The line supervisors were soon gathered in the entryway in front of the guard station. There were a series of nervous glances and furtive talk.
“Alright. As I have mentioned before there is an ongoing solar storm happening right now. As it stands, there has been no damage to the phones, electronics, or internet or anything, but I am recommending that if your workers want to return home, to let them go in waves so that there is no panicked rush or anything.” David said.
“Wait a minute.” The Packing Supervisor interrupted. “What about the plant supervisor? Doesn’t he have the final say in what’s going on?”
“Yeah. This may just be some global warming shit or something. You know what I mean. If it is something that lasts for only a few minutes, and we go home, the plant manager will fire us.”
“He’s fired more for a lot less than that. I know you’re contracted to work here, so they would just move you to a different location.
“Has anyone gotten in contact with the plant manager?”
For a while, everyone merely looked at each other.
“I’ll give him a call and ask what’s he wants to happen. I know we won’t be able to ship stuff out, but he’ll probably want us to continue loading until this blows over.” The line supervisor said.
David thought about this for a while. Though he wanted to be with his wife and family, he didn’t want to ruin the position he was in. The job was a breeze, and he actually enjoyed working here despite the $10 pay difference between him and the people he guarded. He took a mental list. The power was still on here, but that was not to say that the same was everywhere. The power in Calera was notorious for holding up through tornadic weather but would fail once the weather returned to normal days later. His phone still had service and he had just spoken with his wife. Cars weren’t exploding outside and murderous marauders were not roaming around at the moment.
Mr. Minton, the plant manager, was on the phone. The line supervisor looked up and got everyone’s attention. When everyone quieted down, he switched his phone to the speaker.
“Hey everyone, this is Minton. I know that everything is crazy right now, but I want you guys to finish up as much as you can before scooting off. That is all trailers loaded and ready for pickup. All areas cleaned. All trailers in and offloaded. I will be checking back later to hear your progress.”
“So will you be coming in today?” The supervisor asked.
“You guys take care and stay inside. Good Bye.”
While the voice talked at them over the phone’s speaker, David and several other workers continued to watch the light show. When the line went silent, several of the supervisors swore loudly. David had to choke back his own four letter words before calming them down.
“Alright. You heard the boss. We continue on as much as we can and then we check in with him to see if we can cut loose early. However. Call your folks and give them the heads up. Tell them to take their food and belongings into the most secure part of their homes and prepare as if it were another tornado or an earthquake. Everyone keep cool and we’ll ride this out.” The line supervisor said.
“Still mighty dark outside.” One of the other supervisors said.
Indeed, though alight with the fiery aurora, the sky was otherwise pitch black. David had to admit that though he had never seen the northern lights, he knew that the sun would dispel the light show. His digital watch would flicker every now and then, but it seemed to keep the steady time of 6:37am and counting.
“Everything is alright for now, just keep your guys busy for a bit. If things get crazy, then I’ll give you guys a heads up. Okay?” David said.
The grumbled replies were more than enough for David as the supervisors wandered back through the double doors. When they were safely behind the security doors, David quickly dialed home.
“David? When are you coming home?” Gisele demanded.
“Baby,” David began. “I can’t leave just yet. I have to make sure everything is safe at the plant and everyone else leave before I can go.”
“David, come home! I looked at the sky and can’t stop worrying that something bad is going to happen.”
David set the phone in his other palm. The orange light display was still going on in full force. His phone still glitched every now and then, but it did seem to be more frequent. In the dancing strobe of oranges and reds, he could clearly see his Towncar beckoning him.
“Babe? Babe? Are you still there?”
“Yes, I am. I’m sorry baby, but I can’t leave just yet. Call me if anything stops working. TV, electricity, or whatever.”
“What if the phones go out? I won’t be able to call you and you’ll be over there and things could get worse.”
David could hear the tears in her words and was quick to calm her.
“So far everything is working fine. I’ll be watching the phone to see if the net and the lines are still good. If I don’t hear from you in an hour or you me, then I’ll be on my way after I lock everything up here at the plant.”
“Okay. Just text me regularly ok.”
“Will do. Did you guys get everything down into the basement?”
“We got all of the food and our smaller stuff, but the TV is too big for Mom, Dad, and I. We got flashlights and candles too. I don’t want to wake the kids and Mom and Dad don’t want to move to the basement unless things get bad.”
David thought for a moment but didn’t find himself angry.
“Alright, but if things get bad I want you guys to get to the basement immediately. Is everything locked up?”
“Ok, and yes, we locked everything and put chairs against the doors. Is everything going to be alright, Baby?”
“Yes.” David lied. “You try to get some more sleep.”
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Bye.”
No sooner then he hung up there was a weird noise of tearing velcro from outside. At first, David thought it had been coming from the lobby. Some animal gnawing on the carpet? When he rose to look down over the counter, he found the noise continuing to grow in volume, but not in loudness. It was as if the noise had a mass, and it was getting bigger. Leaning further over, while his nerves screamed not to, David could tell that the noise was not in the lobby at all, but rather coming from an indeterminable distance outside. The slow crackling tearing went on for several long moments before falling silent. David continued to lean over the desk, his stomach pressing uncomfortably hard into the top of the computer’s monitor. From North Avenue came the distinct sound of squealing breaks and a thunderous boom of a vehicle collision.
James C Gilliam 