January 4, 2025

~1 Day until the “Introduction”~

In a busy bar just outside of Los Angeles sat a lone man, hunched over the bar counter.

The man's body reeked of dirt and filth, probably hadn’t taken a shower for a couple of days. His hair was a beautiful wheat blonde color, at least that's what it would look like if it wasn’t for all the grease and mud that stained it. His face was wrapped in his arms as he sniffled and sobbed.

“Aannd… den she wazz gonne! Thaaat stupid whore… I knew I shouldn’ av lovedd her. Whhyyy did shee have to gooo an sleep aroun’… Aww man, why I gotta have shit luck wit love...”

“Um, sir. I’m going to have to ask you to leave… You’ve had a one to many.”

“Waz I no good enough? I’m a very nicee guyy, ya just have ta get ta know me… Wat does that bastard have tat I don’ have?”

The bartender, after getting a couple complaints from other patrons, finally spoke to the wallowing man. Lightly, the bartender shook the drunk man's shoulder in an effort to bring him back to reality. However, the poor man's efforts were useless. The drunk man was long gone, deep into the drunken abyss that alcohol provided to those trying to escape life.

“Ughhh… Iz asked herr to stayy wiz me, but ta bitchh left! I knee I shouldn’ trust a moody woman, too rowdy they be.”

With a blank expression, the bartender politely called for security.

Well, that was a bit of an exaggerated way to put it. Really it was just two really tall, beefed up men that picked up the drunk and threw him out back. The drunk didn’t put up much of a fight, just waved his arms around a little before passing out.

With a loud thump, the drunk man's body was tossed into the streets. His shirt, already stained by beer and leftover foods, was further destroyed by a muddy puddle that he flopped into.

With a grunt, the man picked himself up from the cold floor and began walking away in the direction he assumed to be home. After a few hours of stumbling around and avoiding the local troublemakers, he made it back to his one room condo in the outskirts of LA.

This pathetic man was called Wyatt Walker. A run of the mill kind of guy, he worked as a physical laborer for some construction company. Otherwise he picked up a few part time jobs here and there for extra spending money. The guy was also recently engaged to a… lovely lady despite his poor lifestyle. Atleast, that's what Wyatt thought. This morning, he walked into his fiancé on his way to the bar with his co-workers. Only, she was hanging off the arm of another man. Immediately he approached her, asking for an explanation. Begging her to say that her name wasn’t that of his fiancé. Unfortunately, she told him to get lost and threw his simple engagement ring away. Completely crushed his simple dream of a family.

He really worked hard for the small diamond. It was above his pay-grade in every way possible, even if the diamond was small. The band was made out of expensive silver and the case was laid with silk. It was something no one would ever think he could own.

With a sigh, he ran to his couch and flopped down. He was exhausted. Wyatt spent the entire day drinking and trying to forget everything as fast as possible. He was never good at expressing and dealing with emotions, it was much easier to just forget and move on. Maybe drink a little beer or whiskey, alcohol helped.

Fuck… I’m going to have the biggest hangover tomorrow.

That was the last thought Wyatt managed to think before he passed out, dead drunk.

***

Slowly, the world around him came into view. Wyatt was back in his condo, sleeping on his trusty couch and smelling like hell.

Oh, there was also the stabbing pain in his head.

Oh man… What did I do yesterday? How am I home? Shit, this has gotta be the worst hangover to date. I smell like literal shit...

Grunting and moaning in pain, he managed to stand and walk towards his medicine cabinet. Although the only thing in it was Ibuprofen and bandaids. Hey, he never claimed to be a doctor or medical specialist. His shit salary didn’t allow him to spend enormous amounts of money, he recently blew most of his savings on the ring…

No no, I am not going to think about that. Ever. First, I need to see how much I spent last night. God I hope I didn’t overdue my tab. Maybe the bar will take pity on a sad old man...

Probably not. The bar he went to wasn’t known for its hospitality, it did have a smoking hot barista that worked on Saturdays and Sundays though. It’s a give and take kind of exchange. Sacrifices must be made.

Nevermind that, what I need now is to figure out what time work starts and when-

BOOM

CRACK

Crack

Crack

While Wyatt was having his internal dilemma, a loud boom echoed outside followed by the distinct sound of glass shattering. Only, this glass was a lot bigger than any mirror.

The ground started shaking a few seconds after the initial shattering sounds and deafening boom. It was a huge earthquake, enough to make Wyatt stumble and fall onto the floor in his kitchen. Shocked and confused, Wyatt began thinking of a way to fix his current paralyised state. The shaking continued and he immediately dove for cover.

He managed to huddle next to a counter and he put himself in the classic ‘hands over the neck and legs tucked’ position they always taught kids at school. Every California was prepared for the sudden event of an earthquake, it was more common than rain. Seriously, what the hell was with that? When Wyatt first moved here he was shocked at how common such a thing was. He had been through five or six quakes in just the first year he was here, although none made it past a 4 on the richter scale. Still, it was a ridiculous amount of quakes!

This quake, however, was well past anything Wyatt had ever experienced. The ground shook with such rage that the paneling for his ceiling was falling. His piling dishes in the sink were scattering over the counters and floor and his single chair and table fell over. He even heard another boom, although this time it wasn’t from the sky but from somewhere near his living room.

The shaking didn’t let down. It seemed like an eternity to Wyatt. He was never a patient person, especially when something was out of his grasp. God he hated when a situation wasn’t under his control. That's mostly why he hated flying and most public transit. Who in their right mind would leave their life in the hands of someone else? What if the pilot was still fighting off the effects of alcohol or weed from a rowdy night? A conductor who was busy talking to his friends instead of driving the train? Death, that's what happened. Nope, Wyatt would have none of that bullshit.

Wyatt had to be the person driving the car or he wouldn’t drive at all. He would rather walk, no matter the distance, then let someone else drive. Maybe this was the effect of his ever looming trust issues, but Wyatt preferred to think that he was smarter than others by abiding to his principle of independence. Or fear of death. Whatever. Point was, planes suck.

By the time the shaking stopped, Wyatt’s legs and arms hurt. Some paneling from the ceiling had dropped onto his arms and back, definitely going to leave some bruises from that. Not to mention he had to keep his body in the same position for what seemed like forever. Although it was no longer than 5 minutes. Which is already unusual for an earthquake, they usually only last 30 second or less.

After his initial panic had settled down and his adrenaline was calmed he took a wary peak over the counter, uncurling from his earthquake position.

Peering into the living room he saw what the second loud boom was. His wall, the only one with a window, collapsed. That and a little bit of the ceiling, but otherwise his shabby condo was still standing. However, the wall was completely gone, reduced to rubble and a few straggler pillars. If he looked a little upwards, past the buildings surrounding his first floor condo, then he could see the sky and what few rays of light made it to his darkened corner of the world.

Oh… I don’t think my insurance is going to cover that.

With a sigh, Wyatt dropped to the kitchen floor once more. His body just slumped over as he tiredly mumbled something about stupid insurance companies and him being late for work.