You, the apocalypse and me! [YiZhan FF] Fantasy

Chapter 4 - Eerie Silence

Since Yibo was on late duty, he could only stay until lunch. Right after that he had to leave again. But he promised me to come back to me in the evening after his shift. It was strange that I missed him as soon as he left. I still can't explain all this, I just know that I seem to have fallen head over heels in love with Yibo.

Fortunately, I was able to walk again when Yibo left. I had walked him to the door and then I put the dirty bedding from last night in the washing machine and turned it on.

I went back into the living room and turned on the TV. Still the media was reporting about these sink holes and how no one can explain how they were caused. Or even when! Additionally they talked about the lockdown of the city and that it was set for 2 weeks for the time being. But already it was assumed that it would last longer.

Since nothing else was on TV, I turned off the TV. But I didn't feel like listening to music either, so I just opted for silence. But after a few minutes I found the silence somehow eerie. It seemed oppressive and gave me a strong feeling of loneliness.

If this were a normal day, I would have gone to work in the morning and certainly would have had enough to do there. Enough to be distracted until it was closing time and I could go home. Then I would have showered, prepared dinner and rested a bit in front of the TV until Yibo would have come. But this was not a normal day.

There was just nothing to hear. No traffic noise from outside. No quarreling neighbors. Nothing, just absolutely nothing. At some point I heard the soft tick-tock of a clock. I don't have a clock in the apartment that can make that noise. The washing machine was also very quiet. And then the silence was so all-encompassing that I could even hear the blood rushing in my ears.

My chest felt quite heavy, almost like having a panic attack. I was sweating badly. I was getting harder to breathe, my heart was racing, and I was really starting to panic. I ran to the window, opened it wide and breathed in the freezing cold air. I slowly calmed down again.

And while I was still wondering what the hell was happening to me, I saw other my neighbors also holding their heads out of the windows. Were they like me?

I turned the TV back on to break the silence. A documentary about wildlife was on, and I left the window open. I got my files with all my important documents out of my closet and started sorting them. I needed to distract myself somehow and keep myself busy. I hoped that the day would pass quickly and that Yibo would be with me again soon.

Sorting all my documents took less than an hour. So after that, I sat down at my computer and filled out a divorce application online. Because now more than ever I wanted to end my marriage officially. After all, I now have Yibo and don't want to bring a legacy into my new relationship.

The problem was, it didn't take long to fill out and send off this divorce application either. Only two hours had passed since Yibo had left, and I still had at least 8 hours to go before Yibo would be back with me. How was I going to spend them? I was completely at a loss.

I sat down on my balcony, wrapped up thickly, and just stared at the sky until it started snowing again. It was so eerie not to see or hear any vehicles on the streets. No walkers were hurriedly walking down the street either. Only once this silence was briefly interrupted when a helicopter flew over the apartment building.

Out of sheer boredom and slight desperation, I even rearranged my living room. After that, it was my office's turn. Then I considered rearranging the bedroom as well. But I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to do that. The bed and the closets were just way too big and too heavy.

After Yibo had been gone for 5 hours, I lay on my carpet in the living room and stared at the ceiling. I listened to the repeating news and winced in shock when my doorbell rang. I ran to the door and opened it. And who was standing there? Yibo, in his police uniform.