Absolute Darkness - A CME Survival Thriller

I don’t know why I’m so paranoid. I’m not used to strangers just striking up conversations with me.
I opened my mouth, but she held up her hand. She tilted her head to the side.
“I know, I know. Welcome to Wisconsin,” Sam said.
I reached over on the counter and grabbed a second bag of chips. “Hungry?”
“Please,” Sam said.
I tossed her the bag, and she ate just as ravenously as I had. She sat down on the only empty chair and looked over at me.
“Seriously though, what are we going to do?” Sam asked.
“I think we need to figure out what’s going on first,” I said.
“And how do we do that?”
I tossed my empty bag of chips in the already full trash. “We’re going to have to talk to people.”
“Like that guy from last night?” Sam cocked her head to the side. “You really don’t think that was odd he came snooping around here in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah, him. He’s the closest neighbor.”
“If he’s even your neighbor.”
Exasperation dropped my shoulders.
“Can you blame me for being cautious?” Sam asked. “You’re not the best judge of character.”
“You’re never going to let it go, are you?” I asked. “Elijah was perfectly normal when we met.”
Sam groaned. “Okay, you’re right. We’ll talk to the guy, but I doubt he’s going to have any new information.”
“We’re going to have to wait to talk to him,” I said.
“Why?”
“I think I saw him head out to go fishing,” I said, scrunching up my nose. “Fishing? Like you don’t think that’s weird?”
I shrugged. “Lots of people come here to fish.”
“No, I mean, if there was this CME thing that took out the electrical grid, he’s just going about life like nothing happened?” Sam asked, cocking a brow.
“Maybe he’s hungry?”
“Or maybe he was just messing with us, and there isn’t anything wrong,” Sam said. “How far is that gas station?”
I chewed my cheek. “Four miles? There is another town to the north.”
“Is that one closer?”
“Not really,” I said.
“Well, we can walk four miles!” Sam said, clapping her hands together. Her grin quickly turned into a frown. “Although, I’d much rather do it on a full stomach. You think your mom has anything we can eat?”
I shook my head. “Cleaned the fridge. Anything that would have been in there would probably be spoiled by now anyway.”
Sam reached up to open the cabinet closest to her. A stack of papers rained down on her head.
She placed her hands on her hips as she kicked her feet out of the mound of papers. “Where is the pantry?”
I jerked my thumb to a small closet next to the fridge.
“Is anything going to jump out at me?” she asked with her hand on the knob.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said.
We both froze at the sound of someone knocking on the door.
“Hello?” the male’s voice called.
Sam and I exchanged a quick look. I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like Erik.
“You look for food,” I said as I walked toward the door. “I’ll handle this.”
Sam muttered something, but I ignored her and put a smile on my face. I opened the door just a few inches, a habit from when I lived with my mother and didn’t want anyone to see inside the house.
Erik was holding a bucket and grinning. “Morning. I just wanted to stop by and check on you.”
“Oh, thanks. We’re fine. Nothing is working yet, though.”
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to come back on anytime soon,” Erik said. “I talked to a buddy of mine in town, and everything is shut down. He heard from someone with a radio that it’s out all over the United States.”
“They must be working on getting it all fixed, though, right?” I asked, clasping my hands together to stop them from shaking.
Erik studied me for a long moment. “Yeah, I have no idea. The tourists were still bumming around, but there wasn’t much they could do in town. They couldn’t even spend their money without power to run the credit card machines. There were a few fires and minor gas explosions. It’s a bit chaotic.”
“Okay, so what are we supposed to do?” I asked, swallowed down a sour lump at the back of my throat. “Surely the government is going to do something to help people out.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Erik said, holding up his bucket of fish. “Hey, so my offer stands. If we’re in this for the long haul, it might be easier for us all if we stick together.”
“Yeah, I think we’re going to stay here,” I said. “We might walk to town and see if we can find someone to help us.”
Erik placed his hand on the back of his neck and turned toward the bay. He squinted his eyes.
“I could give you a ride in my boat,” Erik said, turning back to meet my gaze. His blue eyes glimmered in the sunlight. “It’s much quicker than walking. You’ll be wasting your time, though. You’re not going to find anything.”
Sam stepped up behind me. I could feel her frustration like a blast of heat radiating out from her.
“I don’t think you understand. I have a daughter back in Massachusetts who needs me to get back to her,” Sam said, clicking her tongue. “I have to get back to her. If I have to walk, I will.”
Erik took a step back. “Like I said, I can give you a ride to town, but there isn’t anything that will help you. People are on the verge of panic. They’re all trying to make sense of this all.”
“Meanwhile, I guess you’ll just happily fish the day away,” Sam snapped, tapping her foot.
“Sam!”
Erik laughed. “It’s fine.