Chapter 1
Movers And Shakers


Spoiler: Daily Bugle Headlines
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New York City
Monday, January 14th: 8:34 AM

The first sign that today was going to be anything other than a typical day was the rats. There are 8 and a half million people in the city, and about five rats for every person. That's a hard bit of math to get your head around, but the translation to human terms is this: If you walk down any given street for more than 2 blocks, you are going to see at least one rat. Its commonplace enough that it becomes part of the background, in much the same way that you don't really notice the background chorus of car horns. The city had rats, and that was all there was to it.

Given that it was a chilly Monday, its probably for that reason that it took people a while to notice. It might be the city that never sleeps, but that doesn't mean the city isn't groggy after the weekend, or that the city doesn't need a double-shot of caffeine before its ready to deal with anything today. But as rush hour hit its peak, it was impossible to not acknowledge, the rats were acting up. This wasn't the usual fare for rodents, darting about in garbage cans, making a mad scamper from one bit of cover to another, or dragging a bit of discarded food along. The rats were going nuts. With no heed for their own safety, they ran everywhere, just panicking. The hospitals noticed the uptick, lots of well to do housewife who just had to bring their little Skylers and Ashlee's to a doctor after getting bit by one of the rats. Morning news cracked a joke or two. Everyone else did what New Yorker's always do, and that was muddle on. Even with the rodents run amok, that wasn't even cracking the top 10 of weird things that you see on the way to work in the Big Apple.

By 8:40, things were different.

The first shock hit subtle, a rumble through the streets that reverberated deep. Might have been mistaken for a passing subway train, or some punk blasting out the sub woofer on his car. But it didn't abate, and grew steadily. 10 seconds passed, then 20. At Half A Minute, it was becoming impossible to ignore, and the shaking had grown intense enough that employees in high rise offices found their novelty coffie mugs shaking off their desk and tumbling to the floor. Fear took hold, pressure building. One person screaming would be enough to set off the chain of panic. But then the shaking subsided. It was quiet for a second, 8 and a half million people held their breath, waiting to see if it was over.

Then the real shockwave hit, a blast of tectonic force enough to throw people to the ground from Queens to Hell's Kitchen.

Time Square was split in half by a 6 inch crack, which vented out a foul yellow gas. Those in the immediate area were only able to flee a few steps before they collapsed, choking on the noxious vapors that were creeping outwards in an expanding fog. It burned to breath in, not having a smell in the same way that once you pass a certain threshold, spicy food stops having a flavor. One taxi driver had enough instinct to try and flee by car. And everyone else had the exact same idea, turning the worlds most famous intersection into a deadlock in seconds. It took only another half second before fleeing on foot became the obvious choice. The crowds who were upwind managed to stay ahead of the cloud as it grew. Those unfortunate enough to be downwind found that even at a run, they didn't stand a chance of getting out of the way. Hundreds were already caught, and more were collapsing each passing second.

The Brooklyn bridge steel groaned a buckled. Once, perhaps, the structure would have faced the quake and scoffed at it. American grade steel was built to endure. But budget cuts and delayed repairs had taken their toll. The support cables strained to hold, but the foundation was compromised by the shifting ground. With a tremendous Snap, one gave way entirely, than another and another. The roadway lurched upwards, tilting to one side at an angle that was most distressing. The suspended bridge settled again, but even a cursory glance was enough to know that a complete failure would soon follow. A house of cards packed with innocent lives.

Underground, things were more dire. The Subway system was thankfully already down for maintenance, which meant that several trains were out of commission. It also meant that those still in operation were packed, standing room only being a generous description. Somewhere past the 9th avenue station, one such train was now stuck, having been shaken off the rails by the quake. The ground was moving still, and water was flooding in from above. One of the passengers, a geologist by profession, paused as he realized that he'd never seen sedimentary liquefaction in person before. He then thought about whether he'd still be alive tonight to see his wife.

Even outside the major disasters, things were looking grim. Panic had overtaken much of the city. The power grid was struggling to stay operational, as who knew how many underground lines had just been taken out. Blackouts rolled through the neighborhoods in waves. Half the city was plunged into blackness, leaving many stranded in elevators, or stuck hundreds of stories above the streets, with a long climb to get down. Emergency power switched on in Hospitals, which would be needed soon as injuries were piling already.

Mondays, am I right?