The mug of coffee was nice and warm in Rachel's hands. She was on her third cup this morning, but she knew she would need the caffeine for the day to come. It was her first day at a new job, and she was living in a new town.<br/><br/>Finally she was just where she wanted to be. The town was much smaller then New York, and she'd already taken a tour of Golden Meadows retirement home where she'd be starting work today at 10:00am. It was a nice, clean and small place. She even lived close enough that she could easily walk there.<br/><br/>After taking a look at her watch and seeing it was just a bit after 9am, she got up and went to the mirror to make sure her blond hair was neatly put up in a pony tail. The required brown scrubs for Golden Meadows were hideous, but she would deal with them so long as she didn't have to wake up before the sun anymore.<br/><br/>Her cell rang just as she was getting her purse. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw the caller ID say it was her mother. Rachel was sure that her mom was still mad that she had moved so far away. It was still nice of her to call.<br/><br/>“Hi mom. I'm just about to head to work. How are you?”<br/><br/>There was a brief silence on the other end, then her mother's voice came through. Rachel had never heard her mother speak in such a disjointed, confused sort of way as she said,<br/><br/>“Your father is here. He doesn't look so well.”<br/><br/>Rachel frowned. Perhaps she shouldn't have left her mother in New York. Rachel's father was dead. Her mother had never shown any sort of mental problems before.<br/><br/>“Mom, dad can't be-”<br/><br/>Her mother's scream was loud in her ear, and the following dead tone on the phone left her frightened not only about her mother's sanity, but about her being hurt.<br/><br/>Rachel redialed her mother's number, but neither her house phone or her cell were working. Everything was so silent. Her pacing back and forth had lead her to the front door, and she now noticed how quiet everything was outside. During the weekend, she'd been able to hear cars or children outside.<br/><br/>Rachel opened her door and looked out onto an empty street. There was no one there. No cars drove by, no people walked their dogs, no children played in the street.<br/><br/>“What the hell?”