The street was filled with voices. Each one sought to be on top of all others—if they could, their voices would shame the stars.
People walked in all directions; no one wasted time raising their heads and looking at the world. Their world was the street that they marched on.
Licerio left the bench from which he had been assessing the world in front of him. He straightened his suit, looked one more time at the bench, and left.
Occasionally, a glimmer of the sun hit the site, offering brief warmth, but the people on it only raised their hands to cover their eyes from the light, uttering one or two complaints about it.
With the greatest speed, they moved aside to hide from the sun and continue their paths.
The people didn't see past their feet or, at least, past some of their phones. Calling, playing, tapping, or just held in their hand—all to touch it.
Among all the noises around, one stood out for its abrupt and aggressive tone. Licerio caught this sound, and his eyes sailed across the uniform sea of people, searching for the nucleus of the melody.
That melody was the start of a fight that erupted in less than a second. Two men, both probably with their eyes locked on their shiny screens, ran into each other.
Neither admitted fault. The fault, of course, belonged to the other. That rapidly escalated into insults, threats, calm.
Neither of them was idiotic; they could see the crowd formed around them, and almost half of the spectators had their phones out, including two with their flashes on.
With that, the crimson curtain closed. Both actors acted like nothing had ever happened, said one last apology, and left.
"Tch, I wanna see at least one punch launched," said Licerio in the crowd. "What a boring thing to see."
Licerio left the crowd and continued on his path. A glimmer of the sun hit a car and bounced directly into his face.
"Tch…" Licerio raised his left hand to protect his eyes with it. "Fucking sun…"
He raised his head and looked at the sun, or where it would be. There was no sun in the sky.
Licerio frowned and shook his head while wiping his eyes with his hands. He reopened his eyes and looked at the sky.
There was no sun in it.
"What…" he muttered in disbelief. He kept staring for a long time, opening and closing his eyes repeatedly.
He was not alone; more and more people started to raise their heads and stare at the sky. The street lost its voice; the people didn't speak or walk. For the first time, they left their phones and saw the world around them.
As in calm water, one wave disrupts all. One man screamed, then a second, and all of a sudden, the street recovered its voice.
The place erupted in screams; people bumped into each other as they ran in fear. Some entered the buildings, expecting the buildings to save them.
In the sky, its blue dress began to disappear. The only thing left above was the infinity of light gleaming.
These lights didn't have the strength to bring light to the world, submerging it in darkness. The only light remaining to illuminate the place was the artificial kind made by humans.
A man ran and fell onto Licerio, and both of them hit the floor.
"Fucking idiot…" The rest of the words didn't have the opportunity to leave his mouth before he closed it. The man didn't waste time but stood up and continued on his path, leaving Licerio hurling words at no target in particular.
Among all the screams, a buzzing sound appeared and rapidly grew, taking the stage and silencing all the others with its loud form.
Licerio covered his ears with his hands; it didn't work. Another buzzing sound also appeared inside his ears, fighting the loud buzzing and muting all external sounds.
This battle carried a strange repercussion. Licerio touched his ear after sensing a liquid flowing from it.
He already suspected what it was, and after he brought his fingers to his face, it was confirmed: it was blood.
Licerio looked at his fingers covered in blood for almost two seconds, shook his head, and took out a small yellow cloth to clean them.
When Licerio returned his attention to the street, the people on it were silent. No running, no screaming, just a pure absence of sound.
In the sky, a small sphere shone and started to grow. The sphere grew without stopping, and in seconds it was already covering the street, then the block, then the city, and later, the world.
The people didn't even have the opportunity to scream when they finally realized their end.
But then, as when you wake up in the morning and open your eyes, the world recovered its light. Licerio frowned with his eyes still closed, since the light hitting his face was much more powerful than he remembered.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the world around him. All the green, the trees, the smooth blue in the sky, and… no buildings. Indeed, there wasn't even the street that he had been standing on a second ago.
Meanwhile, winds struck with furious speed and made everyone protect their faces with their hands.
Licerio hesitated to open his eyes, fearful of something appearing and making him close them again.
With a bit of bravery, he opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. The blue was still there, and the sun, the sun, an enormous orange-red sphere standing in the sky. Much bigger than he remembered.
Where… Licerio tried to think where he was, but that sun made it impossible to know.
At least he was not alone. Some people stood up and started to gather, discussing the surrounding place.
Licerio joined them, not saying anything, just standing there.
"Does anyone know where we are?" asked a man with a few leaves yet to fall from his head and a large beard.
No one in the place opened their mouth. A loud silence fell, making things worse. Some of them lowered their faces and looked at the ground, while others frowned in deep thought.
This is bad… Why is nobody showing some attitude? Where are those stupid people who are always ready to say anything, even if it's not useful or logical? Licerio thought, observing the inertia of the group. I might need to say something… I need people with enthusiasm…
When Licerio was ready to open his mouth and motivate the group, the man with few hairs and a beard clapped twice, gathering everyone's attention.
"We don't have time to spare; we need to think about how we're going to spend the night and tom—"
His voice was cut off by a brief, sharp sound rising in the distance. Behind the trees, three humans emerged, and before anyone could react, these three humans raised their feet and appeared in the middle of everyone.
People screamed in fear, while others already had their bodies lowered and knees bent, ready to run at any moment.
"Nobody move!" shouted the bearded man with what remained of his strength. He was also about to run, but an abrupt thought made him stop and stop everyone else.
One of the three men started to clap and yell, "This time, one seems to have some instincts. I want him."
"This is not your moment, Copirco," said another of the three men. Then he started to whistle at a low frequency.
At that moment, no one heard any sound, but seconds later, their heads began to buzz. That buzz was coupled with an intense headache that made the world spin.
Some people fell unconscious, their faces striking the ground with force.
Licerio bit his lower lip and clenched his fist with fury, fighting against his eyes that only wanted to close and hide the visible world from him.
He was losing the battle. With his right fist, he struck his thigh with all the force he could muster and forced his eyes fully open.
His vision fixed on the three men in front of him; that was the only thing he could do at that moment.
He was not the only one fighting to remain conscious; the bearded man and three others were still awake.
"We have a few stubborn ones in this group," said Copirco. "It's a pity that all your determination amounts to nothing." He laughed and disappeared from where he was standing.
Licerio looked around in despair and finally saw him. He was standing next to one of the people still awake. He raised his leg and kicked the woman.
"Don't drag it out any longer than necessary."
The woman flew one meter and fell unconscious. Copirco turned his head, and his gaze fixed firmly on Licerio.
Licerio trembled and tried to open his mouth, but words were too terrified to leave. The only sound that escaped was a murmur that disappeared into the air.
Copirco stepped forward and appeared next to Licerio. Licerio tried to move, to roll, but his body didn't seem to respond—all he could do was watch the man's leg rise beside him.
With his remaining force, he looked at his face and said, "Fuck you…" His voice left his body as a small tone, almost a murmur, and then his vision turned black.
He fell unconscious with his face embedded in the ground. Copirco removed his leg from above Licerio's head and looked at the other three men still awake. In seconds, all of them were unconscious.
"Finally, we finished this job. The next time, we should take one more outside."
One of the three men weakly kicked one of the five people who tried to remain awake. He then turned his head to look at one woman on his left and asked, "That's our last group, no?"
The woman just nodded. "The other teams should already finish. Take them and get back to the city; we still need to settle them" She took out a shiny, golden pocket watch and opened it. It was four am. "It seems that today we wouldn't sleep."
The other two men turned their heads towards the women and nodded slowly.