“You can’t simply lock up and leave.” The line supervisor said. “It’s your job to protect us if someone tries anything.”
“My ass. Look, I get paid to walk around, take notes, and call someone if something goes wrong. I don’t have a gun, knife, or even a pointed stick to defend all yall and this place. Besides this is an underwear factory. There is nothing here that anybody wants.” David said.
For the last several minutes David had busied himself by gathering the chains and locks he needed to secure the facility. As the supervisors had trickled in, he loaded them onto the wheeled cart and checked the keys for each one.
David’s phone rang. Quickly he moved the cart of locks to the door before fishing the phone from his pocket. The display showed just after 7 AM.
“David?” Giselle said.
“Yes, Babe? Is everything ok?” David responded.
“David, the powers gone out. Everythings quiet right now, but we need you home now.”
“Alright, I am already locking up. Is everyone heading to the basement?”
“Dads back from work. He and mom are airing up the inflatable mattresses. Please, hurry.”
“I will. Love you. Bye.”
David looked up at the other supervisors.
“Has anyone of you spoken to the plant manager?” He asked.
“I got him to pick up earlier, but then he got cut off. I tried twice more already, but it rings and goes to voicemail.”
“Alright,” David said. “We can’t reach the plant boss. Cities are losing power. I highly recommend you let your guys go in waves if they want to. I will be locking up all the doors to include the main entrance. The push bar will be enabled so people can leave afterward if they want, but once I am done, I am gone.”
There was a chorus of heated discussion from the supervisors, but David was not standing for it. He silently pushed the cart through the double doors and out into the factory floor. With a running start, he started using the cart as a scooter between each of the doors. It was swift going until he got to the older section of the plant. On cue, the plant’s lights flickered, browned, and went out.
Despite all he had encountered for a dozen years in the airborne infantry, David shook with fear. Iraq was gone. Afghanistan was gone. All that remained was the thing that had inflicted those terrible, indescribable wounds upon the driver of that car. A thing of darkness. The darkness that surrounded him now. There was hooting and hollering from behind that broke his dread. Cellphones and camera lights shone through the dim new factory floor behind him. Quickly, David brought out his own cell phone and switched its own light. Small as it was, it helped greatly. The jovial ignorance of the people behind him helped as well. David quickly pushed the cart into the ever quieting shadows before him towards the last remaining doors.
By the time David had finished locking the last door, the factory was completely empty. The once constant drone of conveyors and drivers was now gone, leaving an eerie silence throughout the abyssal floor. Despite its flickering screen which refused to stay off, the battery life indicator of his phone read a decent 65%. David left the cart by the last door and walked swiftly back to the security office. David shouldered his backpack and grabbed his barrel in a fluid motion. Before his mind could imagine some desperate need to remain, he left the office, hit the push bar, and was outside.
The familiar smells of dew and grass were still there, amidst the streaks of orange and red in the sky. The cool air sent a shiver over his sweaty skin. David easily found his car alone in the asphalt sea of the abandoned parking lot. The Towncar roared to life immediately as he shifted into reverse. David marveled that though the sky was alight, the world about him was still shrouded in darkness and shadow. As if some cheap developer had skipped something, like in one of his kids’ video games. The orange and red waves of fire and lightning left afterimages in his eyes, and yet he could only make out the dim glow of the dying car fire nearby. The car he had to drive past on his way home. David eased the gears from reverse to drive and started on his way.
The arm that blocked the parking area was broken off. In their haste, the other workers had not even bothered to manually open it. David paid no more than the passing thought as he too drove past its shattered ruin. As the high beams passed over the glowing car, David fought against himself to not stomp the accelerator. He forced his mind to rationalize that he did not know if any more protrusion had surface along the road and did not want to suffer a similar fate. He eased the large-bodied car along, giving the wreck a wide birth before jumping to a good cruising speed after he had passed. With the scene far behind him once more, his mind could now process everything.
45 MPH seemed a decent rate for this road, but he would definitely go faster once he reached Highway 65. There he would try to make up as much time as he could. The entrance to the zoo came up on his left. The traffic lights guarding the area were dark and silent as the Towncar passed underneath. David eased more speed out of the eight-cylinder engine. The sound of gears and road did little to fill the vacuous silence around him. Nor it’s hidden menace. Without thinking, David switched on his blinker. It was something he had done for an eternity but seemed silly amidst the empty street. David glided the car to the right and down the ramp to highway 65.
James C Gilliam 