I work on an island connected to the mainland by a bridge. I usually start early in the morning at 6am. My thinking is the earlier you start the earlier you get to go home. This means on most days when I drive to work it is still dark outside, especially in the wintertime.
Today, I was heading to work like any other day, except I noticed that there were a lot fewer cars on the road than I am used to, but I thought “well, it’s around the holidays and it’s early in the morning so maybe there are just a lot of people taking today off or whatever.” I didn’t think much more about how few people I saw again, until I reached work.
There is a security guard that checks your ID as you enter the parking lot, just to make sure you really work there and have business parking in that lot. When I showed up the guard had a look on his face like he was surprised to see me, but he checked my ID and let me pass.
As I made my way to my usual parking spot, I noticed there actually wasn’t anybody else in the lot, not one other car. Now, I thought things were getting weird because fewer drivers on the road didn’t mean anything, but I was never the first person to arrive so, the fact that I was the only one there meant something was happening that I was not aware of.
I got to my spot and headed into the building, planning to call my girlfriend from my desk. When I got inside all the lights were off, which is not surprising because they are motion activated and I had not seen other cars yet. Then I noticed my computer had no power, and I realized the entire building had no power. I checked my phone, and I had no reception. I checked the desk phone, and the line was dead.
It was at this time that I started to lose my cool, what the heck was happening? What could affect the power, the phone lines, and the cell service? I knew I had to get some answers, so I got back into my car and headed back to the gate where I had seen the only other person I had seen this entire time, the gate guard.
When I got to the gate, the guard was gone. I know I saw a guard here, I must have, right? I am in full on panic mode now and start making the 40-minute drive home. I took the same route home I took to get to work. I am more awake now, so I am realizing all the other cars I was seeing on the way to work had no people in them. Abandoned cars all over the highway right in place like people just stopped and got out and left them there.
I make it home and my girlfriend isn’t there, my brother isn’t there, my parents aren’t there, I can’t find anybody anywhere. The phones here don’t work, my cell phone still has no reception, the power here is also out, I have no idea what is happening, I’m in such a panic and I am in such shock that I pass out in the middle of the living room right on the floor.
The next thing I remember I’m waking up on the living room floor. Now it seems like there is power, so I get up and go to the bathroom to wash my face. As I’m washing my face my girlfriend walks up behind me and asks why I didn’t come to bed last night?
I ask her where she has been and what happened yesterday? She tells me about her day like nothing out of the ordinary happened. I talked to my brother, and he tells a similar story about having a normal day. At this point I think I have just had a bad dream and try to put it out of my mind.
Come Monday morning, I am feeling a little better but still shook, so I head to work hoping everything is fine. When I get to the lot, I take out my ID for the gate guard and it is the same guy I saw on that day, immediately I start to feel panic and distress and I ask him how his weekend was, his response, “Better than yours I’m sure, keep it moving!” Stunned, I head to my desk and think about the guard all day. What did he know? What happened? Did it really happen? Before the gate guard said that I had just figured I imagined the entire thing now I’m not so sure.
Later that day when leaving there was a different gate guard. I never saw that gate guard ever again, and I never got any answers as to what happened that day. I am the only one who remembers the day everybody disappeared, and nothing worked.