She turned and looked around the kitchen. It was relatively clean. She had been planning on giving the oven a proper scrub down, but she’d wait for confirmation of the asteroid being diverted before she committed to that job. Claire jolted forward, reaching for her laptop.
Claire held her breath and scanned her news feed eagerly. She let out a big sigh after a few moments. There was nothing new; nothing good at any rate. She read, aghast, at reports of looting and unrest spreading around the world. London. New York. New Delhi. Paris. Beijing. Moscow. Johannesburg. Neither Toronto nor Vancouver was on the list, nor Melbourne. Not yet.
Claire tapped her fingers on the table and took a deep breath. She felt helpless and out of her depth. Astronomy had never been one of her passions. She had no idea what to expect from the asteroid strike. Would death be instantaneous? Would the planet explode? Would it be isolated to one area, or would the whole planet burn? Or perhaps would it be more like a nuclear winter, with everything and everyone slowly withering away until there was nothing left. What exactly was going to happen? Some animals had survived the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Could that happen again? Surely not everyone on the entire planet would die. Or would they?
Claire slumped down and let her head rest on the table. She groaned in frustration. She needed more information.
Clicking around to a few web pages, Claire only managed to make herself even more confused and frightened. There was so much contradictory information being put up.
Before long a faint cry of “Mummy!” reached Claire’s ears. She went upstairs to the boys’ room. Noah was sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Tristan was crouched in his cot, playing with some toys that had been left there. He gurgled happily when he spotted her hovering in the doorway, and offered her his soggy teddy bear that he’d obviously been chewing on. Claire envied them for a small moment.
She got Noah up and dressed first, and then let him ‘help’ her get Tristan ready for the day. Claire tried not to think about all of the things they’d never get to do, milestones they’d never reach together if the asteroid actually hit.
“Mummy?” Claire started, and realised she’d been staring at Noah for too long.
“Sorry, honey. I was off with the fairies. Let’s get you two some breakfast, shall we?”
Claire spent the rest of the morning playing with her sons and trying to be as in-the-moment as possible.
Claire’s friend, Hannah, called around lunch time, pulling Claire away from the mess of toys on the lounge room floor. Claire had met Hannah at a Mom and Tots group she’d gone to a couple of times when Noah had been a young baby. Hannah had been one of the only other mums there that Claire could actually see herself being friends with for their own sakes and not just because they’d had babies at the same time. Hannah skipped the formalities.
“Have you seen the news? People have started looting Downtown.”
“What?” Claire asked, startled. “No, I haven’t. Here? In Toronto?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Uh huh. It’s getting ugly out there,” Hannah said, voice tense. “This is crazy.”
“You said it.” Claire sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I suppose it was only a matter of time, but I didn’t think it would happen this quickly. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”
“My friend Jacqui was mugged this morning too. You know Jacqui, I think you met her at my birthday dinner last year.”
“Oh my god. Yeah, I know her. Is she all right? What happened?”
“She does some charity work, helping out the homeless, handing out food and blankets and that sort of thing. Well, she was doing that and some kid with a knife grabbed her and demanded money. She didn’t have any though, only food, but he wasn’t interested in that apparently.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah. She’s shaken up, but she wasn’t hurt. Some of the guys she sees regularly saw what was happening and chased the kid away.”
“Oh, thank goodness.”
“Do you have somewhere to go? I think we should get out of the city. I don’t like this.”
“Me too. Tom’s got an uncle with a farm a few hours away. We were thinking of going there.”
“Good, yes, that would be a good idea, I think. How’s Tom taking it?”
“He’s in Vancouver. He’s on his way back though, he should be here by tonight. Do you have somewhere to go?”
“Yeah. My grandparents live in a tiny town that’s barely on the map. I can’t imagine there’ll be any looting or rioting there. I was going to offer for you to come too if you didn’t have anywhere else to go. They have plenty of room.”
“Oh, thank you, Han. That’s sweet of you. I think Tom’s uncle will work out, but if it doesn’t I’ll let you know.”
“I don’t want to leave. But I’m scared to stay.” Hannah lived closer to Downtown than Claire did. They’d just finished renovating their kitchen. “I’m terrified that when I leave, it will be for the last time and we won’t be coming back.”
“Me too,” Claire said after a moment.
They spoke for a few more minutes. Hannah promised to come over and say a proper goodbye before she left Toronto. Claire promised the same if they were the first to leave.
As soon as Claire hung up from Hannah, the phone rang again. This time it was Lisa.
“I called Uncle Jim,” Lisa said, getting straight to the point. “He said we’re more than welcome to come up for however long we need.”
“That’s a relief. You’ve seen the news? They’re already looting here.”
“I know. I saw it. We should get out of here as soon as possible. Is Tom on a flight yet?”
“No, not yet. I got a message from him just before; they’re still waiting at Vancouver Airport.”
Lisa huffed. “He’d better hurry up and get back.”
“They’re trying. It sounds like it’s a bit out of their hands at the moment.”
“Well, fingers crossed for him then, I guess. Want me to come over?”
Claire glanced around. “Yeah, if you want to.” She wasn’t sure what they’d do, but the company would be nice.
Lisa arrived fifteen minutes later.
“Where’s Molly?” Claire looked behind Lisa down the empty driveway.
“With Guillaume’s sister and her cousins. She wanted to spend some time with them before we go.”
“Ah. That’s… a good idea.” Claire wished yet again that she could just pop over and see her relatives.
“Yeah. I didn’t know what to do with myself with her gone. I was bouncing around the house, I started packing but then I didn’t know what to take… Have you spoken to your family yet?” Lisa asked, almost reading Claire’s mind.
“No,” Claire sighed, and glanced at her phone. “It’s still pretty early there, only 4:00 a.m. I’ll call in a couple of hours. Mum and Dad usually get up pretty early. I did try calling them last night, but there was no answer. I hope they’re okay.”
“They will be. At least you got to see your Mum a few months ago,” Lisa said in what Claire supposed was meant to be in a consoling way.
“Yeah, at least there’s that…”
Lisa and Claire joined Noah and Tristan back in the living room. Claire sat with Tristan in her lap, while Noah did his own version of Show and Tell, and updated his mother and aunt on the various shenanigans his toys had gotten up to in their absence, while Lancelot the cat surveyed them contentedly from on top of the bookcase.
It was finally late enough in Australia for Claire to call home. She left Lisa with the kids in the living room and headed to her bedroom. She sat down on the side of the bed and dialled the familiar number and waited. It didn’t take long for her mother to pick up this time.