When the Lights Go Out

The world had gone into freefall and the darkness was descending. There was a global melt down and there was a frantic rush to be evacuated from the country she was currently holed up in, to try to get back home to some level of security before a calamitous civil unrest ensued and the zombies arrived. 

In the dead of the night, she boarded a bus and was shuttled to the already closed and deserted airport. The coach sped through deserted villages and towns, ignoring speed limits and road markings in desperate attempts to get her to that airport.  As she gazed out of the grubby windows into the darkness, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the outline of the local folk, staring at the passing coach zooming along in complete bafflement, watching as she made a swift and anonymous exit from a country faltering in the face of the global pandemic. 

There was an urgency in the manoeuvres as the apocalypse was coming, the sirens were sounding (even if just in her own head) and she could feel a gloom enveloping her every thought. She was unsure as to what was going to happen, but she just knew she had to get out of there.  She was used to being alone in her travels, but this was wholly different.

On the journey to her liberation, she pondered upon the downfall of this particular country and although cracks were starting to appear in the economic infrastructure, law and order was still prevailing. She wasn’t sure that it was an appropriate time to leave, and this may be a knee jerk reaction but given that the rest of the world was in lock down, it was only a matter of time before this country would have to follow suit. Her brain fog was not allowing any clarity of thought. 

Steps had already been taken to contain the population with the international borders being slammed shut at the earliest opportunity and the airport closing its doors. She decided that if she waited any longer, she wasn’t sure that she would get out in time. Little did she comprehend that at this stage, this was to stop people getting in, not necessarily to prevent them leaving. Containment was the key apparently.

 The airport itself was desolate without the humdrum of excited holiday makers. She was travelling light so with a minute suitcase, she made her way to the departure lounge and waited for that ticket to safety. It was still dark outside and as she sat awaiting the flight, she could feel the pangs of doubt and fear welling up in her stomach.

“What if the zombies came whilst I was sat here, alone and vulnerable?” She was in an alien country, in unfamiliar territory and she felt out of her depth but still, she had to press on. “What if the zombies overran the airport?” “Surely there was some form of security around?” she thought to herself.

She nervously waited to be called forward by the check in staff, unconsciously fiddling with the wire to her headphones, looking around to keep watch on the emergency exits, taking mental notes of escape routes or even weaknesses in points of entry. Eventually, that call came and she was shepherded to the relative sanctuary of the plane. Relief washed over her as she took my seat in the knowledge that refuge was coming.

The flight was packed out with people all trying to escape this place, to get home to the safety of familiarity, of friends and family ready to receive them, to offer comfort in troubled times. The darkness was starting to lift as the plane took off and she felt as if her mood was also lifting. Her heart lurched as the plane soared upwards but she reminded herself that this plane was taking her home to where peace would reign, and any enemy seen or unseen could be tackled.

The flight home was uneventful and she was able to catch up on the required beauty sleep, to prepare for her arrival at the next destination. She listened to some music to soothe any anxiety, studied the in-flight magazines with the slim hope of planning a next adventure, and took every opportunity to fill up on snacks to preserve any strength for when the plane landed. It was an eerily quiet flight with the other passengers’ trepidation hanging in the air, like a subtle and creeping mist. She clearly wasn’t alone in her worries about what ‘home’ had in store for her.

The landing was rather bumpy but she had survived thus far. She was grateful that air travel was still possible, and she couldn’t wait to alight the plane and get away from the airport.

As she meandered through the airport, she was struck at how quiet it was, again. The international borders had not been closed at home so she had expected more traffic but the place was deserted. The suitcase arrived on the carousel and as she made her way out, she wondered which of her family members had come to greet her. It was a while since she had seen any familiar faces and in such troubled times, she looked forward to a comforting hug from a loving family member.

She had spoken to her mother only the previous day and she had sensed tension, her voice fraught and offering warnings that life wasn’t the same as when she had left for what had seemed like the adventure of a life time. Instead, a deadly virus had choked the planet and life was crumbling around her.

She was disappointed and confused when she realised nobody had come. The arrivals terminal was empty. Of everyone. Nobody was there. At all. There really was a distinct lack of other human beings and confusion started to cloud her mind. “Where was everybody?” she wondered. There was no buzz of excited chatter as loved ones reunited, there was no sound of clanking buckets as the cleaning staff tidied up the trails of litter and there were no taxi drivers holding up placards bearing the names of their next fare. Even the plinkety plonkety inane airport music wasn’t discernible.

She gathered pace, tugging the suitcase behind her and when she reached the doors of the building, there was no long line of taxis, no sign of the previously frequent buses, no cars zipping here there and everywhere and again, human life seemed minimal and in fact, non-existent.  There seemed to be an overwhelming silence which, for her home country was bewildering. She heard the flapping sound of a pigeon flying overhead, but she heard very little else. 

There was no choking smell of diesel in the air from the heavy traffic which would have been usual, and no stifling exhaust fumes. She began to wonder just what she had flown into. “Had the apocalypse arrived while she had been mid-air?” She had seen the movies and felt uneasy that she was alone, ruing the day she had decided to go off on her solitary travels.

She wandered around almost aimlessly, trying to assess her next move. She had to get home but couldn’t see how she was to achieve this. There was no public transport around, and nobody had arrived to collect her in their car. Her mother had not appeared, nor any other family member for that matter. She attempted to use her mobile phone but the long deafening tone indicated that there was no activity from this device. All of the other passengers from the plane had melted away completely unnoticed so she had still had little idea where everybody was.

She made her way to a multi storey car park in the vague hope that there would be somebody hanging around with a car, and perhaps she could catch a lift? The car park was devoid of life and only added to her feelings of unease. The grey concrete surroundings were murky and the stale damp air was an abuse on her delicate nostrils. It was dusky and her eyes were starting to tire, and she started to question what she was seeing. Did she see a shadow, or was it the flitting outline of another human being? She hurried over to an exit door in the car park which only led to a stair well and she hollered out to see if anybody was around. Her echo answered her but there were still no signs of life. She shivered as the temperature dropped and the sun light disappeared leaving a chill in the air. 

The street lights flickered and any light began to wane. The gloom that she had felt previously was overwhelming her once more, and she certainly sensed that the apocalypse was nigh. The zombies were coming.  Her heart sank as the realisation swept over her that she had left a country which had not yet been in disarray and she now found herself in her home country where there was most certainly no comforts and no company. There were no signs of the life she remembered. 

She felt a terror rise up from the pit of her stomach, and she began to panic that while she felt alone, she wasn’t sure she was. She had to get out of the secluded car park but she wasn’t sure where she was going.

She stumbled franticly out onto the empty street and became aware that she was being followed. She cast a furtive glance around her while hurrying on, but she could hear steps behind her, closing in on her.  The sirens were sounding.  She had only been in the country for a matter of hours and she had already picked up a stalker but then she felt a sudden shove from behind knocking her off balance and she fell face down to the floor. 

She split her chin as her head ricocheted off the hard concrete and the blood began to ooze out. The hairs on her arms prickled and she attempted a stifled cry for help. The suitcase had long since been abandoned and she felt the heavy weight of someone bearing down on her. She struggled and as much as she contorted her body, she was no match for this adversary. 

She presumed the unknown assailant was male as his physical strength dominated her. She couldn’t see his face, but she could feel his cool breath on the back of her neck as he bit down.  Her eyes stung with saltiness and she gasped as he tore back, ripping her flesh.   The zombies weren’t coming; they were here. 

Any street lights had long since disappeared and in the blackness of the night, the small flicker of hope that this was a sanctuary from the collapsing world sharply disappeared, the fire in her belly was extinguished and an eternal darkness descended.