“ Wake up wake up wake up, ow,” Dan said, pinching and slapping himself. He figured this had to be a dream from one of the many zombie movies he had been watching lately. All Dan wanted right now was to just wake up from whatever nightmare this was but nothing seemed to be working. “ Hey! Hello?! Anybody?! “ He yelled, his voice echoing into a distance without a response, “ well that's a bummer,” he said, his tone falling. While Dan stood, hands akimbo in the middle of the street wondering what next to do, the sound of something like a growl reached his ears. “ Easy there,” he said , touching his stomach. He didn't have breakfast before leaving the house. He heard the sound again, this time deeper and louder. His heart skipped a beat when it became obvious that those sounds weren't coming from the hungry worms in his stomach. He slowly turned around to see who his new company was - or what. To his utter shock, standing behind him was the most hideous creature he had ever seen.

Dan had been raptured from his timeline just before the train accident, transported to the future and now returned to the present a few minutes after the party was over. Some way to cheat death. If there was a hand behind all of this, he didn't know whether to be thankful or sad. Regardless, he thought it was good to be back to the present, where everyone was alive and the world was in one piece. Speaking of everyone, it suddenly occurred to him that for an accident like this, everyone would most likely be dead. His heart melted in sorrow as the faces of the other passengers he had seen or met in the train began to flash through his mind. All those innocent lives… , he thought. Those many men, women and children, all gone within the blink of an eye. While he pondered on the reality of life's cruelty, he knew all this, as bad as it was was nothing compared to the future he had just come from. It was the scariest thing he had ever seen. Just then, coughs, sighs and groanings wer

Dan's apartment. Felix paced back and forth in Dan’s small apartment, the place felt eerily quiet, save for the faint hum of the refrigerator and the occasional creak of the floorboards beneath his steps. “Bro,” Felix said, breaking the silence. “You have to talk to me. You're saying you just set something on fire with your hands. Your hands, dude! How is that not the first thing we’re freaking out about?” Dan sat slouched on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers laced together tightly. He wasn’t looking at Felix; his eyes were glued to the floor. Inside, his mind was a whirlwind of fear, guilt, and confusion. “I don’t know, man,” Dan finally muttered.“ All that matters now is that Lauren is dying…and I couldn't save her,” he said looking up at him with a grim expression. Felix blinked, caught off guard. The frustration in his face melted into something softer, almost apologetic. He sat down on the armrest of a nearby chair, his face lined with worry. “ Come on

The flashing lights from dozens of cameras reflected off the sleek glass exterior of NovaTech’s headquarters. A sea of reporters surged forward with microphones raised like weapons, their voices forming a chaotic blend of accusations and demands. At the center of it all stood Alisha Carr, the poised and immaculately dressed CEO of NovaTech. Her tailored navy suit hugged her frame perfectly, and not a single strand of her chestnut hair was out of place. She raised a hand, commanding silence without uttering a word. The mob simmered down, their eager eyes locked on her like vultures waiting for a slip. “First,” Alisha began, her voice calm and authoritative, “let me express my deepest condolences to the families of those affected by this tragic incident.” She paused, allowing a carefully calculated hint of emotion to color her tone. “NovaTech is committed to uncovering the truth and ensuring justice is served.” She let the words settle. Control the tempo. Give them something to hol

Felix walked the backstreets of Seal City with his hood pulled low over his head, eyes flicking from shadowed alleyways to suspicious faces lurking in the dark. The underbelly of the city reeked of dampness, rot, and desperation—places where law and order barely reached, and where favors were bought with blood and desperation. He didn’t belong here. Never had. Felix was more of a tinkerer, a man who spent his days hunched over gadgets and tools, working his fingers to the bone in whatever odd job he could find to keep the bills paid. He wasn’t tough, nor was he ruthless. But today, desperation overpowered common sense. He had spent days scouring the darkest corners of the city, chasing a rumor that had cropped up among the whispers of the city. The kind of rumor he could couldn't ignore. Someone out there could bypass high-security systems. Felix clung to that faint glimmer of hope like a man clutching a fraying rope over a cliff’s edge. He had to. Because Dan was out there, loc