by Mark Gordon
Chapter 4
The Police Station
Sally walked the deserted streets, and noticed the unusual way the cars had been parked. They were all over the place, but there hadn’t been any accidents. It was as if the drivers had simply parked in any available spot and walked away. Again, this made her wonder if she had missed some large-scale event. Could drivers have been told to leave their cars behind and go to a safe place? Sally shuddered. She was at a loss, had no one to turn to, and no idea what to do next. She was alone and she was terrified. She sat in the gutter, and put her head in her hands and wept like a lost child.
After a few minutes her sobs subsided and she felt a little better - as if she had flushed something from her system. She felt capable of action now, and no matter what was going on she knew that she needed to keep calm and look after herself. She needed to find someone to help her. She had to be cautious, though. If the city had suffered some sort of major catastrophe, she would be vulnerable on her own. She needed to find someone in authority. The local police station was only two blocks from where she was standing. She started walking.
Passing by the empty shops and cafes was an experience that would haunt Sally as long as she lived. The cafes she had eaten in, the bookshops she had browsed, and the clothing stores where she bought items for her bohemian look, were either closed or empty. Then the was the bizarre silence. In Newtown the noise never really stopped. Now she wondered if it would ever start again. She paused. What about the silence, though? Could there be a clue there somewhere? She listened with a more analytical ear. What could she hear? Nothing. No. That wasn’t true. There were sounds. In movies they called it ambient noise. Sally learned about that while making a short film in art classes at high school years ago. Ambient noise was background noise that’s always there but you don’t notice. Now, though, that was all she could hear. Sally strained and listened. A slight breeze blew through the streets. She heard that clearly. What else? Now and then a piece of litter blew past, scraping along the concrete footpath. What else? The dogs! Not as insistent as before but still an occasional bark in the background. What else? Nothing. Sally was frustrated. There must be something! There it was! Birdsong! Somewhere nearby a bird was chirping. So there were no people, but there were birds and dogs. Was that helpful to know? Sally had no idea, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to notice these things. It was clear too, as she walked along, that the power was out almost everywhere. There was no way to know if it had gone off completely, or some parts of the grid had just shut down automatically because nobody was operating the power stations, but it was clear that if things didn’t change, this would soon be a city without electricity.
Sally arrived at the police station, and knew immediately that the trip had been a waste of time. The doors, which were usually open twenty-four hours a day, were closed. She was surprised by how let down she felt. In the back of her mind she had been hoping that all would be revealed once she found the authorities, but they seemed to have vanished along with everybody else. Just to make sure though, she mounted the five or six steps to the front of the building and pushed on the doors. They swung open. She peered into the gloom.
After her eyes had adjusted she stepped inside the dark building. Daylight threw filtered light into the foyer and empty reception desk. She walked up to it and peered over. “Hello?” It seemed as if everyone had just walked out of the place. Half filled coffee cups, unfinished paperwork and even a mobile phone sat on the work area of the desk. 'Who leaves their phone lying around like that?' she thought. No one that she knew. Behind the desk a door led to more offices. She went through.
“Hello?”
No response.
Louder this time.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
The silence inside the building was even more profound than the nothingness outside. What should she do? Her fear was creeping up on her now, like a tiger stalking a deer. She was struggling to maintain her self-control. 'This is what people feel like just before they go mad', she thought to herself. If she had someone else with her she knew she would be coping much better, but on her own the loneliness and fear were so crushing that she almost turned and went home. She knew in her heart that this would be the easiest option - go home, lock the door, climb into bed and wait. But she couldn’t. That was too submissive. She needed to exercise some semblance of control to stay sane, and by checking further inside the building, she figured she might get some of that control back.