Chapter 9: The Apocalypse Begins in Earnest...

The world didn't end with a whimper, It ended with a goddamn symphony of destruction.

I was still standing in the bank lobby when the sky turned red.

Not sunset red or storm red… but blood red, like someone had ripped open the atmosphere and let it bleed out.

The light filtering through the bank's tall windows painted everything in crimson shadows, turning familiar faces alien and wrong.

My stomach lurched.

This was it.

The moment I'd been preparing for, dreading, and somehow still hoping wouldn't come.

Then came the sound.

A deep, resounding hum that started so low I felt it before I heard it.

It vibrated through the marble floors, rattled the windows, and burrowed into my bones until my teeth ached.

It was as if the Earth itself was warming up its voice for a scream.

"What the hell is that?" someone whispered behind me.

I didn't turn to look.

I knew what was coming next.

The first meteorite struck three blocks away.

The impact sent a shockwave that made the bank's foundations shudder.

Then through the windows, I watched as a fireball…no, not a fireball, something worse… tore through an office building's upper floors.

The explosion bloomed outward, glass and concrete raining down on the streets below.

People been screaming but now it was as if they updated their scream software to the new and improved 'eardrum-bursting-scream 3000'.

The lobby erupted into chaos.

I stood my ground, watching. Counting seconds. Waiting.

Another impact. Closer this way. The heat was building now…I could feel it through the fortified bank walls, seeing it distorting the air outside.

The scent of burning... everything... started seeping through the ventilation system.

My hands didn't shake as I mentally checked my inventory one last time. Everything was there, tucked safely away in dimensional storage. Three months of preparations, countless supplies, all the equipment I'd need…

A third impact. The windows rattled so hard I thought they'd shatter.

Then the first tremor hit.

It was subtle at first…just a tiny vibration under my feet. But I knew better than to ignore it. I grabbed the nearest marble desk, bracing myself as the tremors grew.

"Earthquake!" someone shouted, like we couldn't all feel it.

The floor pitched violently. Computers crashed to the ground. A row of filing cabinets toppled like dominoes. Ceiling tiles came down in a chalky rain.

Through it all, I watched the whole structure. I'd chosen this bank partly for its reinforcements and the fact that it was one of the few buildings intact in my last life, and now that choice has paid off.

"The building's coming down!" A voice cut through the chaos. Daniel. Looking at his face, I almost laughed…all that smug superiority gone, replaced by naked fear.

He had Lillian's arm in a death grip, already backing toward the exit.

"Everyone out! Now!"

The evacuation turned into a stampede. Screaming, shoving, trampling…human nature at its finest.

I stayed put, watching as my coworkers fled into the burning streets.

The world system chimed, blue text searing across my vision:

[QUEST: Gather and Survive the First 24 Hours of the Apocalypse.]

Completion Reward: Starter Pack

Failure: ???

Before I could process it, golden text overlaid the blue:

[Advisory: Avoid humans for the next 24 hours.]

[Rationale: Survival probability increases by 76% if done.]

I almost smiled in confusion.

Two systems, two different directions.

In my past life, I'd had no guidance at all.

Now I had competing advice.

The last stragglers were stumbling through the doors, leaving trails of blood from where falling debris had cut them.

I watched them go, my hand already reaching for the locks I'd reinforced weeks ago.

Outside, the screaming changed pitch.

Not fear anymore…pain.

Raw, animal agony.

I knew what that meant.

They were coming.

The locks clicked into place just as the first wet, gurgling sounds reached my ears.

Through a crack in the blinds, I caught glimpses of twisted shapes moving through the red-tinted streets.

Some too slow, some too fast, all wrong.

The pounding started then. Fists on glass, desperate voices begging to be let back in.

I didn't move. Didn't look away.

Just watching, my heart steady, as former coworkers began to change into something else… as if they were being infected.

The pounding on the doors grew more frantic.

Through the blinds, I could see people crowding the entrance…strangers mostly, some bleeding, all desperate.

The early evacuees like Daniel and Lily were long gone, having bolted the second things went south.

Smart of them, in a way.

They'd gotten out of the streets before the real chaos hit.

A new message flashed across my vision:

[Warning: Transformation wave detected]

[Estimated time until impact: 30 seconds]

[Seek immediate shelter]

The cherub system wasn't kidding about avoiding humans. I watched as more people gathered outside, pressing against the glass, their faces twisted with fear and desperation.

"Please!" A woman I didn't recognize slammed her palm against the window. "You have to let us in!"

I couldn't. Wouldn't. The cherub system's warning pulsed in my vision, counting down the seconds.

20…

15…

10…

Through the chaos outside, I caught glimpses of them, shadows moving at the edges of the crowd.

Wrong shapes.

Wrong movements.

Finally, They were coming.

The first scream changed pitch… as if it was updated to a new and improved 'eardrum-burster 3,000'.

I watched, stomach churning, as the first transformation took hold.

The woman at the window jerked, her body contorting at impossible angles.

Others followed, their screams morphing into wet, gurgling sounds that barely seemed human.

The cherub system chimed again:

[First wave transformation complete]

[Warning: Additional waves incoming]

[Current safe zone: 50-meter radius]

I backed toward the vault (better safe than sorry), my footsteps echoing through the empty bank.

The bullet proof windows held, but the shapes pressing against them weren't people anymore.

The world system updated:

[Quest Progress: 2% complete]

[Current Objective: Survive the next 23 hours]

[Note: Killing transformed humans counts toward survival rating]

The cherub system chimed again:

[Warning: Disregard that Quest and just stay put for the next 24 hours]

'I could almost sense a hint of real intelligence behind this warning.'

My hands shook as I pulled up my inventory interface.

A camping chair materialized in front of me.

Then a battery-powered lamp.

Small comforts, to try and make the vault feel less like a tomb.

I don't know why, but I feel a higher sense of trust towards the cherub system… then the world system.

Maybe it's because I've had the cherub system longer but there must be a reason why the Cherub system advises me against the quests of the world system.