The first sign wasn't a siren or a scream. It was the air. Around 11:42 AM on a Tuesday, the atmosphere over the small, forgotten town of Meridian Wells seemed to shimmer, like the air above a sun-baked highway. But it was October, and the temperature was a crisp forty-eight degrees.

Current "Hot Spots": As of April 16, 2026, the hot spot in Canada is St. Catharines/Niagara District Airport , ON, at 22.8°C.

Then the screaming started.

This is not a drill.
This is the fall.

Miller watched the distance close. Five hundred meters. Four hundred. He could see the whites of the gunner’s eyes, the crazed grin on his face.