Chapter 130: On the Other Side of the Globe
On the other side of the globe, it was night.
A group of young college students was camping in one of the clearings in the area. It was a popular spot for stargazing, and today there were only a few groups.
They stargazed together, appreciating the amazingness of outer space. This was their last chance to be together before they graduated, and they wanted to make plenty of memories.
They did not ask for it to be so memorable, however.
"What’s that?" One of the girls asked, and the others lifted their heads to see. Their expressions brightened, as if they saw a pleasant surprise.
"Shooting star!"
"Shooting stars!"
"Wow! It’s close!"
"...is it supposed to be this big?"
The rest...did not know the answer and they were not given a chance to study it, either. The damned meteorite entered the atmosphere and a small piece smashed in the distant forest!
It was not too close, but everyone fell down as the ground shook, and everyone felt a heat wave pass over them, causing minor burns.
The space rock slammed on the forest and flattened that land. The ground shook and cracks formed. Beyond the impact site, the heat ignited the trees and shrubs.
Worse, some of the ejecta flew in their direction and expanded the scope of the fire way too close to where they were standing.
"Run! To the car!!" They screeched, and everyone dashed as far away from the fire as quickly as they could.
They had no mind for the items left at camp and everyone rushed to the parking area. This dash took out at least half of their energy.
Most of them were never quite athletic. Stargazing as a hobby didn’t need it. They could use cars or scooters, and just camping didn’t improve physique if only done once a year right?
Huff...huff
The ground vibrated and their hearts palpitated along with it, but their feet did not stop moving.
Various wild animals rushed past them, similarly trying to escape the fire. Some even bumped into them.
"Kyaa!" a girl who was pushed away by a deer yelled as she fell down. They wanted to get to her, but a mob of wild animals came by, and she was hit by another hoof, her head smashed down, and her body crushed under scores of animals that passed over her
This time, the rest of them had no choice but to turn away. They could only rush forward; otherwise, they’d be next!
They just hoped that everything was alright in civilization!
...
The big meteorite landed on a distant land, but it hit a major subduction zone between continents. When it landed, not only was the immediate surrounding obliterated, but it felt like a taut string that was a continent was suddenly let go, and the force of release shook countries.
Many people were having dinner or relaxing in this part of the globe. On the ground, the land shook so intensely that people standing still one moment were literally thrown around the next.
It was like humans became dice thrown inside a gambler’s cup, shaken relentlessly. The effect was either people’s bones breaking or the building would collapse first.
This was worse at every location near a fault line. Even those far from the area of impact were affected. In the face of a strong extraterrestrial force, the earth was but a piece of paper, the lands tearing apart to the naked eye.
The fault lines at the seabed were no exception.
As such, even in this area where the sea did not take on too many meteorites, there were still plenty of tsunamis created.
A cruise ship witnessed the surface of the sea that had been relatively flat change to waves as tall as hills, and even mountains.
A banquet was being held at the main hall at this time, and the change came too suddenly that no one was prepared for even the slightest bump.
BOOM!
SLAM!
BANG!!
What would’ve been a lovely cruise vacation changed in the snap of a finger, and people could only passively get carried away.
"Kyaaaaa!!"
"Help! Help!!"
The floor tilted in front of their eyes and people immediately slid down on the floor. Scores of tables, furniture, glass, plates, and the like slid along the people, hitting them while they also hit each other.
One was hit by a plate smack on the face. He lost his struggle to crawl up—after the ship lurched to a side—he was immediately thrown down several meters, smack to the wall on the other side.
At the bottom, there were also people unfortunate enough to meet heavy furniture. "NOnononono!!" they screamed, watching as heavy things slid straight at them!
SQUELCH!
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Soon, no one could care anymore because as the ship tilted more and more vertically, more and more people got crushed by furniture or by other people (or a group of them).
A portion of the guests—previously fabulous and well dressed—were now squished together at one side of the ship, some begging others to move, and others begging others not to move.
Morbidly, someone’s heels even landed on a person’s eye.
"GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!! AHHHH!" The man screamed and struggled, but him moving his head around exacerbated the injury. He didn’t even notice when he lost consciousness, never to wake again.
The woman was at an awkward angle and couldn’t feel her legs anymore because part of her legs had been squashed. Her face was filled with tears, snot, and blood from a head injury caused by a tray hitting her from a few meters away.
Now...she even had a corpse hanging on her heels!!
At the bridge, the captain struggled to keep the boat’s orientation correct to keep it from turning. In a sense, during a tsunami, they were in an ideal spot over the deep sea. Being too near the shore would’ve been far more disastrous.
Of course, the dangers were still very much active, and dozens had already perished from the intense shaking of the boat. Most people died after hitting their heads, breaking their necks, getting crushed by the various heavy furniture in this premier cruise, and so on.
Some were a little luckier than others, though whether they actually think so might differ.
A couple was sliding around with others, pale in fright. They managed to get into one of the counter islands meant for stool seating. It was one of the few fixed areas in that massive grand hall.
Guided by the man, they would adjust their location depending on the swing of the boat, climbing over it or whatever, but this required immense strength and balance, which they did not have.
Fortunately, the counter had a depression below where boxes were placed, and they hid here, and if the angle was awkward, they just had to add pressure on their extremities to expand themselves within the enclosed space, keeping themselves from sliding out of it.
Not everyone was as lucky; most would be swung around like a yo-yo, powerless against the force of nature.
Liana screamed when she saw one of her new friends slide down and get crushed by the ice cream fridge!
"Wuuu—" she sobbed, but the angle turned and her husband, Matt, screamed.
"Don’t loosen your hold!"
She gasped and did as she was told, but her sobbing did not stop.
Her husband was also pale and distraught. Who’d have thought this peaceful cruise—one meant for reconciliation—would turn out like this?
Liana and Matt were a couple on the verge of getting a divorce. There had been no third party between them, except for a lot of thoughts.
Liana felt her husband had become less loving after she gave birth. He treated the child well, but the passion had been lost.
Later, when she asked him questions after he got drunk, she found out that his passion had cooled after watching her give birth!
He was in the room when she was giving birth to him—she suffered so much, how dare he dislike her!?
A cold war commenced, though they kept civil for the sake of the child.
This trip had been booked even before this fight, and both of them secretly hoped to rekindle the romance.
They did not expect them to rekindle their hope for life!
...
Different parts of the country were affected in different ways and intensities. Some did not even feel the changes until the rest of the world had already been shaken to death.
For example, a group of friends walked along the streets of their simple city neighborhood. They didn’t look like hoodlums, but definitely not model students.
"Finally, a Saturday!"
"We can play all day! Wohoo!" At this, one of the friends looked at the guy leading them.
"KURT! You haven’t hung out with us for a while. Missed you~"
"Ewww! Stop being gay!"
"So what happened?"
"Tsk, my mum grounded me," Kurt said, gritting his teeth. "She’s so controlling— I swear, it’s so irritating! Honestly, just hearing her voice irks me now."
His footsteps towards the internet cafe hastened as if just landing inside there would make his mood better.
"How did you leave?"
"I went out on my own. I have feet, don’t I? We got into a shouting match and stuff. I swear, I don’t know how her throat is still working."
This caused several amused scoffs, with many of those with annoying parents agreeing with him.
"So...since you’re here, how about we play all night?! Are you going home?"
It was then the ground shook out of nowhere, and they—who were walking along the streets—lost their footing.
Kurt wouldn’t get to answer his friend’s question anymore.