The time is at 7:30 PM.

  Raven rubbed his aching eyes and stared at the endless rows of documents glowing on his screen, he had stopped counting the hours sometimes after midnight.

  There was a meeting with the biggest customer ever to the entire company approaching, he thought, why is there always more?

  He took a glance while he took his cold, bitter coffee on the table he brought hours ago.

  Outside, rain battered the windows with a violence that made the glass tremble in its frame.

  The sky had been like this for days--- heavy, swollen, as if the air itself had gone rotten. Coastal cities alway have heavy rainstorms, even in some extreme cases, hurricanes.

  But never... He thought like this.

  For a moment he wondered if he could just leave the job, leave everything and go home. Dinnertime is running out.

  Clicky clicky, he finished a long-term report and sent it to the printer.

  The lights flickered once, briefly plunging the office into darkness.

  "What, what is happening? "

  The other coworker also stayed in with Raven all stand up, a few of them are muttering complaints about the weather, other few are opening their phone flashlights.

  "It is ok, I think it is because of the rainstorm causing an electricity outage. "

  A young girl with glasses comforting the panicking girls, explains.

  "No, look, Angus, they are all off. "

  Raven almost tripped when walking to the window, someone threw a shoe there.

  "What? "

  Twenty people all got closer to the glass window, looking down.

  By the time Raven reached the window, the others had already gathered there, pressed shoulder to shoulder against the glass.

  No one spoke at first. Below them, the streets had vanished beneath a churning sheet of brown water.

  "Is this supposed to be normal though? "

  Alex asks nervously.

  Half-submerged cars drifted slowly between traffic lights and street signs, bumping into one another with dull, hollow sounds.

  The water was so muddy that nothing beneath its surface could be seen.

  Raven braced one hand against the glass, his jaw tightening.

  He had never seen the city like this.

  “Look… something’s moving down there.”

  The voice came from Angus, her voice is a little shaking.

  She leaned closer to the window, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

  A long ripple cut through the floodwater between the stalled vehicles makes her think of big fish, but not the pet goldfish. Something beneath the surface shifted — too large, too deliberate.

  The room seemed to grow colder, they were all quiet and no one spoke.

  "Could it be... "

  Angus had a pale look and took it further away from the window, she took the worst guess, other few girls have pale looks too.

  "No. " Raven stopped her right the way.

  “Don’t scare yourself,” one of the men said quickly, his voice strained, “Probably just debris… or fish.”

  A few others nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Fish,” someone echoed, not sounding convinced at all.

  But Angus didn’t look reassured, she stepped back from the window, hugging her arms around herself.

  “The whole city’s power grid is down,” she said quietly, "What about... my parents? Rescue teams probably won’t get here for days..."

  No one argued. Hunger, exhaustion, and fear hung in the air like humidity.

  One of the girls, Sofia, stands up and hugs Angus: "Oh don't feel it that way, your parents are going to be alright. I am going to find something to eat, who's hungry? "

  "Yeah... " A few people stood up and muttered, following Sofia into the break room.

  Soon almost everyone got snacks or fast food in their hands, they spread out and sat at the corners quietly, some of them were checking on their phone hoping to find something.

  Raven finally stepped away from the glass.

  But he couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had been moving in the water--- had been watching them too.

  They didn’t return to the window.

  Instead, they stayed in the break room, each person drifting toward a different corner as if distance itself could offer comfort. The fluorescent light buzzed overhead, casting a flat, sickly glow over the room， light enough to barely see everyone's face expression.

  Raven sat on the edge of the long table, a packet of crackers resting in his hands.

  He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he opened it, the sound of crinkling plastic seemed unnaturally loud in the silence.

  The city felt very far away now, even though it was right outside the walls.

  Someone coughed quietly.

  Another person shifted in their seat, the chair legs scraping faintly against the floor.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Raven chewed without tasting. Every few seconds, he caught himself listening —

  for something beyond the walls.

  The rain. The wind. Anything.

  But the storm had gone strangely quiet.That silence was worse.

  "Say no more~ Say no more~~ "

  A strange song played in the dark.

  Mike's phone rang, and the comical ringtone made everyone breathe a sigh of relief, almost making them burst out laughing.

  "Uh... What?! Ok I know, I know this is funny guys, but shush, let me make the call, alright? "

  Mike embarrassedly connects the call, and answers with a corny voice.

  "Mom? "

  He forget to turn on the speaker when he heard the voice from the call, but---

  "Number 1037, this is the Noah's Ark control tower, direct from the survivor base. Our time is limited, and we are only issuing you the following notification: You are a fortunate human survivor, now granted the right to use any means of transportation to reach West Line Sky Station 2 within fifteen hours and hand it over to the staff. The verbal code is "anchor." You are only allowed to bring two selected members; do not let other humans know, as they do not have the right to board Noah's Ark to survive. Your time is extremely limited; please proceed to West Line Sky Station 2 immediately. Do not let other survivors know. Over."

  The voice hung off, Mike's smile froze.

  Mike slowly lowered the phone from his ear. No one spoke. Almost everyone was staring at him.

  It wasn’t curiosity — it was the look people had when they were afraid of the answer. Mike swallowed, his throat dry, eyes fixed on the floor as if avoiding something.

  “Your mom?” someone asked carefully from the corner.

  “Yeah,” Mike said at last. “She’s fine.” But his voice came out too fast, too thin, like it didn’t belong to him.

  Raven noticed Mike’s hand was shaking around the phone. Not the kind of shaking from cold — this was deeper, uncontrollable.

  "What's wrong? " Raven frowned and stared at Mike. He had a bad feeling.

  Across the room, someone crumpled a snack wrapper too loudly and immediately froze, as if afraid the sound would attract something.

  The fluorescent light flickered once. For a brief second, the break room sank into dimness before the pale light returned.

  Angus looked up sharply. “Did you hear—”

  A deep, muffled thud cut her off. It wasn’t thunder. It sounded like something enormous striking the outside of the building.

  Everyone froze. Even breathing seemed too loud.

  A second impact came, closer this time. Dust sifted from the ceiling, and the water inside the coffee machine trembled in tiny ripples.

  “Is the water rising again?” Sofia whispered, slowly standing up.

  No one answered. Raven had already moved toward the break room door, his steps quiet but urgent.

  He didn’t open it. Instead, he pressed his palm flat against the surface.

  Cold. And vibrating — faint, slow, but unmistakable.

  Like something in the water brushing slowly along the building’s walls.

  Behind him, someone whispered, “Mike… that was really your mom, right?”

  Mike didn’t answer. He stared at the dark screen of his phone, his reflection pale and unfamiliar.

  Only allowed to take two person with you, Mike forced himself staring at the dark screen, reminding, only allowed to take two person with you.

  No.

  I can't let them know, Mike gripped onto his coat, not right now, not forever.

  They are going to take away my phone and wen them self, I have to save my mother and sister.

  "Yeah. " Mike lied, hiding left head behind himself, which can't stop shivering, "She said she is fine, they all are. Now I am just going to... Er, find them. "

  Raven didn’t believe him. The words sounded wrong the moment they left Mike’s mouth.

  Mike avoided everyone’s eyes, busying himself with nothing, adjusting his sleeves, checking his phone even though the screen remained dark.

  "You sure, man? "

  Another young man also asked with a suspicion, he gulped and looking at Mike's phone

  "Can I borrow your phone to call my family too? They are waiting. "

  "NO! " Mike hides the phone in his pocket then shouts back, he realizes it is not right and fixes it with a weak smile, "I... I'm sorry, I am just worried about my family, it... it doesn't leave much battery, I have to save for something else important." he added, "For us."

  "You can use mine. " Raven handed his phone to the young man, trying to ignore his gratitude.

  "Oh... oh my gosh, oh, thanks man. " The young man sputtered and called a number.

  Mike watched them from the corner of his eye, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.

  Fifteen hours.

  The number beat against his skull like a countdown.

  Mike quietly slipped his hand into his pocket, fingers closing around the phone as if it were the last solid thing left in the world.

  He made his decision.

  If he had to choose two people…

  He would not hesitate.

  Before anyone realized what he was doing, Mike suddenly lunged for the door.

  “Mike—?!”

  The door slammed open against the wall with a deafening bang, the sound echoing down the dark corridor outside.

  Cold, damp air rushed in, carrying the smell of floodwater and something foul underneath.

  By the time Raven reached the doorway, Mike was already running.

  His footsteps pounded against the hallway floor, fading toward the emergency stairwell at the end.

  “Mike! Stop!” Raven shouted, but the sound felt swallowed by the empty building. The stairwell door slammed shut below with a metallic crash.

  For a moment, no one moved.

  Then panic erupted.

  “Why is he leaving?!”

  “Is he crazy?”

  Raven didn’t answer. He was already moving.

  He reached the stairwell door and pushed it open.

  The emergency lights inside glowed dim red, casting long shadows down the concrete steps spiraling into darkness.

  Far below, he could hear Mike’s footsteps echoing wildly as he descended.

  Water dripped somewhere in the darkness.

  Not from above — from below.

  Raven gripped the railing, suddenly unsure whether chasing Mike was a good idea.

  The smell of stagnant water grew stronger the farther he leaned over the stairwell. Somewhere below, something splashed.

  Not like rain.

  Like something moving through deep water.

  Raven froze.

  Mike’s footsteps had stopped.

  “Mike?” he called cautiously.

  "AH!!!!!!!! "

  Mike, who had disappeared without a trace, suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream.

  From somewhere below came the violent sound of water thrashing wildly.

  Raven stumbled backward, then rushed inside and locked the door with shaking hands.

  No one looked the same anymore — every face had drained of color.

  "What... what...? "

  Couple girls whimpered, one of them squeezed her hand very tightly, like ensuring this was a dream or not.

  "You guys. "

  One voice was clear in the dark.

  "I might know what he is up to, but again... some of us will die. "