Your alarm abruptly wakes you from a deep sleep. You roll over in bed, eyes heavy and mind groggy. As you turn the alarm off, it strikes you that there is an eerie silence. No birds are singing, no car engines are running, no children are chatting as they skip to school. You go to open the curtains but before you reach them, there is a piercing scream. You freeze. You hesitate. Your heart is pounding. You open the curtains to see your neighbour’s child hunched over the old la