Love in the Dark

Maureen Atsali Romance

Everywhere it was the same. Disgruntled citizens were trying to start their cars to no avail. A few vehicles seemed to have died right in the street, barely even pulling off the road before they came to a complete stop. There was yelling and screeching from several apartment buildings, all of them crying over the same things. No heat. No hot water. No cellphones. No radio. He could practically feel the collective anxiety and anger rising around him. The little convenience store on the corner was open, with a sign taped to the door that read "CASH ONLY - CREDIT CARD MACHINE IS DOWN." Seth pushed his way in and picked up a package of donuts. Sadly, there was no coffee available here either, so he settled for a chocolate milk out of the cooler.
"Hey Gary," he greeted the man behind the counter. "This is some s**t, don't you think?"
"Sure is," he rubbed a hand over his head as he counted out change to another customer. "I ain't never seen anything like this."
"Me neither." I glanced around at the other customers milling around the store. I lowered my voice and leaned closer. "Listen, if people start acting weird, you better lock up and call it a day."
Gary nodded. "Gotcha, Seth."
Seth reached into his pocket for his wallet, but Gary waved him off. "It's on the house today."
"Sure? Ok thanks man. Take care of yourself."
I stepped out of the store, wondering if my presence in uniform would help keep people in line, or if I was making them more nervous. They shifted around me uneasily, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
When I got to the station, it was absolute chaos. There were dozens of people in the lobby, shouting complaints and demanding answers, while two officers at the desk helplessly tried to calm them.
I stepped into the fray. "Hey, everyone stay calm!" I shouted. "There has been a power outage, and as of now, we are ALL completely in the dark. We do not know anything more than you do." The crowd dithered and moved around me like I wasn't even there. "If you are a person of authority, please step forward. Everyone else, please go home!"
There was a lot of grumbling, but most of the people made their way toward the door. A couple of people stubbornly stayed, even though I doubted they were anyone important. I didn't recognize their faces. The two officers behind the desk visibly relaxed. "Thanks, man." Officer Lawrence breathed. "That was getting out of hand."
"No kidding. What the hell is going on?"
"Damned if we know anything," Officer Green said nervously, "The lights went out, and everything stopped working. The generator won't start, the radios aren't working, every phone in the place is dead, including the landlines. Laptops are dark. Cruisers won't start. All the units are dead in the water."
I rubbed my hand over my face. "Who is here?"
"Only us, McGreary, and a few guys from the night shift that couldn't get home." Lawrence checked his cellphone again, just to confirm that is really was off. "We figure everybody else is stranded at home. You must have walked in, huh?"
"Yeah," I rubbed the back of my neck. I pulled the officers farther away from the people who were still milling in the lobby. "This is bad. Really bad. People are already on edge; I can feel it. One good spark, and this whole town is going to go up like a Roman candle."
Green shook his head. "So what do we do?"
"Who's the senior officer here now?"
"I guess that's McGreary." Lawrence said. Lawrence was just a rookie; he'd been on the force less than a year.
"Alright, I'm going to go talk to him. In the meantime, stay calm. Be gentle, but firm with everyone." As I was speaking two more women entered the lobby. "Encourage everyone to go home and wait for news there."

Unfold