“Scheduled programming has been interrupted. This is a Civil Defense Broadcast. At approximately, Eight Thirty AM, New Sampston Standard Time, a magnitude eight point eight earthquake was picked up by early warning sensors along the Cartin-Zain fault line. Expect violent aftershocks, remain vigilant, listen to alerts, and seek proper shelter now.”
Not too long after the earthquake, a massive sinkhole-like crater was discovered, it spanned almost two hundred miles long and wide and sat exactly where the megacity of New Rouen’s cityscape sat. The now disconnected highways crumbled toward the open crater, some vehicles too unlucky to stop in time. Although, the terrain almost looked as if it was pulled slightly upward. And like that just moments ago, one of the biggest cities on the Sampstonial Republic’s Capital Planet is now gone in what eye-witness reports say was a blinding flash of light during the intense and violent shaking. After several attempts at investigation by top scientists of many theoretical fields, the world was left practically dumb-founded. Such a massive scale event was thought to be near impossible, but either way daily life must continue on. Fear resided for a couple decades after, could another city be next?
Yet years later, nothing happened. Some still hold hope that maybe one day the city can be found wherever it now resides, others assume the worst, with over thirty million dead in an instant or worse, over time in whatever hell they might be in.
Whatever the case, this will forever be a top unsolved mystery, for many years to come.
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[. . .]
[Observer]
[Connecting]
[. . .]
“Zero Hour”
Day 0 - 08:23:15 AM NSST
District Thirty, New Rouen Megacity.
Officer Second Grade, Johnathan Adams.
District Thirty Police Precinct.
It was a mostly uneventful morning, I followed my morning routine like I always have. A simple breakfast cereal, warm shower and of course brushing my teeth in the shower to save time. I dried myself then got dressed, my standard issue police uniform consisted of a navy blue shirt with two reflective bands on the upper arms and the words police in reflective material on the back, of course I can’t forget the undershirt stab vest, also matching navy blue uniform pants with a reflective line down the sides, and a pair black duty boots. Then I slipped on my service belt, clipping on the radio pouch then putting the radio in after taking it off the charger. I opened my pistol case, taking out the holster with my standard issue eleven millimeter handgun already in it. The rest of the belt’s kit was kept at the station's locker room. As it was only a recent policy that officers were permitted to take their sidearm case, radio, and uniform home. I guess the city’s council was put on edge after a couple of earthquakes seemed to have correlated with a moderate increase in crime due to looting and broad daylight assaults.
I grabbed the last of my needed items, my phone and wallet, with my keychain and got to heading out. Making sure to lock my apartment on the way out. I proceeded with my normal traveling routine and headed out to get down to the station. I walked through the halls of the apartment building, down some stairs and to the bus stop. Fortunately, with good public transit the bus consistently arrived almost always as soon as I got to the stop. It was also an upside that the public transport was free and the traffic recently was toned down due to some government project or something. That old Davidson has been doing wonders for the city, last Governor was probably the most hated one in the country for a time.
The bus brakes hissed as it slowly stopped at the upcoming red light, suddenly sirens were blaring aloud, traffic began to naturally start halting. Another blasted earthquake warning, this was the third one this month. Fuck me, I haven’t even got to work yet. I saw people on the sidewalks trying to get into the nearest building, since it was more likely for loose debris to fall from the facades than the whole buildings themselves, guess we can thank the engineers and our federal government for good buildings and regulations.
The Public Alert tone interrupted the sirens, a brief pause before the generated voice spoke aloud, “Earthquake Emergency. Countdown, thirty seconds until quake one. Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight...”
I was on the floor with the rest of the passengers, taking cover under the bus seats. Luckily, the janitors were also paid well. I heard someone talking, some sort of joke to lighten the mood between their friend. I gritted my teeth as the countdown kept going, soon enough it hit zero and then there was a deafening... silence? I only looked towards the window for a second, my vision was filled by bright light from the outside. I shielded my eyes before... Everything went dark.
. . .
. . .
My mind was jolted back into consciousness by a passenger gently shaking my arms. I rapidly blinked and tried to sit up, stopping midway because my head was fucking killing me. The passenger was mouthing something, looking around behind him and past me, I couldn’t hear him. Sound felt distant and muffled, I shook my head as my hearing transitioned to a less muffled ringing then cleared up as sound returned.
“Hey, can you hear me?” The man was examining me before he looked back over to the others.
“I hear, I hear,” I pinched the bridge of my nose,"My damned head."
“Just sit still, it seems some of us weren’t that affected.” He turned away to check on some other passengers.
I blinked a few more times, most people were on the floor or sitting up, shaking their heads or just staring blankly. I slowly attempted to pull myself up, almost losing my balance but the man caught me at the last second and patted me on the shoulder as he helped me up. I saw people outside were struggling to stand as well some looking disorientated. I looked back at the people in the bus, most of them confused and some still laying down with their hands on their face.
Then the sound of panicked screaming and yelling came from outside the bus behind me. As I turned to look, I saw people pointing up at the sky, some started to run for the nearest building or anywhere else to hide under. I was about to step closer to the window to peek up when suddenly the blur of a creature dived into someone who was pointing at it. There was a sickening thunk muffled from being inside the bus but still audible. I shook my head in disbelief, but I could see it, I couldn’t stay disoriented. I darted for the bus doors, drawing my sidearm as I moved. As I stepped off the bus my eyes fixed on the four legged creature, it looked sorta like… a lion, no hawk head, a griffin? It had a medieval looking metal chestplate and spangenhelm on and not to mention the attached razor sharp edges on its wings. I blinked a bit before I saw motion from below, the man was pinned by the griffin and was trying to squirm out of the creature’s talons and weight, the griffin cocked its head to look down at the man before seemingly shifting its weight forward triggering the man to scream out in bloody agony.
I didn’t waste any further time, I aimed up and shot at the griffin two times, one striking it across the back of its neck and another penetrating the torso chestplate with a metal plink. It let out a pained squawk as it flapped its wings, jumping off the man as it continued to flap its wings to gain upward height.
Its eyes locked onto mine, a visible anger in its facial expression, it shifted itself for a dive flapping once more as it put its front talons out, I barely managed to roll to the side shooting at the underside of the griffin as it passed over. A confirmed sound of metal plinking and another squawk of pain. It hovered for a moment looking back around at me before shifting itself again to turn at me, so I held my breath and squeezed the trigger, another metal plink through the nasal guard of it’s helmet, its wing seized up mid-flight with its momentum carrying it forward still as it slammed into the hood of a nearby car, blood spurting out onto the car as it slipped off the hood onto the ground.
I stood up, looking back at where the man was lying. Immediately I ran over to the man, I could hear his unstable and labored breathing, a slight gurgle as he reached out to me. His lower abdomen wasn’t supposed to look like that. Fucl, is there even anything I can do? I knelt next to him, holding his hand as I took out my radio and turned it on, only to be met with heavy static and the crackling of unintelligible voices and noises. Then I swapped to my phone, only to see there's no signal, of course. Fuck, fuck, fuck. All I could do was hold onto the man’s hand and rest his head with my other hand. I looked up to see a small number of people running out to help me render aid, one holding a medical kit, some holding makeshift weapons, some others looking over at the griffin pooling in its own blood.
I saw the confusion on people’s faces, the horror, the panic. People started ushering people inside, the streets were starting to empty out as many others agreed it best to seek shelter at this point. In the distance, I could hear a few more gunshots ring out, as it reverberated off the city walls. I looked to the others, they nodded to me as I slowly tried to let the man’s hand go, his grip tightened for a moment. Another person held his hand as well, he didn’t loosen his grip on me yet. We sat there as the one with the medical kit shook his head, and I felt the man’s grip loosen at some point, I don’t know how long I was staring after that.
A man patted me on the shoulder and helped me to my feet, nodding to those gathered around him. I started running towards the origin of the other gunshots, I looked back for a second but I couldn’t look all the way back. As I ran forward I saw people running away past me darting between parked cars, I looked out past the intersection seeing a couple griffins hovering above some people down the road. So I started sprinting as fast as I could.
[. . .]
[Swapping]
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[Connecting]
[. . .]
“Zero Hour”
Day 0 - 08:43:25 AM Local Time.
District Twenty, New Rouen Megacity.
Governor, Ronald Davidson.
City Administration.
Fucking hell, only half the city council was gathered. Goddess knows where the rest are, wireless communications are out as well. Only critical buildings have power, water reserves are lowering as we speak and these lot are already panicking and bickering, it had to happen fucking today of all of them. I wanted to retire for goddess sake, meanwhile these idiots couldn’t calm down for the life of them. Still bickering and panicking in their seats, fucking hate this job. I sat at the end of the oval conference table, leaning forward with my head in my hands. Before taking a deep breath, in and out, looking up as I put my hands down on the table.
“Order... ORDER! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!” I shouted, slamming my fist down.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
A small damn was let out by a council member, but otherwise they settled down and sat up right in their chairs.
So I continued on, “Let’s get right on to it, we appeared to have been transported to somewhere else, do you all agree.”
The gathered council members nodded slowly in agreement, looking at each other.
“So as we know. There are guidelines in place for this, we’re cut off from the external government which makes this council and the legislations cabinet the highest powers currently. Do we agree?”
They all nodded collectively again, some giving me a skeptical look, others seeming to put it together nodding along.
“Then we know that we must activate martial law immediately and start figuring out where the fuck we are and start organizing the emergency protocols now. Do we agree?”
They all looked at each other once more, some hesitantly nodding. Others agreed aloud.
“Then I enact emergency powers until we have stabilized. We need a command structure, we need action. Agree?
They all looked to each other nodding before collectively saying their agreement outloud.
“Then let’s shuffle to it, get the agenda books, get the books, get the resources. Get the various departments and services organized and call their highest rank here. We have an order. First communication, Second security, Third supplies, Fourth everything else, all right?”
The council members nodded and started to get up, the rest of the time was spent getting runners out and trying to figure out the extent of the situation. Some technicians brought out some landline phones testing them before giving the thumbs up. But fuck me, I was supposed to retire next month and let someone else takeover. Now my career is extended for another decade, isn’t it. Fuck. Another year, another five years. Let's just get this shit rolling. I slowly picked up the phone, looking at the list of numbers to contact.
[. . .]
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In a bright flash of light, a massive city was plopped into the middle of an ever expansive forest. The ground shook for miles, with many aftershocks, the light was seen even further away. The first to mobilize to the city were already flying on their way there. Griffins, a society of warlording and treasure hoarding half-avians. With such a massive place given to them, the god’s must have blessed them with free loot and an even better fancier perch. The first of many chainmail and plate-cladded griffins flew just barely over the forest canopy, a tight formation of recruits diverted from frontline combat to explore and conquer this new wonder in the forest. Most of the griffins weren’t even armed, mostly relying on their dive tactics, while a small number seemed to be equipped with specialized bows.
For the griffins, a full day of looting was ahead of them. With plenty of sunlight to continue daylight operations, each griffin faction hoped the others would arrive later before they started having to fight over something once again.
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[. . .]
[Connecting]
[. . .]
“Zero Hour”
Day 0 - 09:01:55 AM Local Time.
District Thirty, New Rouen Megacity.
Officer Second Grade, Johnathan Adams.
District Thirty Police Precinct.
This situation wasn’t something I really prepared for during training, but I guess the fundamentals are still there. I put my boot on the griffin’s neck, using the leverage to dislodge the machete from the meat of its neck, blood spilling out as I did. Honestly I should have taken that sword fighting class being offered by those historical larpers, I wonder if any of them are doing good. I looked over to the other officer who was with me along with a few others who were also carrying various makeshift weapons. At this point we were all blood stained, dirtied, slashed up, out of ammo, and maybe nearing the first beginnings of tiredness. The day hasn’t even fully started yet either. Hopefully it might shake off later, luckily these civilians with us might also be the real deal, they are claiming to be off-duty military. We can’t really check the validity of their military ids, but not too many counterfeit them and you can’t fake action like that.
“What’s on your mind, Adams?” Officer Silvia Osborn looked over to me, as she walked to my side.
“I would say some cursed trope phrases, but I should hold off on those.”
She quietly chuckled a bit, “Maybe you should, now shall we continue on to the nearest station.”
I’d nod, looking back at the other men who nodded at me, before looking back at Osborn, “Maybe I’ll get that promotion to sarge?”
“All considering, probably,” She’d look at the griffin corpses, “You know reading fantasy might be the better option than experiencing it.”
I’d pat her on the shoulder and waved my hand forward as we continued walking down the street. While the streets were devoid of people, the abandoned cars still lined the street, though most of them seemed to have auto-shut off by now. It was a bit eerily quiet, no car sounds, seemingly no power with the lights out around us. Occasionally I looked up and saw a few faces looking down at us from the tinted building windows, well atleast whatever windows weren’t smashed at least. It seems business fronts were locked up as best they could, their roll up doors deployed or makeshift barricades visible from the windows, even some still boarded up from the previous earthquakes or actively being boarded up. A couple people would join us or watch us pass, many people were inside though.
Though strangely, there weren't any lasting aftershocks within the city or harsh shaking during the flash. But there were signs of new damage though, crumbling building facades and some more recent looking shattered windows. Fortunately, these buildings were meant to withstand multiple quakes, most being built with the newer safety code in the last couple decades. Also thankfully, most people were taking initiative with sheltering in place already, even with major communications currently out of action, though that was thanks to the emergency preparedness course drilled into you during highschool. I think it was ‘Stop. Shelter. Cooperate.’ or something? Hopefully most people get the memo and don’t try to fight those damned griffins.
Our group continued down the practically lifeless streets, we passed the occasional griffin or human corpse, though no officer corpses yet. Poor guys. Occasionally we needed to duck for cover when we saw the shadows or reflections of the griffins on the buildings above. Their numbers were small, they seemed to be mostly patrolling and striking at people who were caught alone. I’d assume their forces aren’t enough to take this city. I mean, this city is incredibly dense and big, like a hundred to two hundred miles by length and width, even if it transformed out into single or two floor housing around the edges. They say the city is a marvel of urban design, made to show off the prosperity of our republic and the plausibility of practically self-sustainable megacities. Hopefully it proves the self-sustainable part, I’d like an edible lunch at the least. The city itself was split into district grids and grouped by sectors to lessen the burden of administrative duties, and somehow they managed to keep the bureaucracy to a minimum. A hundred districts and about thirty million people, and I don’t need to wait four years for something. But boy would I pay to at least see one CIWS installed so it can tear these feather shits to pieces, maybe there are some somewhere, lying around in some abandoned military post. One could dream, right?
We avoided sun-lit streets, and stuck to darker alleys or unlit streets. It might have extended our travel time to the station, but at least we didn’t have to fight another group of those griffins. Thinking about it, they didn’t seem to possess that much training just relying on maneuvering and diving, which is still lethal of course. But maybe in this world they’re like conscripts? They don’t seem to know how to really fight without diving. Who knows, but I really hope that we find a friendly nation like in those novels. I don’t like the prospect of being at war in another world.
The rest of my thoughts were interrupted as I saw the police station signage ahead. Our group walked around to the back of the station, I walked up to the back door giving it a quick patterned knock. A moment later the door clicked and an officer with a helmet and vest wielding a rifle greeted us. He stepped outside, holding the door open, looking up then back at us.
“Inside, quick.” He’d lean against the door, looking back up to the sky.
Our group shuffled inside, most of us leaning against the brick walls of the interior hallway to rest for a second. The officer gave one last look outside before closing the backdoor and locking it. He looked back at me.
“Off-duty, huh? What took you so long?” He’d have a quiet chuckle as he slung his rifle.
I’d wave at him playfully as I stood up, “Just traffic you know, should I get signed in now.”
“Of course, follow me you lot, we’re going to the shelter. The lieutenant will want to see you two officers.” The officer walked ahead of us.
We were led through the somewhat windy hallways then down a couple flights of stairs into the basement area. A decently big metal door awaited with the signage indicating it to be a wartime shelter. He rubbed his hands as he positioned himself to open the heavy looking metal door, I offered to help and he just said he had it. With a bit of a pull, the door hissed before screeching across the ground guides. He then pointed inward, we all walked in to the otherside where another officer was waiting. I looked back as I saw him close the door behind us. The shelter must have backup power, seeing as it was lit up by the white glare of the led lights above. The next officer led us a short distance down the hallway before a sergeant, wait- my sergeant walked up to greet us.
“Adams, you’re fuckin’ alive. So are you too Osborn,” He’d put his hand on my shoulder, looking behind us, “and I see you brought some company?”
I gave him a weak smile, “Sergeant Doyle, great to see another friendly face. What's our situation?”
“Fucked but managing, first let’s get your company situated. Howe, Howe! There you are, get those kind men to the barracks with the others.” He’d look back at me, smiling before speaking up once the others were out of sight, “Listen we don’t have that many officers reporting to our station, they might have gone to the main precinct or worse intercepted by those damned birds. Follow me.”
Doyle led us down another set of hallways then past another set of doors into a wide and open room, the command center as it was marked, though all of the computers were off. A couple officers were writing using pen and paper and using some landline phones, ancient shit right there. We’d continued walking down the center aisle before turning towards the labeled briefing room, where I could see others sitting down in there.
“I’ve already heard this one, so get on in,” The sergeant opened the door for us and ushered us in.
As we entered there were a couple lines of tables, most of the seats empty. The tables were elevated step by step, making the room look like a mini auditorium but wasn’t that big. The lieutenant was standing near the podium as he watched us enter, he gave us a smile waving us in.
“More surviving officers, nice of you to make it. Take a seat.” The lieutenant leaned against the podium, taking a breath, “Officers, this will probably be one hell of a patrol briefing. Luckily landlines seem to still work so we have orders from the governor’s office. First thing, Martial law is in effect, obviously,” He’d eye some of the officers who murmured a bit.
“Secondly, we most likely do not have the manpower to secure the city in its entirety. Even if the city's total officer count is around two hundred thousand, initial roll call suggests that many have not made it to work yet. Though as you know, without the local network, we are limited by the speed of information being updated. But at least landlines still seem to work, however ancient those backup systems are. Now City Hall says they’re working on fixing the radios and wireless, but the payphones in the city still function as landline connections, thus still working.” he’d shuffle some papers on his podium, “Luckily for us, the engineers who designed the city also made it with civil defense in mind. Dial One One Two, you’ll get connected to the central operations center, then ask for our station to be patched in here.”
Some of the officers murmured a bit. The lieutenant eyed them before continuing, “Anyway, our initial orders are to just start patrolling in squads, to shoot the griffins out of the sky and of course mop up griffins that get past our defensive permitters. We are not the main defense, the national guard is, or what's left of them. If you encounter large groups of griffins that might overwhelm you, avoid and report at the nearest phone. We are not frontliners, we are support until ordered.”
He’d take a short breather, looking at us, “Now I need you all to buddy up into squads of five, and get geared up. Riot gear is our best bet for protection currently, with our ammo stocks limited, don’t shoot at what you can’t hit. Hopefully they can get an ammo facility up and running, and some basic logistics while you’re out. As I said, the national guard is working to secure the borders and we must mop up the inside to the best of our ability. I need you all to check back to the station on the hour, watch your watches. Stay safe, be safe, don’t take risks. Take a short rest, no showering to conserve water, then get out there when possible. Dismissed.”
The lieutenant sat back in the office chair near the podium, fiddling with a pen as he watched the officers start moving around. Officers looked at each other, getting into their respective squads with those they had the closest relation to before shuffling out the briefing room. I’d look to Osborn who was still sitting next to me.
“What? Well we made a good pair.” She’d lean back in her chair.
Sergeant Doyle approached us, scooting past a couple officers trying to get out of the briefing room, “Hey, I’m going with you two, if you don’t mind.”
“Well that makes three, sarge.” I’d look over at another two officers approaching us.
“Probationary Officer Perry Hawkins, sir.” He stood at attention.
We all looked over at the other officer.
“Probationary Officer Nick Jenkins, uh, sir.” He tried his best to stand at attention.
“Hehe, reminds me of my cadet days, well at ease you two. A hell of a day for a learning experience.” Sergeant Doyle turned towards me, “I’ll meet you at the door, get yourselves geared up, take what you need. I already got my baby.”
Sergeant Doyle patted his holster that was holding an old .357 magnum, old school and cool. Guess that's him, I chuckled a bit as he pointed finger guns at me. I’d give him a playful salute, he smiled as he walked out of the briefing room. Osborn shrugged a bit, patting me on the shoulder as she got up and left with Doyle as well, leaving me and the two probies. Of course, I get to be this year's trainer of the year or something. What the hell, a hell of a day for learning.
“Well, with me I guess. Please drop the formalities before they get annoying, alright.” I’d get up and start heading out.
“Yes, sir!” Hawkins exclaimed as he walked behind me, Jenkins following not too far behind.
I let out a small sight, another long day, long day this and that. What time is it anyway, did I only really wake up like an hour ago? This day is going to be so fucking long.