CH1: Shellshock:
Blinding light, transformed from a blazing red hue. The city had crumbled, ancient stone that had stood the test of time itself was blown to dust as if it had never existed.
Wheezing, her small lungs clogged with ash, Oeh struggled to climb on top of the rubble that had moments before been her home. There was no time to protect, to hope, to pray, or to even mourn. As if a contained nuclear blast hit the city buildings exploded with light, Oeh's house sitting atop a hill overlooking the city collapsed. Her vision hazy, her mind unable to process the sheer distraction that had transpired, one thought pulsed in her head.
"How did I survive?"
She thought someone was dragging her out of the crumbling bricks that had been her abode, but she honestly couldn't even dare to comprehend her surroundings. Witnessing the death of nearly half the bustling town before her, that curious thought pulsed in her head.
"How did I survive?"
Muttering the words out loud to herself, she was shocked back to reality when someone slapped her hard across the cheek. Being awoken out of her shellshock coma, her eyes wild and alive stared at the figure before her. Tall, soot-covered face, his lips were moving but no sound came. Tears nearly flooded her eyes, everything adding up now. Her family below her, her neighbors, half of the town, even her hearing taken away by some unknown reaper. The figure's concerned gaze grew as Oeh began to cry, then the ringing began. Of all things this horseman had taken, perhaps she still had her hearing?
"Please, Oeh, you are scaring me! We need to go, get help!"
The muffled voice finally registered in her brain, and as her hearing returned she nearly wished she was deaf. Sirens everywhere, the sound of fire crackling, wails of those trapped beneath the ruins or of those realizing who they had lost. Sobbing, she looked up to the figure that had brought her back to this hell. Her drenched eyes widened with a mix of shock and horror as she made the mental connection with this Ghastly, ashen ghost and her friend Jay. What was he doing here? Rushed to her feet she had no time to think, trying to keep her eyes away from the street filled with suffering.
Covering her recovering ears, she thought nothing could ever cover or erase the horrible screams that pierced this cold, unforgiving day. She had stories of sufferings like these in their town before, but if this was one of them, she feared the fallout that would resume soon. These great reapings never came alone, soon most would perish. With what little time she had being rushed to the nearest hospital by Jay, she prayed for all still living in the godforsaken and cursed town of Tetris.