BXBX NOVEL Chapter 22: CHAPTER 21 - The Real Apocalypse 2.
From 4–5, they are called light, causing a bit more than a tremble.
Then comes the 5–6, moderate rating; they are strong enough for you to feel your house shake a bit.
Then there are 6-7. People call these magnitudes of earthquakes strong, and they could cause the whole house to shake violently.
After that is a major level, from 7-8 magnitude, and they are capable of destroying a house or even buildings with weak bases and structures.
Finally, there\'s the level people call great, or catastrophic.
From 8-10.
These earthquakes are capable of destroying anything and everything, and that\'s the highest humans have thought the earthquakes could be.
But what if there was a higher number...?
*Rumble*
*Crack**Boom*
*RUMBLE*
As the earth rumbled, trying to warn the living beings about the incoming danger, the cracking and falling of the trees were now much clearer and closer to them, and then they saw it...
The earth was split in two, devouring any living or nonliving existence within.
\'That\'s higher than 10…\'
Alex\'s body tensed as he heard those words in his head.
His eyes again turned toward the people who were running from the falling tent.
"What do we do?!"
One of them yelled in panic.
They could all see that the crack in the earth was headed right toward them.
If they moved forward, they\'d fall into it, and if they stood where they were, they\'d be crushed by the tent.
"Say something!"
The lady from before, the one who was asking the system a question, urged Rohit to say something.
But that guy was panicking as well.
"There! To that boulder!"
Just then, that guy noticed the place where Alex, Garvit, and Shera were, and he started running toward them.
He didn\'t wait for the others, right now, he just wanted to live.
He was scared of the tiger; the way it was staring at all of them with its nocturnal eyes scared the shit out of him, but the fear of death was able to push him toward them.
However, he wasn\'t alone, the people who stood with him followed his lead and started running.
"Quick!"
Rohit roared as he saw some people still hesitating.
The tent was still somehow intact—well, not intact; it was hanging on to something.
But not for long...
*Tremble*
Alex heard the AI\'s words inside of his head, and he saw it…
*Crack**Snap*
The eyes of the people who heard the snap widened.
The snap was loud, as if a large trunk of a tree just snapped.
*Snap*
More such snaps were heard before the tent started falling…..
"RUN!!!"
The lady, who was still hesitating whether she should go near the boulder or not, finally ran.
Her face was stained with tears and had a look of desperation, but it was not just her; everyone else was desperate as well.
So, everyone ran with all they had, while the system...
[Yeah! Yeah! That look!
That fear! That despair! I want more of it! Show me more, you puny humans!]
The system spoke excitedly, slapping the armrest of the comfortable chair (Don\'t ask me where that came from; it was just there) that she was sitting on.
The popcorn she was eating was still there, but her eyes were fixed on the faces of the humans, her lips stretched into the most gleeful grin she could have.
*Boom**Crack**Snap**Baam*....
The tent finally cracked on the ground.
"Nooooo!!"
A guy spoke as he looked around, and didn\'t find the one he was looking for.
"Preeti!"
He rushed toward the tent, ignoring the crater on the earth\'s plane that was still extending and was just around the corner of the circular dome by now.
"Stop him!"
Rohit ordered, and after a bit of hesitation, the guys at the back held the man who was trying to run back.
"Let me go! She\'s my wife!"
The guy struggled, but he was short and weak, so he was easily pulled by the other two men, who didn\'t listen to his pleas.
3 or 4 people were crushed below the tent, not all could make it, and although people were sad about the loss, there were pressing issues they had to focus on.
*Rumble*
The splitting of the earth continued.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 11 was enough to demolish a military base, much less the earth.
*Rumble*
The earth cried as it split in two, but the crater formed on the surface just kept extending, but...
*BOOM*
A crashing sound was heard as the crater crashed into the illusionary dome-shaped barrier.
The booming sound was loud enough to shake the ground, but what shocked them all happened after that.
*Boom*
The crashing sound lowered down and after one or two more attempts, everything went quiet.
The earth that was splitting into two, stopped the moment it came into contact with the barrier.
*Crack**Snap*....
Only the sound of some trees that were still falling inside the 10-meter-wide crater could be heard.
The area turned so silent that even the heavy breathing of the people still alive was heard.
All of them were sweating; they just avoided death after all, but their eyes were wide in surprise, looking at the barrier.
"What the hell just happened..."
One of the guys who was holding the man whose wife got buried under the tent questioned no one in particular.
His question hung in the air, as no one had the answer to that question...
The crack on the earth\'s surface that parted the whole forest into two was stopped by a single barrier that didn\'t even look that strong.
But before they could sigh in relief...
"ROOAAAAARRRRRR!!!"
A loud roar reverberated.
A roar came from inside the crater.
*Tremble*
The air trembled due to the loud roar.
*Crack**Snap*...
Some more trees fell into the crater, just because of the shockwave released by the roar.
The people inside the dome, although safe from the shockwave, were kneeling on the ground with horrified looks on their faces.
Their eyes were wide, with terror written all over their faces.
That roar instilled a bone-chilling fear in their bones. Every fiber of their being screamed for them to run away, but they couldn\'t even move.
Their legs were jelly, and even kneeling on the ground was hard for them.
And this happened even though the barrier stopped most of the roar.
Garvit and Shera were the same, kneeling on the ground with a terrified look.
"Uuuuuu…"
Shera had its head on the ground as it tried to cover its ear with its paws.
All of the fur over its large body had gone soft, as if scared to even show a bit of resistance.
In normal cases, Garvit would\'ve tried to console Shera, but right now, even he was trembling without a stop as he kept looking toward the deep crater.
Even Alex was on the ground with one knee bent while his leg tried to make him stand up.
His fists were clenched, out of fear and at his own weakness.
His heart was beating at a very fast rate, and his pupils were dilated as he kept looking deep into the crater...
Just then Alex heard the AI\'s words and just like before, he knew what those hormones were for.
\'Yes.\'
But he knew that he needed them right now, so he agreed to it.
And just as he did, he could feel relief washing over his body. His stiff muscles finally relaxed, and he stood up, ready to take cover.
Whoever the owner of that roar was, Alex wanted to avoid them.
But before he could move...
*Fwoosh*
The dome that was covering them turned opaque.
*Gasp*
"Hah… Hah….."
And along with it, the atmosphere that had turned still after the roar finally returned to normal.
The human inside the dome were now lying on the ground, gasping for breath, while some just lay there, staring at the dome over their heads.
Shera was still with his head down on the ground, while Garvit was now lying next to Shera as he caressed the large tiger\'s fur.
The system, on the other hand, was having the best day of her life. Well, it was the first day of her life, but she was having the best moment right now.
{That look! Ah, I want to see these looks more often...
She was still looking at the sweating and horrified looks of the humans on the ground as they struggled to breathe.
{It\'s a pity that I couldn\'t see the same expression on his face...}
The system sighed with regret as she looked at Alex.
She did see a flash of fear in Alex\'s eyes, but that was all.
And that was not enough for her to be satisfied.
{Well, I will have my chances later on.}
In the end, she just shrugged inwardly before her gleeful eyes turned toward the lady who had inquired about something before.
[Oi, you pig!]
The system called out to the lady, who was looking up at the dome as she lay on the ground.
Her face right now was a mixture of terror and relief-filled tears, while her lips had a weak smile, happy about the fact that she survived.
But just as she heard the system calling out to her, she grew worried.
All of her doubts about the apocalypse were now gone. She was sure that the world\'s civilization had already been destroyed.
No weapon could probably hope to kill the owner of the roar she heard earlier.
She turned her head toward the system, ignoring the fact that she was called a pig.
[You still want to know what happened to those who didn\'t follow my advice?]
The system, seeing the lady\'s eyes on her, questioned as her eyes thinned and her grin widened.
Now, the ones who thought that they should\'ve done the same as the others who ran away from the dome were sighing in relief...