It was on every channel. Fox news, CNN, BBC, you name it, they were all broadcasting one event.

A humongous, ominous, spotless white tower had appeared form nowhere, right in the middle of the neighboring city. It was relatively thin, only 200 meters in diameter, however its height reached above the clouds and came to a point right before the edge of the atmosphere. It was an engineering marvel. How can something so tall and thin be stable? The appearance of a material with such a high tensile strength prompted thousands of specialists from all walks of life to swarm to it from across the globe, like a school of greedy piranhas rushing to devour all they can before their peers arrive. If they could glean something from the tower, no matter how minuscule, the discovery could earn them millions and put their name in the history books for ages to come. Their greed was understandable but it was also the cause of their own demise.

Day 0 ended on a peaceful but exciting note. A material that had the potential to enhance everyone's lives had appeared.

But why was it day 0? and not day 1?

Because the notation didn't mark the arrival of the tower. Instead it marked the arrival of disaster.

Some say the tower fell from space, implanting itself deep into the earth, while the believers among us preached that it was a punishment from the heavens and we should repent before their God took further action. Maybe we should have listened to them.

None of that really mattered to me. As a typical college student I only cared about three things; girls, drinking and partying. So, at the dawn of Day 1, I was glued to my bed recovering from the aftermath of Day 0's nightly activities, none the wiser about the catastrophe that was taking place right outside my proverbial back yard. The only thing I registered at the time were the annoying sounds the helicopters made as they flew overhead, inducing once again the pain which had dulled.

Just as I was about to drift off to dreamland for the third time that morning, my phone (on silent of course, due to my excellent planning), began to vibrate repeatedly. I wasn't extremely popular so it was immediately acknowledged as a strange event. I picked it up and panicked as the OLED screen displayed '10 missed calls' from various contacts. Had I forgotten something? Was there some event or class which required my presence?

My solemn expression was broken by one of my closest friends text messages. It's contents were as follows:

YOU NEED TO SEE THIS! >> Alien invasion of Carson City

Its rare for him to use caps so this should be interesting.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I tap on the link and I'm taken to a local news website. Whats displayed there immediately slackens my face, my mouth hanging open in an O shape large enough to fit a tennis ball. My complexion loses a few shades of color and I nearly drop the phone. Its not an article nor a headline nor video that's center page, but a live stream.

I see large creatures crawling all over Carson City. I'd been there a few times so I could recognize some of its features. The mall I visited on my first 'friends only' holiday, now demolished. The only thing left behind was a broken sign that used to read "Quick-E-Mart" now only read "Quick-E" . I recognized the cheap hotel we stayed in, luckily still standing. I hope the attendants got away in time.

In the distance, monsters of all sizes wreaked havoc on anything they could find as the military did all they could to repel these entities. It was not going well. I could tell by the distraught look on the news presenters face.

"As the monsters push the military back, they seem to be doing so in an even circle around the tower." she pointed out, bringing my attention back to the overall situation. There is a very clear line dividing the monsters and the humans. Indeed from a birds eye view, there would be a perfect circle, centering on the tower and expanding by the second.

At this moment a missile flew past the reporters helicopter. It seems the government has upped the threat level of this event. The rocket struck one of the taller creatures and exploded, garnering no reaction whatsoever. However the monster was clearly pissed as it turned its head in the helicopters direction and approached it with speed unbefitting of its size and weight. Then a huge hand came towards the camera, threatening to crush the viewer in its grasp as the screen went blank.

'Poor reporters.' I lamented with a sigh. 'They were just doing their jobs...'.

After the live feed went dead, I set about researching this ridiculous and unbelievable event. It was so grand and unearthly that it was hard for me to comprehend that this was actually taking place, rather than some huge budget movie with CGI monsters. Minutes went by and thousands of articles were published and as I read their contents, the reality finally sank in.

Panic mode initiated, I dialed home. I'm not usually a mamas boy but this was something I needed reassurance on.

*ring ring* *ring ring*. No one answers.

"Of course nobodies home. Its a week day. They're working."

In search of someone to talk to, anyone, I call my best friend Charlie. This time he answers after the first ring.

"Whats going on?" I ask him exasperatedly.

"I have no idea but it seems like the world is going to shit!" He replies as if asking me "How should I know?".

"No duh... Is this the apocalypse?"

"I hope so. I might actually be able to rest now." Charlies parents are pretty expectant of him. Hes going to be a lawyer if they get their wish.

"Not funny pal. This is real... The link you sent me is down. Do you have another?"

"Yeah, Ill send it on Insta. Hopefully this one has a better end."

"Yeah" I sigh in agreement.

I terminate the call and open the link. This time its a national news site. I tune in just as the monsters push their radial territory past the five kilometre mark. I watch in confused disbelief as they turn as one and rush back into the tower, leaving behind a barren field with no life or even a semblance of civilization.

The score after the first day: The monsters - thousands, The Humans - 0. Not even a single monster could be found among the multitude of corpses.