Chapter 292: 292

2021 January 17th . Rain .

Today is a rainy day .

Even though it has already been half a year, I still can’t get used to the rain . It reeks of unfamiliarity and tastes sour . Weaker people will die from the rain, but thankfully, I’m not afraid because I’ve already become something stronger than an average human, something that I cannot even imagine . People like us are known as beacons of hope .

Today, the last trace of the old civilization became lost as a radio station that has been broadcasting since the change has finally lost its signal .

However, as though the world is trying to prove that life goes on and an ending is also a beginning, the construction of the wall at our shelter has started .

Never doubt the power of humans . As long as humankind lives, miracles will follow .

With that in mind, I feel like crying . How long has it been since I last cried?

Back in August last year, I cried like no tomorrow . I think I might have cried my whole life worth of tears back then . It was unbearable! Death separated me from my parents overnight while my newly sprouted love was murdered by the disaster . We met and hugged, and after that, she died in my arms .

As for my other family members, my relatives, my friends…I can only remember them in my memories . We’re considered lucky for someone to run into a familiar person .

Luck has made me realize that a person can really have nothing in life other than meals, shelter, and something meaningful to live for .

I realize that the best kind of wealth is the memories of people that you’ve met in life, the traces that they’ve left in you . If the disaster never happened, you might not have even realized it . The time you spend alone plus the time you spend with the people that have appeared in your life make up the true meaning of life .

I grew up fast and became mature quickly . It has only been months but it feels like several lifetimes already . Maturity has given me the courage to face my wounds . I’ve been able to write down memories that I never thought I would be able to for the rest of my life .

My life changed drastically at the sweetest moment .

Before that, my family might not have been wealthy but lived a sufficient life . I didn’t achieve any outstanding academic achievements but I was still able to proceed with my studies and fight for a steady foundation for my future common self, plus my love life had just started .

I would never forget that day and everything that happened from her smile and her eyes to every word that we spoke . All the words held admiration and hope, and no one expected a drastic change in the next seven to eight minutes .

We held hands as we came back from the crowded and merry street, strolling down the quiet street near her neighborhood .

“We’re almost there . ” She bashfully released my hand . It was better to keep the newly-sprouted love a secret from our familiar acquaintances .

But how could I let go of her hand when we had just started to be together? Right after our hands separated, we hugged each other . It was my first hug with my love . The feeling, our heartbeats…it all feels so real even when I’m writing this .

However, when she was in my arms and looked up, the Purple Moon hung there . The Purple Moon was not what we were familiar with . Shouldn’t the moon be a warm yellow? Even though it might look mysteriously red at times, a purple moon was impossible .

Therefore, when she told me about the moon and asked me why the moon had changed in color, I didn’t believe her . I looked up at the Purple Moon and realized that what she said was real .

Maybe I’m a sensitive person, so the moment I saw the Purple Moon, an ominous feeling rose in my heart . When the purple moonlight bathed me, I felt strange and sticky . It felt like the strange mist that had been appearing for several nights .

Oh right, I forgot to mention that that particular night, the mist was surprisingly nowhere to be found .

I thought it was luck . I could have used it to commemorate our love as I was planning to say, ‘Look, it’s our first day together and even the sky has cleared up for us . The strange mist hasn’t appeared today . ’

The mist that shrouded the whole world was gone that night, but the Purple Moon took its place . No one expected the mysterious and somewhat beautiful moon would bring nothing but calamity to humankind . Its appearance caused a great commotion across the cities .

Five minutes after the Purple Moon appeared, many people flooded the street to catch a glimpse of the purple beauty .

She stood by my side, looking at the Purple Moon quietly . I remembered that she was a little excited and she even related the Purple Moon to many unsolved mysteries of the world . She linked it to the universe and to the beginning of life . All she thought of were the good things like how our lives would only be better from here on . Little did she know that most life on Earth would meet its end that night .

Less than seven minutes after the Purple Moon appeared, a meteor shower happened .

I couldn’t really tell the time, but the meteor shower came unexpectedly and strangely like it came directly from the moon .

How should I describe the scene? I search my brain for a suitable word . The best way to describe it is that the moon became a giant cannon and fired the meteors at Earth!

Strange, right?

Even stranger things happened right after that . While the people were excited about the purple meteor shower, an earth-shattering disaster had already happened without them noticing it .

It has been almost half a year since then and till now, no one can explain what kind of power it was . It was silent and came without a sign, destroying more than a few thousand years of mankind’s hard work in the blink of an eye .

First, the satellites that man sent to space lost their signals . The communication network that mankind had spent several decades building was disconnected instantly .

Then, all sorts of silent destruction happened . Mankind’s doomsday weapons including all kinds of missiles and rockets, all kinds of jets and planes, helicarriers and aircraft carriers…I don’t know a lot about all those high-tech stuff since I wasn’t even a university student then . All I can say is that all the instruments of war and advanced technologies that could destroy the world went offline, every single one of them .

Do you think that was scary? That wasn’t even the worst of it . After that, disaster spread like wildfire . When mankind mobilized all sorts of troops in response to the situation, they realized that the lethal firearms were all rendered useless as though a huge magnet had jammed them from inside .

After that, I made acquaintances with a surviving soldier who was a commander . He told me, “I once thought mankind was powerful . The next step of mankind should’ve been in space, but I finally realize that mankind is fragile . With our communication network down, many of our weapons are blinded and we are unable to respond at all . The destruction happened without a sign, and it was caused by a power that we do not understand . ”

The world went silent without a sign . The communication networks just died all of a sudden .

However, when all that was happening, I was still happy with her . We looked at the Purple Moon and enjoyed the purple meteor shower . My heart was anxious but also unusually excited at the same time . I felt like I was witnessing an important moment in our time . I did witness an important moment, but I also realized how ignorant I was .

What harm could a meteor shower bring? No matter where the meteors landed, I’ve never heard of a meteor shower that could cause major damage to cities . However, that time, the meteor shower landed on Earth in a random pattern .

The people’s cheers echoed in our ears . Then, a giant purple meteor landed in the city and destroyed several skyscrapers along its course . I saw it with my own eyes and I heard people start to scream in fear .

“Call 911!”

“Where’s the ambulance? Call the ambulance from the city hospital!”

“Stand up . The meteors are coming!”

Out of instinct, I held her tightly, or maybe she was holding me . I don’t know . We started to run blindly, but we ran towards places that we thought were safe . No one knew where the next meteor would strike .

What did I feel back then? Come to think of it, it was a little blurry, but there was something clear in my head then . I thought, ‘Are we witnessing the first meteor destruction? What will the news say tomorrow? How many cities will be destroyed?’

But was it just a meteor shower that destroyed cities? It was far more than that . What happened next was beyond us!

Rats! Countless rats appeared! They were not rats that we normally saw . They were as big as dogs . They were strong and quick as they sprung out from the ground ceaselessly .

I saw it for my own eyes . As the purple moonlight shone on the rats, the big rats grew even larger immediately, as if they had prepared this for a long time, and it seemed only natural that they were expanding after bathing in the moonlight .

Then, the stray dogs and cats, the bugs…

At that moment, everything became an enemy to mankind . They became vicious and scary . They seemed to move in an organized pattern, following an unsaid plan as they started to attack us .

It was still not the end . Many more strange monsters swarmed into the city, and similar to the mad dogs, cats, insects, and rats, they attacked mankind as well .

More disasters happened after that, or should I call them disasters? Because of the disasters, mankind got a little window to breathe . The disasters were from Mother Nature . Earthquakes, typhoons, thunderstorms, and all sorts of natural disasters happened at the same time!

All I noticed was the Purple Moon hanging in the sky strangely .

What happened? Was it the end? Was it the apocalypse?

Then, I finally responded to the situation . I realized it was a disaster that mankind’s power could not stop . It was the apocalypse, but it might not be the end for mankind just yet because…the change happened!

At that very moment, I felt a drastic change in my body!