Chapter 2: 'Crimson Armor'
Seven trumpets resounded in the infinite abyss that the beautiful blue sky above my head had become. When the trumpets ceased to be heard, the desperate cries of people began to echo throughout this nameless city.
Cars crashed into each other and the desperation to the unknown began like boiling water in a pressure cooker.
High in the sky I saw something....
If what I felt before with that strange being was fear, what I see now is much worse.
In the flashing sky, a horse was heard neighing.
In the flashing sky, momentarily illuminated by the sudden lightning that formed, a being in blood-red armor riding a horse appeared.
He held a gigantic black sword in his right hand as if it were nothing, at the same time holding the reins of his red horse with his left hand.
The horse's legs were covered with flames and its eyes showed a light much like the flames on its hooves.
Seeing him flying in the sky, all I could do was wait in silence.
I had no idea of anything. I didn't understand what was going on. So, in desperation, I ran down the stairs as fast as my weak legs would let me, but I was so fast that, when I reached the sixth floor, I stumbled and rolled down the stairs.
My body already hurt from before, but this time it was worse. Fortunately I didn't break any bones, but there was blood dripping down my forehead.
It hurt, but that didn't matter at this point.
I walked into my house as fast as I could and approached the phone that was by the side of the entrance.
I immediately dialed my father's number and, as I waited for him to take the call, I thought about how selfish I was ....
...
...
The man tries too hard for his son.
His son makes up for it with a suicide attempt ....
For a moment he thought about dropping the phone and sitting on the floor to think about everything that is happening to him.
"A beautiful humanoid creature with wings... a guy in armor floating in the sky with a horse... Could it be that I'm already losing my mind? That must be it, that must be it..."
Refusing to believe that what he saw was real, he resorted to denial. He thought this was all about his mind playing a joke on him, after all he always has to go to the psychologist for this sort of thing, always has to take antidepressants so that this sort of thing doesn't happen, but even he knew that these hallucinations had little to do with his psychological problems.
The fear he felt was real. The voice he heard was real.
He would never be able to imagine such a beautifully bizarre being.
Click... the phone rang. Someone took the call.
"Father!"
He shouted, but no one answered. Everything was silent on the other side of the call. Like waves on the sea, that sound suddenly interrupted the silence. After that, a horse's hooves echoed on the concrete floor. The sound of burning flames moving across the ocean touched his ears, and then the call was cut off.
Sam fell to his knees on the ground holding the phone. This was all so confusing that it was giving him headaches.
He stared at the floor with his eyes lost, his breathing sounding like the only thing filling this apartment.
"What is this...?"
He wondered without getting an answer. He couldn't hear his father's voice. He couldn't even speak to him.
"What's going on...?"
Another unanswered question.
Lost in thought, he walked to the door and out of the apartment again. He walked slowly down the narrow hallway, as if he were an emotionless doll who had lost everything he once knew.
He walked down the stairs in silence and, when he was in front of the building's emergency exit, he looked at the weathered paint.
He timidly touched the door lever and opened it. He stepped outside and then he understood what was happening.
In the sky, hundreds of strange beings with wings were flying around looking for people.
In the distance, powerful rumblings echoed with great power, followed by that, a strong tremor on the ground that only raised the panic of everyone in this nameless world.
A voice spoke inside his head.
"Greetings, humans of the earth. I am Gabriel, the Messenger of our Lord God."
Such a soft, elegant voice....
"I don't think many have noticed, but at this moment one of the greatest events in existence is taking place. Many call it by many names, but let's leave it at the name John gave this event. Welcome to the apocalypse. Right now the seven seals of the apocalypse have been released. The four horsemen have descended to earth. I hope you all have a good time and repent of your sins. Our God is merciful and patient. He expects everyone to be able to redeem themselves. So, starting from now, mankind will face the judgment that will guide them in their destiny. Good luck to all and God bless you."
That kind, gentle, understanding voice faded into the minds of all humanity. This wasn't just happening here, it was happening all over the world.
Sam, believing that what he had just heard from that kind voice was a joke, looked up at the sky where that crimson rider stood. In his gleaming armor, with a great white feather on his helmet. With the black sword decorated with shining solid gold.
That rider looked down at humanity and slowly descended with his flaming horse.
He literally landed in front of Sam with a loud rumble that shook the ground.
When the rider noticed the human near him, the boy had to look up because this rider was extremely tall and stocky under his large armor. Ten feet tall, whose sword looked more like a heavy claymore than anything else.
The rider saw him with his white eyes flashing through the eyes of the helmet.
He raised the sword high and pointed it at Sam.
"Let man lose the control he has held in his hands for millennia and kill each other. It has always been that way and will be that way in the end. War consumes those who manipulate the world so repent, for I am already here. Ares of War, who has watched you from the beginning."
The knight in crimson armor raised his sword and the ground began to shake. The sky lit up in a dark blood-red color and the tremor increased in strength, becoming an earthquake that struck the earth.
The knight, his voice hoarse, almost robotic, said one last time appeasing his red horse's anger.
"This is how it must be. This is how it will be, this is how it has always been."
And then the horse turned and began to gallop toward the center of the city.
Even if the earth shook hard, making Sam fall on his own back, the rider galloped with his horse very quietly, without any difficulty.
Thus he vanished in the sudden fog that covered the whole world.
"What is this...? apocalypse? War?"
The ground shook very hard, but surprisingly the earth did not break or crack. It was still too early for that, for up there they still had plans to carry out before bringing final judgment to the earth. However, Sam watched all this with lost eyes. His father did not answer the call. The knight in red armor said many strange things and the one who called himself the Messenger of God also mentioned the apocalypse.
If all this was true, then what was this boy to do?
...
...
...
One third of the ocean...
One third of the land...
One third of the sky...
One third of existence...
At the moment the seals were opened, all sinners were condemned.
As many prophets have said. As many others shouted to the four winds, this was mankind's last chance to surrender by repenting of their sins and walk beside the Supreme Lord who dwells in heaven upon His Holy Throne.
This was the first day of the apocalypse. Accompanied by a thick fog that suddenly formed around the world...
Sam wandered lost through the streets. He walked through the cold fog to nowhere in particular. He just didn't know what to do about it. Just a normal person. A boy who until a moment ago wanted to take his own life.
In the abyss, loud fluttering could be heard. Feathers that fell softly on the ground of those who descended from heaven to make mankind repent and mark those deserving to live for eternity by God's side.
In turn, the other horsemen descended to earth. They touched the impure ground of this World with the hooves of their horses and looked down upon mankind who panicked.
The Disease...
The War...
The Famine...
The Death...
They galloped their horses through this impure land watching as their presence began to affect this world.
The oceans began to cause gigantic tsunamis.
The forests burned.
Animals began to die.
One third of the earth's water became polluted and those who drank of that water began to experience the cold death that awaited them in silence.
...
...
Just an ordinary boy. Walking through this fog. With the fluttering of angels echoing in the sky. With the galloping of horses echoing on the ground. With the screams of desperate people.
With a shattered mind waiting for something to happen....
"Father... father..."
That was the desperation that was born in the bottom of his heart.
"Help me..."
Could it be that this was his regret?
"Please..."
It wasn't...
In the depths of his past, crawling like an insect, a distant memory of his sin showed itself in his mind. The trauma of his childhood, the mother and father who loved him so much. All of it was growling in the pit of his stomach wanting to come out.
He felt dizzy. The fear increased the further he went.
"This way!"
"Take all you can get!"
The voices intensified and the fog was less dense in front of him.
"Get away from me!"
"Help me!"
Silhouettes of people moving back and forth full of desperation looking for supplies and fighting each other began to show through the fog like black spots in a pool of water.
Hurried footsteps on the ground echoed and the click of a loaded gun was heard.
"Mom, where are you!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Bang! the detonation of a gun.
Sam stopped as he heard that. His body stiffened for a second and then he looked forward.
Fearfully he moved forward and, near his feet, the lifeless body of a person bleeding to death showed itself.
The feeling of wanting to vomit increased until finally he could not suppress himself and had the urge to vomit.
He felt all those heavy emotions come out along with the lunch he ate a few hours ago and tried not to look at the corpse.
He was still scared. He was even wondering how the hell he managed to get here, but finding an answer to that question seemed impossible.
"Hear the word of our Lord Jesus Christ! Repent, for the hour of reckoning has come!"
Another voice was heard. When Sam came to, he saw that he was near the business district. The fog wasn't so thick here, which allowed him to see what this was all about. So he was confronted with an apocalyptic sight he could never in his life have imagined.
Cars crashing into walls and poles. Lifeless people strewn across the ground. People crying in fear, not knowing what to do and, in front of all that, an old man with a bible was shouting all kinds of verses to the people, assuring them that he was right.
Behind the old man were people taking whatever they could from the tents. The old man was trying to convince them that what they were doing was wrong, but no one listened to him.
As he was walking with his eyes lost in this catastrophic landscape, he noticed that a little bit away from there there was a soldier helping the people who were wounded. He was a young boy in his mid-twenties. He had the typical military camouflage uniform with a green cap on his shaved head. He looked simply like a first-time soldier, as he did not look like a seasoned military man.
Sam walked towards him silently, stepping over broken glass and trying not to touch the lifeless bodies on the ground.
Somehow he felt scared knowing that he was getting used to this too quickly, but that wasn't the point. Sam was simply choosing not to look at those lying on the ground. He ignored the fact that, at this very moment, he himself was stepping over dead people.
It had only been a few minutes and everything was already like this.
What no one in the world knew was that this was the influence of the Four Riders. They, when they descended to earth, began to spread the concept they represent.
When Ares of War descended, the human being lost control of his actions and morality, which eventually led to everything that spreads in this world. Unredeemable chaos and death mixed with war and famine looming and nothing can stop that.
"You too. come here!"
The first-time soldier looked at Sam raising his hand. That soldier was slightly tanned. His eyes were brown and his hands looked a little worn from hard work. Judging by his appearance, maybe that young adult was just a country guy who somehow had to come to the city. Anyway, Sam didn't trust him, because to Sam, being told to follow him by an unknown person was simply not something to trust. That was what he thought at the time, but seeing what more people were getting into a van full of children and women, he thought this soldier saw him as just another child to rescue.
"I... I can't... my father..."
The soldier answered him in a kind voice.
"Don't worry. All these children are looking for their parents too. We'll help them in any way we can. We just have to go to the shelter and wait for all this to calm down."
The first arc of this story begins....
To be continued...