BOOM
Maria's head whipped towards the diamond mine, even as her body wobbled from the force of the noise. "What on earth...?" She held her breath unconsciously as she saw the electrical explosion over the mine. In that moment, it seemed, everything was quiet; everyone had, like her, stopped and turned to look at this oddity, this phenomenon that should not be. A silent explosion, a flicker like someone fumbling the light switch, a second, two. Maria was just starting to relax when-
kkkzzzzKA-BOOOOOOM
"SOUND THE ALARM!"Holy shit what was thatSuddenly, utter chaos. Alarms were blaring, tolling, beeping everywhere, people were screaming about God-knew-what, and Dazz was yelling at everyone to get inside the wall. Maria wasted no time in sprinting to the nearest shelter, which was a seemingly-defunct trolley that had been taken up and was in the process of being repaired, where she was shortly joined by a young boy; apparently a construction worker, he couldn't have been more than a year older than her. They sat there for a bit, panting together, before the boy asked "D'you think we're safe in here?"
Maria answered with a shrug and an "I hope so."
k-CRACK
Then, naturally, the sky chose that time to split in two.
Maria and the boy rushed to one of the trolley walls, gawking at the split. The world seemed to have gone quiet; there was only the two of them, the trolley, the split sky, and the intruding cold wind.
CRACK
As a huge bolt of lightning struck the Queen's tower, sound returned in a rush, as did the various bolts of lightning rushing around the city, seemingly striking its inhabitants at random. Maria could hear their screams from her vantage point. All she could think was
Oh, God, please let Mom and Dad be safe. Please, God, I'm begging you...Her prayer was interrupted by the boy she was with roughly shoving her out of the way, and before Maria could register what was happening, the boy had turned to stone, a small pink jewel floating just in front of his chest.
Maria was stunned briefly, before working out what had happened.
He must have seen the lightning bolt somehow... But what kind of lightning turns people to stone? And how did it even get in here? Did it curve somehow? Her musings were overridden by one specific, instinctive thought.
This place isn't safe. I need to leave.She got up quickly and was about to dash out of the trolley when her conscience got the better of her, and she walked back to the boy. His arms were outstretched, and his face bore a look of determination and fright. Maria patted his shoulder and said "Thank you" with all the sincerity she could muster. She carefully took the small crystal floating in front of him and placed it in a pocket of her jacket where she was confident it would be safe.
Wait - the statue of the boy... did it just wink at her?
Maria shook her head; this was no time for distraction. She rushed outside and looked for other survivors. Seeing a trolley with a group of people in it, Maria sprinted towards them as fast as her legs could carry her. She passed a young man who wasn't walking so much as shambling his way there; if he kept up that pace, who knew what could happen to him? Maria reversed course a bit and grabbed his hand, trying to yank him towards the trolley. "C'mon, we have to go right now! God knows what could happen to us if we stay here!"