She couldn’t remember how she got here. The bed felt too soft. She looked around the room, it looked like an ordinary bedroom, a bed, a bookshelf and a bedside table. It smelled clean and lemony. This was not her home, that much she was sure of. She tiptoed around the apartment but no one else was in there. The door to the apartment was locked and above it sat an alarm clock, showing nine minutes.

She pushed open any door she could find, most led to closets, but she found one that led to a balcony, it was glassed in. She felt nauseous as she looked down at the street below. It was at least ten stories up. All the buildings around her looked exactly the same. She had to sit down. An alarm rang through her apartment and she started hyperventilating.

“Dear Ms. Alice Cromwell, I’m pleased to inform you that your time in quarantine is over and you are now free to leave your apartment. Thank you for your patience.” A robot voice said from the wall. The front door could be heard sliding open. Alice couldn’t get herself to move for several minutes. She eventually got herself up and out to the hallway. The walls were beige and the doors brown, with a number over each. She turned around to see what number was on hers.

“29,” Alice whispered. The doors to the other apartments were standing open. She walked to the closest one and looked inside. It looked like the apartment she just walked out of.

“Hello!” Alice called. She walked to a few of the other apartments, but didn’t get a response from any of them.

Only one door was closed, the elevator. Alice took hold of the handle and it opened. There were no buttons inside. The door closed and locked behind her. Alice started pounding on the door.

“Let me out!, she screamed.

“Hello Ms. Cromwell. How may I help you?” It was the same voice that she had heard in her apartment. She stopped and looked around, there weren't any speakers or anything else in the elevator.

“Ms. Cromwell, do you want to go to the ground floor or to your apartment?” The robot voice asked.

“I,I,” Alice said and took a deep breath. “I want to go down to the ground floor.” The door opened.

“Have a nice day Ms Cromwell,” the robot voice said. Alice walked out on shaky legs. The ground floor looked the same but without any doors except for a grey door that led outside. The street was full of people, some running around screaming, asking where their family were, others were just standing there looking around and some groups of people had formed. Alice looked up at the sky, it was full of clouds and birds but nothing moved, no wind at all. 

She started walking through the streets, convinced that if she just kept moving she would eventually find a familiar face or a place she recognized. There were shops she recognised like starbucks and mcdonalds, but nothing else caught her eyes. She had picked up speed without noticing. Screens on all the buildings turned on and the streets turned still.

A woman in her late thirties was sitting by a small table sipping on a cup of tea.

“Hello my fellow people. My name is Sophia,” She said. Each screen had text from different languages. “I’m sure each of you are weary confused about what is going on. I’m sure most of you remember the asteroid that was moving towards earth.”


Alice had a vague memory of sitting in her living room watching the news. They talked about an abnormally large asteroid getting close to earth, but the scientist they interviewed said it was nothing to worry about.

“We have nothing to fear from asteroids today. We know enough to destroy them before they get close enough to do any real damage.” The scientist said. Alice hadn’t put much thought into it. She was so used to the news trying to scare people so she had just continued with her day.


“I’m saddened to tell you that the people in charge were wrong and the asteroid hit earth,” Sophia said. Gasps heard through the streets. “Most of the earth was destroyed. The city you’re standing in is the only livable place we have been able to find. The humans standing around you are all the 83 people we have been able to find. We are still searching, but the hope is not big after three months of looking.”

People started throwing anything they could find at the screens, showering them in glass. Out of nowhere guards came running, escorting people to their apartment. Alice was bleeding from the cuts. A man in a yellow uniforme came up to her, pointing a laser scanner at her.

“What are you doing?” Alice asked.

“Building 3 apartment 29,” the man said before moving to the next person. Another man in a blue uniform took a hold of her arm.

“Please come with me and we’ll get you patched up.”

“Let go of me!” Alice screamed. The man in blue injected her with general anaesthesia.