Tom was at home when the chaos began. Unfortunately for him, home meant the very top of a 28-storey tower. And to make the situation worse, every single person below them was scrambling to leave the building. All the ten elevators will not be enough for everyone to get out immediately, and the fire exits started getting crowded. He stood just by the elevator doors, waiting for his brother and father to show up. After a while, he started doubting that his father even had the intention to come back for them, and he knew that with that man, it was possible. His father must have also convinced little Troy to abandon him so they can run off without having to go through the trouble of taking Tom with them. He took a breath and went off to the office. Inside, there were a set of monitors showing the feeds from the cameras around the building. Most of the higher floors were deserted, but the lower floors were overcrowded. There was almost no more space between the workers trying to leave. The fire exits were jammed. Tom figured it would take more than an hour before everyone was out, and he was at the very back of the line. Even when he would take the exclusive elevator, he'd still get stuck in that crowd. The only other way out would be through the windows, but everything from the first floor to the seventh was bulletproof. The jump would kill him if he tried. So he sat there, helpless, watching the panic going on downstairs. After thirty minutes of staring at the monitors, the third floor was already empty. Tom went to the window to see the heavy traffic, that the cars weren't even moving anymore. Citizens ran carrying huge bags. Store windows were smashed in. Somewhere farther, thick black smoke rose from a structure. Bad things were happening all at once, and where was the people in charge?

After seeing the situation, Tom rushed to his father's room. He knew where the pistol was hidden. Seeing the briefcase was still there, he was able to take a breath of relief. He grabbed the gun, but it only had a few ammo inside. Next, he ran to get a backpack and filled it with essentials. One black hoodie, an extra shirt, a water bottle, a flashlight, a lighter, and some cash. The last thing Tom grabbed was a golf club in his father's kit. For bad situations. He decided he'll get more stuff when he's out of here. He made his way to the elevator. In less than a minute, he was on the lowest floor. It was spacier now, and he struggled to squeeze through the crowd. He desperately got to the doors by shoving some people off his path. A few of them must have recognized him as the boss' son, and reacted by yelling and cursing at him from the crowd. He was already outside, but took one glance behind him to see some familiar faces of some adults who were nice and polite to him before this. But he bottled up the guilt that he felt and joined those who were outside. It was worse than he expected. In fact, his view awhile ago now seemed peaceful compared to what he was witnessing now. A lot of people were on foot too, since the cars weren't moving. They were headed to the highway. So Tom also ran.