Cold. So cold. She wanted to wake up and turn the heater on but every inch of her body was ice cold and stiff. Her eyelashes fluttered but it was so heavy as to open her eyes.

Even her mouth felt dry. It was so cold but she felt at the same time as she hasn't had any fluids for days.

Slowly bit by bit her body was released of the stiffness. First her fingers on hands and feet then the rest of her body. Finally, she opened her eyes slowly and saw the cause of the stiffness.

The night before she left one if windows open to hear what is going on outside. Unfortunately, the gas like fog entered her home and enveloped her body, making it cold and stiff.

As soon she saw that she stood up and with slow and unsteady steps she closed it and turned her air conditioning (AC) on. It slowly s.u.c.k.e.d out the dirty fog out and put the clean air inside.

Her protection gear was quite helpful as it seems. She checked everything in the house.

The electricity still worked well. But who knows for how long. Her freezers are still plugged into the normal electricity but as soon that one turned off, the appliances will automatically switch to the supporting solar energy.

Luckily, she bought so many. While walking through the house she turned dehumidifier and then sterilizer on. Again the house became foggy, but now just because of the whole cloud of the sterilizer.

As her heater is now on she started feeling comfortable. After a while, the sterilizer stopped and as soon the cloud was gone, she started cleaning the house.

It was hard work as she was clumsily trying to do that in the gear, but she had no choice. The fog and sterilizer left moisture everywhere. She needs to clean it before it doesn't get into the pores.

It was so hard to dry everything up and wipe every corner that in end she was completely sweaty. After finishing she still didn't take it of. There was still slight fear so she just waited until everything clears up.

Her clock just showed 7 am and she looked out. Pulling curtains on the side all she could see was whiteness until the sky. The fog still didn't disappear, but she did know something was wrong.

At this time of day, there was still no sound of cars. Absolute stillness. Her house was indeed soundproof, but still, she could hear every day the buzz outside but not the noise.

But the stillness now was scary. Did it start?

She looked at her phone and saw a missed call from Mina's house number. She swiftly called back and could hear them talking already.

"Good morning. Jenny is on the phone. sorry about the strange voice but I have my protection gear on." She quickly explained as she could imagine their confusion.

"No. Definitely not. Outside is now strange fog and I fear it is polluted with some strange stuff. There is not even one sound outside, I fear that the fog is not simple at all. Just stay inside. I will call you when at least the fog disappears. Please trust me. From here I can see everything." She felt panicked. If they leave the shelter or let in the fog, who knows what could happen.

"I will tell them. We will stay for now inside and will turn our radio on. Maybe there will be some news. Call us when you see something." Grandfather was quite grateful to her and after saying a few more words they hung up.

Jenny was now anxiously trying to call her parents, but no one answered. She really hoped they would survive. No matter how many problems they had, she still loved them.

But no one picked the phone up.

She just stopped calling when she got a call from an unknown number. The strangely muffled voice could be heard from the other side.

"Oh miss Lin, finally. Its Mike. I just wanted to see are you alright." She smiled cynically. Strangers cared more about her than her own parents.

"Thank you for calling. You probably wear protective gear just like me." Of course, he would.

"Yeah. This fog seems to be quite strange. I am in an underground shelter but can see outside with the cams I installed before. Don't you feel that is kind of to silent?" His voice was having a hint of worry.

"Yes. Do not let the fog enter your shelter. I have now your number. I will call you as soon I am sure that the fog is gone. So long try to stay in your gear. I promise I'll call you." Her voice was steady and gave him some assurance.

"Then I will not be shy and accept your offer." Her voice turned softer and he could hear her chuckling. That woman has no idea... He sighed but just smiled.

Afterward, all she did is to check the TV but only programs that were programmed to show had some movies and shows on. Everything else just had signals. She turned it to the lowest sound and left the local station with the signal on, while she turned the radio on.

Same thing. Those that had preprogrammed stuff had music on, but the rest were just strange sounds on. She turned it off and just went to the window. Trough shutters she peeked to the outside and thick fog was still there.

She still felt sleepy so she chose to relax. Who knows if she will need this rest. She still felt thirsty and now hungry, but still didn't dare to eat or drink anything. Not yet.

She turned off the TV and just laid down on the couch and fell asleep again. Her heater was on so this time she slept comfortably.