Life isn't easy in Newcago, what with the constant threat of being murdered by an all powerful epic. Most say that fighting back against Steelheart is futile, but the constant pressure applied to the common people might come around to bite back Ne...
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Night was falling.
The sun sank slowly over the horizon as Bradley laughed and played in the grass with his brother. His mother held his baby brother in her lap, and his parents watched with happy smiles as the children ran back and forth. This was just another peaceful day. Life was carefree and wonderful. The mother leaned into the father's arm. The little boys laughed as they tripped over each other, and the baby giggled. The cool air relieved their bodies from the heat of the day.
It was a beautiful picture all around.
How quickly that would change.
The laughter slowly died down as the children realized something was different. Everything felt wrong.
The oldest boy stood and helped his little brother to his feet. Then he scanned their surroundings, looking for something different. Everything seemed the same.
Did everything look redder? He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them. When he opened his eyes, he gasped.
Everything was redder. Much redder. What could be happening?
He clutched his little brother's hand and stumbled backward toward their parents. Something was terribly wrong. He turned to his Dad, but he wasn't looking at him. He wasn't even looking at their surroundings. He was standing, gaping at the sky. His mother was, too, clutching the baby tight.
His little brother clutched his arm desperately, and the boy saw that he was also gazing terrified at the sky.
Finally, he looked up.
There, in the sky, was a red orb. It was brighter than the moon and cast a red glow over the face of the earth. The boy cried out with fear and pulled his brother to their parents. He grasped hold of his mother's legs as she stood up.
"What is it?" She gasped at the father. He pulled her and his children close.
"I- I don't know." They stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do as the orb grew brighter and brighter, surpassing the brightness of the sun.
The boy just stood frozen in terror until he felt his mother pulling him into the house. He stumbled after her, weak and confused. Before she could pull him through the doorway, he turned and stared at the orb one last time. The moment only lasted half a second, but it seemed to last for years.
Though it shone brighter than the sun, it didn't seem to burn his eyes. It felt like it was consuming everything in its glow. Though he was terrified, he felt strangely pulled to it. He felt like the orb was pulling him in. He stared and stared.
The pull became so great the boy thought he might snap from the pressure. Nothing existed except for this red glow. Nothing else mattered.
Then the door slammed.
The connection was broken. He almost fell over from the shock. His mother yanked him along as the whole family ran into the basement.
Distantly, he heard his Dad slam the basement door. They ran into the food storage room and closed that door. Then, they all sat on the floor and waited. There was nothing else to do.
He heard, as if from far away, the baby crying. His mother rocked it back and forth. His little brother leaned against his Mom.
The little boy just stared at nothing. The shock of what had just happened was overwhelming. Even under the ground, he didn't feel safe. The connection was broken, but he still suffocated by it. Somehow, he felt like that feeling would never stop.
He shivered and leaned closer to his Dad. What was that thing?
He couldn't know that the world would come to call it Calamity. Nobody would ever know what it was.
It would mark the end of this era and the beginning of a new generation of fear and power in the world.
As the little family huddled in their basement, Calamity shined across the earth.
A few moments later, in the world outside, the screaming would begin.
