Hidden in the Darkness

The blackout happened years ago. At first, it seemed like a normal blackout that would get fixed in a few hours. But after a few days, the power was still off and people were starting to get worried, they shrugged it off at first thinking it was just taking longer than expected. The power never returned, however, no one had ever gotten any answers from the electricity company and soon the company stopped answering calls all together. This left everyone in the dark and confused as to why the company didn't answer them. 

Omri sat near the bedroom window, watching as the lights of the surrounding houses turned off one by one, covering the street below with darkness. He sighed. It was only a matter of time until the power in his parents' house died out and THEY would find him. He shuddered at the thought of them. He had barely managed to escape from them last time and he doubted that he'd be able to do it again. From outside, he could hear the frantic screaming of people as the creatures found them. He covered his ears, looking away from the window and hoping it would stop soon.

The lights inside the bedroom flickered, until they finally shut off for good. Almost instantly, something crashed into the window, sending a loud BANG! throughout the house. Omri jolted back, causing the thing outside of the window to raise its head sharply and stare right at Omri. The thing screeched loudly, then it started to bang its head against the window, causing the glass to crack and shatter into thousands of shards. Omri backed himself into a corner, trying his best to distance himself from the thing that was now inside the bedroom and looking for him. The thing stepped over the shards and towards the corner that Omri was hiding near. He tensed up as the thing drew closer and soon he could feel its hot breath, Omri closed his eyes, expecting the painful death that would happen. Minutes passed and still nothing happened, hesitantly, Omri opened his eyes and found the thing inches away from him. He suppressed the urge to scream, staying as frozen as he could. The thing began to growl, then rushed out of the room and a distant crash was heard downstairs. Omri let out the breath he had been holding in, his entire body shaking with fear. He couldn’t believe that he had survived that thing. It was right in front of his face and yet, the thing didn’t know where he was, it was almost like it couldn’t see him. Omri grabbed a flashlight and shakily made his way to the door. He didn’t know if the coast was clear or not, but he needed to get out of here before another one of those things came back to finish him off for good. 

Outside was completely flooded with darkness. Omri crept through the abandoned streets as best as he could with the low light. He wanted to turn the flashlight on, but feared that would draw more attention to him than if the light stayed off. Around him, he could hear the crunch of bones and the occasional snarling from the things. Omri could see the outline of a car in the distance, this could possibly be a way out of this place. One of the things rushed past him, then stopped in its tracks. Omri also froze. The thing swiftly turned its head towards Omri, it looked around for a bit, then turned and ran the opposite direction. Omri let out a sigh, that was a little too close for comfort. He continued towards the car as slowly and as quietly as he could to avoid drawing the attention of the things. 

Omri eventually reached the car, he twisted the handle and opened the car door. He crawled in, quietly shutting the door once he was safely inside. He didn’t feel too safe inside the car, but it was safer than being outside with those things. There was a sudden movement from inside the car. Omri spun to look at the backseat, he expected to see one of those things, but instead he saw another person. The person crawled over to the passenger seat carefully. 

“Do you have the keys?” The person asked, frantically. 

Omri shook his head. “No..” he said, “I just hoped that the keys would still be in here.”

“Great..” the person retorted, “Now I’ve gotta find the key. Maybe it’s in one of the houses nearby.” 

The person opened the car door, then carefully closed it. Omri watched as the person inched his way towards one of the houses. Omri opened and closed the car door, then followed the person to the house. 

“What are you doing?” The person whispered once they noticed Omri following behind them. “I can do this myself.” 

Omri looked around the dark street. “Two people searching for the keys are better than one, we’ll be able to cover more ground that way” 

The person sighed. “Alright, just don’t attract the attention of whatever those things are. I don’t feel like dying today.” 

The two of them stepped inside the house. The faint smell of blood could be detected in the air and the sounds of something eating could be heard from upstairs. 

The person turned to Omri. “Let’s search down here. We’ll avoid going upstairs for the time being.” 

The person headed towards the kitchen. Omri searched through the living room, trying to avoid knocking something over. He felt around the couch and tables, but couldn’t find anything that resembled a key. A loud crash suddenly sounded from the kitchen, Omri froze. From upstairs he could hear the thing stop eating, then it came crashing down the stairs and into the kitchen. Omri grabbed an object from the table, then slowly inched his way towards the front door, it was a good thing that it was still open. He threw the object outside, then backed away from the door. The thing rushed out of the door almost instantly, growling loudly as it did so.

The person emerged from the kitchen. “That was some good thinking,” they whispered, “Now we can search upstairs.” 

Omri and the person climbed up the stairs, the smell of rust was stronger here. The person flicked a lighter on, illuminating the area just enough to look around. 

“Let’s look around quickly,” the person said, “The keys have got to be here somewhere.” 

Omri followed the person around the rooms, but they couldn’t find anything. The person cursed under their breath. 

“Great, the keys aren’t in here,” the person said, “Now we’ve gotta search the other houses.”

“What if the key is… with the person’s body?” Omri asked, “Maybe they put the keys in their pocket and ran inside the house when the things chased them?” 

The person thought about this for a moment. “I hate the thought of searching a dead body, but you might just be right.”

Omri followed the person into the hallway. From the faint light of the lighter, he could see the body lying on the ground. The body was ripped to shreds, blood and organs were spewed all over the floor and walls. The person rummaged through the pockets of the body’s clothing. 

They pulled out a key, turning to Omri. “Let’s get out of here before another one of those things comes back.” 

The person and Omri stepped out onto the front porch. The growls of many creatures could be heard from all around the two. Omri’s grip tightened around the flashlight, then he came up with a plan. He turned the flashlight on, pointing it in every direction. The things darted away from the beam of the flashlight, screeching louder as if they were in pain. 

Omri and the person ran to the car, they both shut the car doors once inside. The person started up the car, the headlights turned on, illuminating the things outside for just a moment. The things were completely dark and shadowy, their eyes glowing red in the light of the headlights. The person floored it, driving away from the things as fast as possible. 

The sun was rising, illuminating the road and everything around it. The person let up on the gas pedal, slowing the car down. They pulled into a gas station, parking near a gas pump and turning the car off. “We should be safe now,” they said, “Those things won’t attack when the sun is up.” 

Omri nodded. Now that there was light, he could see what the person driving looked like. The person had short, dark brown hair, with brown eyes. He wore a gray plaid jacket, white shirt, black ripped jeans and gold-colored sneakers.

“Let’s stick together,” the person said, turning to Omri, “We might just survive if we help each other out. Oh, and I’m Antonio.” 

Omri introduced himself, then said, “We need to think of a plan, before the sun sets and those things return to start hunting us.” 

Antonio nodded. “I think there’s a city a couple of miles around here,” he said, “Let’s get some supplies, refuel the car and find the city. There might still be some power there.” 

Omri stepped into the store, while Antonio refueled the car outside. The shelves inside the store were knocked over and all the items were strewn across the floor. He grabbed a backpack from the ground and shoved food and water inside, he swung the backpack over his shoulder, making his way outside.

 Once he was inside the car, Antonio started the car and drove out of the gas station. “I hope the city still has power,” he said, “Maybe then there will be other people who can help us out.” 

“Yeah, but what are we going to do if the city doesn’t have power and everyone is dead?” Omri asked. 

Antonio shrugged. “Then I guess we’ll just keep on driving until we reach somewhere that’s safe. I mean there’s no way that the entire world is experiencing this blackout… right?” 

Omri didn’t know what to say. He hoped that this only affected a small area, but there was a lingering feeling of dread inside him. If the entire world was affected by this blackout, then there wasn’t a place that was safe, not for long at least.