The boy woke to the sound of distant thunder, rumbling like an echo of something far worse.

  He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and peeked outside the tent. The underground road stretched before him, dimly lit by scattered fires. People huddled near the flames, eating what little they had, whispering among themselves.

  Water dripped from cracks in the ceiling. This place had been here long before him—before any of them. A forgotten road, swallowed by time, now home to those who had nowhere else to go.

  He stood and walked toward the tunnel’s edge, where the earth had split open long ago, letting the outside world seep in. He climbed carefully over broken concrete, past rusted vehicles buried under vines. Through the cracks in the ruins, he could see the sky—heavy with dark clouds, rain falling in thin sheets.

  Nothing unusual. And yet…

  Through the broken window of a car, he saw it.

  The Ark.

  A spaceship in the sky, silent, unmoving. A shadow against the storm. It had always been there. Watching.

  The boy turned away and walked back to his tent.

  Inside, the air was warmer. His mother sat by a small fire, stirring something in a dented pot. She glanced up.

  “You were out there again?” she asked.

  He just nodded. She sighed but didn’t press further, handing him a piece of food. He took it, eating slowly as he reached for something buried under his blankets.

  A phone.

  Old, cracked, barely holding a charge. A relic from before. It didn’t connect to anything anymore, but it still had videos inside.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  He swiped through them—random clips of people he didn’t know, places that didn’t exist anymore. Then he found it.

  The last recording.

  "Yo, what’s up, guys? Another day, another vlog—"

  The screen flickered to life. A young man grinned into the camera, unaware. Unaware of what was coming.

  Behind him, the city was alive—cars honking, people laughing, neon signs flickering in the dusk. Normal life.

  "Man, this weather is crazy. Look at this sky—"

  He turned the camera up. Dark clouds. Rolling in too fast. Unnatural.

  Then, a deep rumble. Not thunder. Something else.

  People in the street stopped. Heads turned upward.

  "What the hell is that?"

  The clouds parted—not by wind, not by rain. Something huge moved through, emerging from the storm.

  It wasn’t descending. It was just… there, as if it had been hidden behind the sky itself.

  The vlogger’s breath hitched. The camera zoomed in, hands unsteady.

  Then—the first explosion.

  The screen jerked. Screams. People ran. A fireball erupted in the distance, flipping cars, shattering windows.

  "HOLY SHIT—IT’S HAPPENING—"

  The video blurred as the vlogger ran, panting. He ducked behind a car, turning the camera just in time to catch them—the first figures dropping from the ship.

  Tall. Armored. Faces hidden behind dark helmets.

  People begged, screamed. The invaders didn’t hesitate. Gunfire. Bodies hit the pavement.

  "They’re killing us! They’re—"

  The camera shook as he bolted up a fire escape, gasping. From above, he caught one last clear shot—the invaders standing over the bodies.

  Then, without urgency, they removed their helmets.

  Thick smoke poured out, obscuring their faces. The vlogger was shaking. He zoomed in.

  The smoke cleared.

  A human face stared back. Cold. Unfamiliar. Yet unmistakably human.

  The vlogger's breath stuttered. The camera trembled.

  "Wait… wait, is that a… guy?!"

  A single gunshot.

  The screen tumbled. The phone hit the ground. The last thing it recorded was a shadow stepping forward—then static.

  The video ended. The screen dimmed.

  The boy sat frozen, the uneaten food heavy in his hand. He had watched that video before, but it never felt any less… real.

  Outside, the rain still fell. Distant thunder rolled.

  His mother sat by the fire, watching him carefully. She already knew what he had seen.

  “Eat, Rael ” she said softly. “It’s in the past.”

  The boy swallowed hard and set the phone aside.

  Outside, beyond the cracked tunnels and ruined earth, The Ark still hovered. Watching.

  And it was never in the past.