No Need To Panic

"There is no need to panic."

That's what the news told us. It was just supposed to be a heavy meteor shower passing close to Earth. Maybe a few minuscule pieces of rock would fall from the sky, so we should stay indoors. That was fine. School was cancelled, and so we all got to stay home and watch as the sky turned red and pieces of rock made tiny indents in the road.

Stores shut down. Flights were cancelled. Driving became hazardous and the government finally banned it all together. Traveling basically became illegal.

None of that mattered to us. We had built a cellar deep underground, for fun of course. But, hey, why shouldn't we use it? A two week vacation in a hole in the ground sounds awesome when it's just you and your friends. Your friends, except one, who you may like a little more than that.

It was all a joke. Until the cellar started shaking and we were stuck down there an extra five days. When the shaking did stop, and when when we came out, the world was not the same.

"There is no need to panic," they said. Liars.