Dying Light: When it happened

We were unprepared. The world suddenly plunged into eternal and total darkness. No one knew it was coming. Not even scientists, who had been predicting that the event wouldn't take place for another couple billion years, at least.

The sun had died. It reached whatever limit it had and suddenly vanished. There was no black hole, no explosion. There was no indication whatsoever that the sun had disappeared. Day turned to night as it usually does, but daylight never returned. Initially, the panic was not widespread among the general population. No one thought anything of the darkness until what would have been noon rolled around and the sky was still dark. Clocks continued to run, but sunlight no longer guided the days.

The world grew cold within a matter of days. Electricity hadn’t diminished yet, so people could rely on electric and gas heaters for the time being. However, with humans being as greedy and wasteful they are, resources rapidly dwindled. Not even a month had passed after the darkness began that fossil fuels for heat and electricity had been exhausted. Without their usual source of power, people turned to the only natural resource they had left: water.

However, there was no way to build more hydroelectric plants. Without oil or gas, there was no way for construction equipment to work. People were forced to rely on the plants that were already built. Using the few plants available meant that electricity had to be rationed in every way possible. The government quickly swept through and removed light switches from every non-government building. All breakers were legally required to be off with the exception of those that went to kitchens and laundry areas.

Some people tried to get away with using electricity for other things, but the military made sure to monitor any buildings that had higher electricity usage. This could only last so long. The people quickly grew tired of the constant military presence in their homes and whatever businesses were left. Small protests that involved barricading homes from the military quickly escalated to organized parties dedicated to burning down government buildings and basking in the warmth of the flames.

Soldiers were quick to abandon their positions to support their families. The government could do little to stop them. With most citizens and even the military against the government, they were forced to forfeit their power and leave everyone to handle things on their own. With the leaders of the world gone, almost the entire world fell to ruin. People tried to establish their own colonies with separate forms of governing systems, but they quickly fell with the smallest of conflicts between people.

Somehow, people managed to survive for hundreds of years beyond the darkness. Colonies were established near hydroelectric plants. This allowed for as little loss of power as possible between the plant and homes. A single building was kept as a central hub for activity during the "day." Day was known, after the settlements established, as the period in which a fire was lit to show all activity and used for cooking and heating. The flame was highly regulated to allow for efficiency while using as little fuel as possible.

Humans began to evolve to adapt to survival in darkness. Their bodies stretched and hunched over in order to take in as much heat brought forth by the daily fires of well-established colonies. Their eyes became larger and their sensitivity to light increased. Their other senses became heightened to compensate for the near-blindness that came with total darkness away from flames. Humans in general became smaller so their bodies would require less energy to function properly.

No one remembers what people looked like before the sun died.