The App: App-ocalypse (1)

Night 42 - Receiving it

Something was vibrating in Anna's pocket. It is so unbelievable. I didn't think I would hear that sound again. She also kept her old phone, just as I did. She had it in her pocket all this time. I can't believe it. I was feeling guilty about mine, but she was doing the exact same thing. Oh, mrs Jimenez, I think I still love you. I think I'm a weirdo. Whatever.

She had her phone with her and it vibrated because she had received a new message. More precisely, the App had received a new message. This is so fucking unbelievable. Anna turned off her phone the very first day when she found her husband lying on the floor, to make sure no one would be disturbing her grief. Little did she know at this time than no one would have anyway since phones all over the world went off by themselves. After her car accident she ran straight home and had no idea of what happened - even though she had guessed something terrible happened.

She kept her phone as an old habit, a souvenir of what her life was before it all started. I can't say I'm surprised as I did that too. Except my phone didn't received the App. My phone wasn't a weapon used to send the whole world in a coma. Tonight, my phone didn't do anything.

When she woke up because of the vibration tonight she looked alarmed. She took it out of her pocket with a concerned look at me. Xia was sleeping. I don't know how she can find peace with everything that happened today – but she did somehow.

Anna couldn't look at her phone. I was afraid too. It stopped vibrating after a minute or so and only showed the QR code. Or so it seemed. We hesitated for another two minutes, just looking at each other, silently, knowing that it could be dangerous to look at it but dying to look at it.

Finally I did broke this long stare at each other. I couldn't bare her gaze anymore. I was falling in love with her all over again. I don't want that, I just want to forget my feelings for her. For a second, I even hoped to fall asleep by watching her phone, I hoped to stop loving her and to die in a painless coma, then I looked at the QR code and nothing happened.

The screen was showing the same QR code as the first attack showed – because it looks like attacks now that it started again. Except this time there was a logo on it, a sort of wave. Above that wave was written in black : 42-DF. That's all.

Anna looked at it then looked at me again : I remember whispering "What the fuck?". She gave me the look as usual – the teacher's one in which she was telling me I should stop saying fuck – but answered she didn't know either. Xia woke up at this moment, maybe she heard us. She saw the phone and took it, looking at it as if it was some kind of miracles.

She clicked on the screen by reflex and another message appeared: MBX'H-HJFZW-XLNKILNRHVW|MVVW-SVOK|.

Well, this was disappointing. It doesn't mean anything of course but I quickly wrote it down. Anna then turned off her phone again. It appeared someone communicated with this phone. I mean, it looked exactly like a message except it had no sense. What if someone was using this App to try to tell us something? What if this same someone was able to locate Anna's phone? Or was it just a terrorist attack or something like that?

I looked at mine and nothing had changed. It still doesn't have any battery left and is totally useless.I shouldn't be carrying it anymore, but I'm attached to it.

Something else is now bothering me: if the people who took us were Robbers like I assumed they were, they wouldn't keep us. They would have taken everything we had a long time ago and then left us to die without supplies. Why on Earth would they keep us?

The old woman said she was coming back tomorrow morning to explain everything. It looks like I'm about to have a really short night. I also took the time to look for a way to escape but as usual I'm as useless as my phone in that area. There is nothing I can do.

I'll try to fall asleep but I'll doubt I'll be able to sleep in those conditions. We're just lying on the floor.