The day of Aemot

They stood there for a while, Yvonne perplexed and Harry, both hands in his pockets, seeming untroubled as Yvonne was.

To him, since he had checked his mother and she was still breathing fine and normally, with no sign of deterioration, that was enough assurance, he thought.

But then, this was indeed puzzling. They looked so much like they were in a coma. A mild one, except that he couldn't find a definite cause. His mom had been perfectly fine the day before. She just had her off day yesterday where she made sure to rest properly. She wasn't sick nor on any medications, nor did she ever show any signs of injury or trauma or fluctuations in her fortitude or body balance.

Well, that was just about his mother. The real enigma was that, the same thing might be happening to several different people at once. People who usually spent their days mostly apart.

"We gotta try somewhere else" Yvonne said panicking.

"Vee. I'll go try her place" she said, walking past him back to her yard to the neighbour who lived upstairs, directly above them. Harry didn't accompany her.

"Hey, Vee, Vee" she called out while knocking.

"Vee, are you awake? Please wake up"

There was no answer.

Standing outside now, though he had felt it when he came out to Yvonne earlier, the weather was much colder than usual. And it seemed to only get cooler and cooler. A dark wednesday morning, since there was no way their clocks and his phone were all giving the same incorrect time; his mother, Claire's sister, brother and their neighbours still asleep and not responding to any of their calls, and then, an exceptionally cold weather with all the lights in their vicinity out. Harry didn't know what to think.

But somehow, he could just tell these things were connected in some way.

"She's not answering" Yvonne said when she returned.

"She lives alone, right?"

"Yes" Yvonne answered. She was now more quiet than she has just been.

"Do you wanna try out more people" he asked. She didn't reply. He could tell she was already anxious. That she was already breaking down.

"I just want Claire and Hugo" she answered, her voice cracking.

"Yo, Yvonne, you're not the only one, y'know"

"How can you be so cool when your mom's not waking up. Don't you see something's wrong..."

"Yeah, I can see that, but she's breathing right? What else is there to do about it. Sit and cry?" He retorted. "Quit acting like a milksop, Yvonne"

That was the first time she had heard him say her name.

She understood him. He was a definitely one big jerk, but then, he was right. Though it was all heavy on her already, she had to do something. And that wouldn't happen if she went back home to cry about it or getting confused thinking about it, which was what she felt like doing now. She had to do something. That was probably what Harry was trying to say, she thought.

"Well, call the police then" she said. "It's an emergency, right?"

Harry had thought about it too, however, he suspected that the scope of these things were probably much bigger than they knew now. But that was just a thought. He slid his phone out of his pocket to dial the emergency number. Yvonne didn't know he had a phone. Almost none of the neighbourhood kids had any. She wanted to query him as to why he hadn't called them already but she held it back, not wanting to get more depressed than she already was.

The number rang for a while before the call ended. There was no answer.

"What?" Yvonne quietly exclaimed.

"Is that even possible?"

Harry dialled back again; and still no answer. But Yvonne wasn't quick to give up.

"Well, let's go to the station ourselves then" she said immediately.

"I'm sure some of them stayed up through the night for patrol duties. I'm sure we can find officers there who can help." she completed, sounding confident.

Meanwhile Harry had been thinking. Since the police hadn't picked up, it only intensified an uncomfortable thought he'd had since Yvonne tried Vee who didn't respond as well. Perhaps they had to try more neighbours, and maybe they could just find more people who were already awake or capable of waking up at least.

Indeed, he had already assumed that this wasn't just them anymore. Judging from the quietness around, if every other person in their neighbourhood were any different from his mother, there should have been more activity now, he thought.

"Ha" he chuckled quietly. He was indeed bewildered.

"What's the problem?" Yvonne questioned.

"What ever this thing is, I don't think we're the only ones Yvonne" he explained.

"We?"

Harry tried to gather a few thoughts together. Where they the only ones awake right now? If they weren't, just how many people were actually going to wake up? He could imagine a really scanty world from here out. And those who couldn't wake up, how long were they going to remain that way. He wanted to assume this was all a nightmare, except it felt too real.

Nonetheless, these where all just hypothetical thoughts. He had to confirm.

"Lets check out more apartments" he proposed.

"We should go to the police right now Harry" Yvonne reiterated.

"Do what you want, Yvonne" Harry said quietly, walking up street.

"Huh?" Yvonne couldn't express her sudden frustration. Why was he still acting like a tosser? Doesn't he realise the situation they were in and the fact that they had to figure it out together at least?

Harry kept walking.

"Where are you going?"

"Jane's place" he said plainly.

"Jane? Who's Jane?"

"A friend of my mom at work"

A nurse? She didn't know there was another nurse around here.

So she went after him immediately.

Her place wasn't too far. They stopped at the first house number in their street, just by the junction with roads that lead to different places including school.

As Harry approached the entrance, he could hear some noise. They were knocking sounds and a vaguely familiar voice. Just as he had hoped, they both weren't the only ones. It was a relief.

He walked in first, followed by Yvonne. Jane lived downstairs here and that was where the knocking and the voice of a young boy was coming from.

"Mrs Jane, Mrs Jane" he called out repeatedly.

He was younger than both Yvonne and Harry who joined him at Jane's front door. He stopped when they arrived, checking to identify them if he could but he couldn't see them well in the dark.

"How long have you been knocking?"

"Not for long now" he answered quietly.

"Let me guess. Your family's not waking up too" Harry said.

The boy must have been surprised as he gasped.

"I've been trying to wake them up but no one's waking up. And the clock..."

"Yeah, yeah. All that" Harry interrupted.

"Your family's not waking up too?" Yvonne asked again feeling a bit less lonely. It relieved her a bit.

"Yes. But then, how did you...? Do you know what's wrong with them?" he asked hopefully.

"No" Yvonne answered with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"My family's not waking up too"

"Yoo! Jane!" Harry knocked and called out loudly.

"Jane!"

There was no response.

"Ugh" Yvonne quietly sank in despair.

"What is happening? What is happening?" she said depressedly. "Why aren't they waking up"

Harry remained a few more seconds, hoping to hear something. Anything.

"Jane!" he called out for the last time, after which he would've turned to leave when he finally heard her respond.

"What's with all that noise? Who's there!"

"Jane!"