The Blackout Page 2

  It was midnight by the time she’d brushed her teeth, dried her hair and climbed into bed. Exhausted, she mustered the energy for a quick call to Gary.

  “Hey,” he said when he answered.

  “Hi.”

  “So, you had an exciting evening.”

  She ran her fingers through Dug’s fur absentmindedly. “Yup.”

  “Didja get it all cleaned up?”

  “For the most part. I can’t get the tank out of there though. You’ll have to help me with it.”

  “I might be able to patch it.”

  “Uh…” She hesitated. How could she express her feelings about cleaning up another mess without slighting her husband’s ability? “We’ll have to talk about that when you get home. How was your day?” She hoped a change in subject would mask the potential for insult.

  “Fine. Uneventful. The passengers were late in Atlanta, so we missed lunch, thinking they were going to show up any minute. Then, because they were late, we didn’t get to eat dinner until like seven. It was obnoxious.” Gary often missed meals waiting for people. They had snacks on the airplane they could eat, so he wouldn’t starve, but peanut butter M&Ms are still a far cry from a meal when you’re hungry.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, babe. Where to tomorrow?”

  “Just Orlando. It’s a one-leg kind of day, which is fine by me.”

  She yawned. “That sounds good.”

  “OK, I’ll let you get some sleep. Meeting in the lobby at seven tomorrow morning, so I should start heading in that direction too.”

  “OK, love you honey.”

  “Love you too. Talk to you tomorrow, and see you in five days!”

  She smiled. “Five days! Night babe.”

  “Night.” He hung up.

  She put the phone on the nightstand and snuggled down into the covers. Five days, she thought as she drifted off to sleep with Dug by her side, and Sally purring softly on her pillow.

  3.

  After he hung up the phone with Molly, Gary went about getting a shower. The hotel he was in was not as nice as some, but better than others. The bathroom was small, the kind you could just about shit, shower and shave in while standing in the same spot. That took its rating down a notch or two. But it was just for a night, and it seemed fairly clean.

  He got out his UV wand and sanitized the bed before climbing in. He’d watched one of those specials about how dirty hotels were and was horrified. Molly had warned him not to watch it. She said what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, but it was like a train wreck, and once he’d started watching it he couldn’t stop. After that Gary had invested in a UV wand, and so had several of his friends when they were told about the horrors of the “organic substances” that could be found on a hotel comforter.

  It took him forever to fall asleep, as it usually did when he was away from home. He missed his own bed. He missed feeling Dug at his feet. Most of all, though, he missed having Molly by his side. Even though Gary spent a lot of nights alone, he’d never gotten used to it.

  He glanced at the clock and realized he only had a few hours left to get some sleep, and a long duty day ahead. So he redoubled his efforts and was soon dreaming about Molly.

  He was back at home, standing at the front gate, looking at their house. It was a very cute little house. That is, cute as defined by Molly. She’d always wanted a house like this, and it suited the neighborhood they lived in. So, Gary had compromised with her. It wasn’t something he would’ve picked out, but the inside of it was immaculate, just like he wanted. It was the perfect blend of the two of them.

  The outside was a sunny yellow color with white trim. It had a porch in the front with a white banister, and white shutters surrounded the windows. It also had a white picket fence that circled the entire yard. Molly wanted Dug to have as much space as possible to run around in, and that yard did the trick.

  Gary approached the house and went inside. He scanned the living room for Molly or Dug, but didn’t find them. Dug always greeted Gary with such excitement when he came through the door – whether he’d been gone ten minutes or ten days. Where were they?

  He crossed the dark hardwood floors to the kitchen and searched there. He found it just how he’d left it – dark granite countertops, cherry cabinetry, light stone floors, stainless steel appliances. But it seemed cold to him without Molly.

  Gary went upstairs and rounded the corner, searching for his family. He padded softly to the master bedroom. Molly never closed the door when he was gone. She wanted the animals to be able to come and go as they pleased.

  He found Molly curled up with Dug and Sally, indulging in an afternoon nap – one of his favorite things to do. It surprised him, because Molly didn’t nap. She said she always woke up more tired than when she lay down. But he didn’t question it in his dream. He simply slipped out of his pants and shirt and sidled up next to her.

  She didn’t wake all the way up, but she stirred and snuggled into Gary’s chest as he spooned her. Dug didn’t even raise his head, and of course Sally didn’t acknowledge Gary at all.

  He buried his face in Molly’s hair and breathed in her glorious scent. His life was perfect. He had his dream job, flying to exotic locations, he had a dream wife, who was always there when he got home, and he had a dream house. What more could a guy want?

  Gary dreamed about Molly all night long. He dreamed about taking her to The Pizza Garden. He dreamed about dropping in on her classes one day. He dreamed about cleaning up the fish tank.

  When he woke up in the morning, he realized he’d spent the entire night with her, and smiled. Gary often wondered how normal couples felt, getting to spend every night together. He was gone six months of the year, so their nights together were precious.

  He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only six-thirty. He opted not to text Molly yet, because he knew she wouldn’t be up. She liked to sleep as long as possible, and was occasionally grouchy if woken up.

  He got dressed and went downstairs to see what the hotel had to offer in the way of breakfast. It wasn’t much: a bowl of apples and a variety of cereals – variety being a choice between Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Flakes – along with some hot coffee and run-of-the-mill creamers. It was enough, though. It was early, and Gary didn’t often like to eat breakfast. He knew it might be awhile before he had the opportunity to eat lunch, so he swiped an extra apple for the road.

  While he ate, CNN played on the closest TV.

  “Scientists warn of an apocalyptic solar flare that could destroy life on Earth as we know it.”

  Gary choked on his cereal, laughing at the sensationalism coming from the television so early in the morning. The media was really getting out of control. They’d lived through Y2K, and even survived the end of the Mayan calendar. Much to the dismay of some of the more radical Christians, the end wasn’t in fact as near as the reporter would have them believe.

  “Scientists say the flare could cause a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse that would shut down all electronics and electricity for anywhere between a few months and several years,” the anchorwoman proclaimed.

  Gary spied the remote on the next table and retrieved it. He changed the channel while the anchorwoman was speculating about the outright chaos that would follow such an event. It was too early for that kind of propaganda, if you asked him. Gary switched the TV to something a little more palatable at seven in the morning. SpongeBob SquarePants fit the bill. Gary chuckled at the cartoon as he finished off his cereal and prepared to face the day.

  The Captain came in just as Gary was finishing up. “Oh, hey Clint,” Gary said.

  “Morning.” Clint was a big man, tall and broad. He wasn’t dressed for work yet, and wore sweatpants and a t-shirt down to breakfast. His brown hair was pointing in several directions, characteristic of him at that early hour.

  They’d only had a handful of flights together, and in fact they would be parting ways again in Orlando. Clint was just finishing his seven-day stint, but Gary still h
ad four days to go.

  Clint didn’t strike Gary as the friendliest fellow, and took a very minimalistic approach to conversation – limiting his responses to as few words as possible to get his point across, and only asking questions or initiating conversation when it was absolutely necessary.

  They parted ways after breakfast to get cleaned up, and met in the lobby less than twenty minutes later. The walk out to the crew car was silent, and in fact, the entire ride over to the airport was quiet, save for the classical stylings of Philly’s 101.7 FM. Luckily the airport was only a few miles away.

  Really, Gary didn’t mind Clint’s quiet side. It was a hell of a lot better than some of the other yokels who talked non-stop while he was running checklists and trying to concentrate on charts. Given the choice, Gary would pick Clint any day. He was a hard worker and kept to himself. Really, Gary could do worse.

  They stopped to get coffee and donuts for the passengers on the way, and then headed to the airplane to get set up.

  The Hawker was a small business jet that seated nine people. Gary wasn’t expecting that many people for this trip, but they could take them if they had to. Usually, they only had a handful of some of the wealthiest people in the country occupying the seats.

  After cleaning up, running checks, and restocking the bird, they were ready for the passengers to arrive so they could get going.

  Gary figured it was a good time to say good morning to Molly, so he sent her a text.

  Morning beautiful! Can’t wait to see ya in four days! Have a wonderful day!

  She responded right away. Morning handsome! Be safe today and can’t wait to see you too!

  It was quickly followed by a picture of Dug with bedhead, and the caption: Dug says good morning. Haha!

  Gary smiled. Haha, morning Dug! Gary typed. It was a classic picture, with Dug bleary-eyed, his hair going in every direction imaginable.

  Clint walked up and nodded as he made eye contact. “Any word from the passengers?” Gary asked, locking his phone and jamming it back into his pocket.

  “Nope.”

  “Well, I guess we wait.”

  Clint harrumphed at that. Flying wasn’t really the biggest part of the job, even though Gary thought it was the best part. The majority of the workday was spent waiting, a smaller percentage collecting whatever was requested, and an even smaller part actually flying.

  So, they waited.

  Darkness

  4.

  “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Edgar Allen Poe

  Darkness is a funny thing. The mere absence of light brings uncertainty and fear – the breeding ground for chaos. It is so absolute. And yet, so easily defeated by a single flame, if only someone thinks to light a candle.

  5.

  The next morning Molly got up and went to class, prepared to hear the groans from her Modern Poetry class for their late papers. She usually punished them with half a letter grade for every class they were late, but she wasn’t sure what to do to compensate for her own lateness. She thought if she could come up with a few options, like having class in the garden one day or letting them pick the next poem to discuss, and let them choose, they’d be happy.

  Her other classes held better prospects. She was excited because the day brought discussions about Gulliver’s Travels in British Literature, and The Poisonwood Bible in Modern Fiction. Save for the groaning from Modern Poetry, she expected it to be a pretty good day.

  It happened in the middle of Modern Fiction. A student had asked what point Kingsolver was trying to make by sacrificing the family’s youngest child.

  “What could possibly be worth killing such an innocent character?” she asked.

  “Well, what do you think? Do you think the father is so taken by his ‘mission’ to ‘save’ the heathens in the Congo that his youngest is a fair sacrifice, as you put it? What’s one life if it saves a handful of others?” Molly had just said it to spur the discussion. She often made extreme statements in class just to stir the pot and get a good discussion going.

  She sat cross-legged on top of her desk looking at the rows of students as hands shot into the air. She smiled and surveyed their faces. Their expressions ranged from angry to mischievous. Molly picked one that seemed undecided. “Mia, what do you think?”

  Before she could answer, the lights went out. It wasn’t really all that dark, because the back wall had several windows on it, and for that she was thankful.

  “Um…OK. Just a second here, let me poke my head into the hall and see if I can find out what the deal is,” Molly said as she got down off the desk.

  The students whispered to each other as she walked to the door. “Settle down. I’m sure it’s just a power surge, and it’ll be back on before I can even find out what happened.”

  “My phone doesn’t work. Does yours?” A boy in the front row asked his neighbor.

  It caught Molly’s attention. “Is your battery dead?” she asked.

  “No. I left home with a full charge.”

  Other students began retrieving their phones. The consensus was unanimous. No one’s phone worked. Molly took her phone out of her pocket to see, and to her surprise, it displayed nothing but a black screen.

  She frowned and continued on her journey to the door. “I’ll find out what’s going on. Just stay calm,” Molly assured them. They all looked worried.

  Teachers were beginning to poke their heads out of their doors, making similar inquiries about the outage. No one seemed to know what was going on. Normally, there would be an announcement or some sort of directive about what to do, but they’d never encountered this type of outage before.

  Molly ran to her office to grab her laptop and returned to the classroom. By then the kids were getting a little panicky, letting their imaginations run away with them.

  “Why would the power and our phones be out? What could possibly cause something like that?”

  “How long do you think it’ll be out?”

  “My mom said she thinks the apocalypse is coming. She said the signs are all there.”

  Another student burst out laughing. “Your mom is crazy.”

  Molly interrupted before a fight could break out. “OK, enough. The power will probably be back on soon. The school has an emergency generator that should kick in any minute now. Just let me get my laptop going, and I’ll see if I can get some information about it.”

  “Dr. Bonham, if the power’s out, will you be able to get online?”

  By then, Molly had already gotten her computer out and was trying to get it powered up. “Oh, that’s a good point. Probably not.”

  Then she noticed nothing was happening with her computer. She held the power button down, with no response. She waited a few moments and tried again. Still nothing.

  “What on Earth…” Molly muttered.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Um…I’m not sure. I can’t get my computer to come on.”

  “What should we do? Can we go home?”

  “I don’t know about that either. The stairwells are dark, I don’t want there to be a stampede. Just give me a minute to think about the options.”

  They weren’t prepared for something like this. They knew exactly what to do for a tornado, a fire alarm, or an earthquake. But this was new territory.

  There really was no reason not to continue with class. The only things they were using were the lights, and it was plenty bright enough to continue the discussion without them. However, the kids were rattled, and quite frankly so was Molly. Continuing with the discussion seemed fruitless, but leaving right this second wasn’t a good option either. She didn’t want to put the students in an unsafe situation.

  “Let me run back to the department head’s office and see what he thinks. You guys wait here until I get back, OK?” Molly looked at them all, seeing the panic starting to bubble up. “I mean it,” she said sternly. She thought giving
them a task, even if it was just sitting still, would help occupy their minds.

  Molly caught up with Terry Longman in the hallway. She looked at him and shrugged. “Now what?” she asked.

  His normally disheveled appearance looked a little more unruly in his stress. His grey hair stood straight out and his tweed coat hung unevenly. “I have no idea. I’m telling the kids and teachers to stay put for now. There are no lights in the stairwells, and I don’t want anyone getting trampled. Let’s wait twenty minutes or so and see if it comes back. If it doesn’t, we’ll let the classes go one room at a time to prevent a stampede. So, since your class is at the far end of the building, they may be here a while.”

  “No problem. Just keep me posted.”

  Molly stopped in Cindy’s room, knowing she had a rowdy group this time of day. They were arguing with her about getting to leave.

  “HEY!” Molly hollered to get their attention. They were immediately quiet. “This is a professional environment, not a middle school. Arguing is not tolerated. You will stay put until Dr. Longman says you can go. He’s making his rounds now, and he’s said if power is not restored in another twenty minutes or so, he will let everyone go home. However, he doesn’t want any misconduct, so he’ll be letting classes go one room at a time. Just sit tight.”

  A unified groan went up. “Hey, you’re supposed to be in this class right now anyway! I don’t want to hear your complaints,” Molly said.

  “Yeah, well I’m not sitting here any longer than I have to. Class gets out at three, and I’m out of here at three,” declared an older student, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt. It was obvious that his silver chains, piercings, and long hair were meant to intimidate. Molly was unfazed.