A sharp ringing.
That's all there was at first.
Then pain.
"Ah… my head…"
My vision blurred in and out as I forced my eyes open and The world didn't come back all at once—just fragments.
Dust.
Light.
Something twisted in the distance.
The ringing wouldn't stop and I clutched my ears due to pain thinking when it will stop. I pushed myself up slightly, and the moment I moved, pain shot through my side.
"…what…just.. happened…?"
I looked around and the sight of what I saw froze me.
The train—
it wasn't on the tracks anymore.
It had been thrown and Entire compartments flipped over, metal torn open like paper, wheels bent at impossible angles.
One coach lay on its side, another completely upside down, half-crushed into the ground.
Bodies.
Everywhere.
Some weren't moving.
Some—
I forced my eyes away.
My chest tightened, breath catching halfway.
My eyes widened.
Something warm touched my cheek… then slid down to my chin.
I blinked.
Slowly raised my hand and touched my face , then , I pulled my hand back.
Blood.
"…my… blood…?"
For a second, it didn't register. The site was too overwhelming for my brain to process until it did and everything hit at once.
The smell.
The silence between distant screams.
The sight— bodies twisted, battered, some barely recognisable, scattered across debris like they didn't weigh anything at all.
My stomach turned violently.
I leaned to the side and threw up, the taste burning my throat as I coughed, trying to breathe, trying not to look again.
"O-h... my.. Go-d..."
"What… is this…"
My voice came out broken.
I tried to make sense of it—
"…a terrorist attack?"
I stopped.
Didn't finish the thought.
My hands trembled as I reached for my bag, half-buried under debris. I pulled it free slowly, fingers slipping slightly from the blood.
The ringing in my ears hadn't stopped.
My body felt heavy.
I tried to stand—
and pain shot through my leg instantly, forcing me back down.
"…shit…"
My arm throbbed too, a deep, dull pain that didn't feel right.
I clenched my teeth.
"I think…"
I swallowed, breath uneven.
"…I think I broke something." I clutched my arm thinking of what to do , then , suddenly-
A deep, distant boom rolled across the land, heavy enough to make the ground beneath me shudder again and It wasn't alone. Another followed, louder this time, then two more in quick succession—
BOOM…
BOOM BOOM—echoing from different directions like the world itself was being struck apart piece by piece.
Some sounded far, buried behind hills or beyond the horizon, while others felt close enough to press against my chest.
I froze where I stood, my balance barely holding as my injured leg trembled under my weight. My head throbbed, vision still unstable, but instinct forced my eyes upward and outward.
The dust that had swallowed everything moments ago began to settle, slowly thinning into drifting clouds that revealed what remained.
And what remained… didn't look real.
The entire area had been flattened, damaged in the way explosions leave wreckage. The railway station had lost its structure, reduced to twisted metal, broken platforms, and scattered debris that no longer resembled anything functional and The tracks were bent out of alignment, some sections lifted and curled as if they had been peeled off the earth.
Beyond the station, where mountains had once stood, there was nothing but ruin. Massive chunks of rock had been obliterated, leaving uneven terrain and jagged edges where peaks used to be. It looked like the land itself had been carved apart.
And then I saw them.
Spears.
Not one—many.
Colossal lances of golden light were embedded across the landscape, piercing through mountains and ground alike and They stretched upward like pillars, radiating faint energy that distorted the air around them But they weren't stable.
At their tips and along their edges, they were breaking apart—fracturing into glowing particles that dissolved into nothing, like burning fragments fading midair.
Each one hummed faintly, a low vibration that I could feel more than hear.
My throat went dry as I stared.
What… did this.
Something moved above.
My gaze snapped back to the sky.
The golden structure was still there, but it wasn't the same as before. The rings had accelerated, their movements sharper, more aggressive and the inner layers weren't just rotating anymore—they were shifting, aligning in ways that felt intentional, like some process had reached a new stage.
A wave of panic surged through me.
My phone.
I fumbled with shaking hands, pulling it out quickly, almost dropping it in the process and the screen was completely shattered, cracks spreading across it like a web.
I pressed the power button once.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
"No… come on…"
My voice came out hoarse. I pressed it harder this time, as if that would somehow fix it.
Dead.
"Shit…"
The word slipped out under my breath as my chest tightened.
I needed to call home.
I needed to know if they were okay.
I stood there for a second longer than I should have, staring at the broken screen before forcing myself to move.
Panic wouldn't help.
Standing here wouldn't help.
I had to leave.
Around me, others were moving too—survivors, if that word even felt right anymore and Some were limping like me, dragging injured legs or holding onto broken arms.
Others supported each other, half-carrying those who couldn't walk properly and some… just wandered, eyes unfocused, like their minds hadn't caught up to what their bodies had gone through.
Their voices overlapped, scattered and uncertain.
"What was that…?"
"Was that an attack?"
"World war…? The border tensions were already bad—"
"Then what the hell was that thing in the sky?!"
No one had answers.
I didn't either.
I didn't even try to respond. My focus had narrowed down to one thing, one thought repeating over and over, pushing everything else aside.
I need to go home.
I stumbled away from the platform, my steps uneven, my leg sending sharp jolts of pain with every bit of pressure I put on it.
A broken pipe nearby was leaking water, forming a small stream through the debris. I crouched down beside it, ignoring the protest from my body, and splashed water onto my face.
The cold hit instantly, stinging against the cuts.
I wiped again, harder this time, clearing away the blood enough to see properly. My reflection caught faintly in a bent metal sheet nearby—blood smeared across my cheek, dried streaks along my jaw, eyes still unfocused but sharper than before.
I couldn't afford to stay like this.
Tearing a strip from the inner lining of my bag, I wrapped it tightly around my arm, pulling it firm enough to slow the bleeding.
My leg was worse. I tried to stabilise it as best as I could, tying another piece of cloth around it, though I knew it wasn't enough.
It would have to be.
"I have to go home…"
The words stayed in my head, quieter this time but more certain.
'Please… be safe.'
I stood up again, slower this time, adjusting to the pain. My body felt heavier now, the initial shock fading and leaving behind raw exhaustion. I tried to calculate the distance in my head.
'Thirty-five… maybe thirty-seven kilometres.'
On foot, in this condition, it would take too long. A full day, maybe more if I couldn't keep moving steadily.
Too long.
I couldn't afford that.
I checked my wristwatch. The glass had a crack running across it, but the hands were still moving.
5:55 PM.
The train had arrived at 5:40.
Fifteen minutes.
That's all it took.
Fifteen minutes for everything to collapse into this.
I swallowed hard and pushed forward, making my way out of the station.
Outside was worse.
Fires burned in scattered patches, black smoke rising thick into the sky. Vehicles were overturned, some crushed under debris, others abandoned in the middle of the road.
A few still had people inside—motionless.
The smell hit again.
Iron.
Heavy and suffocating.
Blood.
It clung to the air, to my clothes, to the ground beneath my feet. I felt it against my boots, soaking into the edges with every step I took.
My stomach twisted violently.
I turned slightly and threw up again, coughing as I wiped my mouth with shaking hands.
My heart pounded faster, each beat echoing in my ears.
I forced myself forward, step by step, my movement uneven.
Then—
I saw a bike.
Lying flat on the ground, a few meters ahead.
The engine was still running, a low, steady hum that felt almost out of place in all this chaos.
The key was still in.
No rider.
I looked around quickly.
There were others—cars, bikes—some crushed, some abandoned.
Some still had people inside them, trapped, unmoving.
Some were thrusting their pedals in panic hitting other vehicles.
I looked away.
Focused back on the bike.
This… this was my way.
I moved toward it, faster than I should have, nearly stumbling as my leg gave out for a moment. I caught myself against the handle, gripping it tightly as I steadied my breathing.
"Come on…"
I pulled the bike upright.
It wasn't as heavy as I expected, or maybe adrenaline was still carrying me.
The engine was already on.
'Good.'
I swung my leg over carefully, biting back the pain that flared up instantly. My hands tightened around the handle as I adjusted my balance.
For a brief second, I just sat there.
Thinking.
Then I shook it off.
I didn't have time for that.
I shifted the gear, glanced around one last time at the chaos behind me—
and moved.
The bike jerked forward, slightly unstable at first before settling as I pushed it ahead.
The road was uneven, debris scattered everywhere, but it didn't matter.
I kept going.
Away from the station.