"What the hell is going on? Why is there another earthquake?!"

"The fuck? As if the first ones a few days ago weren't enough! My fucking garden is still deep underground, beside my great-grandfather! I spent hard labor and thirty thousand dollars on those fucking bushes over 15 years."

"For crying out loud, when will it end!"

"Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Take me, oh Lord!"

"Mashallah. To him, we shall return. Astaghfirullah."

"No work today either it seems..."

Such sayings circulated throughout their little city of New Roselee, California, yet they had missed the brunt of the force of the global expansion.

The space between buildings and streets barely expanded about 2-3 times than before.

The sky churned tumultuously, reminiscent of an approaching storm, as immense waves surged forth from fissures in the heavens. These waves, bearing the force of an atomic bomb yet devoid of its radiation and lethal effects, undulated through the air with a powerful, unnatural intensity, resembling a fierce wind transformed into a tangible, dynamic force.

Boom!

This continued for over 30 minutes.

With a low rumble, it concluded, although in the span of a few minutes such drastic changes had taken place. At the edge of the city, you would find the city outskirts now foreign as there were now brown barren rocky stretches of land as far as the eye can see, with sharp wailing winds in the distance.

"Minnie. Minnie, how's everything?" Celes quickly tapped her ear, hoping to hear something.

But the line was dead.

As expected, the energy shockwave knocked out all of the communications. Getting them back up would take a while.

Fortunately, she had known this would happen and detailed instructions were given.

"I just need to find Mom and the rest, then regroup with everyone else. Hm..."

Hearing the howls and roars echoing from different areas, Celes slapped her forehead.

‘Of course, the surge activated quite a few cards, I'd imagine. It'd be the strong and feisty ones waking up so early, too.’

Hearing some complaining citizens nearby harping on the devastating earthquake, Celes shook her head.

“They don't know how easy we have it. It's estimated that just now... 2 billion people died.”

*

And so it was elsewhere, even in the surrounding California region, it had started simultaneously.

Across the state of California, the seismic rumbling began as a faint trembling felt deep below. But soon it amplified into an earth-rending roar. Up and down the coast, the ground fractured and heaved upward, beaches crumbling into the rising ocean.

In Los Angeles, the Hollywood Hills thrust violently skyward, mansions breaking apart and sliding down the steepening slopes. The Hollywood sign collapsed, its enormous letters tumbling down the quaking hillsides. Along the coast, the Santa Monica pier splintered and dissolved into the crashing waves.

Further inland, the San Andreas Fault ruptured, triggering massive quakes across Southern California. In Palm Springs, the earth split open, swallowing whole neighborhoods into vast chasms. Golf courses collapsed into sinkholes, while country clubs and luxury hotels were ripped apart.

In the Central Valley farmlands, orchards were uprooted and tractor-trailers tossed end over end as the fertile soil rippled and deformed under the force of the expansion. Mountains burst forth among the fields, their jagged peaks climbing miles overhead.

From San Francisco to San Diego, cities groaned as roads warped and buildings collapsed. Coastal freeways crumbled into the sea, while suburbs were inundated by surging waters. Terrified residents could only flee for their lives as their state was violently transformed within moments. All of California was at the mercy of a planet expanding beneath it, no part of the landscape left untouched by the upheaval.

*

Sometime before the global expansion in Monvec, Europe, the captain was doing his best with his ragtag team of soldiers who were at the base before emergency deployment.

His scouts sent back some important information. "Sir! Abnormal situation and person reported four hundred meters eastward."

"What is it, soldier?" He grabbed the radio.

"Person using superpowers to kill hostile aliens, sir!"

They looked at each other, slight confusion and surprise on their faces.

"Keep a safe distance and maintain radio contact, Private. Monitor their every move." He lowered the radio, looking around solemnly.

"Lieutenant, man our current position,” he ordered, “Continue North as we planned, down Main Street. Jones, Schmidt, Petit, and Durand with me. Move, soldiers!"

The captain quickly headed to the reported position, taking out as many bugs as they could en route. They had already made trips back to base for ammo, but even so, wartime consumption was heavy and rapid. Before long the base would have no ammo and still no word from HQ.

*

Lea helped some fleeing individuals to shelters as she sought out more cards. Gathering information as she went, she left the second hospital she could make it to, where she had hoped to grab essentials. It was clear the guy’s words weren't drug-birthed or empty drunken ramblings; the apocalypse had come and resources were treasure.

"We're somewhere in Monvec, Europe. And these past seven days have filled up the hospital wards and caused millions and billions in property damage." They had been captured for most of the seven-day mayhem but word of all seven days was on the tip of everyone's tongue, the various happenstances today were looking to mark this as the crown jewel and the most terrible they said.

Lea felt her head was going to explode the very next minute from stress.

*

Roya wasn't left out of collecting cards. "Coppery green number two. Supposedly a good one, I think. Ashy Grey, Blackish Iron, Copper Green, and Rusted Steel, I think he said. Wait, I think Stone is there somewhere. Is it…Grey Stone?"

She sniped quite a few bugs, but even her kill shots didn't kill the cockroach-like bastards. For once, she felt like a twelve-year-old again, back when she needed at least three shots to down a target.

Running low on ammo, she was back to gathering cards again. So far she had four Grey Ash-grade cards, two Black Iron-grade cards, and two Green Copper-grade cards.

"Still, this is hell on earth," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Seeing car-sized bugs kill and lay eggs in people, the eggs hatching and devouring the corpses, was far from a pretty sight. She had seen some pretty horrible shit in her day, but this was the most unnerving and disgusting scene her eyes had ever taken in.

‘What the fuck was really going on?’ She wondered.

*

Mary Rose heightened her bug kill count to twelve before she heard some shouts.

Exhausted, she slowly turned around. Seeing guns pointed at her, she slowly raised her hands high up.

"Wie heißt du?" the lead brutish fellow bellowed, the mouth of his gun not shifting from its point to her head for a second.

Mary Rose froze a bit. Her German was rusty and she only rehearsed a few phrases well, but she was sure he asked her for her name. Before she could answer, the man's eyes flickered and he switched to English.

“Your name.”

‘Well, that's better, I suppose.’

Rose stated her name. Guns were convincing enough, plus she knew she wasn't bulletproof. At least she didn't think so, and she didn't want any trouble.

"Mary Rose, is it? Who and what are you? What do you know about…" he guestured at the nightmare around them, “...all this?”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

There she was stuck.

After all, she didn't actually know anything.

***

"Times about running out now,” muttered O'Brien. “I've got all the cards I could get a hold of. Hell, even a gold one made it in.”

He checked his watch. “If I stay too long, I might miss the meeting with Rose, which would be problematic. I spent too much effort on my baby and those storage lockers to lose them all. A Black Iron-grade Storage Ring, Blue Stone-grade Traveler's Backpack, and Blue Stone-grade Sealing Card should be enough to store everything just barely.”

Checking his watch one final time, he tapped his empty jetpack tanks, and was tempted to throw the jetpack away but decided to keep the piece of junk for sentiments.

“I would prefer to have some others of the same type as insurance though. Hopefully, Rose and her friends won't let me down. I got seventeen cards above Grey Ash so it isn't a bad haul at all."

O'Brien had looked upon the Grey Ash cards with scorn and disgust but, as time passed, he realized they were still worth something. He should know; that card grade kept him alive for almost ten years!

"A dollar—hell, even a cent—is still money after all."

Though if they sold for money, the lowest monetary value for a Grey Ash card would sell for around thirty thousand dollars.

However, no one was dumb enough to do that, because money was wastepaper in the apocalypse.

*

The Three Ring Tower of Monvec was among the 15 wonders of Europe. Although this was a city of less than ten years, it had achieved marvels in architecture due to advancements in technology and the gathering of skilled workers and intelligent minds.

The Three-Ring Tower stood as a testament to architectural innovation with its stony triple-ring design. The outermost ring buzzed with public activities, housing a glass-paneled facade that opened to shopping areas, eateries, and cultural spaces, interspersed with cascading greenery.

Enclosed within, the middle ring offered a serene residential haven, featuring eco-friendly, adaptable living spaces with private sky gardens. At its core, the inner ring formed the commercial hub, equipped with high-tech offices and collaborative spaces, fostering a vibrant center for business and innovation. Interconnected by sky bridges and panoramic elevators, this architectural marvel seamlessly integrated bustling community life, private living, and professional environments into a harmonious, self-contained vertical city mall, community district, and office building.

Obrien chose this building because of its position near the center of the city, with telescopes on the outskirts of the third and first ring. Its height as the third tallest building in the city was also suitable; any overlooked cards would be clear from this viewpoint. The stronger the card, the brighter the glow, so they were hard to miss even if obscured a little.

However, O'Brien was not the first to get there.

Jules sat down on a bench near the telescopes as O'Brien had so fleetingly mentioned. Cursing for a bit, she was lost, not remembering where they were supposed to meet. He only said it once at the end of a very heavy sentence about the wacky apocalypse which, as it turned out, was not him going crazy but the world, clear as day through the telescopes.

Having some time she inspected these so-called magical cards. She had managed to collect ten, but two stood out the most. They were reddish bronze, which she believed he had said were amongst the most valuable...

Well, 60% sure.

The first card bore an image of intricate winged sandals. Bronze feathers adorned the straps, etched with lifelike precision. Near the heels, small wings were poised for flight. Tiny serpents coiled around the straps, onyx eyes glinting. Strange runes edged the mercury-fluid soles. They radiated an energy promising mythic voyages, their enchantment conveying the wearer across vast realms in the blink of an eye. The magical card was not printed with ink nor made of mortality; the sandals exuded an aura of adventure, ready to bear a hero aloft on transports of glory.

The second card was a bit weirder. The card depicted two ethereal angels, their wings arched gracefully as they hovered in the air. Between them, they tenderly held a crimson thread. The thin cord connected the angels, binding them together as they gazed into each other's eyes. Their hands delicately kept the thread taut between them, protecting the fragile bond. The crimson strand seemed to glow with latent magic, promising affection and desire for those tied by its power. Unlike normal pigments on cardstock, the image was rich with love's symbolism engraved with magical techniques onto the card-like object. A timeless representation of intimacy and fate's role in romance.

Both cards were magical and evoked feelings within her, but while Jules felt a heroic calling from the card with boots, the one with two angels made her nostalgic about her parents as they were now apart.

"So, you're here first… That's a surprise," a calm and cheery voice sounded.

Jules jumped up to see Roya. The two of them had always gotten along well enough, although they had only met less than ten times in total before it all.

"Yeah... The world has turned to hell. I was starting to wonder if I'm the crazy one. Still feeling like it's all a dream."

Roya grew quiet. Even now she felt the world was crazier than the minds of a dozen madmen.

A third voice suddenly appeared, walking up to them.

"I keep thinking I'm in the craziest dream, and I'll wake up any minute,” Lea's soft voice echoed down the hall. “My coffee gone cold by my desk…spilling as I stretch on my precious work documents I've been doing for weeks, forcing me to decipher the smudges and rewrite the lost contents from memory, mumbling why I agreed to do this."

She must have run here, but she didn't seem physically tired at all.

The women found themselves weary, talking about the craziness of it all, and most of all their previous captor.

The enigma.

The time seemed to pass slowly as they conversed, until they heard a group approaching and saw them as well.

"Put away the cards, Jules," Roya ordered in a discreet tone as she put down the bag with her low-round sniper rifle and brought out her two pistols, aiming them forward.

Jules did as she was told and hung back as well.

Lea's eyes narrowed as she stood beside Roya.

"She doesn't seem completely unwilling," she said.

"Not entirely willing either," Roya responded.

The group slowly approached with guns drawn, seeing Roya armed and on target.

"You scared them," Lea chuckled.

"They should be if they don't stop pointing their guns at us."

The captain spoke cautiously. "Ladies, we don't mean any trouble. All we want is to meet this O'Brien fellow." His men flanked him, with two on Rose as ordered.

"Well, it sure doesn't seem like it to me,” quipped Roya before she added with a smirk. “Why don't you make us ladies feel safe and lower your guns?"

The other two women were staring at Rose's new look with gusto.

Her hair was now so red, it was as if it was dripping blood. And those roses and thorns tightly wrapped around her, what were they?

The standoff drew on with no one willing to back down.

"What's this now, army pups?" a calm voice interrupted the scene with light steps from the shadows, originating from the line of telescopes to the left.

A white-haired man with tight muscles and well-defined collarbones, dressed in dirty ragged clothes and a strange backpack device on his back, revealed himself with a nonchalant smile.

O'Brien looked at Rose surrounded by soldiers. Without a thought, he knew her soft heart was the cause of the current situation.

Blessed Ones were typically the strongest solely because their compatibility with their cards was sky high; they were loved by their natal cards.

If Rose wanted to truly resist, even he would have difficulty stopping her. This was seen by Rose defeating several bugs head-on with just her natal card. Currently, O'Brien could not do the same.

"Hm. Whatever. We don't have time for this,” O'Brien nonchalantly said, waving a hand of dismissal. “It should be happening in a few minutes and some things are still left undone. So, get lost, army pups. I don't have time for you."

The ex-military troops were a part of many gangs, guilds, and groups. Both partially and fully integrated among them, but the current active military were usually of the pro-country factions trying to restore the past nations from the ruins.

The ones O'Brien crossed paths with the most were the second group of pro-country faction loyalists. They were loyal to the military and their brothers in arms, not the government officials. They wanted to carve out their piece of the world, and you were either with them or against them.

The military regimes.

Early apocalypse, they treated ordinary people like trash, servants at best.

Sad to say he was a part of that. He couldn't fight for shit in the beginning. He learned later on simply because he had to, in order to survive. Even then, until about five years in, he was no match for any military man hand to hand.

The ones still alive, anyway.

He even got brutally beat by one squad and was in bed for weeks, a very dangerous thing in end times. He almost didn't make it, so naturally he didn't have a good impression of them.

"Mr O'Brien, right?” the leader excitedly began to speak to O'Brien. “What you know is too impor—"

"Forget it. Girls with me. I won't repeat myself,” O'Brien cut in, then turned to walk away. “We're leaving."

But the man wouldn't have it.

"Mr O'brien! I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave. If you could just —"

"What a goddamn waste of my time and energy…" O'Brien groaned.

‘A few days from now at the rate I'm getting stronger I can make short work of them in seconds. Currently it'll take minutes barehanded. I also can't afford stray bullets hitting Rose, although she's awakened her aperture and natal card, but it's better safe than sorry.’

"Guess it can't be helped."

O'Brien turned to the uneasy leader, taking out two Ash Grey cards.

"It's unlikely I'll see you again, but if that is the case, take this as a warning. I'm in a good mood now, so I won't kill you. Bother me again and I won't even waste this much breath on you."

That was the last thing the men heard and after a flash of light, all five soldiers dropped to the ground, unconscious. They and the ladies barely saw what happened, except for Rose.

Bright balls of light and an eyeball?

O'Brien walked over to the unconscious men, checking if they had anything of value on them, although he knew it was unlikely.

‘Should I kill them anyway? Wait, technically I've been reborn, so I haven't killed a single soul yet. My hands are clean!’

The epiphany shocked O'Brien greatly. The sin and blood on his hands were washed away now!

Briefly frozen in shock, hearing the women's approach caused him to regain some clarity of mind.

"Chop-chop now," he softly said to the still shocked women, his thoughts in chaos.

What a crazy thing it was, for your bad deeds to be undone.

"Is…is it alright to leave them like this?" Rose asked, her brows creased in worry.

"Is it really the Apocalypse? Why is it happening?" Jules blurted out, stepping closer to him, pressed for answers.

O'Brien merely waved at them in answer as he walked away. His train of thoughts were chugging down a deeper track.

‘What should I do now then? Avoid killing? Keep my hands clean? Make others do the killing for me? What others? Is keeping my hands clean that important? Can it realistically avoided in the apocalypse?’

For the first time since he returned months ago, O'Brien was at war within himself.