Undo

𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙰𝙻𝚈𝚂𝙼

Sounds of objects hitting the ground forced my eyes to open. Everything it sees were blurry but it depicted chaos at first sight. I thought I was in the middle of some bar fight but I saw my favorite wall clock that once hanged in my office on the floor, broken. So no, that's not it. My head was heavy and so was my body. I wasn't sure what exactly was happening , why the ground's shaking , and why I was hearing crackles everywhere. It was dark outside and it's kinda weird that the usual view on my window wasn't the same anymore. It's kinda moving that time. I looked around and slowly the pictures were clearer. Not that it was actually clear. But clearly, my office was slowly torn apart -- literally! So I had to put all my remaining strength, which I definitely don't have much left, into that one nerve-racking leap or I'll fall right straight to the ground together with my favorite wall clock from approximately 325 feet high.

"Here goes nothin'!"

And yes.

I survived.
Barely. At least...

I wasn't able to reach the floor of what was supposed to be my office but I was able to grab one of those reinforced metals that surfaced after the floor was broken apart.

I was supposed to be drunk but at that moment my consciousness forgot that I finished a bottle of champagne in just a few hours.

"Aarggh!"

For starters, it would need a hot drink or soup and a lot of sleep to get past hangovers but this was on a whole new level and I hate how effective it was. I grabbed another one of those reinforced metals and struggled my way up back to the floor level; the safer one, obviously.

My heart felt like it would burst off my chest at any moment. I sat on the floor and looked around. Half of WCE and the rest of the city was torn down by what appeared to be an 8.2 magnitude earthquake. Other buildings, although it wasn't that visible, but I could hear them collapse and stumble on the ground, some even caught fire. I could hear emergency vehicles on the road and on the air. Some faint cries here and there. Some of those were probably from the other floors in WCE.

And finally, I remembered...

"L-Leonna.. LEONNA!"

I rushed out of the door and into the staircase and repeatedly shouted her name. It was almost pitch-black inside the building but I was able to go down the stairs. Thanks to the time I spent almost living in WCE for years, going down the stairs from my office was almost a muscle memory.

"Help!!"

I could hear cries everywhere. I can't barely see anything even my next step. I just relied on my other senses. I can't pinpoint their exact locations because of the dust, ashes, and the time. It was roughly 5am in the morning I could see the breaking dawn outside from large cracks on the wall. I accidentally kicked an emergency light explains how dark it is inside. Then I thought maybe she already got out of the building hours ago. I pulled my phone out of my pocket but I can't find it anywhere. Then I realized I probably dropped it when I fell off my seat that night. With haste, I ran back to my office and there it was all dusty but it's still working.

"come on, pick up."

Her phone rang once but the signal was in and out that I had to make another call.

All of a sudden, the ground started shaking again. The intensity was severe that it made me lose my balance and fall on my knees.

"Oh boy. After shock."

I thought to myself as I hear cracking sounds again. And my instincts never failed me, it came from the floor where I settled myself down...

" Sir? Sir! Can you hear me? Please follow the light with your eyes if you do"