Now, the heat was unbearable.

Luca squirmed, tugging at his collar though he didn't dare remove any layers. His brain was boiling, every inch of him was painful to touch, and when he glanced over at the others, they looked just as ill, Mei forcing her hair into a messy plait to stop it from burning her neck and back. On her lap, Xiang whined as he lay slumped and utterly uncomfortable. Even Adriaan, three seats down, had taken off his blazer, though that hadn't seemed to have helped much. Everyone was slicked with sweat, and Luca grimaced at the sight, and smell. Everyone seated was clearly in pain, muttering to their neighbours and not even noticing how the speaker had fainted onstage.

"Can they not do something about the weather?" Cheng hissed to no one in particular, and Luca was inclined to agree.

He couldn't breathe. His brain pounded against his skull until his vision swam and he thought he would keel over. Cheng did. The boy sank to the floor and no one could bring themselves to help him back up. Isabel groaned, swaying dangerously. They would all die of dehydration if they weren't careful.

And that was when it happened.

"Look!" cried Isabel, pointing to the sky.

Everyone within earshot glanced upwards at the glass dome above their heads. A boom in the distance shook the very ground they stood on, Luca tumbling out of his seat, sprawled on the grass as he watched the glass above crack. A chip appeared above them all, and no one said a word as it snaked across the sky, shattering the entire dome within seconds.

Luca couldn't get up to run as he gaped at the horrific view. Glass plummeted towards them all, finally revealing the truth.

For a split second, he saw it all. He saw the facade crumble to reveal a sick, grey world. There was no sky, only a sea of yellow clouds and hot, thick air that was like soup to breathe in.

There was no time to ponder this horrifying discovery, for as soon as the glass fell away, the world tilted and a boiling wind blasted them all back.

…

Down in Iochtarach, the perpetually unfortunate residents were far less aware of the true nature of their impending doom, preoccupied with the earthquake that was tearing through their numerous cities and destroying everything in its wake. In Metrou, Andrei curled into a ball on his bed as everything shook and Tsvetan darted to the doorway to investigate the commotion.

Clocks fell from the shelf and crashed to the floor with a clatter, some bursting apart and the noise unbearable as it mixed with the screams and cries of those above and below.

The air burned too, hot and thick, like a pan of gruel poured over his head. Smoke billowed from below as the factories were destroyed and molten metal spilled everywhere, melting holes through the floor for the residents to fall through to their deaths, last moments filled with the image of a world they'd never known. A world all too happy to see them dead. But Andrei knew very little of this, only aware that they might all be about to die.

"What is happening?" he wailed as Alin threw his arms around him.

"Get away from there!" the older boy cried to his partner but it was too late, the world turned and, with a bellow, Tsvetan tumbled forward, disappearing into the hole running through the staircase.

"No!" Andrei felt his brother's arms rip themselves away from him as Alin ran to the window, tearing down the curtain but not daring to go near the door. "Tsvetan!" The raw horror in his voice tore at Andrei's soul, his brother's screams added to those of his home. But Tsvetan was gone, probably lying splat next to a water pump. A broken water pump Andrei noted, chancing a glance up to find burst pipes and murky water joining people and possessions falling past their flat.

"Alin!" he howled, "please I'm scared!"

His brother tore himself from the window and his grief, staggering across the room to a particular pile of their belongings, Andrei completely bewildered and unable to join him due to being paralysed with terror. He clutched the blankets, screaming as Alin dug through their clutter, apparently oblivious to the unbreathable atmosphere quickly choking them both.

Andrei's eyes watered, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, gasps unable to give him a clear breath of air. This was it. He would die here.

"Alin," he rasped, voice barely carrying past his sweaty lips. He could no longer lift his head, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alin jump to his feet with a flourish, carrying two messes of tubes in his arms.

The gas masks! He'd almost forgotten they owned them; after all, they were no use to anyone, not to sell and not to use. But now they could just save them!

"Here," Alin threw one to Andrei, a mess of plastic that was little more than a set of goggles, a mouthpiece and a tin filter with a neck strap. Andrei didn't even have time to put the thing on properly, clutching it to his mouth as Alin dragged him off the bed and under it instead. He held his little brother close to him, flat on top of his stomach, hoping to be a human pillow as their entire staircase collapsed and fell into oblivion.

…

The world was pure chaos.

Luca lay sprawled against the outside of his apartment complex, saved only by his protective vest from Xiang, but unable to move. Glass tore through his sleeves and one of his eyes refused to open, blinding the other with the crushing agony shooting through his skull. Everything burned. The screams were all around. He couldn't open his eyes or cry out for his family. Luca tried to move his hand, barely succeeding, and forced his good eye to open to find Cheng above him, collapsed on the now-angled grass amongst broken chairs and shards of glass. Next to him, Mei shook his limp, broken body, screaming at him to wake up whilst Xiang clung to her skirt and wailed until his little lungs were sore.

Above them still, the remains of the dazzling blue dome spiked upwards, so distinguished from this new truth, the swirling clouds, thick red sweeping across grey and burning everything in its path. Yet more shards were still falling, white-hot edges pointing straight for the people below.

Cheng still wasn't moving. Mei continued her howling but it did no good.

Luca tried to move his hand upwards, to warn her of the falling glass, to call out to Mei and tell her to get herself and Xiang to safety, that Cheng was probably dead and there was no use putting their life on the line to save him, as horrendous as this all was.

But before he could even move his lips, a sliver of glass the size of a car came raining down, crushing them all in a sea of blood and gore. Tears formed in Luca's eyes that only added to the agony as the bloodstained glass continued on its route, landing right next to him and straying his face with red droplets before crashing through the building's enormous windows.

"Your mask! Luca, get your mask!" bellowed Adriaan, and Luca turned his head to find his siblings the other side of the fresh new hole, Adriaan crouched over a lifeless Isabel. His sleeves were already doused in her blood, and Luca had to squeeze his eyes shut at the angle her neck had snapped to.

No! Isabel couldn't be dead! His friends couldn't be either! What on earth was happening to them all and what had they done to deserve it?

"Luca, your gas mask!"

What was Adriaan even talking about? What did it matter when the world was ending?

"Luca!"

Luca forced himself to move his arm, ignoring the destruction and unparalleled human misery all around him, reaching out for his shoulder box and prising the thing open with clammy fingers, grabbing his gas mask and pulling the mouthpiece over his head. Right, he would admit that felt better.

Luca hauled himself into a sitting position, surrounded by the dead and dying, focusing on no one but his brother, who'd finally admitted Isabel was dead and abandoned her body, leaping over the chasm in their glassy surface to focus on his surviving sibling.

"We have to go!" He didn't even give Luca a chance to protest, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. And they were gone. Half-dragging Luca behind him, Adriaan stumbled across the tilted world, dodging debris and ignoring those around him. Luca was not so fortunate. He saw every soul they passed, friends, strangers. Small children clutched in their parents' arms, others alone, abandoned and screaming. And the dead. So many lay lifeless or on the brink of dying, the glistening white city stained with blood everywhere he looked. In their haste to escape what was clearly in the very air, the brothers even tripped and trampled over some of the bodies and living.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luca swore he saw Monique, dragging her crushed legs across the street and reaching out to him. Calling for him. She'd made it after all then...

He wanted to save her.

But Adriaan would not let go of his hand. Luca threw his arm out towards her, not caring how he looked to her in his ragged shirt and trousers. But he could not help Monique, and was forced to watch as she disappeared under the feet of a panicked crowd scrambling to find a safe hiding place.

It was still hot. Adriaan's face had erupted into bleeding, blistered burns, the things running up his arms and their escape was more than once halted by his need to stop and throw up.

"Where are we going?" Luca sobbed during one of those times, gas mask clammy around his jaw. His brother refused to let go of his hand, despite how painful the contact clearly was for him. In spite of how often he nagged his siblings for neglecting their gas masks, he'd appeared to have abandoned his own one somewhere back amongst the chaos.

"I have to get you somewhere safe," he mumbled through his shuddering breath. Glass still fell from the sky, and they could barely breathe, but in amongst the streets, away from the square, they were that bit more sheltered from the horrors raining down on them.

"But where?" Luca was pretty convinced that this was the end. There was nowhere they could run to, not forever, not truly safe. They were only putting off the inevitable.

"Here," Adriaan pulled him into an alley, almost vertical now and the brothers slipped and tumbled towards a dead end, and the skip lying on its side. The ground was juddering now, slipping down and down to somewhere Luca could not comprehend.

"Take this," looking dangerously ill now, Adriaan pulled a letter from his trouser pocket, stuffing it in Luca's own one roughly, "if you live through this hell, that letter should explain all." And finally, he let go of Luca's hand. Adriaan hissed as a layer of skin was ripped from his palm, burnt onto the metal that was Luca's own hand. But the blood welling from the scraped flesh was miniscule compared to the full extent of his injuries.

"But-"

"Now, hold still," Adriaan, with the last of his strength, pinned Luca to the floor and tore a hole in his trouser leg, at the top of his right thigh, to reveal shimmering silver and the smallest, most inconspicuous little button, right there on his robotic leg.

"No!" Luca cried, squirming and wriggling, "not that! I will not go to sleep!"

"You have to!" Adriaan bellowed into his face, "it's the best chance you have!"

"No you cannot make me! I shall not go!" Luca tried his best to push his brother away, but Adriaan was too strong, and in a flash he'd pressed the boy's shut-down button and the kid fell limp, eyes dull. He stood up, scooping Luca's body into his arms and- tenderly, like he was laying a baby to sleep- placed him in the skip.

Adriaan fell to his knees, smiling at his brother's peaceful face as the scorching hand of death finally claimed him.

...

So no, they still haven't met. I should probably hurry up with that though since we're seven chapters in. I wouldn't really consider this a long one [maybe OOTSBM length if I ever finish, nowhere near Just Kids but longer than The Voyage] but they will actually interact and get to know each other eventually. Next chapter, even.

And then, if I get this and SOTF finished, I can focus on the rest of my fics with less stress! Plus, I miss the satisfaction of finishing a story.

Also, I'm guessing people knew from the get-go that the city would be destroyed. If not… surprise?!

Man, it was so fun taking that beautiful sci-fi city peteradnan had lovingly built and drawn, and dropping a motherfucking nuke on it.

Also, if you don't understand anything that happened right at the end there, all will be revealed next chapter.