Melody

"Melody, please go get the papers from the printer."

"Sure thing Herald."

Another boring office day. I guess epidemiologists can only do so much when there are barely any epidemics. Even the flu is almost a thing of the past with the new multi-strain vaccine. (I wonder if I'll even have job stability in the future.) I walked to the printer and grabbed the graphs the boss asked for. As I was walking back, I heard a loud "sploosh" sound. Everyone in the office froze and looked around. After a moment, I walked back to Herald's office to ask him what that was. He was gone.

"Herald?" I called. I walked around the entire office space and knocked on the bathroom door. There was no answer. I pulled out my phone and called him. His phone lit up and started vibrating on his desk. I walked out of his office just in time to see the source of the same sound. Someone vanished. And then another. My coworkers began to scream. I was too confused and frightened to scream. (What is this... is this an illusion? A dream?)

People packed into the elevator like sardines in order to get as far away as possible from the explosions. I decided to take the stairs. A few other people from other floors were also on the stair well, going down the stairs two at a time. I'd never seen this many people on the stairwell at once. Once I reached the bottom I went into the lobby to meet my coworkers. They must've had to stop at almost every floor. The elevator finally reached the bottom floor and opened. There was no one in it. A sparkly dust came out of it, and I reached up to touch it. I could barely even feel it.

The TVs were showing a shelter in place warning. It said that this phenomenon was going on everywhere. (So, these people were dying? Just like that?) "C'mon folks, get a move on, let's get you all back home." A lobby staffer attempted to usher us out. I decided that being in an open space with a few people was better than being in an enclosed space with many. As I stepped outside, someone called for me.

"Melody, don-" then she exploded. She was my best friend at work, Sarah. I dropped down to my knees as the dust blew around me. (Why is this happening? Will I have anyone left?) I live out of the city, so I made a run for the parking garage. The street was a mess. A few cars who's drivers had vanished smashed into buildings, sidewalks, and people. There was no police or fire fighter response in sight. The only sound that was certain was the sound of death.

The parking garage was completely empty- people wise. There were no guards or workers, and no one was getting in or out of their cars, even though there were almost no empty spaces. Once I reached my car I put my head in the wheel and took a few deep breaths. A number of tears rolled down my face. For Sarah, for what I didn't understand, for the stressful situation. (How am I ever going to get home?) As I pulled out of the garage, an explosion rocked the building. Not the new, human explosions. A plain old fireball explosion. The road was in a state of disarray. Abandoned cars every few meters and cars that had run off the road. People were running directly on the street. I could barely move my car. Another fire broke out in a building. As I drove past, I heard what sounded like a backdraft. I looked up and couldn't see anything clearly because of the smoke. Then I heard the sound of shattering glass. Everything went dark.