Mioray didn’t have time to comprehend what had happened. One moment he was casually chatting with his friends; the next, he heard screaming from outside, followed by something heavy crashing down on him, plunging him into darkness. The meteorite from Mars crushed on us, he thought, struggling to grasp his surroundings.

  There wasn’t enough room to move. Mioray was trapped beneath debris from the collapsed ceiling. He was lucky not to have been crushed outright, but that luck would mean nothing if he couldn’t escape.

  Screams echoed in the cafeteria, chaotic and disjointed. Some were desperate and pained, calling for help or shouting out names, likely of people in the cafeteria. He even recognized his own name amidst the commotion. It must have been Julie and Juju; they’d been near him when the collapse happened. Mioray’s heart raced as he hoped they were unharmed, along with Chris and Angelika. But the other cries sent a chill down his spine. They were raw, guttural, almost inhuman.

  The darkness around him was broken only by slivers of light seeping through gaps in the rubble. He tried to move but was pinned. Taking a deep breath, Mioray yelled for help. If someone was calling for him, maybe they’d hear him through all this chaos.

  “Mioray? Mioray, is that you?” a female voice called from nearby. The light from the gaps flickered as someone blocked its path. Mioray recognized the voice. It had to be Julie.

  “Yeah, I’m here!” he shouted back. “I’m stuck! I can’t get out!”

  “Hang on! Juju and I will try to dig you out!”

  The slivers of light danced chaotically as Mioray heard grunting and the sound of debris shifting. Then the gaps widened, and a hand stretched out toward him. He grabbed it. With his rescuer’s help, Mioray wriggled free from the debris.

  Standing up, Mioray brushed off dust and rubble before taking in the cafeteria around him. What had been a lively gathering spot for students and professors was now a disaster zone. The ceiling had partially collapsed, while the outer wall was completely destroyed, leaving a hill of rubble in its place and letting the rain in. Tables and chairs were overturned or broken. Food and shattered plates littered the floor. And then there were the injured. Some had minor bruises, others broken limbs, and some…

  “Mioray, your arm!” Juju, his rescuer, suddenly yelled, pointing at where Mioray’s left arm should have been. “You don’t have your arm! What happened?! And…there’s no blood?!”

  Heart sinking, Mioray looked down. His cast was gone, likely crushed in the collapse. Of course, he’d been missing that arm for a while now, so he hadn’t noticed its absence. How could he? He didn’t feel pain, not even from being buried under the rubble. Apart from some minor bruises that didn’t even sting, he was fine. Likely, his injuries would heal quickly, just as the wounds beneath the stitches did.

  “It’s okay, Juju,” Mioray said, waving his sweatshirt’s empty sleeve. “Let’s worry about me later. What is happening here?”

  He hoped Juju wouldn’t press him for an explanation of his arm missing. Everyone was still reeling from the disaster, and there were more urgent matters at hand. Julie, standing next to Juju with wide eyes, seemed uninjured apart from some dust clinging to her pink hoodie. Juju had a small cut on his forehead, but otherwise, he seemed okay too.

  “I have no fucking clue!” Juju snapped, looking around the ruined cafeteria. “Everything just went to shit! We need to get the hell out of here, now!”

  “No,” Julie said, her voice shaky but firm. “No. We need to find Chris and Angelika. We have to make sure they’re safe.”

  As much as Mioray wanted to agree with Juju, he couldn’t bring himself to leave his friends behind. His instincts screamed that it wasn’t safe to stay. Another crash could happen at any moment, and the entire ceiling might come down, turning the cafeteria into a tomb for hundreds. But if there was even a chance to help Chris and Angelika, he couldn’t ignore it. The counter where they’d been heading wasn’t far from the outer wall.

  Without a word, Mioray started moving toward it, slipping past Julie and Juju, who were still arguing. They stopped mid-sentence, and then Julie fell into step behind Mioray. Juju cursed under his breath, reluctant but unable to let them go alone. After a moment, he joined them.

  The three moved carefully through the debris, doing their best to avoid looking at the bodies. But they couldn’t ignore them. Some people hadn’t escaped with minor injuries or broken bones. Lifeless forms lay scattered across the cafeteria. There weren’t many, but it was enough to make Mioray’s stomach turn. He had never seen a dead body before, let alone those of people who’d been alive just moments earlier.

  He shuddered. I almost joined them, he thought. A miracle had spared him, even as the world around him crumbled.

  “Look, it’s Angelika!” Julie gasped. “Angelika, it’s us! Are you alright? Where’s Chris?”

  Mioray and Juju followed her gaze. Near the ruins of the outer wall sat a blonde girl with forest-green bangs. One of her legs was bent at a grotesque angle. Her face was pale, her expression frozen in terror as she turned to look at them.

  Julie screamed.

  It wasn’t an ordinary scream. It was piercing, raw, and filled with devastation. Mioray never imagined he’d hear a sound like that, especially from a friend. Julie’s trembling hands flew to her face, muffling her screams momentarily, only for them to return with renewed force.

  “No, no, no!” she cried, staggering forward. Her unsteady steps carried her closer to Angelika, who sat motionless. Julie seemed on the verge of collapsing as she reached her destination. Then, with a strangled sob, she crumpled to her knees.

  “Chris, no! No, no, no!”

  Mioray’s stomach dropped.

  Beside Angelika was another body, lying still amid the rubble. Its head was buried under a pile of blood-streaked debris. Blood pooled on the floor, spreading out in dark, unforgiving trails. Julie, sobbing hysterically, grabbed the lifeless hand and clutched it to her chest.

  “Wake up, Chris!” she cried, her whole body shaking. “Please, wake up!”

  He didn’t. He never would. Chris’s head was crushed.

  Whatever relief Mioray had felt at surviving the inexplicable blast vanished in an instant. The world around him seemed to tilt, his vision swimming as he fought to breathe. What is this? Why? How could this happen? It didn’t make sense. Chris had been alive moments ago. They’d gone to class together, shared jokes over lunch.

  “I don’t understand…”

  Just recently Chris had helped Mioray cover up his accident. Now, he was gone. Forever. No more arguments with professors. No more plans to travel home. No more nights with his girlfriend. Dead. Chris was dead.

  “There’s nothing we can do,” Juju said flatly behind Mioray. “Can we go now?”

  Mioray flinched at the detachment in his voice. Juju had always been self-centered, but right now, that indifference felt almost cruel. Still, maybe there was something useful in that detachment. Mioray shook his head, forcing himself to focus. They still didn’t know what caused the explosion, or if it was truly over.

  “It’s not safe here,” Mioray said through clenched teeth. He approached Julie and Angelika. “We have to get outside while it’s quiet. There might be another blast.”

  “I’m not leaving Chris!” Julie screamed, clutching the lifeless hand tighter. Tears streamed down her face, her voice raw. “I’m not leaving him here. I can’t. He might wake up, any minute now!”

  “Julie, what are you talking about–”

  “Mioray, don’t.” Angelika’s quiet voice cut him off. For the first time, she seemed to have snapped out of her daze. She met Mioray’s eyes, her gaze steady and somber, silently telling him it was futile. Then, gently, she wrapped her arms around Julie’s shoulders.

  “It’s okay, Julie,” Angelika murmured softly. “Mioray didn’t mean to upset you. We’ll wait. Let’s wait for the rescuers. They’ll help Chris. Everything will be fine.”

  Mioray opened his mouth to argue but closed it again, helpless. He felt detached from the scene, like he was observing everything from outside his body. The sight of his friend’s corpse – Chris’s broken, lifeless body – should have devastated him. He knew that. But what he felt was hollow.

  Not like Julie, who was drowning in grief, clinging desperately to a denial. She’d lost someone she loved, a person she thought would always be there. Mioray didn’t have anyone like that in his life. His parents were the closest, and the thought of losing them was one he didn’t dare entertain. Still, he could grasp, at least rationally, what Julie was going through. He was thankful that Angelika, despite her injuries, had found the strength to comfort her.

  If only it wasn’t Chris.

  The thought struck him like a knife. Would it be better if it were someone else? Another classmate? A stranger? With his head crushed, there was no way to identify the body in an easy way. It didn’t matter that the body was dressed in the same clothes that Chris wore. Would I sacrifice another person if that meant that Chris could live?

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Two years ago, Mioray would have scoffed at such a thought. Back then, he didn’t even like Chris. In the beginning, Mioray had only hung out with Julie, hoping they might grow closer, only to learn she was already dating a guy named Chris. That same guy had saddled Mioray with the nickname “holy boy.” At first, Mioray hated him.

  But over time, as they all spent more time together, Chris had grown on him. Despite his flaws, Chris had become his best friend. And now he was gone. No one would ever know what his last thoughts were, if he’d even had time to realize what was happening.

  “How long are we planning to stay here and coo at Julie?” Juju muttered under his breath, low enough that the girls wouldn’t hear. “She’s lost it. What’s the point of risking ourselves for her?”

  “Dammit, Juju!” Mioray snapped, his voice sharper than he intended. Anger surged within him, distant and muted, like most of his emotions lately, but undeniable. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Wasn’t Chris your friend too? Can’t you see Julie’s devastated? She just lost him! Maybe you could show some compassion for once? Julie needs her friends now, more than ever. Angelika understands that. Why can’t you?”

  “Chill out, I’m just stating the obvious!” Juju shot back, his own frustration boiling over. The tension among them was as thick as the dust clouding the air. None of them were coping well with the chaos, save for Angelika, who was doing her best to console Julie and coax her gently toward the idea of leaving.

  “You said it yourself. It’s not safe here!” Juju’s voice cracked slightly, betraying the stress he was clearly trying to mask with bravado.

  “I know it’s not safe! But that doesn’t mean we leave Julie behind!” Mioray shot back, his hand balled into fist. “Look, let’s check the area. Maybe there are other survivors we can help. Angelika, will you be okay here with Julie?”

  Angelika looked up briefly, her face pale, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to sound calm. “I’ll stay. Just… don’t go too far, okay?”

  Even in her pain, Angelika was putting on a brave face, her focus solely on comforting Julie. Mioray’s gaze drifted to her mangled leg. The unnatural bend must have been excruciating, but she never let it show. If only Juju would show her even a hint of care, just a little acknowledgment. It might give her more strength.

  “Yeah, fine,” Juju muttered, clicking his tongue irritably. His jaw tightened, a muscle twitching in his cheek. “Let’s go play heroes and die along with them, then.”

  It took everything Mioray had not to slap Juju right then and there. Not now. This wasn’t the time for infighting. He turned his attention to the shattered remains of the cafeteria, scanning for anyone who might still need help.

  Nearby, a man was performing frantic CPR on someone sprawled across the floor. A group of people were struggling to lift a massive slab of concrete trapping a girl beneath it. An old woman, probably a professor, sat slumped against a broken table, her gray hair matted with blood. She stared blankly ahead, dazed.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” Mioray knelt beside her, Juju reluctantly trailing behind. “You’re bleeding pretty badly.”

  “Thank you, dear,” the old woman said weakly, her hand trembling as it rested on his shoulder. “I feel… dizzy. Do you have water?”

  “I’ll find some,” Mioray assured her.

  “Do you know what happened here?” she asked, before letting him go.

  “No. I have no idea.”

  Mioray had a theory, though it was still unproven. There were no signs of a meteorite in the cafeteria itself, which led him to believe the epicenter of the impact must have been outside. That could explain why they heard screaming from outside first. Then the blast wave struck, collapsing parts of the building and trapping them in the chaos.

  But before Mioray could process his thoughts further, a loud, almost ecstatic voice echoed through the cafeteria.

  “I found you!”

  The sheer glee in the voice sent chills down his spine.

  “I found you!”

  Mioray turned toward the sound, along with everyone else present in the cafeteria. Atop a pile of rubble that had once been part of the outer wall, a towering figure stood, raindrops falling on its shoulders.

  The man – or thing – was enormous. He loomed over the wreckage like a conqueror claiming his prize. His bare torso was clad only in a gray vest with red accents, and he wore loose gray shorts. His feet were bare, though no one’s gaze lingered there.

  What stood out most was his sheer size and unsettling appearance. He was easily over two meters tall, his body a network of bulging, taught muscles that looked like they were carved from steel. But what froze Mioray’s blood were the man’s eyes.

  Pitch black sclera, with irises and pupils a vivid, bloody red. They were the eyes of a beast. Feral, unrelenting, and utterly mad.

  And they were locked onto Mioray.

  “What the–” Juju started, but his words were drowned out by the man’s sudden, earth-shaking leap.

  The figure descended from the rubble pile with terrifying force. The ground quaked on impact, chunks of debris flying outward like shrapnel. The remaining walls shuddered, and a new cascade of concrete rained down. Dust choked the air as more screams erupted.

  Mioray barely had time to react. The old woman beside him let out a strangled gasp as a stray slab of concrete struck her. She crumpled lifelessly to the ground, blood pooling beneath her head.

  “No!” Mioray cried, spinning back toward her, but a heavy thud behind him made him freeze.

  He turned slowly, dread pooling in his stomach.

  The giant was standing just a few feet away. His shadow loomed over Mioray, the oppressive presence making it hard to breathe. The giant’s black and blood-red eyes gleamed with a manic hunger as he stepped forward, each movement deliberate and unnervingly calm.

  “I found you!” the giant man repeated, his tone a chilling blend of ecstasy and menace, like a predator savoring the moment before a kill.

  It was staggering how quickly he moved. One moment, he stood atop the rubble over ten meters away; the next, he was mere steps from Mioray. The sheer speed was unnatural. Mioray only realized what was truly wrong as the man staggered forward, swaying like a drunk, nearly collapsing.

  He wasn’t towering anymore. The giant was shrinking, or rather, his lower legs were gone, nothing but jagged bone and raw, bleeding stumps. Blood drenched his shorts and painted the floor with slick crimson. Yet he kept moving, walking on these brutalized remains as if pain was a foreign concept. His pitch-black eyes with blood-red centers stayed locked on Mioray, his lips moving in a rhythmic, chant-like repetition of the same words: “I found you. I found you.”

  Mioray froze, unable to look away. Every nerve screamed at him to run, but his body refused to obey. Juju wasn’t any better. His face was ghostly pale, his wide, terrified eyes fixed on the staggering man. The mad giant stretched out an oversized hand toward Mioray, reaching to grab him by the collar.

  Then, something unexpected happened.

  Julie stepped forward.

  “No! Julie, get back!” Angelika shouted, her voice trembling.

  While everyone else was frozen in place, fixated on the horrifying figure, Julie had quietly moved. She left Chris’s side and stepped between Mioray and the unknown man, her small frame contrasting with the monstrous figure. It was as though she felt no fear, no recognition of the danger that loomed over her. Maybe she hadn’t noticed how the man’s jump had killed several others, crushing them beneath debris?

  And what a jump it was. The force of it had blown out his legs, the gruesome aftermath of which Mioray still couldn’t fully comprehend. The explosion of his limbs seemed deliberate, like some kind of self-destructive propulsion. Was this man the cause of the screams outside, the blast that had killed Chris and everyone else? Could someone like him have done all this alone?

  Julie didn’t seem to care. She didn’t seem to realize. No, she clung to the man’s blood-drenched vest, her fingers shaking. Her voice was fragile yet filled with desperate hope as she begged.

  “Mister, please, help me. My boyfriend, he’s trapped under the debris. Nobody else will help me get him out. But you’re strong. I know you can do it. Right?”

  Her words hung in the air, innocent and incongruous in the face of such madness.

  The man’s grotesque eyes shifted from Mioray to Julie. His bloody stumps faltered for a moment, but he steadied himself and reached out again, this time for her.

  “Julie, get away from him!” Angelika screamed, terror lacing her voice.

  But the man’s hand closed around Julie’s waist before anyone could stop him. Effortlessly, he lifted her into the air with one arm, as though she were weightless. She didn’t understand what was happening, how could she? None of them did.

  It was absurd. The way he held her, with just one massive hand wrapped around her waist as though she weighed nothing, defied everything they knew to be possible. How could anyone’s waist fit so effortlessly in a single palm? From the moment he appeared, he had shattered every notion of logic. He had blown his own legs apart with that horrifying jump, debris scattering around him like leaves in a storm. Yet he continued to move as if untouched by pain or injury. His unnatural, otherworldly eyes, black voids with glowing red centers, were fixated on Julie.

  This wasn’t some meteorite that caused the explosion. No, it had been this man all along. He alone was responsible. Whatever his intentions were, there was no doubt they were steeped in malice. And yet, Julie remained oblivious to the danger, her desperate hope for a miracle clouding her judgment.

  “You’ll help, right?” she whispered, hope flickering in her tear-streaked face.

  The giant man’s grip tightened. Julie let out a painful squeak.

  And then she exploded, along with the man’s arm.

  Her torso burst like a grotesque firework, a torrent of blood, organs, and bone shards spraying outward. The sound was deafening, a sickening combination of wet flesh and ruptured air. The explosion splattered everyone nearby – Angelika, Mioray, Juju – with crimson gore. Only Julie’s feet and head hit the ground, the remains crumpling in a lifeless heap. Her face was frozen in an expression of hope, a cruel mockery of the trust she’d placed in the man.

  “Julie!” Mioray screamed, his voice raw with anguish.

  “What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck?!” Juju shrieked, collapsing to the floor in a mess of shaking limbs and broken breaths.

  Angelika could only scream, her hands pressed to her face, tears cutting streaks through the blood splattered across her cheeks.

  Mioray stood rooted, his body trembling. Something wet and warm slid down his shoulder. He glanced, horrified, to find a piece of Julie’s lung clinging to him. He wanted to scream, to cry, to do something, but he was paralyzed. It was ridiculous. It was insane. How was it possible to do something like this?!

  Yet, somehow, it was. The madman stood before him, precariously balanced on his shattered knees. He had only one arm left, yet even in this grotesque state, there was no doubt he remained a grave threat. Mioray shuddered at the thought – if Julie hadn’t intervened, it would have been my body reduced to scattered fragments, with only my feet and head left intact.

  He refused to believe Julie was truly gone. There had to be a way to save her, some way to undo this nightmare. She couldn’t just die... like that. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair!

  But there was no time for mourning. The madman remained standing, and worse, he had more horrors to reveal. Mioray’s breath caught in his throat as he noticed the impossible happening before his eyes. The giant’s severed arm, blown apart just moments ago, was slowly regenerating. Bones began to form first, stark and jagged, followed by sinew and muscle knitting together with unsettling precision. His legs were healing, too, the torn stumps gradually reforming into functional limbs.

  There was no denying what this meant. In mere minutes, the giant would be whole again, ready to unleash further destruction.

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