Part 2 (1/2)
Christy nodded. ”Oh, yeah. I remember that now.”
”Well, that's how it felt outside. Like Walden's been stuck inside a bottle and somebody turned the lights out on us.”
She rubbed her arms and s.h.i.+vered. ”It's chilly in here.”
”Yeah, it is. I could use some coffee. Some guy down on the street gave me a cup, but I could use more. I wish the power was on.”
”We have that little jar of instant that my mom brought over before we got the coffee maker, but I don't know how we'd heat the water.”
”That's okay,” I said. ”Maybe a little later. Bad as I need it, I hate drinking cold coffee.”
Christy got up and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. When she returned to the living room, she draped a blanket over her shoulders and sat back down again. She fired up the bong, and we smoked for a while. Then I told her about everything I'd learned, the people I'd met, and Dez's bizarre behavior. While we talked, the noise out on the street increased, as more people woke up and discovered what was going on.
”Did any of the other people say what they were going to do?”
”A few,” I said. ”Some of them were talking about leaving, trying to get to one of the other towns and see if they had power or knew what was going on. Some of the others were just going to stay put. I think that's what we should do, too. Just sit tight and wait.”
”Wait for what?”
”I don't know. For the utilities to come back on, at least. I mean, we don't really know anything at this point, right? We don't know if it's safe to leave or not.”
”We should go to my mom's place. Maybe her power is still on. Maybe the news is saying something.”
”I don't think that's a good idea, hon. I know you're worried about her, but she'd want you to stay safe, and I think we have a better chance of keeping you that way if we stay here.”
”You really think something terrible has happened?”
”Maybe. I thought it was an eclipse, but they don't normally last this long. I'm not saying it was something bad for sure, but let's say it was indeed some kind of terrorist attack or natural disaster. Maybe the darkness is some kind of chemical cloud or something, or a volcanic plume. If we go into it, we could get sick.”
”Do you think that's what happened? Al Qaeda? The Sons of the Const.i.tution? They haven't done anything since they killed all those people on that reality show. Oh G.o.d, what if it's them?”
”I just said that I wasn't saying that for sure, Christy. But whatever it is, we have to a.s.sume it's dangerous. All the utilities are gone, and people are scared. That leads to panic, and if people are freaking the f.u.c.k out, the last place we want to be is on the road. So let's just chill out and wait to see what happens. Help might show up. And if not, in a few hours, we'll figure out what to do next. Okay?”
”Okay.” She pouted.
I headed into the kitchen and decided to make us both something to eat. I didn't want to open the refrigerator door and let the cold air out, because there was no telling how long the power would be out and I didn't want our food to go bad, so I settled on some dried fruit and a box of Cheerios from the cupboard. I mixed them together into cereal bowls for each of us and carried them back into the living room.
”We'll have to eat them without milk,” I said. ”Sorry.”
”That's okay.”
Christy's dejected tone was gone. It felt good to see her smile again. It was a little victory, but an important one for me. In truth, I was starting to get a little scared. As males, we're sort of genetically programmed to protect our significant others. When we don't succeed, it's a terrible feeling. You feel helpless and not worthy of their love, even if they don't feel that way about you themselves. I wanted Christy to be safe, but I didn't know what I was protecting her from or how to do it. I think it was the not knowing that was the worst. If I'd just known what was going on and what we were dealing with, then I could have handled it. I could have done whatever I needed to for us. But not knowing, there wasn't really any way to prepare. All I could do was try to keep Christy happy and content. Just keep her mind off things and hope that the situation would soon pa.s.s.
But it didn't pa.s.s.
We were crunching away on our breakfast when somebody knocked on the door. The rapping sound was very loud, and we both jumped a little. I spilled a few Cheerios on the couch.
”Stay here,” I told her, and set my bowl on the coffee table.
Christy frowned. Her eyebrows knitted together the way they did when she was scared or nervous. I paused, reached out with my finger and brushed a piece of cereal from the corner of her mouth. That made her smile.
The knock came again as I crossed the room. It was more insistent this time. I heard a m.u.f.fled voice calling my name. Whoever it was, they sounded excited. I peeked through the peephole and saw Russ's magnified face staring back at me. I opened the door.
His face was red. ”Oh, thank Christ you're home. You guys been outside yet?”
”Yeah, I went out earlier.” I opened the door the rest of the way. ”Come on in, man.”
”Thanks.”
Russ looked like something the cat had mauled, eaten, spit up, eaten again, c.r.a.pped out, and then then dragged in. His thinning hair was sticking up in wild, greasy corkscrews, and his eyes were bleary and blood-shot. Salt-and-pepper stubble covered his cheeks. His jeans were dirty, and there was a big yellow mustard stain on his white T-s.h.i.+rt. His shoes were untied. Worst of all was the smell coming out his pores-stale sweat and alcohol. Even though I tried to hide it, he must have noticed my reaction because he apologized right away. dragged in. His thinning hair was sticking up in wild, greasy corkscrews, and his eyes were bleary and blood-shot. Salt-and-pepper stubble covered his cheeks. His jeans were dirty, and there was a big yellow mustard stain on his white T-s.h.i.+rt. His shoes were untied. Worst of all was the smell coming out his pores-stale sweat and alcohol. Even though I tried to hide it, he must have noticed my reaction because he apologized right away.
”Sorry. I tied one on last night and overslept. I know I probably look like s.h.i.+t. Woke up with one h.e.l.l of a hangover. How's your plumbing? I wanted to take a shower, but mine's not working.”
”Nothing is working,” I said. ”All the utilities are out.”
”s.h.i.+t. I figured that might be it. Was hoping maybe I was wrong, though. I noticed the phone was out when I tried to call off work. And then...well, I guess you looked outside too, right?”
”Yeah.” I nodded. ”We saw it. Christy's pretty freaked out. To be honest, I'm getting that way myself. At first I thought maybe it was an eclipse or something. Now I don't know what the h.e.l.l is going on.”
”It's not an eclipse,” Russ confirmed, ”or any other astronomical event that I can think of. There are a few things that would account for something like this, but I'd know if they were supposed to be occurring-and they're not. So unless the sun suddenly burned out...” Smiling, he shrugged. ”Well, if that happened, we wouldn't be standing here talking about it, would we? My point is, we have to look somewhere other than the sky for the answer.”
”We can't see the sky anyway.”
”No, I guess we can't.”
”Well,” I said, ”have a seat. I'd offer you some coffee, but all we have is that instant c.r.a.p. There's cereal if you want some.”
”That's okay. What I need is some hair of the dog.”
I grinned. ”What were you drinking last night?”
”Cheap tequila.”
”We've got that, too. And a little bit of bud.”
”Budweiser?”
”No, weed.”
Russ nodded. ”Maybe in a bit.”
He joined Christy and me in the living room, and we filled him in on what we'd learned. Russ asked if we had any aspirin, and Christy gave him two. He swallowed them dry, grimacing as they slid down his throat. After a while, we tried the radio again, but there were still no broadcasts. The commotion down on the street had lessened somewhat, as people either returned to their homes or got the h.e.l.l out of Dodge. The candles on the coffee table sputtered as the flames reached the bottoms of the wicks, and I replaced them with fresh ones.
”If this goes on too long,” Christy said, ”we'll run out of candles.”
”If this goes on too long,” Russ replied, ”we're going to run out of a lot lot of things. You guys use your toilets yet?” of things. You guys use your toilets yet?”