The Unfolding Blackout (Book 1): A Girl Betrayed

by Aborn, A. L.

  A Girl Betrayed

  The Unfolding Blackout: Book 1

  By A.L. Aborn

  https://angryeaglepublishing.com

  Copyright © 2020 by A.L. Aborn All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2019

  ISBN: 978-1732621275

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No techniques are recommended without proper instruction or safety measures and training. The author nor publisher assumes no liability for any action presumed from this book.

  Cover Design: A.L. Aborn

  Editorial and formatting provided through Angry Eagle Publishing.

  https://angryeaglepublishing.com

  Dedication

  Wow. The fact that I am even writing this is incredible! Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey of completing my first book. My family, friends, and coworkers have been outstanding in rooting me on along the way.

  Thank you to my parents, Jim and Laurie, for nurturing my love of the written word from the womb (literally).

  To Ashley, my best friend of so many years, thank you for your encouragement along the way, even though you stopped discussing plot lines with me so the ending would be a surprise.

  Thank you, Jake, for brainstorming with me and creating the spark behind so many plot twists.

  To Nancy, my role model in writing and the one to give me the swift kick in the rear that I needed to complete this project, I will be forever grateful.

  And finally, thank you DJ Cooper from Angry Eagle Publishing for taking a chance on me and my dream.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven:

  Chapter Eight:

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter One

  The Power Outage

  What in the fuck is going on?

  I’m sitting here, home alone, and the power goes out. My power never goes out. I bought my house in a small town in New Hampshire almost ten years ago and I’ve literally never lost my power. Until now. It must have gone out sometime during the late night or early morning. My phone is still at one hundred percent battery, so it can’t have been out for long. No biggie, I’ll just find something else to do until it comes back on.

  It’s January, so it’s cold outside. There’s about a foot of snow on the ground with a hard ice shell that my dog, Meekah, hates to walk over. Her paws break through half the time and when they do, the snow is a little too deep for her to squat without sitting in the snow.

  It’s kind of ironic that the power has finally gone out when I’m single. My boyfriend of a few years and I just broke up last week. My eyes are still puffy from crying myself to sleep. I want to call him, to see if he has power at his mom’s house, but I resist. I wish he was here to cuddle up with in bed.

  Does my heat still work if the power is out? Jason would know something like that. Hold on, I’ll Google it. Oh yeah, no power equals no internet. Wait, I can use my data. Will that still work? I’ll try it. Yes! It works!

  Well, that was kind of confusing. Some people say yes, some people say no, forced hot water heating will not work without power. Ugh. Well, it’s a balmy thirty-three degrees outside, my thermostat says it’s sixty-two in here. I’ll just wait to see what happens in a few hours.

  I have always considered myself to be so independent and knowledgeable. Now my power goes out and I’m rendered down to a useless child. My lack of knowledge disgusts me. What will I do in a few hours if the heat doesn’t work? Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down. The power will be back on anytime now. I’m not going to panic over nothing.

  I wonder if everyone else has lost power. I better check Facebook. Wow, the power seems to be out everywhere in New Hampshire. We did get some freezing rain overnight, so I guess that can account for it. I wonder what is different about this storm, that I would lose power now, after all the other storms this house has weathered.

  Weird. My mom lost power too, she’s posted something online. She lives in Virginia. What a coincidence that we would lose power on the same day.

  It’s seven am, too early to check with my other family members. My dad lives about twenty miles from me, but all my siblings live farther away. A brother in Maine, a brother in Arkansas, a brother in Montana, and a sister in Nevada. I’ll call them later. For now, I need coffee. Does Dunkin Donuts have a generator? It’s a quick three-minute drive, I think I’ll go check.

  Grabbing Meekah’s leash, we head out the door and along the stone path that leads to my small, white SUV. The freezing rain has left a glass-like shell over every surface. Looking around, I survey the few houses around me. Technically, I live ‘in town’ but I’m right next to the Contoocook river and few houses surround mine. Smoke escapes the chimneys of the houses that I can see; at least someone has heat.

  Once I’m settled in the car, Meekah sitting in the back seat, I look back at my house. No smoke from the chimney. Not a good sign. I hope the power comes back on soon.

  Driving up to the center of town, there are other cars out on the road. A few people are out on the sidewalks; it feels like a normal Saturday morning. There it is! Dunkin’ Donuts! Relief spreads through me to see people in the parking lot. Parking, I head in.

  This particular coffee house is attached to a small gas station. They must have a generator; lights are on and shining through the windows like a beacon. People are laughing and talking. There’s nothing like a mass power outage or natural disaster to bring small town people together.

  At the counter, I order a coffee and a bagel. “Sorry,” the woman at the counter tells me, “The generator only powers some of the equipment. The refrigerators are down, no cream and no cream cheese. So, you can get a black coffee with sugar. Okay?”

  She says it with a bored voice, she’s obviously had to say this multiple times this morning.

  “Okay,” I reply. What other choice do I have?

  As I walk back out to the car, I try to eavesdrop on the people I pass by. I hear only snippets: no one has power, cell phones still work on data, and hopefully the power comes back on soon. During the short ride home, I think about my best friend, Ally, and her fiancé, Brad. Brad is not quite a doomsday prepper, but it is one of his favorite things to talk about. I bet he’s talking about it right now. Smiling, I pull into my driveway and Meekah and I go in.

  Opening the fridge, the darkness surprises me. Oh yeah, no power. I put my hands around the jug of milk: still cool. I add some milk to the coffee I bought. Ahh, much better. Sipping my coffee, I stare out the window and watch the river flow by. The water is low; the rocks that border the slow-moving water drip with ice. Suddenly, I realize that it’s probably colder outside than it is in my fridge. I should move everything out into the snow. Opening the fridge, I peruse the pitiful group of ingredients. Selecting the few that aren’t expired, I quickly place them into the snow by the steps to my porch. Returning to the freezer, I do the same.

  Turning on the water in the kitchen sink, I decide to
wash up my dishes from the night before. No water comes out. Oh yeah, no power. I keep forgetting. It seems weird suddenly to realize how dependent I am on electricity. I hope it comes back on soon.

  Resigning myself to a boring morning with no electricity, I curl up next to Meekah on the couch with the book I am currently reading. It’s a fantasy novel with magic in another world: my favorite.

  ***

  The first thing I become aware of is my backache. Sitting up, my book falls off my lap and onto the floor. Apparently, I fell asleep on the couch. No wonder my back hurts. I look around and see my phone on the coffee table next to my cold coffee. Damn it. No way to warm it up. What a waste. My phone says its ten o’clock. I grab the remote and try to turn the television on; still no power.

  I’ll check Facebook again. My entire feed is about the power outage. It seems like the power is out everywhere, like, all over the country. How is that possible? What does that mean? I need to call my mom. Dialing her number, I hear a message explaining that her number is out of service. My stomach starts to hurt. Why can’t I talk to my mom? Wait, wait. Don’t panic. Think about this rationally. There is no power, maybe that means the cell phone towers down in Virginia are out. She posted something this morning, but she has lost power since then. She was okay just a few hours ago, she’s okay.

  I silently beat myself up for not calling her before my nap, feeling like a terrible daughter.

  Needing to speak to one of my parents, I dial my dad’s cell phone number and get the same message as when I called my mom. Wait, I seem to remember something about landlines. My dad still has one; in fact, he’s the only person I know that still has one. Don’t they still work when the power is out? Quickly, I dial my dad’s house phone. He picks up on the second ring. Relief floods through me at the sound of his voice. “Dad? Are you okay? Do you have power?” The words escape me in a rush.

  “Yeah hunny, we’re fine. No power but that’s no big deal up here in the woods.” He sounds calm, this is nothing to panic over. “Do you have power?” He asks me. My father doesn’t have Facebook and without power, he probably doesn’t realize the magnitude of the power outage. Just the sound of his voice starts to soothe my fraying nerves. I try to capture the feeling, but it slips away.

  “No, Dad. I don’t have power. No one has power. No one in the whole country has power.” I feel hysteria creeping up my chest to hear the words come out of my mouth.

  There’s silence on the other end of the phone line. “Are you sure?” He asks calmly.

  “Yes, I’m sure! I saw it on Facebook!” I exclaim.

  “You can’t believe everything you read online.”

  “Dad! No one has power and I can’t get through to Mom. What does this mean?”

  Even though I’m thirty-three years old, I still believe that my parents know everything. I want him to reassure me that everything is okay. This is a fluke, a hoax- everything is okay. “Hunny,” my dad’s voice interrupts my panic, “I’m sure that your Mom is okay. Why don’t you come up to our house? The woodstove is cranking, it’s nice and warm. Come ride this out with us. Bring Meekah.”

  This appeals to me. Leave my house with no heat and practically no food? It’s a no brainer. But not yet, I’m not ready. “Maybe tomorrow, Dad. The power is bound to come back on before then. But if it doesn’t, we’ll come stay with you tomorrow. Sound good?”

  “Yeah hunny. That sounds good.”

  “Wait, Dad. My cell phone is going to die sometime today, I have no way to charge it if the power doesn’t come back on. So, if the power is still out tomorrow, I’ll just come up. Okay?”

  “Turn your phone off and save your power. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Those words reassure me, that I will either have power or be with my dad the next day.

  “I love you, Dad.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Tell Brandy I love her too.”

  “I will. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Brandy is my stepmom. Her and my dad have been together since I was ten. I know that a lot of people hate their stepparents, but I hit the lottery with Brandy.

  Okay. What should I do now? Check the thermostat. I walk across the living room and look at the dial hanging on the wall next to the fifty-inch TV. It says it’s fifty-eight degrees. So, if the lack of smoke wasn’t enough of a clue, I think it’s safe to say that my heat does not work without power. Fuck.

  I pull up Facebook again. Apparently, this is a doomsday prepper’s wet dream. More of my friends are into prepping than I ever suspected. There are memes making fun of the power outage and preppers, but there are far more making fun of people who always denied that something like this could happen.

  Exactly what is something like this? What are the odds that power would go down everywhere at once? And what kind of person am I that I am panicking after only a few hours? Am I smart to laugh at it? Or would it be smarter to act now… just in case. Just in case of what?

  Power out everywhere. Some cell phone towers are down. What could cause this? I bet Brad would know. I’ll call Ally. If I have service, she probably will too. It’s worth a try.

  Ally and I have been best friends since we were five. We’ve been through everything together. She’s one of those friends that knows so much about you that no words are necessary. All it takes is a look from me and she knows how I’m feeling. I dial her number. She answers right away. “Oh my God, I’m so glad you called,” she says. She whispers the next words into the phone, “Brad’s having a field day with this. He says it’s finally happening. We’re under attack or something.” She ends the sentence with a nervous giggle.

  “Well, I’m glad someone finds this amusing.” I respond.

  “Why don’t you come over? We can play cards, have a few glasses of wine?” I consider this.

  “Maybe later,” I say.

  “Okay, we-,”

  Abruptly, the line goes dead in the middle of her sentence. I look at my phone. It’s still on, at seventy-one percent battery. But the little lines that indicate service are empty. Huh. So. It appears that my cell phone tower is out now, too. Great.

  Sitting on the couch, I absently pat Meekah.

  As usual, when I start to panic, I try to rationally consider my options. I have several. One, I could go to my Dad’s house now, instead of waiting for tomorrow. He has heat and lives pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Isn’t that a positive thing if something really is happening? Two, I could go to Ally’s house. They have a generator, a pellet stove, and a wood stove. Plenty of heat. There’s also wine. Not to mention, Brad, who probably has several possible explanations for what is going on. Like my dad, they live off the beaten path and have guns. Brad is an avid hunter, pretty much the most valuable person I know if something really is happening. Three, I can stay here. I have warm clothes, a grill, and enough food to last me for a day or two. If nothing is going on, the power will come back on and life will continue as normal. If something is going on, I doubt that this small town in New Hampshire is the number one target of whoever is theoretically causing this mass power outage. I’ll be fine until tomorrow, at least.

  In the back of my mind, a stubborn voice whispers to me. If I leave, then this is real. I’m admitting something could be or is happening. So, I’m not leaving. I’m not letting a power outage that has only lasted a few hours scare me out of my own house. I’m going for option number three, at least, for now.

  Chapter Two

  Reality Sets In

  Okay, so I have decided to stay in my house until tomorrow. Now what should I do?

  I look around the living room, realizing that I have no idea what to do. My heartbeat starts to accelerate.

  Needing to stay busy, I try to focus on what is most important. First, light. If the power stays out, I will need candles and flashlights. Oh, and batteries! I set to work gathering all the candles, flashlights and batteries in the house. I place them all onto the kitchen table. Okay, now warmth. It’s going to get cold overnigh
t. Time to gather all my warm, winter clothing. I ransack all the closets in the house for blankets and warm clothes and make a huge pile in the living room.

  What about tomorrow? If there is still no power, I will have to leave. I try to resign myself to this. But, what do I have here? Try to think logically about this. Without power, I have nothing. Not enough to last more than a few days at most. Better to leave before this gets out of control.

  Closing my eyes, I do a mental scan of everything in the house. If I leave, I will need to pack accordingly. When my boyfriend and I broke up, he only took the bare minimum of his share of things. I think all his camping and hiking gear is still in the attic. As an avid outdoorsman, he should have plenty of practical gear hanging around. Again, I think that he would be handy to have around right now.

  I climb up the old crooked stairs to the second floor. Standing below the attic hatch, I look up at the wooden handle on the ceiling. Jumping awkwardly in the narrow hallway, I snag it on the first try. Pulling down the ladder, I am showered with dust, bits of pink insulation, and what I suspect to be mouse shit. My stomach clenches as I dry heave at the thought of shit in my hair. Determinedly brushing myself off, I swallow my disgust and keep going.

  Once the ladder is fully extended, I carefully climb up into the dark, cold attic. I can’t get to the cord to turn on the light because all my recently packed Christmas decorations are in the mouth of the attic and in my way. I blindly push them to the side and reach for the cord. The light doesn’t turn on. Duh. No power. I am seriously frustrated that I can’t wrap my head around this concept.

  Backing out of the attic, I cling to the handholds and shuffle down the ladder. Stomping down the stairs to my pile of flashlights on the table, I grab one and head back up to the attic. Waving the flashlight around, I spy the top of my ex’s frame pack. It’s a big backpack with a frame that holds everything one would need for an overnight hiking trip. At least, I think it does.