Several loud bangs filled the air, followed immediately by panic. Not only did the earth shake violently, it opened up in unexpected places, swallowing humans, buildings, cars and everything else in its path. This was no ordinary earthquake. It was the end of the world as Nathan knew it.

The terror that followed the bangs made no distinction between men, women or children. Everything that had life was infected, leaving screams of anguish behind as millions met their unexpected end. It seemed nature turned its back on humanity that day, inflicting its wrath on everything it once nurtured.

To the dead, their escape had come. To everyone else, their torment had just begun. Their survival could be termed a fortunate or an unfortunate event, depending on the perspective of the classifier.

Nathan was a member of the latter group. Tossed about by forces too strong to resist, his body slammed against various objects as he tried to grab on to anything that could resist the force of the wind. It was in that moment that her face appeared. Tears fell down her cheeks as she called out to him for help. He saw the dread in her eyes. He could hear her scream as the ground underneath her opened...

"Wake up, Nathan."

The soft feminine voice interrupted the horror he was forced to relive every time he closed his eyes.

He rubbed his eyelids as his surroundings slowly came into focus.

"Thank you, Borgina." He whispered.

"You were having that dream again, were you not?" She asked.

"How can you tell?" He asked in reply.
"You stir a certain way." She replied. "It's hard to see you like that."

Nathan managed a smile.

"Then maybe you should do something other than watching me." He finally stated.

Getting up from the makeshift bed he laid, he closed the lid of his laptop, forcing his only companion and virtual personal assistant, Borgina to go into shutdown mode.