The Girl in the Dark City

There was panic in the air. Something was coming. But what? Nobody knew. Only three channels were left on TV; two were news outlets, and the last was the Presidential Channel. Cellphones stopped working days ago. Bodegas and stores were sold out of almost everything. The road to get out of the city was bumper to bumper. She didn’t have a car anyways. And even if she did, where would she go? There was nobody left. The cell tower outages didn’t bother her too much; she didn’t really have anyone to call. That’s what happens when you pack up and leave in the middle of the night. That’s what happens when you change your name and scrub every memory of you from the internet. She thought to herself as she pulled her coat around herself tighter. Even the wind felt different. With a sigh, she reached for her keys in her pocket. Better to have a hand on them. People were starting to get a little crazy. Broken glass littered the sidewalk. More than usual, she noted. Little fires were all over the place. Looting was starting.

She turned the corner and the loft door was in sight. She loosened her grip on her bag and started fumbling with the keys. She started walking a little faster and got to the door as a group of kids walked past. They must have let school out. “Makes sense”, she thought, “work sent us home early”. Not that many people had showed up. With less than half the office there the manager let everyone go. The President’s channel said that the towers were out and other outages were imminent. It was the “imminent” part that made people start feeling uneasy, herself included. Especially when they didn’t say why. She got to the metal door and unlocked it. The dark hall suddenly brightened with motion sensor lights as she made her way down. A heavy metal sliding door stood guard at the end of the hall. She shoved in the key, turned it, and with some force pulled it open. “This is what you get when a factory turns into a condo building” she muttered. But truth be told, she was appreciative of the heavy metal doors at the entrances of the building. Considering what was going on, it helped make her feel a little safe. It was a smaller building with 20 units and everyone was friendly enough. Should anything really bad happen, they would seal the doors and remain inside until whatever this was passed. “Optimistic” she thought. “What if it never passes?” But she was too scared to say it out loud at the meeting. 

After the second door, she took the stairs up to her floor. She normally would take the elevator but didn’t want to risk it. She turned down the last hall, a little out of breath, and saw her door. Finally. She grabbed the last key and let herself in. She looked around her condo and let the feeling of being home sink into her bones. She had a lot of windows and even though she was usually never home for it, great sunlight during the day. Which was good because she had tons of plants filling all the nooks and corners. Stacks of books were piled up everywhere because the bookshelves were all full. Other than the books, it was neat and tidy. Everything had a place, but it still felt warm and cozy. A plush leather sofa sat across a TV. She turned on the President’s Channel to hear the latest news and put the kettle on the stove. She sat in the kitchen at the black marble island, cold to the touch, and looked out the window. Her tea was warm in her hands as she admired the city below. Things didn’t look so bad or chaotic from up there. The sun was starting to set and cast a beautiful glow…and she drifted away lost in thought. 

Suddenly, the TV flickered. She snapped out of it and stared at the TV. Did it really flicker? Or did she imagine it? Then the lights flickered. She stayed incredibly still. The only movement was the steam from her teacup curling up into the air. It was as if everything paused. Then everything went black. She looked out the window and saw that the entire city was dark. There was only the trail of tail lights leaving the city. She knew at once it had hit again. Whatever “it” was. She felt her way around the island to the other side where she had a flashlight and got as many of her candles as she could quickly grab and lit them. She liked how her apartment looked in the candlelight. Plus…it wasn’t the first time she had to use candlelight. At least she had plenty of food and a great apartment. A far cry from the last time she was left without electricity…

Knock Knock. She turned and faced her door. “Hey…it’s Dan. From 10A?” She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure if she could trust him. Darkness did funny things to people. “I just thought I’d let you know…you can see the light coming from under your door. And you might want to turn them off. Everything’s dark and everyone can see the lights in our windows. Every floor has a designated board member helping keep everything calm…” he trailed off “you don’t have to open the door. We just think it might be a good idea to stay dark with the rest of the city tonight” and she could hear his footsteps leave her door. “He’s not entirely wrong” she thought. Everyone below was panicked. Scared. Some people got stuck at home, work, out trying to get last-minute supplies. She didn’t want her apartment to be a lighthouse in the city. So she blew out her candles one by one. The moon was big and bright and seemed to hang lower in the sky. It made seeing a little easier once your eyes adjusted. She couldn’t believe how many stars she could see now. She turned her gaze down to the blackened city. “I wonder what’s next” she thought as she sipped her tea.