The crescent moon shimmered quietly above the night sky, casting a pale glow over the bustling streets below. Laughter echoed from shopfronts, restaurants buzzed with life, and students wandered home from part-time jobs, their arms tucked in their jackets to guard against the evening chill.
"Mom, look! It's a plane!" a child shouted, pointing upward with wide skies.
The mother smiled warmly. "Yes, sweetie. A big one too."
No one knew that tonight would be their last moment of peace.
People were busy engaging in one business to another some were selling others enjoying themselves
Students returning home after night classes.
The cops arresting some people involved in a accident.
Two couples exited a cozy restaurant. The girl beamed. "That was delicious!"
The man smiled. "Let's come again for our next date."
She giggled, exhaling. "The air's so cold—" She paused. "Hey… are you still going to travel tomorrow?"
She turned—and saw him collapsed on the pavement.
"H-Hey!" she cried, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up!" "Wake up!"
He didn't respond.
Then her eyes widened as pain shot through her chest. She staggered, coughing violently. Blood spattered from her mouth, staining the sidewalk. She collapsed beside him.
Screams erupted as bystanders backed away in confusion and horror.
Then, one by one people began to fall.
Like ripe fruit from a tree, they dropped some clutching their chests, others gasping with blood bubbling at their lips.
A truck veered off the road, slamming into a sedan Boom! Boom!
Another truck from nowhere barreled into a building, igniting in a fiery explosion Boom! Boom! Boom!
It was as if the world was ending. As if humanity had angered something far greater than itself.
Above, planes spiraled out of the sky like dying birds, crashing into buildings each one raining fire upon the city.
In the chaos, a woman with long, silky pink hair stepped onto the ruined streets. She was flanked by men in black clothes, their faces emotionless.
Dead bodies littered the ground.
She walked past them without flinching, muttering softly, "Humans… so foolish."
---
Elsewhere, a group of children ran from a crumbling building, panting, stumbling, their faces pale with fear.
"Stick together!" one of them yelled.
A girl with short, messy yellow hair carried a crying child on her back. She wore a yellow sweater, torn at the sleeves. Behind her, a boy with unruly black hair scanned their surroundings.
"Mar, over here!" he called.
Marlowe nodded, shifting the child on her back as they slipped into a narrow alleyway to avoid the corpses on the road.
Suddenly, a stray dog lunged at them, teeth bared.
The black-haired boy kicked it aside with precise force, sending it crashing into a wall.
He paused.
A strange noise echoed from the street ahead.
He quickly turned.
A man stumbled forward, eyes wild, skin pale, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Help me…" the man whispered. "Please… kill me. KILL ME!"
The boy—Yurellian—stood still, his face unreadable.
The man dropped to his knees, vomiting blood. "Kill me… it hurts… please…"
Without a word, Yurellian stepped forward and picked up a jagged shard of glass from the ground.
"Don't hold me responsible for your death," he said coldly.
Then he slashed the man's throat.
The man gasped, staring at Yurellian with fading eyes, before collapsing.
Yurellian muttered has he folded his hand together, "Rest in peace," and turned back, jogging to rejoin the others.
---
Across the airwaves, a loud voice echoed from speakers and radios:
"THIS IS A WARNING. DUE TO THE FOOLISH ACTIONS OF HUMANKIND, A DEADLY VIRUS HAS BEEN UNLEASHED INTO THE AIR. IT IS NOW SPREADING RAPIDLY."
The children ducked in a rush into a building marked City Orphanage and School.
"AS SUCH, THE HUMAN RACE IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETELY WIPED OUT."
The pounding of paws echoed from outside dogs, searching for prey.
Inside, Marlowe rushed up a staircase and into a hidden attic. Several children were already there, huddled together.
"Mar!" a small girl cried. "The principal won't wake up!"
She froze.
"Yu," she called. "Watch over the rest!"
Yurellian nodded, stepping in front of the others like a shield.
Marlowe knelt beside the principal, shaking him. "Principal.mPrincipal… wake up! Please! Please!"
But he was cold.
Dead.
They fell silent as footsteps approached from beyond the door. Heavy. Deliberate.
"HOWEVER," the voice on the speaker continued, "CHILDREN SEEM UNAFFECTED BY THE VIRUS. THEREFORE, BY ORDER OF THE THIRD PROGENITOR, KURT TAPAS, WE WILL NOW PLACE ALL CHILDREN UNDER THE PROTECTION AND CUSTODY OF THE DIRECT UNIT."
The door creaked.
Yurellian turned.
A man stood by the glass window, his eyes locked on the children.
He moved fast aiming for one of the younger kids.
Yurellian leapt forward to intercept, blocking the strike. He winced as the man's kick sent him flying across the room.
"YU!" the children screamed.
The door burst open.
Another man entered pale-skinned, wearing a hoodie. With precision, he and the other intruder gathered the children, carrying them out like packages.
Marlowe resisted but she was overpowered. They were loaded into black cars already filled with frightened children.
---
A line of cars sped across a long bridge. The night was silent now—eerily so.
Inside, the children sat still. Some cried. Others slept.
Yurellian sat alone, one arm cradling his ribs where he'd been kicked.
A child leaned against him, her small hand gripping his sleeve in her sleep.
He looked at her, then at the others.
So young. So helpless.
His voice barely a whisper.
"This… wasn't the kind of reincarnation I wanted."
---