Chapter 1 Chaos in the Old World –
It was an ordinary day at A High School.
An ordinary physics class.
The Physicist stood at the front of the board.
He was twenty-seven. Four years into teaching. Thin, but not fragile. If someone looked closely, he could be considered slightly above average in appearance—but it didn't matter. His life had already settled into something dull.
He was speaking, but not thinking.
"Inertia…" he said, dragging the chalk across the board. "An object will remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by a net force…"
The words came out automatically.
His mind wasn't there.
It was at home.
With his wife.
With his three-year-old child.
—
The classroom was as it always was.
A student in the back had his head down on the desk, actually asleep. The one next to him was sketching meaningless shapes in his notebook. A girl in the front tapped her pen against the desk, her eyes on the teacher but her thoughts elsewhere. The ones near the window were already looking outside.
No one was truly present.
Not even the Physicist.
—
Then the sound came.
Crack.
No one reacted.
Crack… crack…
A few heads lifted.
The Physicist didn't stop.
But when the third sound came—
he did.
Crack… crack… crack…
Something about it was wrong.
He turned toward the class—
and realized no one was looking at him.
They were all gathered by the window.
That wasn't normal.
He walked over.
Looked outside.
There was a crowd.
Cars had stopped.
No one was moving.
Everyone…
was staring upward.
At the air.
There was a line.
Then—
CRACK.
The air split.
The line widened.
Reality fractured.
And darkness opened.
When the first creature emerged…
the Physicist refused to accept it.
But he didn't look away.
When the man fell…
and didn't move…
everything changed.
—
When the siren started—
everyone ran.
The Physicist too.
But only his body moved.
His mind was still behind.
At home.
—
Chapter 1 – Part 2The gym was underground.
The lowest level of the school.
Closed.
Confined.
And now…
the only place that felt safe.
Around five hundred students.
Nine teachers.
But not everyone made it.
That truth…
hung in the air.
No one said it.
Everyone knew.
—
A barricade was built.
Desks. Benches. Metal pieces.
No one trusted it.
But there was no alternative.
—
The Principal stepped forward.
He was old.
Hair thinning, the top nearly bald.
Around one seventy-four.
Normally a quiet man.
But now…
he had to speak.
"Listen!" he shouted.
At first, no one did.
Then he shouted again.
And this time…
they heard him.
"This is a crisis situation!" he said. "But it will be contained!"
His eyes scanned the crowd.
"The military will respond! This country is not defenseless!"
His voice did not tremble.
But his eyes…
weren't certain.
"We stay here!" he said.
Pointing at the barricade.
"We hold this position! We stay together!"
A brief pause.
"Help is coming."
That sentence wasn't hope.
It was necessity.
—
No one clapped.
But no one argued either.
Because they needed to believe it.
—
Then something hit the door.
And in that moment…
everyone understood:
The outside had reached them.
—
When the door broke…
panic came first.
But then—
someone moved.
The PE teacher.
Muscular.
Rough.
A man with a past no one talked about openly.
But everyone knew.
An ex-gang member.
And now…
the fastest to act.
He grabbed a metal rod.
Didn't think.
Stepped forward.
And for the first time—
a human struck back.
—
When the creature stopped moving…
everything shifted.
The PE teacher shouted:
"Seal the doors! Bring more desks! Reinforce the barricade!"
No one questioned him.
Because in that moment—
he looked like the strongest one.
"Find something! Anything! Don't stay unarmed!"
And people…
listened.
—
But then…
nothing happened.
Two hours.
Silence.
And that…
broke them.
—
Families came to mind.
Hunger crept in.
Thirst.
Fear.
A child cried:
"I want my mom…"
And that sound…
cut through everyone.
—