After that, she took the dishes back into the kitchen and washed them. She turned on the faucet a couple of times and noticed that the water flow was already getting thin. At first it dribbled out weakly, then after a few seconds the faucet stopped completely. Bai Li stared at it for a moment and her heart sank. She muttered to herself, "The water's cut off?"
The answer seemed to hang in the air in front of her. After the water stopped, the power would probably go out soon too, and then the internet would be gone as well. The world they had known would keep retreating farther and farther away, until even basic comfort became something they could only remember. Bai Li sighed. She had known this would likely happen sooner or later, but knowing it and seeing it happen were two different things. The moment the water really stopped, the sense of finality hit harder than she expected. The apocalypse had truly arrived.
