Lights Out Refuge pt 2 | Fall Fiction Fill-In Series

Welcome to our new 🍂Fall Fiction Fill-In Series🍂 where we invite you to finish the endings of our stories and poems. So, come join us and have fun because…

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Today’s feature is:

Lights Out Refuge Pt 2

Written by Tannika Nikeya

“Good evening. This is Martin from Channel 7.” He spoke as calmly as he could, but his voice still had a shakiness to it that could not be ignored.

“We are reporting. This is an emergency. Everyone must stay indoors. We have widespread power outages being reported. Technology is shutting down, and we do not know when we will be able to report again tonight because we have word that in two hours, all power and technology will be out.

“Wait. Yes. We also want to report that much violence is occurring, and there are reports of people getting sick. Please find safety. And do not, I repeat, do not go outside.”

As Martin said those last words, the lights went out in the family’s eighth-floor apartment, and commotion erupted in the hallways of their high-rise.

Mom gasped and cradled the baby a little tighter. Dad rushed from the living room to the kitchen, feeling along the walls as he made his way. He rustled through a crowded drawer of nails and small tools and pulled out a flashlight.

When Dad rushed into the dining room with the flashlight, Mom passed the baby to Radiance.

“Jeremiah, there are also candles and a lighter in the drawer of the armoire.”

Jeremiah flashed the light toward the armoire. Mom frantically opened the drawer, grabbed a few candles and the lighter, placed the candles in the holders on the dining room table, and lit them all.

“We will stay in,” proclaimed Dad.

“And wait it out,” agreed Mom.

Radiance rocked the baby in her arms. Something was telling her they couldn’t stay in their apartment for long. She could still hear cries, fussing, and frantic footsteps in the hallway.

Mom picked up one of the candles in its holder and went to stand next to Radiance.

“Have a seat, boo, with your little brother. I am going to get a few emergency items we may need and bring them to the dining room. We need a portable charger, the clock Granny got us, some batteries, some sweaters or a jacket, a few canned goods, a few throw blankets, some bottled waters. Oh, and we are going to need a can opener, the baby’s milk, diapers, a pacifier, and a thick blanket.”

Ten minutes later, Mom rushed back into the dining room with the last of the items they would need. She proceeded to the living room and took the baby out of Radiance’s arms.

“Go grab what you think you need, boo.”

Radiance rushed into her room and grabbed her hoodie and the mace her mom had given her for safety when she rode the train to school. It had been among her other knickknacks in a crowded drawer because she couldn’t bring it to school.

She glanced around her room as if it would be her last time there. She did not know what else she should get, so she quietly went back into the living room with her mom and baby brother.

Her dad was back in the kitchen, fishing around for something. He came back into the living room, mumbling under his breath, with a pocket radio and his backup tools for work.

“Tasha, I got the radio and these tools just in case.”

Bam! Bam!

Dad ran to the door.

“Who is it?”

“Pam!”

Pam was their neighbor down the hall. Radiance loved her bubbly personality, but she side-eyed her every time Pam got to telling everybody’s business in the building.

Dad opened the door, and Pam rushed in.

The hallway was dark except for the lit red exit signs.

“Girl, the lights are out, and they say everything will go out in two hours!” cried Pam.

“Yeah, we heard,” exclaimed Mom. “What is all the noise in the hallways?”

“People are panicking. And I heard the Joneses’ door got kicked in.”

“Kicked in?” exclaimed Mom, her eyes wide and eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, they’re breaking into people’s places,” Pam replied.

“They better not try here,” Dad said, holding up one of his tools. “I got a surprise for ’em.”

Mom looked at Jeremiah.

“Jeremiah, we need to call my mom.”

She grabbed her cell phone out of her pocket. She touched the side of it with her finger, and it lit up in her face. It still had power.

Mom dialed her mom’s phone number. It rang. It rang some more, and then the voicemail picked up.

“This is Maddie. Please leave a message.”

“Hi, Mom. Are you okay? Where are you?”

Radiance listened intently as Mom left the message. Then she spoke.

“Mom, we can’t stay here. We have to check on Grandma. We have to get to her house. She will know what to do.”

Just then, the building shook as a big boom sounded off. Alarms and sirens went off, and Radiance’s baby brother began to cry.

Mom looked at Dad.

“Jeremiah, we have to go.”

“Okay. Okay, we will go to your mom’s.”

“Pam, you can come with us,” said Mom.

“No, I got to go and check on Ms. James, and I told my sister I would stay put until she reached me. Let me know when you make it to your mom’s.”

Pam rushed out of the apartment. As she rushed out, a couple of people rushed by her.

Dad closed the door and looked out the window.

“Tasha, it looks bad out here, and we don’t have much time. If we are going to leave, we have to leave now.”

“Put what we need in backpacks. We each can carry one.”

Mom put the baby carrier over her head and torso, then placed the baby inside. She put a hat on his head, socks on his feet, and covered him with a blanket.

With their backpacks on, Dad holding a large hammer in one hand and a flashlight in the other, and Radiance holding her mace, the family proceeded to the door.

Dad opened it.

“Get to the stairs. Stay close to me.”

They passed by closed doors, opened doors with disheveled apartments, an elevator stopped between floors, and blinking red exit signs.

Descending the eight flights of stairs was tiring, but they made it.

Dad peeked out of the door into the first-floor lobby. There were a few people hiding behind the front desk. Outside, it was foggy and dark, with dim emergency lights and streetlights that were flickering.

“Let’s go,” motioned Dad. Mom and Radiance ran behind him as they rushed out into the lobby and then into the streets.

The streets, once filled with chaos, were now eerily quiet.

They ran a few blocks, and then Mom stopped.

“Mom, are you okay?” asked Radiance.

“Tasha, you need to rest,” said Dad.

“No, I am okay. I just need a moment.” Mom bent down slightly, rested her palms on her knees, and let out a big sigh.

She pulled the blanket back to take a glance at little Jeremiah Jr. His innocent eyes glanced up at her, and she smiled.

“Let’s go,” she said.

They went on for another two blocks and turned the corner when they saw a few young men breaking into a store.

Dad immediately put his hand out in front of his wife and daughter. He ushered them back around the corner as he peeked out at the young men. He waited until they were inside the store, then rushed his wife and daughter along the sidewalk, occasionally glancing back at the store to make sure the young men didn’t come out.

Down another block they went, and Radiance knew Mom was getting tired. In fact, she was too. But she offered to take the baby to give Mom a break.

Mom gestured no and told her and Dad to keep going.

“We are almost there.”

Dad turned on the flashlight. As they ran, the buildings turned into houses and two-flats. The high-rises were behind them, and more lights were shutting down as they went.

Grandma’s house was up ahead.

The block was dark. Each house seemed lifeless and void.

As they approached Grandma’s house, Mom let out a sigh of relief and rested against the concrete steps of the porch.

Dad, breathing heavily, ran up the porch steps and looked into the front window to see if he could see anything through the sheer curtains. He knocked on the door and then put his ear to it.

Radiance ran around the back as Mom called for her to stop.

“Radiance, no!”

But Radiance reached the side door and saw that it was open.

“Dad! Mom! The door is open!”

Dad and Mom rushed to the side door. Dad stepped in front of Radiance, pushed open the door, and glanced inside.

“Hello?” he called.

He went in and glanced around, his hammer upright in his hand.

“Hello?” he called again.

No answer.

Radiance rushed past him.

“The basement!”

“Radiance, no!” called Mom.