The End of Time

Boom! 

The sound echoed throughout my 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom studio apartment. It sounded as if a nuclear bomb had been let off. The entire building shook, a bright red light came from the sky then it everything went silent. Not a normal silence, but that eerie silence that you see in movies that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It didn’t last for any longer than a minute. I hopped out of my bed as quickly as possible and ran straight to the window. Everything outside looked normal. I scurried back into my bedroom , frantically searching for the remote so I could watch the news. 

No one is talking about the boom , great !  Am I going crazy? I thought to myself. 

I grabbed my phone to FaceTime my best friend, but to no avail, she didn't answer. I went through half of my contact list and no one would answer. 

I'm not crazy, this situation just doesn't make sense. 

I quickly ran back to the window to see if I could see anything. Nothing. I mean there were no cars, no people, no animals. It was like everyone on the face of the earth vanished. 

Let me check on the neighbors.

I knocked on my next-door neighbor's door and no answer. I went to every single door in the entire building. No answer.

What do I do now? I asked myself out loud. 

Think, think, think. 

I grabbed my car keys, ran down all 10 flights of stairs into my car. As I stepped outside, a feeling of nervousness took over my body. It just didn’t seem right, but I still couldn't figure out what was going on. I drove around for at least 45 minutes before I decided to go back home. I wasn’t finding any answers or any people.

By this time it was dark outside. There were still no people, no bugs or anything. It felt like I was the last person on earth. 

Let me get a good nights sleep and try again in the morning. 

The next day…

I didn’t get much sleep last night. I think I only slept for about 2 hours. My mind kept racing. 

I need to find some answers.

I rolled out of bed, used the bathroom, and got myself together for the day. As soon as I got out of the bathroom my phone rang. 

” Hello” 

” Omg, did you hear that what's going on? I can’t find anyone, everything is so weird ”

”Slow down Tisha, take a breath. I heard it too” 

” So what is going on? ”  she asked

” Girl if I knew I would have told you” I replied 

” I’m coming over right now” 

We talked for about 30 minutes, going over the series of events that took place in the last 24 hours. The conversation got absolutely nowhere. I actually think I was way more confused than I was before.

As I waited for Tisha to come over, I pulled out my brand new laptop and searched all social media platforms.

The last post was made 24 hours ago. How is that possible? 

”I just don’t get it” I screamed 

What is going on?

At this point, I was so frustrated. Nothing was making sense. No one was around to give any answers either. The next thing I know, the entire sky turns a deep red color. There were no clouds and the sun disappeared. That eerie silence came back but this time it lasted about 45 minutes. The sky opened up and I saw what looked like rain start to fall. I ran up to the rooftop of my condo to get a better look. I opened the door and when I stepped outside It smelled of dead animals mixed with old rotten eggs. The smell was really unbearable. What looked like rain wasn’t actually rain at all. It was in the form of a liquid but it tasted like sulfur. I quickly ran back into my condo where Tisha was making her way to my door. 

” Hey Tisha, did you hear that”   

” Yes I…” she tried to speak but she couldn’t seem to make out the words.

”What’s wrong, are you okay” 

” Yes I…, Yes  Yes, I...” she let repeating but could never finish her sentence. 

I grabbed her by her arm and pulled her inside. I had no clue what was going on or how I could help her. I went into the kitchen to get her a glass of water as she sat in the living room on the couch. 

As I was getting the cup out of the cupboard, I heard another loud BOOM! , followed by screams and then silence. I turned to make sure Tisha was okay, but to my surprise, she was done. It was as if she was taking. The front door was still closed and showed no signs of someone leaving. 

” Tisha, Tisha where are you! Please answer me” I yelled. 

No answer. 

I ran out into the hallway to see if I saw anyone. Nothing.

At this point, I am in complete panic mode. I have no idea what to do, what’s going on, or where anybody is at. 

A few days later…

The boom, the silence, the smell, and rain became continuous. It was at the point where it was impossible to leave my condo. It seemed as if everything were only getting worse and no one was around with answers.  I raided the neighbor's condos for food and supplies. Enough to keep me going for a few weeks. There was no longer access to the internet and my cell phone didn’t work. I was completely alone. A part of me actually didn’t mind it. 

Knock, knock, knock. 

Oh my God, is that real? Maybe I shouldn't answer it, I thought to myself. 

Knock, knock, knock. 

I ran to the door and slowly opened it. On the other side were about 5 people. They were all dressed in weird sliver suits that reminded me of the clothes people wear when they are making video game movements.( I have no idea what that is called). All of them wore face shields and helmets.

”Ma’am, I need you  to come with me”

” Who are you, what’s going on and where the hell have you been”

” We will explained everything in the car, let’s go” 

They switched me by the arm, dragged me down the stairs as if I was criminal or something. I just didn’t understand. 

When we reached the car, they threw me in the back and quickly sped off. 

” So I need to know what is going on and why was I handled in that manner”

Another voice emerged from behind me. She spoke in a very gentle and calm manner.

” Hello Ms. Jess, my name is Ari Mandela. I am the owner of A.A.A.U. We run and operate an underground lab where we focus on extraterrestrial activity. We have been studying the surrounding areas for decades, trying to understand exactly what they are seeking. A few days ago, as I’m sure you are aware of, something tragic happened that caused every single living creature on earth to just vanish. But let me not get ahead of myself. We have been in contact with the beings located in the Sculptor galaxy. Let’s just say they weren’t to friendly.” 

” So let me get this straight, Aliens are real? And what does that have to do with me” 

” Let me finish, please. Around 15 days ago, there leader made contact with us demanding we surrender our earth to them in exchange for free will and amazing technology. Of course we didn’t agree and that’s when this happened” 

” So why am I here, if. If everyone else is gone. How are you still alive” 

” We only survived because of are looking for the location being underground and plus we prepared for something like this to happen. As far as you, well that's the problem. We believe you are one of them. We believe they sent you here, along with a few others to scope out the competition of you would say. We believe they’ve been studying for years. They managed to replicate the human race, giving you emotions, organs, blood. Basically, everything we have.” 

” No way! I have a family, friends I couldn’t possibly be one of them”

” Oh but you are. And we are here to stop you”

The next thing I know everything went black. It happened so quickly I had no time to react. But if what she was saying was true, I’m glad she took me out.