All Maris could see was a plethora of bodies strewn across the ground. Bodies covered in the mysterious disease the same way as her mother and the people inside. Fires were ignited from crashed cars, alarms set off, windows shattered, stray dogs with no owners...Maris wanted to believe that whatever happened inside stayed inside, but now she knew her entire Hour was like this.

There was no way her siblings had made it threw. The disease was no where near contained. But why was she alive? She was nothing special! Maris ran her numb hand threw her tangled hair, too stunned to do any more than that. Her surroundings were almost unrecognizable and it was something no one should see, not even in movies.

"Kevin! No! No!" Maris was struck with worry but deep down, she knew that he hadn't made it, but he was only a baby. He hadn't grown to known his other five siblings, learn about the Hours, experience love; Kevin was gone before he even truly lived. "I never got to see your night sky eyes...your dark and full hair." Maris only felt numbness, but this time, the tears just sat in a pool in her eyes rather than coming out. She rubbed her eyes raw and a massive headache consumed her mind, everything she saw kept switching from this surreal, high definition image of horrors to a blur of nothingness.

Maris moved her weak legs around the dead bodies and wandered for hours, trying to find anything that resembled a human life form but she was less than fortunate. In a way she was relieved, she didn't want to see someone alive that wasn't her mother. But the relief was replaced with emptiness and sorrow. She tried to think of anywhere to go but Maris didn't want to go home, she would only find memories and lost hope...her dead brothers and sisters.

Were the other Hours like this? Would someone come to help here? Did the Time Keepers know what was happening? How would she find help. Maris stumbled across some bodies and gasped in fright, her light shoes crushing the decaying skin. She moved her shaking foot and quickly turned on her heel, backing away one step at a time.

 Maris moved towards an unknown direction; she didn't feel right being here - when no one else could see the clouds move and breathe in the fresh air. She didn't know how to properly behave though, she couldn't sit with her mother and say it wasn't happening, that this was a figment of her imagination or a nightmare. It was happening and she was the only one living in it. Maris wanted answers, everyone in her Hour deserved answers, she just didn't know how to get them.

The young girl eventually found herself sitting in her usual seat at her and her mom's favorite cafe. A place where they went all the time after work and school to enjoy the spiced mochas and fresh boules.

Its previously gorgeous decor was ruined by the decaying bodies, broken windows, and the sense of life and happiness was stripped away. The only thing that remained the same was behind the granite counter, where rows and rows of boules, fresh baguettes, bagels, ciabatta, and countless other artisan delicacies sat, but Maris couldn't find herself walking behind the counter to take what she pleased. She had no right to abuse the power of being the only person alive; it would have been disrespectful to the past owners, workers, and hungry...well dead, but previously hungry people.

Maris was lost and distraught, no one to talk to and she wasn't deserving of this life. Her mother could have had it, at least her mother would know what to do. "I could go to another Hour...maybe someone there will know what to do." Maris looked at the ceiling and leaned back in her seat, "Ah look at you! Now you are talking to yourself! That plan is stupid anyways, they are probably all dead, too. You can't get answers if they're dead! Ha, you couldn't even make it to another Hour...you'd die within your first step out of the Three boundaries. There are probably grotesque animals and forests large enough to cover this Hour."

Maris let out a laugh and shook her head, "You know Mare, you just lost every person you ever knew in life and you are sitting in a cafe, not trying to help. What if there was a cure and you sat here... I mean, it's not like you can just leave, you would probably die. But what cure would work on someone already dead...gosh, you are so delirious you don't even make sense. Maybe, if the other Hours had this disease, theirs were more contagious. Death isn't that bad though, is it? Your mother knows it now." Maris' voice cracked at that and she couldn't believe she just said that. "Mom. I-I'm sorry. I'll be with you soon. Maybe whatever disease struck you and everyone else is just taking longer to get to me...I'll be with you soon. An-and I will bring you mocha and boules and whatever else you want."

She felt stupid, talking to herself in such a manner, but there was nothing else to do.

Maris figured that whatever wrong she was about to do could be forgiven due to the circumstances, and she got from her leather seat and walked behind the counter. Gingerly stepping over the bodies of the staff, she got one of the soft brown bags decorated with the cafe's logo and filled it with boules and a couple cookies for her walk, then got some portable mugs and filled them with mocha and extra whipped cream. Grabbing whatever change she could, she emptied her pockets on the granite counter and apologized to the deceased workers for whatever difference she couldn't afford.

She felt bad for how quickly her mind had changed about taking the food, but she knew she needed food sooner or later and quickly determined if she survived this disease, then she shouldn't die of something so cowardly as hunger.

Seeing all the bodies in the cafe was disheartening to say the least, but Maris mourning over them would not help. After seeing her mother in such a way, these bodies and faces only looked like blurs of a past memory.

Beginning her walk back to the office where this all began, Maris walked swiftly as if her mother would wake up if she arrived soon enough. It was getting dark, and the curfew for Hour Three was thirty minutes past sunset. She still felt like she had her rules to follow and duties to fulfill, as if someone were to tell if she did something wrong. It felt wrong for her to be alive with all these other people dead, but Maris could only try to stay strong for these people, try to find an answer. She determined that much, no matter how much doubt was running in her mind.

But she also wanted to give up and join her mother, her brothers and sisters, meet Kevin. As she continued to walk, all she could hear were flames in the distance, cackling with the wind, and the soft caws of birds who were circling the area around the café - probably curious as to why their usual crumbles of stale bread weren't thrown across the gravel. Maris grabbed the cookies out her bag and crumbled them up for the birds to have some food.

Pushing open the cold glass door and taking a deep breath at the familiar sight of bodies, Maris continued her path to her mother's location. If she couldn't be moved to a proper place, then she would at least be surrounded by some of her favorite things. Maris arrived to her mother's body and took out half of the pastries she grabbed and one of the mochas, preparing them in an array that could only give partial justice to what her mother truly deserved. Maris gently placed them down and thought of anything else that could be contributed to her mother's scene.

"Ok Mare...her favorite blanket, movie, plate, oh if I could move furniture I'd bring her bed, she lays...layed... on that bed all the time..." Maris got up and paced around the same four steps, taking deep breaths, trying to keep sane and come to senses that if all these people were dead, then she should try to make some kind of peace with it all. If she found answers, they could forgive and forget where ever they may be.

But thinking back to her little coffee shop breakdown, she realized how unrealistic that was. "Ok mom," Maris stopped pacing and stared at her mother, "I am going to get anything and everything I can and make this a beautiful memorial for you!" Maris turned and faced everyone else else in the room, slightly spinning, "An-and and everyone else! I am going to get some small things to symbolize the lives you lived and I-I will um...I am going to have a bonfire or something. Or or, I can light some candles. Yeah - candles!" She would honor them as a group then her mom specially, then just live in Three on her own.

Maris was overcome with a new burst of energy and she jumped around, working purely on adrenaline. She walked through the bodies, careful not to touch anyone too roughly, and returned to the distasteful looks of the roads. Maris tried her best to ignore all the lifeless bodies as she started the mile trek to her house to retrieve candles and all her mother's precious belongings. It was the least she could do for the people who had their lives taken when hers was, in an almost morbid way, honored with this life. Maris' previous thoughts of giving up on her life were concluded as senseless and if Maris couldn't travel Hours to find help, she would stay here to honor them and try to be successful in her own ways. But what would she do with endless time until her own death and no one else to help build something with? This was all too much for Maris and she put her eyes on one goal - creating the memorial.

Maris lost about half her energy walking to her house, but after stopping for a bit and aching for a breath, she continued her halfway jump and halfway walk to her house. A mile was quite long for her, she wasn't born in Hour One after all - athletics and exercise were not included in her characteristics. It was only easier every other time because her mother was there to talk to. Maris took a shaky breath, trying not to break down crying on the walk home.

 She arrived at her house and almost caught herself knocking, but shyly remembered no one would answer and stood there sadly before walking in. Maris had to catch her breath and give herself a stern talk to before going in because she feared the sight of all her siblings dead inside. She had momentarily forgotten that they would be there, and she cursed herself for ever forgetting about them. They weren't blood, but they were important and should never be forgotten.

She blew open the door and covered her fear with determination as she stomped into the foyer, ready to face any unfortunate soul laying on the floor.

Lucky, Maris was able to let out a deep sigh of relief as she wasn't met with anyone.  Yet. The house still smelled of her mother's coconut spray and Maris was happy to have this sense of familiarity. That was another thing she could take back to the office!

Maris stepped on the carpet and walked up the adjacent stairs, going to her mother's bedroom. The walk was short and she padded through the slim halls and pushed open the cream colored door, welcomed by the familiar sight of her mother's bed. She let out a weak smile at his its perfectly made form.

Maris walked to the bed and fell onto it, enveloped in the plush blankets. She hadn't even realised she was crying until the blankets surrounding her were wet and soggy, "I'm sorry mom...I am so sorry that I get to live while you were overcome with whatever terrible disease happened to you and all those other people. I knew you would die one day, we all will, but you deserved it differently than that. And, and you don't deserve to be in that building with those other bodies. Gah! Mom! Why! Why did this happen! Whoever did this - I want answers! I need them! You deserve them! So does Kevin, Jax, Kelsey...everyone. I just don't know how to get them, I'm scared mom. I'm scared." Maris was shouting into the bed, as if someone could hear her, but she just needed to vent. Maris didn't want to get up, she didn't want to move, she didn't want to be living anymore. "Mom I'm just so sorry." The tears continued and Maris couldn't find herself to say anything more.

All the adrenaline she previously had was gone and replaced with sorrow. Her determination to do everyone right was suddenly lost. She wanted to respect her mother and everyone else properly, she did, but she couldn't find the strength. Maris felt pathetic and lonely. So she found herself laying frozen again, surrounded with her emptiness and sorrow. Feeling guilty and undeserving.