Another day another dollar. Jim sighed as he sat down at his desk. Every day at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company was a surprise. Michael was sitting in his office, playing with a train set he had somehow managed to sneak in. Pam was at reception, smiling at him. Pam was his best friend. Toby was looking through one of the many shelves of paper. Kelly was talking off Ryan's ear in the annex while Dwight was crunching on a beet at his desk. Just a normal day.
Suddenly Toby cried out. "OUCH!"
Everybody crowded around him, trying to see what had happened. "Something wrapped in paper just fell off the shelf and onto my foot." Toby explained what had happened.
Jim bent down and picked up the object. He slowly unwrapped the paper to reveal an old CD. He looked up and realized that everyone was looking at him. "Come on, Jim-Jam Jimbo." Michael was saying, "What is it?" Jim looked down at the stuff in his hands. "It's an old CD," he said slowly, pausing as he examined the paper, "wrapped in…. a note."
Everybody was still looking at him expectantly. Jim uncrumpled the paper. Smoothing out the wrinkles, he held the note in one hand and the CD in the other. Clearing his throat, Jim began to read, although it was hard to stay focused while Michael looked like he was about to explode in excitement and Dwight looked about two seconds away from lighting the note on fire like it was a threat.
"Dear whoever finds this note,
I ask you to keep an open mind and a calm demeanor as you read its CD contains whatever remnants of the future that I could collect before it got me. Being a physicist, I was able to send this back in time as a warning to whoever finds it. Extra preparation for the apocalypse to come.
On the CD, you will find the future. It is sure to happen. Unavoidable. What few clips there are follow the life of what was once a normal human, thrown into chaos. A normal human that was part of this office years ago, when the times were still normal. If you do not believe the things I say, just watch the CD.
I ask of you to be careful and enjoy your life as you know it. For in time, I know not how much or how little, everything will soon change.
From the Diaries of Physicist
James Knight"
Jim stopped reading and everybody started yelling.
"Omg omg omg. Wow Ryan this is so cool I wonder what's on the CD. Don't you think this is awesome? I think this is awesome."
"This note is filled with trickery. I shall take it to Shrute Farms, burn it, then bury the ashes."
"Wow Jimmy Jim James. That's a pretty serious note there."
"Oh, I wonder which one of us it is!"
"Sounds like a cult."
"Guys, guys. GUYS." Oscar got everyone's attention. "Why don't we just watch the CD?"
As one, everybody rushed to the conference room. Jim strolled leisurely in, popping the CD into the TV and taking a seat next to Pam. He didn't believe any of this at all. He expected the CD to go in and the screen would light up with a video of Todd Packer screaming "GOTCHA. You little bitches!" The room went silent as the CD started. Jim had to resist rolling his eyes as a shot of a beach came into view. There was a young girl laying on it, her eyes closed. She suddenly sat up with a jolt, eyes wide. Listen Closely.
Jim could see Kelly shift uneasily as the words popped onto the screen.
Suddenly, the girl was walking barefoot on a bridge towards what looked like a grave. Jim could tell everybody was wondering who the girl was and who the note was about. He was wondering the same. Move Carefully.
This time, Michael shifted nervously as Phyllis looked a bit worried.
And then there was a shot of him on his knees, spreading sand over the ground. Wait. HIM?! This was about him in the apocalypse? Jim could not believe his eyes. Obviously nobody else could either, as they all turned and stared. "Yo, Jim-Jam. Why are you spreading sand? Where is that?" Michael asked excitedly, seemingly forgetting his previous uneasiness. Jim could only hold up his hands. "Hey. I have never been in that place my entire life. I have also never frantically spread sand over the ground like a crazy person."
Satisfied, everybody turned back to the TV only to see the backs of Jim and the girl walking barefoot across a sandy path in the forest. Before anybody could ask more questions, Jim said loudly, "I don't know who the girl is, why I don't have shoes on, or where they are."
The camera panned to the front and Jim had a beard. There was no stopping everybody from exploding at that. "JIM JIM. You look awful with a beard." "Jimbo, how long did it take you to get that?" "Have you ever had a beard in your entire life?" Jim just said nothing, eyes locked on the screen. He had a bad feeling about this. Wasn't it supposed to be chaotic or something?
And Never Make A Sound. Funny, Jim hadn't even noticed his counterpart hadn't said a thing. Then there was a strange blonde woman hanging up laundry. "Oooh. Jimbo. Getting some!" Everybody shushed Michael. The smaller girls feet were shown as she carefully and painstakingly put her feet onto paint swatches marking certain spots as she attempted to travel into a house. A large claw mark was shown, trailing up the staircase and cracking the wall, effortlessly terrifying. Jim gulped. As he turned, a few people like Phyllis and Kelly were looking at him with worried looks.
An old, overgrown barn with a paint chipped silo was on the screen. Funny. It reminded Jim of Shrute Farms.
If They Can't Hear You
Jim and the three other people, the woman, presumably his wife, and two children, presumably his kids, sat at a dinner table. Jim and his wife signed to each other from across the table. It was covered with yarn and they ate with their hands to, probably, minimize sound.
"Wow Jim, I don't know you knew sign language!" Oscar exclaimed. "I don't."Jim replied nervously as everything seemed to sink in. The room was dead silent as everybody realized how counterpart Jim looked so dirty and worn down.
They Can't Hunt You
Jim heard Stanley inhale sharply. That was saying something. If Stanley was shocked, then it was bad. Michael looked like he was about to run out of the room he was so terrified. For himself or Jim, nobody knew. The kids were seen playing Monopoly. They rolled the dice on a thick carpet and used pieces of yarn as a substitute for the regular metal pieces. The girl signed to the boy, smiling. Jim relaxed. Maybe everything would actually be ok and this CD wasn't so bad.
Suddenly, the boy jerked his elbow, accidentally knocking over the glass lantern. The sudden sharp sound made every single person in the room jump. The lantern shattered and lit the carpet on fire. Counterpart Jim leapt up and smothered the fire with a blanket. Sinking down in his chair, Jim watched, more than a little afraid.
Then, his counterparts face was shone, glistening with sweat in the light. He was putting a finger to his lips and had terror in his eyes. His wife looked frightenedly around the room, as if expecting something. Her blue eyes were also alight with fear.
The boy jumped, as did everybody in the office, as a banging was heard. Then, a slow screeching sound, like claws dragging across metal. The girl looked around, afraid but calm, as Jim was creeping across the room. She tried to follow but Jim had held out a hand to stop her. Slowly, Jim looked out the window, face illuminated by the lights strung up outside. There was fear in his eyes and sweat glistening across his face.
Once again, the entire office jumped as the yellow lights suddenly turned an ominous red. Then, the wife was ducking to hide behind a large pillar and Jim was sprinting down a street, one of the children in his arms. It cut to the girl approaching the staircase and being yanked back and the boy running panicked through the corn field, flashlight illuminating his terrified face. The wife was shown lying clothed in a bathtub, eyes screwed shut with tears trickling down her cheeks and suddenly, her mouth opened in a silent scream. The screen went black. Then the words A Quiet Place appeared on the screen. Followed closely by Silence Is Survival .
Jim was glued to his chair as the CD ended. He was gripping the chair so tight that his knuckles had absolutely no color. Jim was on the verge of either passing out or sinking down and screaming. It must've shown on his face for Pam grabbed his hand and Jim could feel someone's coat over his shoulders. He was paralyzed with fear. But he slowly, gradually came out of it. He looked up at everybody, and his eyes locked on Dwight. "Well," Jim tried to sound calm, but his voice cracked in the middle, "The only thing we can do now is plan." And so they did.