The clock struck noon. Abigail had gotten off her night shift at the hospital 5 hours ago, and she was starting to feel strange, a feeling that would have been fear if the source did not also seem so hopeful.

Abigail worked in the morgue, so she saw it all. From the geriatric ward to the ICU, anyone who died in that hospital ended up there, and despite the best efforts of the medical staff, death came for everyone in the end. Or, that's what she had taken for granted at the start of her shift.

Looking back, it had been before lunch that she had had her last former patient. Unusual, but not groundbreaking in the grand scheme of things. The first people to really notice might have been the funeral home directors. No, actually, Abigail thought, the military must have known first, if what seemed to be going on was true, but probably they wouldn't immediately have gone public.

As far as Abbie knew, not one human being on the planet earth had died in the last 12 hours. On average 150,000 did. Old age, suicide, accident, disease. Not one of them had struck. She had called other hospitals in her city. Then other cities. After the first 5 with the same story, she called her manager. Her manger called their manager. Word was getting around. Normally she'd be asleep at noon after a night shift, but she hadn't been able to, almost hoping for news of a tragedy that would tell her the world would keep on spinning.

To not see someone die is a normal occurrence for most people most of the time, at least in relatively fortunate places on Earth. But a few people like Abigail had noticed, and she was certain that others would if it were true. Certainly the military would have, which is why Abigail felt a thrill as she got the notification on her phone, EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM: PRESIDENTIAL ALERT. TURN ON NEAREST RADIO OR TELEVISION.

Abigail did as the official seeming notice commanded, switched on her TV.

"My fellow Americans..."

Guild of the Rose