All Chapters of When the sun Died : Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
16 chapters
Chapter 1
Asher Hale’s POVThe world was obsessed with the sky that week.Every radio, every phone, every cheap television in every dusty shop window talked about the same thing:“A total solar eclipse will be visible across the region in three days! A rare celestial event”People clapped about it. Shared posts. Bought eclipse glasses like they were souvenirs.Everyone was excited.Everyone except me.I couldn’t explain it, but something in my chest tightened every time I heard about that eclipse a quiet, crawling dread, like the air itself was waiting for something I couldn’t understand.Still… life went on.Hale Motors opened at 8:00 a.m., sick parents or not.Dad was already coughing when I pushed the shop door open, that deep chesty sound that always made my stomach twist.“Morning, kid,” he rasped, wiping grease off his hands.“Morning.” I forced a smile. “You took your meds?”“Your mother made sure of it.”He rolled his eyes like a teenager instead of a grown man battling a failing heart.
Chapter 2
Asher’s pov Morning came too quietly.I woke before my alarm, staring at the pale ceiling above me. For a second, I didn’t move. The air felt… wrong. Heavy, like the house was holding its breath.The sunlight leaking through my curtains looked washed out. Weak.Not like morning sunlight at all.When I sat up, a strange stiffness clung to my body. Not pain just off, like I’d slept in the wrong position on every surface of my bed.It’s just nerves, I tried telling myself. It’s only an eclipse. A normal one. I am just panicking for nothing.I got dressed quickly and walked into the hallway.Silence swallowed the house whole.No radio. No clattering dishes. No morning chatter. Too quiet.When I stepped into the kitchen, I didn’t need anyone to tell me something was off.Mom was sitting at the table, clutching her coffee like it was the only warm thing left in the world. Her hand trembled with each breath. Dad leaned against the counter, pale, sweating, rubbing his temples like they wer
Chapter 3
Asher’s POV The eclipse wasn’t supposed to start until noon, but something felt wrong the moment I opened my eyes.The air was heavy like the atmosphere itself was waiting for something. I couldn’t explain it. I just sat up and stared at the dim light filtering through my curtains, I didn’t feel excitement. I felt a slow, cold ache creeping up my spine.I forced myself to get up anyway.By noon, half the town was already outside, kids screaming, parents laughing, people taking pictures like it was a carnival instead of a cosmic event. I slipped out to the front porch, rubbing my palms together, trying to calm the sudden unease twisting in my chest.Grandma Tia,opposite our house waved at me.She didn’t look sick “Asher! You came out to see it?”“Yeah,” I said, even though my voice felt weak. “Wouldn’t miss it.”She gave a short laugh.“These scientists made it sound like the world was ending. Five minutes of darkness?” She scoffed. “As if we haven’t survived worse.”I tried to smil
Chapter 4
Asher’s POVThe sliding doors hissed open behind me as I stepped out of the hospital and the world outside slapped me with that same unnatural darkness.The eclipse should’ve lasted five minutes.We were hours in.The sun was still swallowed, the sky drenched in that bruised, reddish glow that made every shadow look alive. Streetlights flickered like they were fighting for their final breaths.My parents were getting worse. No answers. No explanations. Just rising fevers and nurses who couldn’t even look at me.I tried to steady my breathing.Just get home, Asher. Think later.I barely took five steps before a scream tore out across the parking lot.“HELP! Somebody help!”I spun around.A frail man collapsed between two parked cars, shaking violently. His skin was grey, veins darkening. A nurse and doctor rushed toward him.“Sir! Sir, stay with us!”His body jerked harder, unnatural, violent.Another woman nearby held her mother as she wheezed, lips turning blue.“Mama, please don’t d
Chapter 5
Serena Blackwood’s POV The command center reeked of sweat, ozone, and something far worse: the faint, metallic tang of that cursed red light seeping through the reinforced windows. It painted everything in a sick, pulsing glow, like we were standing inside the open mouth of Hell.Seven hours.Seven hours since the sun vanished.Seven hours since the blackout swallowed the world.I pressed my spine against a barricade of filing cabinets. My G36C was steady in my grip, finger resting lightly on the trigger. My heartbeat was controlled, regulated battle rhythm. Emotion would get you killed quicker than claws or teeth.“Status on the west flank, Morales?” I asked, voice clipped and hard.Lieutenant Morales, our medic gentle eyes, steady hands looked painfully out of place clutching a shotgun. He swallowed thickly.“Pressure’s holding, Staff Sergeant. But the noise…” His voice cracked. “God, the noise.”He didn’t have to describe it.It was the sound of the planet dying, the distant s
Chapter 6
Serena Blackwood’s POVThe ascent was a nightmare of groaning metal and panicked scrambling. When I finally hauled myself onto the narrow decking of the maintenance bridge, my heart rate was still a measured, steady drum, a mechanical rhythm refusing to acknowledge the horror I’d just witnessed.I didn't look down. I couldn't afford the memory of the two bodies hitting the ground. They were casualties of poor tactical decisions, nothing more. My poor decision.Kane Malric was curled in a trembling heap near the shattered railing, clutching his briefcase and some files like it contained his soul.“They… they took him,” he whispered, rocking slightly. “They dragged him down li…like he was nothing.”“He was nothing,” I said coldly, checking my rifle. “Dead weight dies first.”Kane flinched, but I didn’t soften it. He needed sharp truths, not comfort.Below us, the infected shrieked and scraped against the metal supports, their movements jerky and insectile. One leapt, slamming into a pi
Chapter 7
Asher’s pov The car was a smoking ruin. Those were closing in. I didn't pause to grieve the vehicle i just ran, the duffel bag containing a few bottles of water and my father’s toolbox bouncing against my shoulder. My feet slammed against the pavement, fast and true. The panic had burned away, leaving a cold, clear focus that felt alien yet familiar. I needed cover. Not the chaos of the main road, but silence.I sprinted toward the residential fringe backing the industrial zone. I found a small, dark house, its windows taped with fading "For Sale" signs. I kicked in the back door. It was silent, dusty, and empty.I sank onto the wooden floorboards, the tire iron clattering beside me. The silence was overwhelming, punctuated only by my ragged breathing and the frantic pulse drumming behind my eyes. I was alive. I was alone.Mom. Dad.They were gone. The raw, sickening horror of the hospital, the black eyes, the snapping jaw it wasn't a dream. It was the new reality.The silence press
Chapter 8
Asher’s pov The creature exploded from the bushes like a blur of bone and hunger.“Look out!” I shouted.The guy spun way, way too slow.The infected slammed into him, knocking the crossbow sideways. They crashed into the dirt in a tangle of limbs, snarls, and screams.“Get off me! Get off me!The thing’s teeth sank deep into his forearm.“No!” I lunged forward with the hammer, swinging wildly. The hammer cracked against the creature’s skull, once, twice black ichor spraying across my face.The creature reeled back, hissing, jaws snapping in the air.The guy scrambled away, clutching his arm, eyes wide with terror.“It bit me! oh God! Oh God ”His voice broke into panicked sobs.“Move!” I grabbed his collar, yanking him up as the creature lunged again.I swung the Hammer this time full force.The metal crushed into the side of the creature’s head with a deep, wet crunch. It dropped, twitching, shaking, then finally collapsed in the dirt.Silence followed heavy and suffocating.The g
Chapter 9
Elera’s Pov The supermarket doors were smashed inward, hanging crooked on their hinges, but it was still the closest thing to shelter I could find. My breath fogged the air as I slipped through the gap and into the dim aisles.Inside, it was dead silent.No generators.No humming freezers.No humans.Just… stillness.And the sickly red glow leaking through the windows like the world was bleeding outside.The air inside smelled like dust, old produce, and fear.I tightened my grip around the wrench I had stolen from an abandoned mechanic shop. It felt too light compared to the screams I’d heard on my way here… too small to matter.It was all I had left after running for my life for three straight miles.But it was all I had.I moved slowly past the checkout counters. One of the conveyor belts still hummed like someone had abandoned the power halfway through ringing up groceries. A bag of chips sat open, crushed under a red footprint.I swallowed.Don’t think. Move.I slid deeper in
Chapter 10
Asher’s pov Morning didn’t feel like morning.The eclipse was still overhead, a dull, suffocating red disk that choked the sky and swallowed every trace of sunlight. Time felt broken, stretched thin and warped into something unrecognizable. My body ached from head to toe, but the burn in my scratched hand kept reminding me I was still alive… barely.Serena paced near the warehouse entrance, armed and sharp eyed. Kane was packing what little supplies we had, shoulders hunched with nervous energy. I’d slept for maybe forty minutes. Maybe less. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lucas’s face twisting into something monstrous, I see my parents turning into something unrecognizable.My hand throbbed.“Alright,” Serena said, putting bullets into her handgun, “we don’t have food or supplies. There’s a supermarket three blocks from here. We move fast, stay quiet, get only what we can carry.”“Three blocks?” I repeated. “Feels like thirty.”“Three,” she said flatly. “If you limp, keep up.”“I