouraging themselves. It took ten minutes for the riding couple to reach the condo of Geoffrey, they did not have time to catch their breath. Baptiste ditched the bike on the side of the entrance, entered the condo and rushed to the apartment on the second floor. Nobody was there to stop them as the guards were long gone.

The greetings were short, as they all rushed to the bomb shelter of the apartment.

"Good thing you've made it!" said Geoffrey while walking through the apartment. "Roger and Shiny are already there".

Upon entering the small bomb shelter Baptiste and Jiajin were welcomed by Delphine and the other couple.

Shiny and Roger were good friends and almost neighbours of Geoffrey and Delphine. The three couples often organized some entertaining evenings or sports sessions together.

Roger was a French from a Vietnamese family; he came to Singapore to escape from both his family pressure from France and Vietnam.

Shiny was Chinese Malaysian, not the talkative type but Roger was good to fill the conversation for her. They both met in Singapore a few years ago and got married a year ago.

Both very short, they were hugging in a corner of the bomb shelter.

Upon seeing Baptiste and Jiajin, they welcome them with smiles and what was supposed to be a joke from Roger.

"Hey! You made it! I hear that regular umbrella does not work for this kind of rain! Hopefully, you made it in time!"

They all looked at Roger not sure what to do, some forced a laugh, others just decided to ignore him. This was a common occurrence, him cracking a joke to fill the conversation and almost making It worse.

Before they had the time to solve this awkward situation, a terrifying deflagration sounded in the distance. Without any second thought, they all jump inside the small room and closed the door.

The next few minutes were quiet. Small sobs were accompanying the crash of the meteorites around them. The three couples were hugging like it was the last time.

After what seems an eternity for them, they realized that the explosions were getting rarer. Baptiste checked his phone again. And he saw something weird. Nicolas and Lexie were trying to gather a few of the people they knew inside a WhatsUp group. And for an unknown reason, Nicolas was insisting on regrouping everyone at the River City condo.

Nicolas was even pushing them to steal vehicles to join them at City Square Mall before regrouping at River City condo. He said he had some terrible news but wanted to meet them first.

What in the world would be a good reason to brave a meteorite shower? Should not they be safer inside the bomb shelter? Baptiste was puzzled.

He shared the news with the others but realized that a few of them were already reading the message in the group.

"What should we do?" questioned Baptiste.

"We're safer here, why should we go out?" answered Jiajin.

Then followed a conversation questioning the sanity of Nicolas and why he said they needed to move.

*Pipou: it has to be pronounced "P Poo", the reference comes from the minions in Despicable Me.