Lights Out

No! Megan Bennett barely kept the shout to herself. In her mind, she could do nothing but repeat this refrain. No! No! No!

The sun was setting in the rapidly cooling neighborhood where Megan had thrown herself under a car. She had nearly been seen. Now that the gasoline was all but gone, the roads were littered with abandoned vehicles.

Keep it together, she chided herself. You have to get home.

Getting home was her constant and only motivation. Megan had not wanted to leave home. But, she had thought it manageable. Before the whole world had lost its mind, the pharmacy was only a twenty minute drive. But now, she was on her third day away from home.

“Did you see something?” came the deep and gravely voice on the other side of the car. “I coulda swore I saw someone over here.”

A second voice, less deep but definitely more commanding, called the man back. “Man we ain’t got time to go lookin’ behind every damn car. It was probably just a rat or something. Let’s go.”

There was no response, only a sigh. Megan, watching from beneath the car, saw the black and red sneakers turn and walk away. Instantly, she felt a wave of relief. Never before had Megan known real fear. Not like this. Every moment, every step she took put her in danger of losing her life, or worse. It took all of her will power to keep from sobbing.

But she remained quiet and still, wedged tightly between the rusty metal of an old Nissan and the hot and hard blacktop. Having watched the two strangers walk out of sight, she listened for any other potential noises.

Silence. Silence was all that was left. The silence was almost deafening. Having lived in the city for most of her life, Megan was used to the constant hum of life. Cars, buses, construction, alarms. All of it was gone. What had been the background to the soundtrack of her life was no more. It had been replaced with the sounds of wind blowing, a few birds. But mostly, just nothing.

Before moving on, Megan struggled to pull her hand up to her throat. Reaching under her now sweat soaked t-shirt, she pulled out her motivation. In her hand was the cheap, gold-plated heart locket that her two children had bought her. Their little faces glowed that mother’s day. This cheap heart-shaped locket was her most treasured possession.

Opening the clasp, Megan looked inside before the light of the day was gone. Inside were pictures of her nine year old daughter and her seven year old son. Lauren and Joel. A few tears escaped her eyes as she saw their faces. These two were Megan’s entire world. As the last of the sunlight crept under the car, Megan drank from the photos every drop of goodness she could.

Megan forced herself to move, struggling to remain focused and vigilant. Scraping her forearms and elbows, Megan squirmed her way out from under the vehicle and kept going. Now that there were no street lights, no more bright and flashing lights all night, the city was completely black, save for the light of the moon.

By traveling through the night, Megan knew she could reach her apartment. Honestly, she preferred to walk at night. She had worn her blue jeans. And at night, she donned the dark blue hoodie she kept tied around her waist. Otherwise, she only had her black drawstring bag worn on her back, carrying the medicine Lauren needed.

Winding her way through the soundless streets, Megan moved out of one alley and into the main street, moving soundlessly. Smiling, Megan remembered that she used to challenge her own brother to sneak through the house after dark. The object was to avoid being caught by her dad. He usually spent the evenings watching TV, a beer in his hand. Megan had become very good at walking stealthily. That was about the only useful thing her father had taught her growing up.

Most buildings were completely dark. Entire apartment buildings were devoid of any life. Occasionally she would pass a window lit with a single candle. Otherwise, Megan felt like she was wandering through a ghost town. It caused her to shiver.

Her mind wandered some. She still didn’t know what had happened. One day the power turned off and never came back. Initially, some people had radio signals that encouraged the residents to stay home, that the government was working on making things normal again. After a week, the broadcasting stopped.

Rumors began to spread that there had been a massive hack that took down the electrical grid, an electro-magnetic pulse attack, and a handful other options. In the end, it really did not matter what had happened. The power was gone. The gas stations were dry. After another week, the gangs took over. If they caught you in their street without a “gift,” your fate was whatever creative acts of violence they could imagine.

“If only we had gotten out!” Megan roared.

Pausing, she made sure she wasn’t heard. But, to her relief, she could see nothing but empty buildings and abandoned cars. Quietly, she resumed her journey.

Stay strong, Lauren. Megan could not help but worry about her daughter. The three of them had tried to flee the city after about the second week. But not long after leaving, Lauren tripped and cut her leg fairly deeply. They had to return to their apartment and dress the wound. But, Megan had not been planning on . . . this! Band-aids were not enough. Lauren’s leg became infected.

Megan tried, but she could not get the infection under control. Finally, she was left with no choice but to get an antibiotic from somewhere. So, Megan left the kids with the elderly couple in the apartment next door. Unable themselves to leave due to the wife’s declining health, the couple agreed to watch them.

She had checked four different pharmacies before finally finding what she needed. All of them had been completely trashed. Not one window was left intact. Every piece of merchandise was either stolen or destroyed. One building was burned down.

A cloud rolled in front of the moon, obscuring most of the light. Megan had no choice but to stop. She could barely see her hands, let alone anything she may trip over or fall into. Lauren and Joel needed her to get back, but they needed her to get back in one piece. Feeling with her feet, Megan felt ahead until she found something that felt like a set of steps.

Turning, she sat down. But rather than the hard feel of concrete, she sat on something soft and warm. Quickly, Megan leaped to her feet, stumbling away from whatever was moving.

“What the hell?” came the angry shout of someone woken from a deep slumber. From the sound of it, the man was sleeping incredibly well, or he had been incredibly intoxicated.

Suddenly, the clouds cleared and Megan became visible to her new armchair. Guessing based on the tattoos on his neck and face, he was a part of the gang running this block.

“Hey!” He shouted at Megan. “Come here, I wanna see what’s under your shirt.”

All of her senses were screaming at her to run.

“You’re gonna be a fun time for the guys,” he said, sneering. Though it was night, Megan still saw his eyes. This man was evil. Pure evil. “Boys! We got us entertainment for the evening! Get up!”

Taking a step toward Megan, the man stumbled and fell to the ground. From the ground, the goon grabbed at her ankle. The feel of his clammy drunk fingers groping at her leg shook her out of her stupor.

“Come on!” he continued shouting, attempting to rouse more thugs. “She’s gonna get away!”

Spurred to action, Megan ran. Behind her, she heard bustling. Several people were scrambling out of a building, running after her.

Now able to see, at least a little in the moonlight, Megan took off. Forsaking stealth, she sprinted down the middle of the street, in the direction toward her home. One apartment building after another flew by. All of them blurring together into one giant mass of brick and windows. All the while, she could hear footsteps and men shouting after her.

Fear was replaced by determination. Megan WOULD make it to her kids. These disgusting criminals would not keep her from getting back to her children. From saving Lauren.

Fate would not be so kind though. Just as Megan was about to pass through a bevy of oddly parked vehicles, her foot snagged on a bag of trash. She tumbled to the ground, knocking the wind from her lungs. Gasping for air, Megan lie in a useless heap, with footsteps and screeching growing closer.

Move, gosh-darnit! She tried to will herself to move. Move!

Megan struggled to her hands and knees. But before she was able to move again, the men were upon her.

The largest of the group towered over her. Grabbing the back of her shirt, the brute lifted her to her feet. “Hello, pretty thing,” came the chilling greeting. “Hold her,” the man barked at his cronies.

Forcibly, the two men closest to Megan grabbed her by the arms.

“We haven’t had a pretty one for a couple weeks,” said one of the smaller men from behind her.

The large man caressed Megan’s cheek with the back of his humongous hand. She recoiled in disgust. As if offended, he reached his hands down and tore open the front of her hoodie. A sadistic smile crossed his face.

“Stop!” Echoed a voice in the masonry valley. “Let her go. This is our neighborhood.”

“Ya right, screw off!” Responded the large goon.

Like thunder, a gunshot cracked and resounded through the street. Like a stone, the man dropped to the ground.

All of the criminals gasped and recoiled, releasing Megan. Slowly, they put their hands up, and walked back the way from which they came.

Not missing the chance, Megan ran through an opening in what she now realized was a wall of cars. Two men were there, guiding her through.

“Are you ok, miss?” Asked one in a soothing voice.

Immediately, she broke down into a sobbing mess. The man put an arm around her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. It took Megan several long minutes to compose herself until she finally asked what was happening.

Her savior explained, “We are just a group of people that got tired of the gangs ruining the neighborhood. So we blocked off an area and a bunch of us keep watch twenty-four hours a day.”

“Thank you,” said Megan, incredibly grateful to have been spared any further violence. “Could I ask a favor of you?”

“Of course,” he said with a smile. By his features, the way he carried himself, and the close-cropped haircut, Megan guessed the man to be former military.

“Could you help me get home?”

For a few hours, the two walked with only the moon as a companion. It was the first time in days, Megan was able to let down her guard and feel safe, if only a little. Without thinking, she spent most of the remaining trip clutching the little golden heart-shaped locket.

“That’s it!” exclaimed Megan, pointing to a nondescript brick building. “That’s our building.”

Leaving the man behind, she took off running. Up the handful of steps, into the front door. Up the steps, she sprinted past several open doors, apartments that had been abandoned.

Finally, she knocked on her neighbor’s door. After some shuffling, the door was opened by a hunched older man with a US Army hat on. Standing behind him, was Joel. Seated on the couch, Lauren.

In unison, the two shouted, “Mom!” with tears flowing freely down their cheeks.

She was finally home.