by Payne, T. L.
The alarm on Raine’s cell phone buzzed at the ungodly hour of four a. m. Most twenty-year-old college students would just be going to bed at that hour, but not Raine Caldwell. She had four hours of homework to catch up on before her classes started at Washington University. The pre-med program was grueling and required her to study every waking moment just to achieve even a passing grade. Any hope of maintaining her usual four-point grade point average had been dashed in her freshman year. Now, she was just trying to pass her classes in order to have a chance of getting into a decent medical school.
Raine used the flashlight on her cell phone to illuminate the lamp on her bedside table. She reached up and turned the switch.
Nothing happened.
She’d forgotten Gage hadn’t paid the electric bill—again. Gage was always late for everything, including his rent. Unfortunately, so were Elle and Rodney. For the second time in the last few months, Raine had dipped into her savings to cover their portion of the rent. She feared that before long, she’d have to ask her dad for money, something she’d vowed not to do. She wasn’t even sure he’d loan her the money. They hadn’t exactly been close—not since her brother had died, anyway.
She’d need to speak to Gage about the power bill. Gage Duncan was one of those people that felt entitled but hadn’t yet realized that the world didn’t owe him everything. He’d been raised by older parents who’d spoiled him all his life—until he turned twenty-one, and they’d realized he wanted to live off them instead of going to college or getting a job. He’d dropped out to pursue his music career. He and his band played in local bars but were still waiting for their big break. Gage’s parents may have kicked him out of the nest, but his mother secretly still fed her baby bird. Raine was convinced that Gage’s mother still supported him and paid his rent—when he remembered to ask.
Raine sighed and pulled back the blackout curtains to look out the window overlooking the side parking lot. Usually, the security lights attached to the building would fill her tiny bedroom with light, but this morning, those lights were also out.
Raine shook her head, grabbed Elle’s flashlight from the bedside table and held it out in front of her as she tiptoed down the hall and through the living room, narrowly missing the mound of shoes by the sofa. Raine felt her way along the sofa table to the door and peeked through the peephole. The hallway to the stairs was still dark. Opening the door, she peered out, still wary of the strange men who had followed her home the night before. She looked up and down the hallway. It was pitch-black except for the red glow of the exit sign above the stairway.
“Raine,” a voice called from the darkness.
“Hey, Stella,” Raine replied, slightly startled. “What are you doing up this early?”
“I picked up an early shift at the nursing home. Do you have power?” Stella asked. “My lights aren’t working.”
Estella Dominguez was like the building’s dorm counselor. At forty years old, Stella was one of the oldest residents there, besides Latrice Shaw.
Raine stepped into the hallway and pulled the door shut before answering Stella.
“Nope. Mine’s out too,” Raine said, turning to face her.
“I didn’t hear a storm or anything last night. I wonder what knocked the power out this time?” Stella asked.
“I don’t know. The lights were out when I came home last night.”
“I’m gonna call management and see if they know when the power will be back on. I have to get ready for work,” Stella said, backing into her apartment.
“Let me know what you find out, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Stella said as she shut the door.
As Raine turned to go back into her apartment, she felt a twinge of guilt for jumping to the conclusion that it was all Gage’s fault. But as she turned the deadbolt and slid the chain into its slot, she remembered he was late on the rent, and that countered any guilt she felt. After making her way across the dark living room and down the hall to her bedroom, Raine decided to get dressed and go to the coffee shop on the corner to study. If they were also without power, she’d have to ride her bicycle over to campus and study there. No matter what, she had assignments to complete.
Fortunately, the flashlight filled the tiny bathroom with enough light to let her see to get dressed. Raine twisted her long, brunette hair into a messy bun, applied moisturizer to her face, and pulled a long off-white sweater over her black leggings before pulling on her warm boots.
Raine grabbed her coat from her closet. She disliked wearing one. It was one of the things about living in St. Louis she didn’t think she’d ever get used to. Februarys weren’t that cold in Florida. This was her second winter in the Midwest, and she was definitely missing home. She looked down at her hiking pack. Clipped to the side was one of her headlamps. She grabbed that too. After plucking her bookbag and cell phone from the bed, Raine headed downstairs to the bike rack in front of the building. She would normally drive, but she didn’t want to waste the gas. She didn’t have enough money to fill the tank again this week.
Raine slid the headlamp over her forehead and was unchaining her bike when Brice Timmons exited the building. He wore a blue jacket with Delmar Auto Parts Store embroidered over his left breast pocket and Parts Manager over the right. He pulled a matching ballcap over his balding head and approached her.
“Did you hear what happened?” Brice asked.
“No. What?”
“The news said a cyber-attack took out the power grid on the East Coast and set off a chain reaction that knocked out the lights to half the Midwest,” Brice said.
“What? Really? Does that mean that all of St. Louis is without power?" Raine asked as she pulled the lock from her tire.
“That’s what they’re saying. No one knows when they’ll get the power back on. Could be days.”
“Who did it? Was it terrorism?” she asked.
“They aren’t saying officially, but some of the talking heads say it’s Russian hackers. It looks just like when they took out the grid in Ukraine,” Brice said.
"Will they be able to stop them and get the power back on?"
"Oh yeah, they've known this was a possibility. Hell, they've hacked our grid before. They should be able to get it all back up and running pretty soon. They'll likely have to do a section of the grid at a time to avoid overloading the system, though."
Raine hoped that recovery from a cyber-attack was quicker than getting the power restored after the Florida hurricanes.
“Where are you headed so early?” Brice asked, pointing to Raine’s bike.
“I was heading to the coffee shop to study, but since the lights are likely out at the campus, I suppose classes will have to be canceled.”
“I’ll bet so,” Brice said, stepping onto the sidewalk and heading toward the parking lot. “I’d stay close to the radio. I imagine they’ll announce lots of closings today.”
“What about you?” Raine asked.
“I have to go check on the store and make sure the security alarm is still working. If the lights stay off long, I may be sleeping there to keep looters from breaking into the place,” he said.
Brice stopped before turning the corner of the building.
“It’s probably best to stay off the streets until the lights come back on. This neighborhood ain’t the safest—even when there’s not a blackout going on,” Brice said as he disappeared around the building.
“That’s the truth. I hope they get the grid back up before nightfall,” Raine said under her breath as she locked her bike back up and headed for the door.
As she held the flashlight out and ascended the stairs, Raine recalled watching the television footage of the looting and fires during the St. Louis riots. If that occurred, she could be trapped in her apartment for days while the authorities worked to regain order. She made a mental note to check the food stash under her bed. She ate most of her meals in her room while she studied and always kept a good stock of ramen noodles, peanut butter and
crackers, and instant oatmeal on hand. She couldn’t recall what other food she had stuffed in the back of her closet for hikes and rainy days. She hoped there was enough to last through the blackout. She didn’t have a lot cash of on her and doubted that any of the stores that were open would accept credit cards.
At the top of the stairs, Raine shivered, tugged on the bottom of her jacket, and walked down the narrow hall. As she passed Latrice Shaw’s door, she could hear dishes rattling in the kitchen. She wasn’t surprised Latrice was awake at that hour. Raine wondered if the older woman ever slept. She stopped outside Latrice’s door and considered knocking. She could really go for some of Latrice’s coffee cake, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk. She raised her hand to knock then slowly lowered it. Latrice would ask about her research project. Latrice always seemed to know when something was bothering Raine, much like her mother used to.
Raine thought of her mother back home in Panama City, Florida. She wondered if the lights were out there as well. She’d call her after she finished studying. There was no way Beatrice Caldwell was awake this early, blackout or not.
As she walked down the hall, Raine could hear a few of her neighbors stirring, no doubt experiencing the same frustration she’d felt at discovering their lights were out. A second after passing Tsutomu Hashimoto’s door, she heard the deadbolt turn and his door squeak open. Why Tom, as everyone in the building called him, hadn’t asked the maintenance man to oil that door was beyond Raine. It was so loud that it often woke her when Tom came and went at all hours of the night. He liked to smoke on the roof.
“Morning, Raine,” Tom said, flinging open the door and stepping into the hallway.
His long, black hair was pulled into a ponytail. Dressed in shorts and a tank-top, he looked like he was more prepared for a day at the beach than a blustery cold day in February. His apartment must have been much warmer than hers for him to be dressed that way.
“Good morning, Tom,” Raine replied but didn’t turn toward him. She proceeded to push her key into the lock and open her door.
“Something’s wrong with the lights. I know my mom paid the bill,” Tom said. His mom always paid the light bill. She paid all his bills.
Raine had reluctantly heard all about the issue from Tom’s older sister, who had come by to check on him after their mother was unable to reach him by phone. Tom, it seemed, had issues. Raine’s mother had asked her to move after discovering that a drug addict lived next door, but these days, where could she move to avoid them? Drug addiction was such an epidemic all over the United States that it crossed all economic, racial, and social bonds. Tom seemed nice enough. She just made extra sure her doors were locked at all times.
“Brice said he heard on the radio that there's a blackout and the lights are out to half the country,” Raine said with one foot inside her apartment.
“Whoa, that’s crazy. Any idea when they’ll get it fixed?” Tom asked, stroking his goatee.
“Nope. Sorry,” Raine said as she shut the door.
Raine wished she had the answer. She shivered as she turned the lock and headed back to her room. She’d have to study by lantern light and hoped the batteries would last long enough. With her luck, the university would make them have class despite the blackout.
Also by T. L. Payne
Gateway to Chaos Series
Seeking Safety
Seeking Refuge
Seeking Justice
Seeking Hope
From the Days of Want Series
Turbulent: Days of Want, Book One
Hunted: Days of Want, Book Two
Turmoil: Days of Want, Book Three
Uprising: Days of Want, Book Four
Upheaval: Days of Want, Book Five
Mayhem: Days of Want, Book Six
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About the Author
T. L. Payne is the author of the bestselling Days of Want and Gateway to Chaos series. T. L. lives and writes in the Mark Twain National Forest of region of Missouri. T. L. enjoys many outdoor activities including kayaking, rockhounding, metal detecting, and fishing the many rivers of the area.