It's an ordinary night in Chicago. Rachel Matheson is hanging out with her kids, five-year-old Charlie and two-year-old Danny, when her husband Ben bursts through the door with an armload of canned food. He orders Rachel to fill the sinks and tubs with water. Her eyes filled with fear, Rachel asks, "It's happening, isn't it?" In Port Royal, South Carolina, Ben's brother Miles speeds down the highway, his buddy Sebastian "Bass" Monroe riding shotgun. They've had a few drinks and are heading back to the Marine base when Miles' phone rings. Ben is hurriedly copying computer files using a strange silver amulet/flash drive as he tries to warn his brother: "It's all going to turn off and it will never ever turn back on!" Their phones go dead, as all the lights in Chicago start to flicker off. Did all of Ben's files download in time? When Miles' car comes to a dead stop, Bass and Miles climb out of the car to watch as all the lights of the cars behind them wink out in a cascade that runs as far as the eye can see, and planes begin hurtling towards earth.