Iris still could not believe the world outside. Just yesterday she thought everything only needed a week to settle, that order would return and life would move on. But what was this? Why did it feel like things were only getting worse with each passing hour.
Did the world finally collapse the way she once wished it would.
Not long ago, Iris was working as an assistant chef, but that was never who she really was. Before the kitchen, before the quiet office life, she had been an emerging actress. Back in school she was the campus belle. Everyone knew her name. Every guy wanted her attention, every girl wanted to be close to her. It was not because of money or power, she simply had that pull. Smiles followed her. Favors came easy. People always eager to orbit around her.
Sponsors had lined up even before she graduated. Commercials, magazine spreads, small roles in television. Her future seemed written out for her. She had the kind of beauty that did not need effort, long hair that drew eyes, sharp brown eyes that carried confidence, and a figure that fit every brand's poster. People could not help but notice her.
For a while it felt like a dream, like she was floating above everyone else. Then everything crashed.
Her family became entangled with the wrong people, caught in backroom deals and dirty money that ran through corrupt officials. When that web was finally pulled into the light, she fell with it. Sponsors who once begged for her time cut her loose overnight, contracts dissolved without hesitation, and advertisements featuring her face vanished in a blink.
She thought someone would reach out. A friend. A connection. Anyone. But the only hand she reached for was the one that dragged her deeper.
The man she thought was helping her, who had seemed kind and supportive, drugged her drink one night. She barely escaped, stumbling barefoot into the street. And when she tried to expose him, he crushed her instead. Spun the story so fast even she almost believed it.
"Iris, the actress turned drug dealer."
That was the headline.
In an instant, her career was over. Her parents, ashamed, fled back to the countryside. She was left to carry the weight alone. No more red carpets, no more flashing lights.
She tried to get back on her feet. With the little money she had saved, she rented a small space and turned it into a simple restaurant, closer to a canteen than anything else. Cooking had only been something she studied for a role, yet it became her way to survive.
One day, Mr. Cordell, Thomas's grandfather, ate there. He liked her food and invited her to work for the company. That was how she became an assistant chef.
For a while, things seemed to smooth out. But a month ago, someone in the cafeteria exposed who she really was, throwing around the same old names, failed actress, drug queen. Just like that, the whispers returned. The same people who had been warm to her began to keep their distance.
She still held her job, but she felt isolated. She became timid. That was why she skipped the free lunch organized by the office. First, no one had bothered to tell her about it. And even after she found out, she could not bring herself to sit with people who no longer wanted her there.
She thought about resigning more than once, but where could she go. She had just spent the last of her savings to move closer to the company.
And then, as if her prayers had finally been answered, the sky fell.
The meteors came, the pink fog spread, and the world was falling apart. People panicked, trying to hold on to the last pieces of their old lives. Iris saw it differently.
For many, it already felt like the end.
For her, it could be the beginning.
A chance to start again.
A chance to rewrite everything.
Thomas checked his phone, not just for the time but to see if he could reach his grandfather. Yesterday, when the signal was still up, he had received one last message: "I'm in the hotel, I am fine." That was before the nuclear blast and the fall of the meteor fragments. Now the phone network was completely down. No calls or texts could get through. Only the automated emergency alerts kept buzzing in.
With nothing else to do, the four of them sat by the blinds, peering out into the early morning light. The pink fog still clung to the city, but it stopped short of the meteor's radius, as if some unseen barrier pushed it back.
From their floor, they could see that the fog did not climb very high, only about ten stories. Still, it was thick enough to hide anything that moved within it.
"Hey, did you see that?" Nevin suddenly shouted.
"What?" Bryan snapped his head toward him.
"Where?" Thomas leaned forward.
"I don't know, a shadow-like figure jumping across that rooftop," Nevin said, pointing.
Bryan frowned. "What, someone's doing parkour at a time like this?"
"There!" Nevin cried again.
"I saw it," Thomas said quickly.
"Where?" Bryan demanded, squinting at the distance.
A few seconds later, they all caught it.
A figure leapt across the rooftops near the fog. At first it looked human, but the longer they stared, the less human it seemed. A long rat-like tail trailed behind him. His feet twisted into animal-like paws. Before their eyes, his arms stretched and warped into clawed limbs. Then he jumped again, moving with inhuman speed.
"Monster!" Iris gasped, the word slipping out before she could stop herself.
The creature dropped to the street. Panic erupted below as people spotted him and scattered in every direction. The rat-man bolted forward, slashing at anyone in his path. His claws tore through a man's back, sending him flying several feet. Two more fell before he stopped.
Without looking back, the creature dashed straight into the pink fog and disappeared.
The four barely had time to process what they had seen before another figure appeared. This one was different. A man with horns jutting from his skull ran down the street toward the fog. People screamed again, but this time they managed to get out of his way. He did not chase them. He charged straight ahead and vanished into the mist.
"What's happening?" Bryan asked, his voice unsteady.
No one answered.
Acting on instinct, Bryan reached for the remote and turned on the TV.
Maybe it was because of the crisis, but every channel on the television had been reduced to news broadcasts. When Bryan flicked it on, the feed jumped straight into the coverage.
It was the same reporter again. She looked more worn out than yesterday, her hair less neat, her voice thinner. She raised the next headline on her script, but then she stopped, her eyes shifting off-screen to someone handing her a note.
Then came the words that changed everything.
"We've just received confirmation. When the fog becomes dense enough, it emits a field similar to an electromagnetic pulse. Any technology that enters is instantly disabled. Military vehicles, drones, aircraft, they all go down once inside the fog."
She hesitated before continuing, her tone unsteady.
"Power grids are beginning to fail across multiple continents, plea…"
As if on cue, the lights in the room flickered, buzzing faintly before cutting out. The television went black. The electricity was gone.
Outside, traffic lights blinked off one by one. Office towers and apartments dimmed as their windows went dark. Street signs and shop fronts died in slow waves, whole blocks sinking into shadow.
There was no mention of the monsters. With the power out and the broadcast gone, the four of them decided to leave the topic for now. They were not going outside anyway. As long as their base stayed secure, they would be safe.
"Did we bring it?" Thomas asked.
"Yes, it's here," Bryan replied, pulling a solar-powered battery bank from one of the larger boxes. Panels came with it. Their nights would not be dark after all.
Nevin finally understood why those boxes were so heavy. Curiosity pushed him to check the rest. Emergency lights, a stove, flashlights, walkie-talkies, even an old radio with cassette tapes. He wanted to ask how Thomas and Bryan had prepared so much, but kept the thought to himself.
Then Nevin remembered. He tapped Bryan's shoulder. "I know a place for the panels."
Yesterday they had inspected the rooms and found one where the ceiling had collapsed. The walls still stood, tall enough to hide the setup from outside view. While Bryan and Thomas carried the panels there, Iris prepared breakfast on a portable stove, the city's gas line already dead.
Soon the panels were in place and charging the power banks. Thomas wiped his hands and spoke calmly. "Take your best baths now. If this continues, the water will stop too."
He opened another box and pulled out several collapsible containers, each able to store ten to twenty liters. Nevin and Iris stared in disbelief.
Iris finally broke her silence. "How did you know the world would end?"