Ch.2 Good luck
Just as I finished paying for the donuts, I heard something akin to a bomb dropping but couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from. I glanced around the store but alas I found nothing, I moved towards the nearest window my curiosity getting the best of me.
It was still the same old city skyline with a few skyscrapers in the distance towering over other buildings near the heart of the city, nothing had changed. Small aircraft dotted the sky near the military base over by the coast while even more aircraft littered the sky near tourist attractions such as the various malls and the massive football stadium called cervos stadium.
Seeing as I was unable to find the source of the noise, I just shrugged and thought nothing more of the noise as I moved to sit at an empty table before someone else beat me to it. As I sat there I looked at the paper receipt in my hand as I thought about the origin of the noise once more. ~maybe some poor guy in a nearby construction site caused it by dropping a hammer on someone's head, or maybe it's just some shitty youtubers that are secretly recording me and the next time I go onto youtube I'll see myself in a prank compilation~
Unfortunately, I couldn't daydream forever as an old guy was yelling out my number and veins was slowly starting to pop up about his face as he yelled the number even louder. I quickly ran up ticket in hand and apologized to the old man who only huffed at my apology. I apologized once more before grabbing my donuts and heading back to my table, only for the aroma to float around me where it found it's way into my nostrils which made any thoughts about the noise go away.
I was about to sit down and check to make sure they got my order right, after all, somebody's always messing up when it comes to getting people's orders right. But those negative thoughts were set aside by the heavenly smell of freshly baked donuts which hit me hard and took rein of my thoughts as I lost sight of my surroundings. Unfortunately, I was quickly reminded of being in public when someone tapped my shoulder.
I turned around and saw a black-haired Asian girl wearing the granol donut shop uniform with a name tag that read My name is Hazel. She seemed to have opened her mouth to say something but she didn't speak loud enough to be heard over the crowd and the old man at the cash register yelling people's order numbers. I raised an eyebrow with confusion as I tried my best to act confused after I read her lips which told me that she said something along the lines of "we refuse to serve you anymore due to your strange behavior and we are now banning you from our store". Luckily Hazel believed me to be unable to hear her properly and was about to yell it out as she took a deep breath.
Only for the ground to shake just before she started yelling, people clinged to whatever they could but most hit the floor resulting in a couple of nasty bruises on their knees and arms. Panic ensued as cracks started appearing around the floor of a populated corner and the ground kept on shaking. People scrambled to get away from that corner with a few tripping but quickly getting back up before getting trampled by others. As the ground shook I, unfortunately, had to prioritize myself over my donuts but I did manage to throw the box onto the table as it was close before grabbing onto it myself though I did have to lose a couple of donuts however their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hazel falling backward while trying to grab onto my shirt in an attempt to help her regain her lost balance only to miss as I had prioritized throwing my donuts to safety before turning back around and trying to help her out. I watched Hazel as her face showed disbelief at my actions but seemed to have gotten over it a mere second after as she reached out to another table close by only to realize that it was covered in a weird liquid most likely from someone cleaning.
I watched as Hazel tried to grab onto the table anyway only to fail as she couldn't get a good grip on the table to stop herself leading to her head hitting the table's edge hard which immediately knocked her out. It would have probably been fine if she didn't hit anything else and just got a concussion but unfortunately, her body slipped away from the table and onto its side making her fall toward the edge of a chair thought as soon as the two made contact a small audible crack could be heard.
I immediately mouthed "fuck softly" as I watched her head slowly tilt and roll off where it hit itself against the hard metal leg of the table enough to crack her head wide open and splat blood all over the leg she hit. I stared at her bloody head where blood was slowly crawling down the back of her head as it dyed her black hair red like a tomato. I stood there shocked and my mouth wide open as I tried to process what had just happened again and again.
Luckily I wasn't the only one who had seen her fall as a skinny black guy that was nearby quickly rushed over to check on her while I simply stared at the two in a state of disbelief at life being that fragile while remembering all the times I nearly slipped myself and could have ended up like Hazel. I had thought that maybe we were stronger now that humanity had been strengthened by that planet but what lay before me reminded me that we were still weak and fragile humans even if we now lasted longer. My eyes remained glued to the bloody mess which was hazel as I rapidly muttered "what the fuck" again and again under my breath.
At least the black guy that stepped up had a bit of medical knowledge and training as he quickly ripped his t-shirt and bandaged her head with pieces of it before checking her pulse. Though now that the earthquake was over the crowd started surrounding us with concern about whether or not hazel was going to make it. the crowd started buzzing and soon their words started to overlap and make no sense. "She's Stable... Someone Call an Ambulance!" the black guy shouted loud enough to shut everyone else up but I could tell that the man was hiding a look of pity, and guilt from the others but it was clear as day to me.
Yet there were already plenty of sirens playing loudly in the area but one could barely make them out as they blended in with the constant screams and wails of the injured and those who lost their loved ones today.
The wail of agony came to me from all sides, I tried to hide myself from their screams by covering my ears and shutting my eyes but it didn't help..it never helped. I found myself forced into darkness thinking as the agonized wails seemed to lessen but alas It was just my mind playing games as I opened my eyes that were somewhat bloodshot. I didn't like this one bit but I knew I had to accept it, for now, it was no longer a fantasy or a nightmare but a grim reality that I'm forced to accept. I wished It could have been different if I wasn't here and as soon as I wished that. That single Wish opened the flood gates of my mind as the only thought I could hear was the thought of going HOME
As I ran to the door I saw that behind the register I could see an unconscious man in the kitchen pressed against a wall by a rolling shelf full of boxes but I didn't stop until I ran out of the donut shop. I looked toward the city skyline expecting to see the sight that I had seen no more than 10 minutes ago only to see buildings collapse and clouds of smoke rising from a few buildings. I knew that things would change but It simply scared me as I found myself walking through a street that used to be orderly and clean now riddled with cracks and craters. Ashes started falling onto everyone and everything slowly painting everything on the ground black as if the color itself was being drained from the world.
Chaos seemed to rule the world now as pieces of flaming debris fell from tall buildings several blocks away as the fire flared out of the windows of buildings in the heart of the city visible from miles away. Even a blind man might have been able to tell that the city was being broken down and destroyed piece by piece if he simply walked around.
The sky was no better as the aircraft and spaceships of the wealthy and those who could afford one attempted to flee the city with little to no hope thanks to a massive ship that slowly enveloped the city in its shadow. It sported weird symbols on the underside of the ship that was clearly painted on and a line of turrets lining the middle of the ship that seemed perfect to drop ordinance or even refuel while in the air. But alas it mattered little as the city was falling to these invaders only to remember how I dealt with Hazel's death ~I tell them then I go home to make amends with myself~ I told myself as I rushed back inside. "The Cities getting Invaded" I yelled a loud to the confused crowd before running out, the people inside looked at me run like how you would look at a crazy person but I couldn't care and I also didn't have the time to care about them, at least not anymore.
As I ran I remembered that Manuel had jokingly said that there was a doomsday bunker underneath the complex and now I could only pray to god that he wasn't actually joking. As I ran I had to pass a plethora of people some were hugging their loved ones while crying while others simply hit the floor in anger as tears fell. All I could do was watch and pray for them as I ran like a madman. After about half an hour of just running to get back to the complex I immediately looked around for Manuel only to find one of his friends named Mario who was a chubby guy and was usually sitting around with Manuel near the Apartment complex's entrance.
"where's Manuel, I need to talk to him, it's urgent Mario, It's Urgent!" I loudly say with a crazed look which didn't help me as Mario was starting to get more and more uncomfortable sitting in front of me and instead stood up though his intentions were clear. He wanted to run but I wasn't about to let him go.
"hey man I know your about to get evicted but I'm not going to let you use the earthquake as a way to get closer to him and get back at Manuel, you need to learn when to give up man, life will eventually get better" Mario said in an attempt to deter me from doing whatever he thought I was up to, while a look of pity was slowly revealing itself.
"I don't care about that, tell me where is he." I asked only to receive a shrug from Mario who then tried to sit back down only to be shocked when I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and started shaking him.
"WHERE IS HE!!" I ask practically shouting at this point which gets Mario worried about his own safety as well as the possibility of me becoming deranged. Mario then took out a cheap cell phone with a shaky smile which hid his nervousness and offered to call Manuel and ask for his location.
Upon hearing this I stop shaking him but still hold him by the collar so that he can't escape. Yet he seemed to still want to irritate me by opening his text messages instead of his phone app, this of course didn't fly over Marios head as he was nervously glancing between me and the phone.
"I-I -I..I've already used up the call time on my phone. I can Only send Text. I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry" Mario quickly said which l could understand so I gave him a small nod as Mario hurriedly types my question. After a minute of waiting a small ting sound could be heard which was Mario's notification sound. I quickly snatch the phone out of Marios hand and read it in my mind before letting Mario's collar go.
~He's in room 35~ I tell myself over and over as I leave mario who had fallen in his chair alone as he shook in his lawn chair. "Thank you" I tell mario as I rush to the elevator. "n-No Pro0blem Adam" he says shakily from his lawn chair. I waved one last good bye to him as the doors closed and the broken display panel at the top the elevator door soon started to change numbers.
Little did Adam know that upon leaving for the third floor, Mario quickly speed dialed the local police station and proceeded to go on a rant as he was put on hold.
On the third floor the scratched metal doors soon opened revealing a single guy inside who quicly ran out while turning his head from side to side as he scanned the room numbers for room 35. He quickly found it after running a couple feet and immediately got to knocking on the door furiously, "Hold On! I'm going" an irritated voice from the other side of the door said.
Manuel opened the door surprised to see adam standing outside but that surprise quickly died. "Are you fininished packing Yet? I got another tenant waiting for you to move out" Manuel said with a small smile on his face. This of course made my face sour, "No....I came to ask you about that doomsday bunker that you mentioned before. You know the one that was supposedly underneath the complex." I asked glumly.
He looked appauled before looking at me like I was an idiot, "Why would we even have a doomsday bunker underneath an apartment complex of all things." he asked as he looked at me in disbleief. "Everybody here can barely feed themselves, the government taxes are growing by the day and I know for sure you're barely alive thanks to government aid. So why in the hell would you seriously think we're going to have a goddamn bunker hidden underneath our feet?! HUH" he said before ranting a bit more about the shitty policy's that are being employed against the people.
"But you told me—" I tried to interrupt only to get immediately stopped by him. "I said that as a joke dumbass is it that hard for you to realize, huh!" He question with clear hints of distain and plenty of mockery in his voice as he points at me.
"sorry for wasting your time then." I say dejectedly as I start walking away.
"you better be sorry for wasting my time with your stupid bullshit." He says loudly from his door as he stays by his door watching to make sure I don't linger on the floor. But I didn't care at this point as I walked back into the elevator miserably before saying "5th floor" to the AI as I take one last look at the 3rd floor and Manuel who was still standing by his door waiting for the metal doors to close.
I soon arrived on the 5th floor and walk to my apartment door, number 56 was written on it with an old yellow color to it which really need to be repainted as it was starting to flake and fall off. I pressed my fingerprint on the fingerprint scanner which opened the door giving me a good look at my unfurnished apartment and remembering the things I wanted to do when I first got this place.
Back when I did have a proper job I had wanted to put in some things I thought would have looked cool like an old sword that I saw in a pawn shop or an aquarium. There were also a number of gifts I received that I had to give back because they were supposed hazards to others or that I need a license to keep in my house like a bow from my grandpa and a small remote controlled drone. (honorable mention my moms pet birds who became kfc and were promptly eaten by a random firefighter)
It's a Shame but I should stop after all it's not like It'll matter anymore, anyway" I tell myself as I reach for the spot where I usually put my Cd case which was a small tray with rough edges that I found on the street. Only to slap my forehead as I remembered, "Fuck, I left it in the car did I at least bring my phone with me." I ask myself as I pat my pockets down and find something blocky in my back pocket, I quickly pull whatever it is and turn up with a usb stick that was hidden away in my back pocket with a note attached that said from Roberto. ~when did he put this on me~ I pondered as I grabbed my old laptop that I kept hidden under my bed and plugged it in without a care about the next electricity bill.
The video booted up and a loading black window poped up for a bit before finally showing Roberto in a pure black suit for some reason. The background looked like some kind of garden, then a small pool, followed by a random river, and a dark alleyway with lots of neon signs that said something in an Asian language. ~definitely a green screen~ I thought to myself as I watched the background continue shifting through various places.
Roberto soon coughed loudly which got my attention away from the background and onto him. "Great now that I have your attention, I should probably say that I have some things that I wanted to get off my chest before a little something happens to me but If I don't you'll find this cd making it's way to you as it's one of the few things that I asked my lawyer to give you." Roberto says before stopping to take a small breather. "I might have also snuck it onto you, or that ridiculously worn out cd case that you bring with you in that shitty car of yours".
~what my car ever do to you man?~ I thought as soon as he said that but the video continued. "thanks Adam for being there to support me even if you were shit at it. You were a pretty good friend maybe even my best friend but you need to learn when to shut the fuck up, stop ranting about Mexico this, mexico that, miss Martha complained about blah blah blah, as well as some other random shit that you definitely pulled out of your ass."
"But alas not everything that gets pulled out of your ass was useless like that one story of a guy discovering he had cancer by peeing on a frog. Which makes this next part really embaressing as I went out drinking, go drunk, broke into a zoo, peed on a frog as well as an armadillo took some pictures of it before waking up in bed the next day without missing a couple of inches. Turns out I got HLC Cancer so by the time that you're seeing this I'm either in the midst of surgery or I've died probablyy due to some shitty doctor rage quitting mid surgery."