The Apocalypse Where Rain Kills Humans

The late afternoon sun was supposed to be gold, but as Caio turned the corner onto the industrial stretch of 4th Avenue, the world shifted into a nauseating shade of lime. He slowed his pace, his sneakers squeaking against the pavement, and pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Hey, Rian? You still there?" Caio asked, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Yeah, I’m here," Rian’s voice crackled through the speaker, sounding distracted. "Where are you? The meeting’s starting in like ten minutes. Don't tell me you’re still at the deli."

"I'm just passing the old textile warehouses," Caio said, his eyes glued to the horizon. "But man, you need to look outside. Right now."

"Why? What’s up?"

"The sky," Caio muttered, his throat feel suddenly dry. "It’s... it’s not blue anymore. It’s glowing. Like, radioactive green. It looks like someone spilled glow-stick fluid all over the clouds."

"Are you messing with me?" Rian laughed, though the sound was thin. "It’s probably just a weird sunset. Refraction or whatever. Just get your ass over here."

"No, Rian, this isn't a sunset. It’s getting darker, but the light is getting brighter. It’s—"

A low, vibrating hum cut him off. It wasn't the sound of an engine or a plane. It was deep, rattling the windows of the shuttered shops beside him. Then, the sirens started. Not the rhythmic wail of an ambulance, but the long, haunting drone of the city’s emergency broadcast system.

"Whoa," Rian said, his voice dropping an octave. "Okay, I hear the sirens. The hell is going on? My phone just got an emergency alert. Did you get one?"

Caio pulled the phone away from his face. The screen was flashing a blood-red banner: [CRITICAL ALERT: TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT CONTACT RAINWATER. SEEK REINFORCED SHELTER.]

"Rian? The alert says stay away from the rain. It says seek reinforced shelter. Where are you?"

"I’m in the office, but the windows are huge," Rian shouted over the growing roar of the wind. "People are freaking out, Caio. Everyone’s running for the elevators. Where are you going to go?"

"I'm in the middle of the street!" Caio yelled back, his heart hammering against his ribs. "There’s nothing but old warehouses here. Wait—"

He looked up. The green sky had curdled into a deep, bruised emerald. The first drop fell. It didn't hit the ground with a splash; it hissed.

"Caio? You still there? Talk to me, man!"

"It’s starting," Caio whispered, his eyes wide.

Across the street, a woman was sprinting toward her car, fumbling with her keys. A single drop of the translucent green liquid landed on her shoulder.

"AAAGH! GOD, IT BURNS!" she screamed, dropping her keys.

Caio watched in horror as a thin trail of smoke rose from her blouse. The fabric dissolved instantly, and then her skin began to bubble, turning a jagged, angry red.

"Holy shit!" Caio screamed into the phone. "Rian, it’s acid! The rain is acid!"

"What?! What do you mean acid? Caio, get inside! Find a roof!"

"I’m trying! I’m—"

A stray spray of mist caught Caio’s forearm. He hissed, the phone nearly slipping from his hand. It felt like a lit cigarette had been pressed into his flesh. He looked down at his arm; a small, blackened hole was already forming in his hoodie, the skin beneath it searing.

"Damn it! It got me!"

"Caio! Where are you? Can you make it to the subway?"

"No, it’s blocks away! I won't make it!" Caio scanned the street, his mind racing through the mental map of the district. "Think, think... the old architecture. The colonial-era builds."

"What are you talking about?" Rian yelled. "Just break a window! Get into a shop!"

"The shops are glass and wood, Rian! The rain is melting through the car hoods! I need something thick!" Caio ducked under a narrow concrete overhang of an old loading dock. "The textile factory... the 1920s wing. It has a reinforced basement for chemical storage. It’s on the blueprints I studied last month!"

"Then run! Go!"

Caio took a deep breath, clutching his burnt arm to his chest. The rain was coming down harder now, a shimmering curtain of lethal green. He could hear the screams of others now, a chorus of agony echoing down the concrete canyon of the street.

"I'm going for it! Don't hang up!"

Caio bolted. He stayed as close to the walls as possible, but the wind was whipping the toxic water into a fine, stinging spray. Every prickle on his skin felt like a needle dipped in lye. He reached the heavy iron gates of the old factory and threw his weight against them.

"Open, you piece of garbage! Open!"

"Did you get in?" Rian’s voice was frantic. "Caio! Answer me!"

"The gate’s locked!" Caio roared, looking around desperately. He spotted a heavy pry-bar leaning against a dumpster. He grabbed it, ignoring the way the metal felt slick with the falling mist. "I’m breaking the side door!"

He swung the bar with every ounce of terror-fueled strength he possessed. The rusted lock on the service door groaned and snapped. Caio tumbled inside, slamming the heavy steel door behind him just as a torrent of green water slammed against it like a tidal wave.

The sound was terrifying—a sizzle so loud it sounded like a thousand frying pans.

"I’m in," Caio panted, collapsing against the door. "Rian? I’m inside the stairwell."

"Thank God. Okay, okay. Just stay there. Don't go near the roof."

"I need to go deeper," Caio said, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "I can hear the roof melting. It sounds like the whole building is being eaten. I have to find the basement."

"The basement? Is it safe?"

"It’s reinforced concrete and lead-lined for the old dye vats," Caio said, stumbling down the dark corridor, his phone’s flashlight cutting through the dust. "It’s the only place that’ll hold if this stuff doesn't stop."

"Wait, Caio... my signal is cutting out," Rian said, his voice dissolving into static. "The... the sky... it’s changing again... stay... safe..."

"Rian? Rian! Damn it!"

The call cut. Caio stared at his phone, then at his arm. The burn was pulsing with a dull, throbbing heat. He didn't have time to mourn the loss of the connection. Above him, a sickening drip, drip, drip began. The ceiling was starting to give way.

"Keep moving, Caio. Don't die in a hallway," he muttered to himself.

He scrambled down a set of narrow stone steps, his feet heavy. The air down here smelled of damp earth and ancient chemicals. He reached a massive, rusted hatch set into the floor. It was labeled in faded white paint: STORAGE SECTOR 4 - REINFORCED.

"Come on, move!" He grabbed the wheel of the hatch, straining until the veins in his neck popped. With a shriek of protesting metal, the wheel turned. He hauled the hatch open and dropped into the darkness, kicking it shut above him.

He sat in the pitch black, the only sound the frantic thudding of his own heart and the distant, muffled roar of the world dissolving above.

"I made it," he breathed, leaning his head against the cold concrete wall. "I'm alive. I’m actually alive."

He reached for his phone to check the time, but the screen wouldn't turn on. Instead, a flicker of light appeared in his peripheral vision. At first, he thought it was a concussion or the fumes.

But the light stayed. It grew.

Lines of glowing blue text began to weave themselves out of thin air, hovering directly in front of his eyes.

"What the... is this a hologram?"

Caio reached out to touch the letters, but his hand passed right through them. He blinked, but the text remained, tethered to his field of vision.

[CALIBRATING...]

[USER IDENTIFIED: CAIO PRASETYO]

[ENVIRONMENT: LETHAL / CORROSIVE]

[STATUS: SURVIVED INITIAL CONTACT]

"Am I losing my mind?" Caio whispered, his voice trembling. "Rian? Is this some kind of prank?"

There was no answer from the dark. Then, a cold, mechanical voice echoed not in the room, but directly inside his skull. It was a sound that felt like grinding ice.

[Trial of the Storm God: Initializing Shelter System.]

"Trial?" Caio stood up, his back hitting the concrete. "What trial? What are you talking about?"

[Shelter Level 1 Established.]

[Current Integrity: 100%]

[Objective: Survive the First Downpour.]

[Reward: Path of the Rain-Walker.]

Caio stared at the flickering blue words. Outside, the world was being scrubbed clean by an acidic god, and inside this hole, the rules of reality had just snapped.

"This isn't a storm," Caio said, his eyes narrowing as the HUD began to display a countdown timer. "This is a game. And the whole world just lost."