I am one of five scientists.

One out of five people on this whole planet knows that in the next 24 hrs, we will all be dead.

We went through your typical 5 stages. Panic, grief, anger, sadness, and now all of us sit at a table in the lab, reeling with the last emotion. Numb. Is it an emotion if you don't feel it?

Thankfully, our phones are locked in timed lockers that do not open till the end of the shift. Otherwise, we would have panicked and called home.

What do we do now?

Our head scientist stands slowly, all of us craning to look up at him. Thomas has been leading our department for well over 20 years. Although not the most emotionally intelligent, he is a genius.

He rubs his scruff, his eyes glazed over in thought. Those glazed eyes landed on each one of us, like he was drinking in his team for the last time.

I suppose he was.

"We tell no one." He mutters—immediate outrage within the team.

"How could we keep this from them?" "They deserve to know!"

Tom leans against the nearest wall, ignoring them and making direct eye contact with me.

He's right. What would it do? Cause chaos? Public panic? Everyone would spend their last day on this Earth scrambling. How do I want to spend it?

Not telling my family would be difficult, but I think he is right. Let them enjoy one more day.

After hours of arguing, they all concluded that it was the best decision. We would tell no one.

Soon after we came to terms, we all clocked off the job. Not a single one of us was staying a minute longer with the knowledge we had.

My husband was surprised to see me home so early. When I arrived, he was holding our son while his belly was being used as a race track. I stood in the doorway, tears threatening to flood, but quickly brushed them away. I wanted to be home with my boys. We did nothing special. I made their favorite, lasagna. We played card games and snuggled on the couch.

I watched as my little boy's head started to lower gently into my lap, his breaths coming in slower. Once asleep, light snores filled the quiet of our living room. My husband traced circles on my arm absent-mindedly while he watched the movie he put on. I took a glance up at the sky and could just make out the glowing orb hurtling its way towards us. We only had a few more hours left.

I tucked myself closer under his arm and played with the strands of blonde hair in my lap.

This was good.