[That Night - Year 2350]
The streets stretched empty and broken, debris scattered across cracked pavement that had once carried traffic.
Streetlights flickered overhead, most of them dead.
Young Murdock's boots crunched through rubble, his steps carrying him forward without direction, without purpose.
His gaze tracked across buildings that had become tombstones, windows shattered like broken teeth, walls marked with scars that told stories of violence too recent to forget.
'Universe...'
The thought formed bitter and sharp.
'Why are you so cruel to us?'
His hands clenched at his sides, the only movement he allowed himself besides walking.
'Why are you hell-bent on destroying humanity? What did we do to deserve this? What sin did we commit that earned extinction?'
Another step, his boot finding something soft.
He didn't look down, didn't want to know if it was fabric or flesh.
'You showed me everything... every possible future, every timeline, every outcome...'
