In the Aftermath

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: In the Aftermath

Frozen in time. 

Nothing happened around Ethan. At least, he noticed nothing that happened around him the whole time he was inside the machine. He never noticed the tremors as they grew heavier and heavier as time went on. Ethan never noticed as Mark and the other people from the crowd got inside their own machines.

Everyone else except his parents.

Ethan never noticed as they pushed the buttons on their machines and their bodies turning into the same frozen state as his. 

Then, no one inside the Ark noticed anything that happened. No one noticed that miles above their heads, the fighting had only escalated. Gunshots and explosions haunted those that remained in the surface and some of the smarter ones burrowed themselves underground as deep as they could.

Bullets rained from the quickly darkening skies. It was a sight to behold: the combination of the orange fiery glow that the burning buildings gave off combined with the dark, black shades from the smokes created a work of art. It would have been beautiful.

But no one stopped to look.

The air was filled with cries of fear and pain, like a church choir singing their final hymn and trying to spread their own fear of death to everyone who was unfortunate to hear their melody. That, combined with the picture of the fires and the smoke, only added to the inspired and artsy image of it all.

But no one stopped to listen.

The combined stench of everything burning reaked and the heat that could be felt by everyone everywhere incinerated the unfortunate souls that were trapped inside the wide area of death. It was the very incarnation of hell on earth.

Still, no one stopped to notice.

Perhaps it was ironic that the only beauty that the fighting created should be met by no man's eyes. No one stopped to stare at the colors and the shades amidst the destruction. Everyone had one thing on their minds: To survive.

To try and fight off the claws of death that were quickly closing in on them.

Everyone was moving. Everyone was busy. Some were praying and begging for their invisible God to forgive their unforgivable sins. Some remained cool and stoic having accepted the call of death. Most shouted frantically, afraid of the inevitable.

Then, everything ended in a flash of bright light. 

There should have been a deafening sound that came from the explosion but if no one can hear it, could it really be considered a sound? 

As the lights died out, it took all the commotion and the movements along with it. Not a single thing moved, even the wind was deathly still. It was a picture, captured expertly upon a gigantic canvas.

The whole world stood still.

There were no noise. There were no movements. No one noticed anything happening around them. 

Much like the people, miles deep underground. Inside their futuristic pods which encased their frozen bodies in suspension. No one moved inside their machines.

No one noticed anything.

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A/N: It was really fun writing this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it! And I know it's a little short but I don't want to continue on because then it would be too long. You guys just have to wait for the next chapter! Thanks for reading!