The weekend went by in a flash. More news got out about the city of Roburgh, and the problems arose. Accidents kept piling up from left to right, and more people fell ill and either had to stay home or take a trip to the hospital. Ryan tried various activities to pass the time and escape from reality, but to no avail. For him, there was no escaping it. He hoped for anything to get his mind off unpleasant things, just for one day. As long as it didn’t remind him of…

  With a hefty sigh, he got ready for the day and left for work. The way there was quieter than before. Barely any people or cars were in his line of sight. A pit formed in his stomach over the uncertainty, but he still kept his chin up (had to keep his eyes on the road anyway) to get through the day.

  When he got there, Ryan took the elevator to his workstation and found Daisy near hers, waiting for him... along with no one else.

  No clicking on the keyboards, no fax machines or printers beeping, not even frantic or methodical footsteps walking on the tiled floor. The silence was deafening. Neither could believe it. There were at least a dozen, or maybe a couple of workers, still intact from last week. There was no way they’d all have quit their jobs at once, unless…

  “Is this everyone?” Barry stepped out of his office to look around the area. After confirming they were the only three in the building, he sighed and rubbed the back of his receding head. “Well, at least I won’t be the only one trying to keep this place running.”

  “Um...” Daisy said, getting up from her seat. “If I may ask, are the other co-workers...?”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so. Looks like that sickness spread further than any of us expected. Either that, or it passed on to someone on the way to or back from work. Either way, they’re all staying home for the week.”

  “I see.” Daisy lowered her head. “That’s what I figured...” She sat back down without a rebuttal.

  Ryan’s heart sunk as well. He didn’t like finding out about the news as much as she did. In fact, this was the last piece of news he wanted to hear, especially in a place like this.

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  “Hey, shouldn’t you close up for the day, then?”

  “No can do, Ryan. We still need to check the high maintenance and strengthen security.”

  “But how are we supposed to do that with only three people? This place is huge!”

  “We can get the small stuff out of the way now and space out our workloads,” Barry said. “Daisy, check the databanks and files. Ryan, run the computers and test the firewalls. I’ll go check on the security on this floor, see if it needs any upgrading.”

  “And if it does?”

  “Well, I can contact somebody that’s available to help us with that.”

  “But—”

  “This is our workspace; we can’t expect others to do all the work for us. Now get going.”

  You’re one to talk. Ryan knew talking back now would do him no favors. He glanced over at Daisy, already trudging over to her workstation. All he could muster up was a quiet, “...Fine.” He turned and made his way to his cubicle.

  Daisy sunk back in her chair. She was used to working a bunch on her own, but something about the work area felt emptier than usual. It felt a lot more urgent, or an obligation, rather than a favor or offer to help. Some days, it seemed like all her hard work was for nothing, or it piled up further because of unfortunate circumstances. She didn’t blame anyone one bit, not even Ryan. There wasn’t anything she could do about it.

  Ryan also slumped into his seat. The lights on the ceiling barely gave off any light, only showing brief, dim flickers now and then. They were losing power. He sighed. There was barely anyone to talk to, not that he was in the mood to chat anyhow. Everyone he knew either no longer worked or had other things on their mind and schedule.

  Ryan felt the loneliness sink in, the walls closing in, as if trapped in a cube with no way out. All he had to keep his mind awake was staring at the computer screen, mindlessly clicking away, all while using the ticking clock as white noise.

  The ceiling lights continued to switch on and off repeatedly. Ryan’s eyes strained from the back of his skull as he pinched the bridge of his nose, shutting them tight. Right as he was about to hit save, the lights went out, enveloping him in darkness. A soft and quick scream nearly bolted him out of his seat.

  “Daisy, you alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. That really threw me off guard, though.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Still at my cubicle.”