He awoke to the blaring sound of his alarm clock. It was 6 AM. The sole thought in his head was that if he didn’t get up now, he’d fall back to sleep, miss his bus and be late for work. Alright, I’ll get up, he thought to himself. It wasn’t going to be easy. His head was filled with a thick, heavy fog and his eyes were wired shut. Or at least that’s how it felt. With all the might he could muster he lifted himself to a vertical position and just sat there. Slowly, the fog began to lift as he pried his eyes open. Shower.
He rose to his feet and stumbled to the bathroom. His blood now circulating, he started to wake up. The shower completed the process.
Fully awake now, he shaved, got dressed and made his breakfast. Having completed his morning meal, he brushed and flossed his teeth, filled a travel mug with coffee and headed out the door.
That’s odd, he thought. He didn’t notice any cars on the road as he walked to the bus stop. The regular cadre of people waiting at the stop weren’t there either. Had he forgotten to move his clock forward? Was it a holiday he’d forgotten about? Where is everybody?
He waited, and waited for the bus that never came. What on earth is going on!? He didn’t see one car the entire time he was at the stop. No pedestrians either. Could this be an elaborate joke? There weren’t any crashed cars or wounded people roaming the streets. There was simply no one around. At this point he’d take zombies as an explanation over the vanishing act he was witnessing.
9-1-1. I’ll call 9-1-1. he pulled out his phone and dialed the number. The phone rang and rang but no one ever picked up. Now he started to panic. Maybe it’s localized. I’ll check CNN. he ran home and turned on the TV. Nothing. The station wasn’t broadcasting. None of them were. The Internet. People must be online. He launched his browser and hit a news website. Yesterday’s news. He tried another, then another. None of the sites had any updated information. They all stopped at around midnight. The same was true for blog posts, tweets and Facebook status updates. Wait. No one in the WORLD has been online since midnight!? The gravity of the situation began to weigh on him. He just sat there for a good long while letting it sink in.
What am I going to do!?
–30–
Read more from the archive.