Under the rubble that was formerly the apartment building balcony lay a man, he was unconscious but was starting to awaken. At first, Alex tried moving his body, but the sheer pain that hit his nervous receptors made him quickly reconsider whether moving was a good idea at the moment. Darkness covered his vision, with the sole exception of small stray crimson rays of light shining through the pillars of stone currently towering over his frame.

“Goddamn, how the hell did I end up here?”

As soon as he asked himself that question a torrent of memories washed over him, though to call them memories would be too generous, as it was more akin to a series of slides on a PowerPoint presentation, and with those, Alex was intricately familiar given his professional background. The feeling of dread, Colin’s lifeless body, the tears in the sky, the crimson matter, the obelisk crashing. Shortly after he recollected most of the picture inside his mind, he seemed to have calmed down.

“Okay, small steps. Let’s try moving fingers. Left leg, check, right leg, check, left hand, check, right hand, check. Great, so far so good. Now comes the hard part, getting out from under this rubble.”

After about thirty more minutes, Alex regained most of his basic motor functions and was able to move both his hands as well as his legs, albeit without putting too much strength in either. Certainly not enough to push the chunks of stone that were above his head.

Alex took out his lighter hoping that the light from the flame might give him some perspective on his situation, some new information perhaps that might allow him to break free. Unfortunately, as soon as the flame appeared any thought of getting out was squashed. The space Alex found himself in was slightly bigger than a coffin would be. Enough space to move his legs and hands around, nowhere near enough to generate enough strength to push the stone aside, even if he was in peak condition, which he wasn’t.

“At the mercy of fate, yet again,” he thought to himself.

After a short while, the only possible way out that Alex saw was if somebody from outside would get him out. At first, he thought about taking some of the wood splinters around him and setting them on fire in hope that the smoke that would theoretically escape through the cracks would garner attention to his location. The idea was discarded as soon as Alex started coughing from the smoke, and remembered he was currently in an enclosed space with a limited amount of oxygen.

During the coughing fit, something else fell out of his pocket. His phone. Alex took it into his hands and immediately noticed the cracked screen. He would have probably screamed at that moment if he could.

“Please, God, Yahweh, Zeus, Odin, Flying Spaghetti Monster, I’ve never asked for much in life, and you’ve never helped, even when I asked, so at least now turn the scales in my favor a little.”

Thinking that, Alex tried turning on the phone, and to his surprise and elation, it had worked! Sure, the signal was still out so he couldn’t call anybody, but what he could do was use the flashlight. Considering that the impact took place roughly at around midnight, and his broken phone screen was showing it was currently 2:33 AM, it appeared he was unconscious for around two hours at most. What this meant was that outside was still dark, even considering the ever-present crimson light. And if the outside was still dark, theoretically, the light from his phone shining through the cracks should garner the attention of someone if they walked by. It took all of his will not to panic from placing his literal life on the line of a plan with so many ‘ifs’ and ‘shoulds’. And yet, despite all that, he had no time to lose, and so he turned on his flashlight and started waving near the cracks in rhythmic motions.

“Claire, it’s been two hours already and even if he survived the initial impact, he’s most likely dead by now. We’ve got to get somewhere safe and anywhere is safer than here.”

Claire sighed and looked at what was once supposed to be her and Colin’s home. The initial impact took a real toll on the internal structure of the building. Anything above the 4th floor and most of the balconies collapsed immediately. After the shockwaves stopped, both Claire and Sarah had to get out from under the bed to a mostly trashed apartment, though, except for the collapsed balcony the overall integrity of the building persisted. Fearing a repeat of the previous events, Claire and Sarah quickly decided that staying inside was not the smartest choice. After taking a quick look at Colin’s lifeless body one last time and uttering a silent goodbye both of them made their way to the emergency staircase and got out of the building.

“Besides, we can’t make Harry and Michelle wait any longer. Both mine and your car got totaled in that freak earthquake, and they are willing to take us with them to the closest hospital or police station. What will you do if they just decide to leave us?”

“Typical” thought Claire. When the situation became intense for lack of a better word, Sarah never lost her cool and always tried to make the best of what she had, usually, that meant trying to guilt Claire into doing whatever it was she thought was right at the time. Coincidentally, it was the reason both she and Colin believed Sarah and Alex would make a good couple, considering how similar their no-nonsense attitude when push came to shove was. Usually, she would give in and move on, but not this time.

“Firstly, both Harry and Michelle said they would need to gather some stuff from their apartment before we could depart, and secondly, look,” Claire said while walking and pointing towards the ruins. “The impact came from the city center, which our balcony was facing. Most of the stone and debris is concentrated behind the building, due to being pushed by the shockwave while only some of the balconies collapsed in front of the building. There’s a real chance he’s in there somewhere, alive. We owe him that much at the very least.”

Claire continued to circle what was once the balcony, occasionally raising her voice to call out to Alex or any other potential person that got caught in the collapse. Sarah silently followed while keeping her focus on the surroundings. After they got out, one thing stood out above all the craziness of the past three hours. The obelisk that crashed into the city center didn’t collapse from the impact. It stood straight, too straight for anything that randomly fell from the sky. While walking and contemplating the implications of what that meant for her, them, and the whole world she noticed a small light shining through some of the rubble, but as soon as she got closer the light disappeared. Just as disappointment was starting to wash over her, the light appeared and disappeared again.

“What the-?” thought Sarah while observing the piece of rubble further. Over the half a minute that Sarah was standing in front of the collapsed ruins it was clear the light beneath was moving in a pattern through the cracks. From left to right then right to left and so on and so forth. If the light would only go on and off, Sarah might have had some doubts, thinking it might be some piece of technology malfunctioning after the collapse, but as far as she knew, there was absolutely nothing commonly found in a household that could replicate the pattern of light she was seeing.

“Claire!” she raised her voice. “Claire! There’s someone here! Get Harry and Michelle too!”

Beneath the rubble, Alex was waving his phone at the cracks for the last half an hour at the very least and it showed. His hand was starting to ache, his strength was seeping out of his body alongside his sweat, his breath was becoming awfully short and panic was rearing its ugly head yet again.

“Claire! Claire! There’s someone here! Get Harry and Michelle too!”

Hearing the muffled sound of Sarah’s voice beyond the stone above brought about a feeling of elation as he’d never felt before. Alex imagined this was what a man might feel walking through the desert for days and finding an oasis, or being shipwrecked and finally reaching land. In his excitement, he almost forgot to keep waving the phone at the cracks.

“If you can hear me wave the light only from left to right.”

It took a while for Alex’s brain to understand what Sarah was saying by piecing the little bits and pieces of words he heard, but eventually, he got it right and started waving the light only from left to right by covering the flashlight with his hand at times.

“Great! Just keep calm, we’re going to get Harry’s truck and some rope to clear the rubble from above you, do you understand?”

After another round of waving the light from left to right, Alex relaxed his body, only then understanding just how tense he’d been up to now.

“Now all I need to do is wait.” he thought to himself.

Fifteen minutes later, the giant slab of stone right above Alex’s head starting to move. At first, he was scared the newly created structure was collapsing above him, but the reality that he was finally being rescued set in. Moments later more and more crimson light was reaching him as the stone was being dragged further and further away from him. He thought he could hear an engine roar louder and louder nearby.

“Must be the truck Sarah talked about, who’s Harry though?” as soon as he finished his thought, the stone gave way, and as soon as it did Alex was greeted by the sight of Sarah with her blonde bob haircut swaying in the summer wind, Claire with that ever worried look on her face being obscured by raven black curly hair as well as a third, unknown, woman with very short cut hair and an even more concerned look on her face.

As soon as the stone was cleared, it was precisely this woman that first approached him.

“Hi, I’m Michelle, Claire’s first-floor neighbor, please don’t move.” and as soon as she said that she quickly started inspecting the general condition of his body. After making sure there were no life-threatening fractures or any other serious wound, she took out a small flashlight and said: “Please don’t close your eyes, and look into the light” and started waving it in his eyes.

Seemingly being satisfied, she looked back to Claire and Sarah and said “Nothing life-threatening, a couple of scratches and cuts from the stone, but nothing too bad. Pupils acted normally, but considering he was on the balcony when it collapsed it’s almost a given that he hit his head on the stone, so a mild concussion is also possible, but he should be fine.”

After a couple of moments, they helped him stand up and started walking him to the truck that freed him and was located about fifteen meters away from the collapsed building and closer to the sidewalk. As soon as the four of them approached the truck, the driver opened the door and took a step outside to greet them.

“Hey, you must be Alex. Heard about you from these two” he said pointing at Sarah and Claire. “My name is Harry, this here is my wife, Michelle. I must say though, all things considered, you are one lucky son of a bitch.”

After a deep breath, and an even deeper sigh, words escaped Alex’s mouth “It was about time lady luck took my side for once.” he said while extending his hand towards Harry “Where are my manners though, thank you, thank all of you for rescuing me. Truth be told I was starting to lose all hope there.”

After saying that he took the time to observe each and everyone’s expressions. Harry and Michelle shrugged off the heartfelt thanks immediately, apparently, this was common enough for them that they didn’t get flustered when someone thanked them for saving their life. Remembering how methodically Michelle approached him and did the quick check-up he assumed she or both of them must be doctors or at least related to the profession. Claire had held on to the same worried look she had when they scooped him up from under the rubble, but it was Sarah’s expression that garnered most of his attention due to what he saw on her face. Guilt. Bewildered at why she would show guilt after saving him and receiving gratitude left him even more confused, though the confusion was slowly transitioning into a headache so he decided to drop it.

After a few more moments passed, it was Harry that spoke up.

“Now, I’m glad everyone is fine, but we’ve got to hit the road. We’ve collected some water and food, but the reality is that something happened which disrupted the whole city and we would be better off going someplace like a hospital, police station or even the military base stationed on the outskirts of the city.” as soon as he finished his sentence something completely unexpected happened, even by current standards. The obelisk, previously towering motionless over the city-scape exploded into a flurry of lights. The first few seconds were so bright that all of the group struggled to block the light even with their eyes closed. After the initial brightness faded, the light started subsiding until it reached a level where looking upon it with one’s eyes wouldn’t leave you blind in seconds. Alex slowly opened his eyes and took in the sight.

The previously inert, metallic black obelisk was now covered in all manners of inscriptions. Some of them looked like eastern hieroglyphs, some of them looked like circles as you would find in a book of spells in one of the many fantasy novels he read, some were akin to murals depicting things, which things though, Alex could not tell. Around the obelisk, a majestic aura of light was gathered and space itself was suffused with the colors of white and blue. Overall, the sight Alex was looking at was nothing like the world he remembered. In front of him lay countless crumbled buildings, destroyed roads, and other manner of collapsed infrastructure. Beyond that lay an ever-crimson sky covering absolutely everything and underneath that sky a black colored obelisk inscribed with all manner of white carvings encircled by a veil of white and azure. Alex tried to turn his gaze away from the obelisk, but something was making it incredibly difficult to do that, it was mesmerizing to an unbelievable degree.

Moments turned to minutes, and the seemingly supernatural attraction was starting to dissipate, but as soon as Alex regained his composure and turned to his companions, the veil surrounding the obelisk started to pulse.