Day 0

It was a Thursday at 9pm when it happened. Across the world around five million people disappeared, from what the authorities could tell. It was as though the world just stopped for a moment and then, when it resumed, it did so with slightly fewer humans where they should be.

Leonard, Raj and Howard were at a bar, as is customary recently on Anything Can Happen Thursday. The music was pounding and they were figuring out which woman might be susceptible to their particular brand of charm. Raj went to the bar to get drinks and that was when the world went on pause. When it resumed for the boys, a woman in the corner let out a scream and yelled that her friend had disappeared.

The atmosphere had changed abruptly in the bar, to one of fear and uncertainty. The trio made their way home, a little shaken by the rather strange happenings. Leonard wanted to check up on Penny as he'd left her with Sheldon playing Age of Conan. He had almost stayed to try to get into her favour, but she dismissed him in a rather Sheldon-like way that disturbed him a little.

Leonard opened the door to his apartment. It was empty. A bubble of fear lodged in his stomach. Sheldon's red and black laptop was in his spot, next to Penny's pink one. Their avatars stood on screen waiting for their owners to issue commands.

"Sheldon would never just leave his laptop like that," Raj said in a hoarse whisper.

"I know," Leonard said, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Even if something bad happens, he is totally anally retentive about closing the lid," Howard murmured.

"I know," Leonard repeated. "What the hell has happened?"

Raj turned on the television and switched over to the news station. The three men listened, growing pale as the reporter on screen explained that there had been disappearances across the globe. They gave a number to call if you thought that someone that you knew was missing.

Leonard took his cellphone out of his pocket and dialled with shaking hands. The woman on the line ran through a set of questions about his two missing friends. She told him that someone would be in touch with him within 48 hours and told him that he should notify their families that they were missing. With a sinking feeling, Leonard agreed and ended the call.

It was 10pm by then, but Leonard decided that he needed to contact Penny and Sheldon's families right away. He started with Wyatt, Penny's Dad, who took the news with a few gruff comments. He asked Leonard to keep in touch with him to give any updates.

He called Sheldon's mother afterwards, who sobbed down the phone. He heard Missy in the background, who sounded a little angry and was adamant that she had known something had happened to her brother. He made the same promise to Mary Cooper that he had made to Wyatt to give her updates.

Once the phone calls were done, the three men shut down the two laptops and placed them carefully on the coffee table. They sat on the couch and carried on watching the developments as they came through on the news, mostly in silence. They only broke the silence to call their families and check in. While it was late, their families were grateful to hear from them.

As reports rolled in from across the world and the number of missing people were tallied, the news stations began to speculate about what had happened. None of them could present anything that didn't sound like the plot to a sci-fi movie, but talking and thinking about it prevented the three boys, at least, from getting the rising nausea that accompanied the unknown.

They all fell asleep on the couch together in the small hours of the morning, the news station still shining brightly on the television.