by Kip Nelson
He swallowed his fear as he looked at the looming buildings all around him. With light, the houses didn’t seem foreboding, but in the darkness, they were like monsters, looming over him, mysterious things hiding in the darkness. Fear crawled over Darren’s body. He told himself that it all was going to be okay, he just had to keep a clear mind. He told himself that if he focused on getting home, everything was going to be alright.
Home.
At one point it had meant a loving family with a wife and two kids, the idyllic American dream. He remembered the day he first had seen Stacie. She had been something like out of a movie, almost too good to be true. He remembered the way she smelled, touched, tasted…it was all still so real. Sometimes he almost expected her to be at home when he returned, only to remember that she had left him and taken all the love he had given her.
He still didn’t believe that she could be that heartless. That wasn’t the type of woman he had married. She’d always been forthright with her desires and never settled for anything less than second best, but she’d always been considerate as well. They could have worked out their problems, fought them together. That’s what married people were supposed to do.
They’d taken vows.
Ever since Stacie had left, Darren had looked back on their life together, trying to pinpoint the moment when everything went wrong. The only thing he’d managed to come to terms with was that it wasn’t just one thing. It was a series of moments that gradually changed over the course of years, things that Darren had been blind to at the time.
His blindness was one of the main contributing factors. Stacie was the type of woman who needed to feel loved, who needed attention and tenderness on a regular basis. Darren had failed in that marital duty because work had taken a lot of time away from his family. He’d never wanted to fall into that trap. Hell, his father had been exactly the same. Darren always had sworn he never would be like this father. That hadn’t worked out either.
Darren didn’t know if another man had been involved, but it wouldn’t have surprised him. Stacie always got attention. Her beauty was timeless, her skin soft and flawless, and she radiated the kind of energy that drew people to her. It was as though she cast a spell on everyone she met. She certainly had with Darren. When the two of them had begun their relationship, he couldn’t believe his luck, and was sure that it was going to end at some point.
It was only when he’d finally let go of that fear that it had come to pass.
Something had changed in her after she had become a mother as well. When Brent was born, Darren had been ecstatic, but he remembered that Stacie mostly had been concerned with her life getting back to normal. She had sunk into a deep depression, and it was clear that she’d never really managed to claw her way out of it. Motherhood never seemed to suit her. She did it out of duty rather than because she truly enjoyed it. There were some points where Darren wondered if she ever truly wanted kids at all, or if she only did it because it was expected of her.
Michelle followed Brent nine years after he was born. It was a long spell, and when Darren looked back, he wondered where those nine years had gone. They had passed him by in the blink of an eye. Brent was becoming a man now, and Michelle was growing into a fine child. Stacie was missing it all.
Darren often wondered if she ever thought about them, wherever she was now. Perhaps it was better if she didn’t. It would be easier on them if they never had to see her again. But Darren saw her often, every time he looked at them. They had her Italian complexion, and Brent had a lot of her mannerisms. He also spoke Italian fluently as well. Michelle favored her father completely, though, which was natural, since her mother wasn’t in the picture any longer. He smiled as he thought of them. Without them, his life would be nothing. He never imagined loving anyone else as much as he loved them. It was totally different from the love he felt for Stacie. His kids were a part of him, an extension of him. They were a culmination of his own existence and a tribute to the type of person he was. He imbued them with his values and his traditions, and they took that framework and became entirely new people.
He was in awe of them.
The rain slashed down around him, and the air was thick with the storm. The thunder was loud. It felt as though the sky was going to shatter and all the shards would fall around him. By now, he was so soaked that he merely endured the rain. His clothes weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he tasted the coolness of the rain on his lips as the drops trickled down his face. He couldn’t wait to get home, have a warm shower, and then wrap himself up in a soft towel.
He was a little surprised that other people hadn’t come out of their houses. They probably were sitting in there, safe and secure in their homes, waiting out the power outage. Darren envied them a great deal. He should have been at home with his children now, lighting candles, telling ghost stories.
He chucked to himself as he thought about Brent, who undoubtedly was frustrated that he couldn’t play his video game. He hoped that Brent was being patient with Michelle as well, who would have been scared if she had been woken up. She probably was calling out for Darren. It felt like a failing on his part that he wasn’t there. He should have been with them, even though he needed to be out here to make sure they could afford to keep the lights on and food on the table.
Darren was distracted by the sound of giggling. He looked across the road, and as lightning flashed, he saw two people pressed against the wall of a house, using the storm to feed their passions. The woman gave off a throaty laugh as the man pawed her. Darren found himself staring, not because he was a pervert, just because it seemed so incongruous that two people would choose to do that in a storm like this. Such was youth, though, and Darren found himself lamenting the years he had lost to age.
The couple seemed to take great delight in the storm, offering themselves to the rain. Their clothes were soaked and their skin glistened. The man had his hands all over the woman. In the darkness, Darren almost could imagine it was Stacie and him.. They often had been consumed with lust in all sorts of places. Her body had been lithe and slender, and he had been hungry for the feast she offered. Even now he still thought of that, and pleasure rose within him.
However, it quickly was dashed as pain and bitterness took hold.
He was pretty sure he’d never be able to love again.
He knew one of Stacie’s friends, Lily, lived nearby. He made his way to her house, even though he never particularly had liked her, and he was sure the feeling was mutual. But he needed help, and at least he wouldn’t be a stranger.
When he reached her house, he saw the soft glow of candles. Amber light lit up the windows, and Darren was entranced by the warmth it offered. He walked up the short driveway and rapped his knuckles against the door. (He pressed the doorbell first out of instinct but, of course, nothing happened.) He waited there for a few moments until the door opened, revealing Lily. She had darkish hair and bright eyes and seemed surprised to see him. She wore a robe. Behind her, the house was illuminated with a plethora of candles.
“Darren, what are you doing here? Can I help you?” she asked.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you. I just was driving down the street when this happened,” he gestured to the darkness around him. “Is everything in your house dead?”
“Yes, it is,” she said. “It happened suddenly. I guess it has something to do with the storm.”
“That’s what I figured too,” Darren said, suddenly wondering why he had come up here in the first place. Perhaps it was just to get a sense of what a warm home felt like.
“Would you like to come in, maybe for some coffee?” she asked, looking at him with pity, like he was a drowned rat. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry for what happened with Stacie. I know I haven’t seen you since it happened.”
“Thanks,” Darren said, clenching his jaw at the mention of his wife, “but I have to be getting home to my kids. I say, I don’t suppose you happen to have an umbrella, do you?”
“I t
hink I can do that. It looks like hell out there,” she said, glancing past Darren to look at the rain. She disappeared into the house and then returned with a black umbrella.
“How are Brent and Michelle?”
“They’re doing okay. They miss their mother, obviously. Are you still in touch?”
The question seemed to take her by surprise.
“I’m not sure she’d want me to tell you. I’m sorry. I hope you get home alright.”
Darren thanked her for the umbrella but didn’t want to waste any more of his time talking to someone who had chosen to side with Stacie over him. Coming here had been a mistake, for it only had opened old wounds. He breathed in the scent of vanilla candles before he left. He peeked inside the front window just before he made his way back to the street and saw a couple of kids with their parents. He smiled sadly, and then opened the umbrella.
Now shielded from the rain, he was able to think a little more clearly. He still was drenched, but it was better late than never. At least it wasn’t too windy, for then the umbrella would have turned inside out and been completely useless.
Before him stood the buildings of the city, high and tall, reaching up to the heavens. They were a testament to the skill and ambition of humanity. When he had worked inside them it had been his mission to reach the very highest floor, and now that he worked on the foundations, he had gained a new appreciation for the way they were built. Usually, they were glittering spires that lit up the night sky, sparkling with beads of light, but tonight they were dark shadows, blotting out the sky behind them.
It wasn’t long ago that the city had been alive; teeming with people and bright lights, but now it seemed like a shadow. A foreboding feeling filled Darren. It was getting late at night and the people of the city were going to be lurking. If they were anything like Mikey, then trouble was brewing. They’d be scared, helpless, and angry that their night was ruined. But if anyone was going to stand in the way of Darren getting home, he would deal with them swiftly. Nothing was going to get in his way.
Chapter 2
Darren returned to the downtown area. Unlike the area he just had walked through, this was far livelier. People had been ejected from the clubs and bars and all were standing in the middle of the street as though it was some kind of parade or festival. Some of them were so drunk they reveled in the fury of nature, enjoying the feeling of the rain falling upon their skin. More than a few of them were flaunting their bodies, giving themselves to Mother Nature. Darren veered away from these people.
Some bars still were serving drinks; bottles were being passed around the crowd. If Darren didn’t have kids, he may well have partaken since it seemed the only thing to do to ignore the danger. A few bottles and plastic cups were thrust toward him, but he pushed them away and continued moving. The crowd was in surprisingly good spirits and nobody seemed annoyed that he was making his way through. People were making out, singing, and dancing.
That was a portion of the crowd anyway.
Others were annoyed their night had been interrupted and were angry at how wet they were. Many of them shouted at the others and were getting into fights. Darren heard the slap of skin on skin as people hauled themselves to the ground. The bouncers certainly had their work cut out for them. There was shouting, which was only drowned out by those singing, and curses flung in all directions. The area was chaos, a blending of joy and misery, and Darren was caught in the middle. All he wanted to do was get home.
“Come over here! We’re trying to get a hug from everyone!” someone called out to Darren. College kids. He gave them one glance and shook his head politely, trying to get away. They ran toward him, fueled by alcohol, grabbing him back. “Come on, just one hug!”
“I’m trying to get back to my kids,” Darren replied curtly.
“They can have a hug too! Come on, man! We just need to pay it forward. Hugs are what the world needs. We all should hug. There’s too much distance between us with handshakes. If everyone hugged, the world would be a much better place.” The guy who held Darren had dark skin and dreadlocks. He was surrounded by other people who were swaying and hugging each other.
“That’s a good philosophy, and I wish you well, but I really have to be going,” Darren said, trying to extricate himself.
He suddenly felt two strong arms clamped around him and breathed in the musky sweat of masculine body odor. Darren struggled to get free, more annoyed than anything now, and when Darren pushed the guy back, he fell into his friends. They looked shocked.
“Man, there’s just, like, no need for that,” the guy on the ground said, dazed. Darren rolled his eyes and turned away from him and the group.
The bodies seemed endless. They were everywhere, undulating and writhing. The rain slashed down on them all. Some of them had umbrellas. Darren was holding his high above so he didn’t risk poking an eye out. He sidled his way through the crowd, guiding people out of his way with his hands. Sometimes this made him feel very inappropriate since he had to push aside girls whose outfits barely left anything to the imagination. So, he ended up brushing their flesh, not that any of them seemed to mind. Some of them even offered him suggestive glances.
Darren knew he had to get out of there quickly, before he got into trouble.
He was barreling forward when suddenly he stopped. People formed a wall before him. He craned his neck to see what was going on, only to find there was a brawl taking place. About five men were involved, all piling on top of each other. The mass of bodies floundered around on the ground, slamming into the concrete. The rain beat down upon them.
There isn’t time for this! Why are people wasting so much time? Darren thought to himself.
Darren looked for a way out of the area. Most people around him were watching the brawl, pumping their fists and cheering on the participants. The bouncers didn’t seem to be doing much to dissuade them. They stood at the edge, guarding the doors they were paid to protect, not daring to wade out into the chaos.
Edging sideways like a crab, Darren moved away from the brawl while still keeping on course. He tried ignoring the incessant noises coming from the young crowd. None of them seemed to have any other responsibilities that demanded their presence, and Darren felt like the only adult there.
Somewhere a glass bottle smashed, and nobody seemed to care. The rain poured down, and all the people wanted to do was party.
Darren almost had made it out of the crowd when he was dragged back by the arm that was holding the umbrella. He grunted as he hadn’t been expecting it at all. The crowd had become one endless mass of bodies to him, but now he was beginning to see individuals again. He was faced with a group of girls looking up at him with bright eyes. At first he recoiled because their makeup was running their faces, leaving dark, eerie trails. It looked as though their skin was leaking.
Before he could say anything, they were pleading with him for his umbrella, offering him money and their bodies. Darren had to close his eyes and look away as a couple of them pulled up their tops.
“Take it,” he said, thrusting the umbrella into their hands. They seemed to take this as a great victory, whooping with delight. Darren simply turned and broke out of the crowd, gasping with relief when he was free.
If this was the future of the country, then it was going down the toilet. None of them seemed to be covering themselves in much glory. Either they were fighting or getting drunk. They seemed blind to the situation around them, and none of them actually were trying to help each other. They simply were losing themselves in the storm, waiting for it to pass. The bouncers were guarding the doors. It didn’t feel as though they were engaged in a common cause.
Without the umbrella, Darren was getting soaked again. He continually wiped his brow, getting the water away from his eyes. He was glad to leave the chaos of the crowd behind. They were stomping their feet, clapping their hands, and seemed to be treating this as some of kind block party.
None of them could understand that some people had thing
s they were worried about. With each moment that passed Darren knew Brent and Michelle would be getting more anxious. No doubt they had tried contacting him and had failed. None of these kids would understand that. They just wanted to numb themselves to their lives, filling themselves with alcohol and drugs because otherwise their lives were empty.
Like Mikey, they soon would heave up their guts and crawl away, unable to do anything else. They would lose themselves to an orgy of sex and violence, but when they awoke the world still would be the same miserable place. The rain would stop and the only thing remaining would be regret. None of them would look back on this night and be proud of themselves. None of them realized how dire things were.
Darren wasn’t a fool. He’d read a number of survival books and blogs. He was aware of how quickly things could fall apart. Civilized life seemed to be so firm and reliable, but really it was as fragile as tissue paper. The strands that held them all together easily were broken, and people swiftly would turn on each other.
When Darren had read books like these, they all had seemed like fiction. The world kept on turning, no matter what, and to think that it could be brought to a dramatic halt was unbelievable. Yet as he made his way through the city, he realized this was how it always started. Something went wrong somewhere, something took the world by surprise, and before they knew it everything had changed.
The power outage was devastating. There was no telling how wide-spread it was, but if it was caused by the storm, then it could have reached all across the country. Almost every aspect of modern life depended upon electricity. Money, health, education, entertainment, transportation, security all were linked to electricity. If that failed, there was no telling the chaos that could ensue.
As Darren walked, he thought about the worst-case scenario, losing electricity completely. Society as people knew it would collapse. There would be no clean water, the hospitals wouldn’t be able to help anyone, the jails and prisons would be open, and prisoners would escape and cause mayhem. There would be no need for people to study or go to work. What use was there working if money didn’t mean a thing? Nobody would be able to access their bank accounts. Mortgages and other loans all would be meaningless. What would people really need with money if the electricity was gone completely? They still would survive, they still could live. The only basic needs for survival were food, water, and shelter. Everything else would be an unnecessary luxury.
