Initial Impact

The sun was going down over the tree tops as Warren was checking his traps. As he pulls up to the last trap on his four-wheeler, he grumbles to himself, "Well, this one is empty too." He rides down to his home, smiling to himself, thinking, "The kids finally learned to turn the lights off." He sees that most of the lights are off in the house. As he begins to pull up to the house, a massive explosion hits the house, sending him and his four-wheeler flying back.

Slowly opening his eyes, he feels the light burns them. He tries to cover his eyes with his hands. He finds his hands heavy, much too heavy to rub his aching eyes. After blinking several times, he notices a woman sitting on a stool at the end of the bed he's lying in. Warren tries to speak, but his voice comes out hoarse. "Water... Can I have water?" The woman looks over at him, shocked. "Yes, I'll get you some water," she says as she stands up abruptly and rushes out of the room. Warren weakly turns his head, looking around. The room around him is white, and monitors softly beeping. Realizing he is in a hospital, he begins to panic, but before his emotions get the better of him, the nurse returns. The nurse helps him drink the cool water. He has never been thirstier in his life. After finishing the water, he asks the nurse for more water. After she leaves, he replays the last moments he can remember. After several minutes, the nurse comes back with a small pitcher filled with ice water. After drinking a few cups of cold water, the nurse's phone goes off, and she leaves without a word. Moments later, a man walks in, wearing a light gray suit, and sits in a chair against the wall. "Mister Boone, I'm glad you're finally awake." Warren looks at the man with a quizzical look, "Who are you?" "I'm Detective Jonson. With what's going on in the world, it's best to have someone like me to come and talk to you than the hospital staff." Warren gives the detective a questioning look, "And what exactly is it you are here to talk to me about?" "Well, Mr.Boone, there's no easy way to say this, but your family was killed when a meteor hit your home," the detective says, a tinge of sorrow in his voice. Warren weeps into his hands for several minutes before asking, "How could something like this happen?" "Well, it's actually quite strange; there have been hundreds of meteors striking the Earth. They only hit at night. After they impact, they leave a... This is going to sound strange. They leave a portal behind in the crater." Warren gives the detective a baffled look, "What are you talking about? Am I still knocked out?" "I know it sounds like something straight out of a movie, but I assure you, what I'm saying is true." Detective Jonson shifts awkwardly in the chair. "These portals lead to some other plane of existence or some other planet, we don't really know, but if a person goes into one, they get some kind of special power." Warren laughs, "Are you trying to make a joke out of my family's death?" Warren said with an edge to his voice. The detective brings his hands up and shakes them, "No, what I'm telling you is the truth. I know what I'm saying is far-fetched, but what I'm saying is the truth." Warren pushes himself up more in his bed and looks at Detective Jonson, perplexed. "Needless to say, people all over the world have been dying from the meteors, and every Government is struggling to stop people from going into these portals. Some people who go into the portals never come back out. Things have kind of gotten out of hand, but the Government is doing the best it can to stay on top of this. The meteor strikes have lessened in the past few weeks, but it's still a trying task to keep people from going into the portals." This time, it's Warren's turn to shift uncomfortably. "Have any of these portals disappeared, or has anything come out of them?" "Well," the detective let's out a weary sigh, "Yes, and yes. The portals that have closed are reported to have people killing a large beast from inside the portal, and shortly after the people leave the portal, it kind of sparks out. There are also reports of portals in heavily populated areas where monsters are coming out of the portals. Even though we don't know why, because some portals in cities, monsters don't come out." Warren looks at Detective Jonson for a few moments, then asks, "Is there a portal where my house was?" "Yes, and I do not recommend going there. It is far out of town, and we don't have the manpower to have someone there to keep people away. In fact, no one really knows about it." Warren lies back down and rolls over, turning his back to the detective and says half heartedly, "I kind of figured. I would like to be left alone now. Could you please leave?" Detective Jonson hesitates for a moment before he stands up and leaves Warren to think about all that has transpired.

First, Warren lies in bed and sobs quietly, mourning the loss of his wife and children. Then he becomes angry that these portals are taking people from their loved ones. After a few hours of thinking and self-reflection, he decides to go and close the portal that took his wife and children from him; maybe he will close every portal. Warren presses the call button. Once the nurse comes in, Warren asks the nurse to bring his belongings to him. After a few minutes, the nurse returns with a bag. "I'm sorry the clothes you were wearing when they brought you in were thrown away," the nurse says sadly, "but some of us pitched in and bought you some new clothes, so you would have something to wear when you leave." The nurse's words lift Warren's heart a little. "I really appreciate it. That is one of the kindest things anyone has done for me." Warren says as he pulls out his cell phone from the bag. The cell phone is pretty beat up, with cracks all over the screen, but it still turns on. To his surprise, the battery is at full charge. The nurse quietly leaves the room. The first thing Warren does is start researching everything he can about the portals. He finds a website about a guy that boast he has closed two portals and plans to close another. Warren combs through every piece of information on the site. From what Warren learned, the most important things are that electronics don't work inside the portal, some monsters in the portal are friendly while others will attack you, and guns do damage to the creatures inside the portals. Warren forces himself up and out of the hospital bed, even though he feels weak; he is determined to go and see the portal that took his family for himself. Changing into the clothes the nurses bought was a true struggle that seemed to take hours. Once he finally got his boots laced, he was out of breath. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he finally felt ready to leave. Not wanting to bother the nurses or have them try to make him stay, he quietly slipped out of the hospital without anyone noticing.