Rise of Chaos (2/4)
Ron took the lead. Chuck's eye drifted to the knife on the other man's belt. Chuck had not noticed it when he first met the hulking man; usually, that was the kind of thing he would notice pretty quickly in people he saw for the first time. But what surprised Chuck the most was that Ron didn't have a firearm... Or maybe he did in his vehicle... These days, it was best to remain cautious. Darkness often awakened the darkest spirits.
The gamekeeper approached the entrance. The place seemed empty and silent.
"It'll be alright, honey, we're almost there!" murmured Julia to her husband's limp body.
Ron peered through the shop window. Chuck, out of breath, expressed his interest with a nod.
"There seems to be an oil lamp on the counter," Ron informed him. "I don't see anyone yet. Let's go take a look."
He pushed the door open delicately and slipped into the store's gloom. Chuck and Julia trailed after him, propping up the wounded man. Inside, a small oil lamp cast its flickering light upon the counter. A figure emerged from the shadows, hastening forward. A woman of advanced years, moving carefully through the gloom.
"Can I help you?" inquired the grocer, her words lacking all warmth.
"We have a badly injured man with us," Chuck snapped. "Do you have a phone?"
"There's no electricity, nothing's working. I guess there's an outage," she replied mechanically.
Two others emerged from the darkness. A woman with delicate features and blonde hair stepped forth, flanking the grocer. She wore a white dress, with a light jacket draped over her shoulders. A small girl clung to her side, her brilliant eyes and raven locks drawing Chuck's attention. Both seemed terrified, rooted to the spot, their speech deserting them.
"It's not just an ordinary power outage," Ron interjected. "It's everywhere… We were driving and all the cars just stopped, along with the streetlights..."
"Lord…" the grocer fretted. "But what's happening?"
"If you don't mind, we'll explain later… Right now, we have a problem: my friend Bryan is losing blood rapidly," Chuck said, deftly lifting the bandages to assess the state of the head wound. "We have to act fast! Let's lay him on the ground."
"Wait... I have something to cover the floor," the saleswoman said, her voice shaking.
She dashed off, returning with a blanket, which she spread on the floor. Chuck set the wounded man down at the foot of a nearby shelving unit, adjacent to the counter.
"Do you have a first aid kit?" he inquired.
"I… I do believe so," she answered, yet she didn't move, transfixed by the sight of Bryan's wound. Julia bent over him, caressing his face, tears streaming once more down her cheeks.
"My goodness… What happened to him?" muttered the grocer.
"He was hit by a truck, going at full speed," Ron interjected, still in disbelief. "The damn vehicle overturned onto other cars and exploded... it was hell on earth! We were the only ones to walk out of there…"
The woman was horrified. She stood there dazed, lost. Chuck averted his gaze for a moment as he saw the dreadful scene again. The poor man trying to save his wife, perishing with her in a fiery embrace... And the burned pregnant woman, a gruesome sight. He shook himself and returned his attention to Bryan, who was looking worse by the moment.
Suddenly, the door burst open. An elder had arrived, sporting a battered brown hat and a lengthy coat, partially covering a mud-soiled white shirt. He resembled a distinguished farmer, a cowboy emerging straight from his ranch after a long day under harsh weather.
"This is incomprehensible!" he bellowed, arms thrown up in frustration. "My vehicle refuses to start! I've inspected the engine and everything appears to be in order!"
"It's the same everywhere," Ron reflected somberly. "Nothing is working!"
Chuck struggled to stem bleeding from Bryan's wound, while the grocer looked on, apparently paralyzed. He glanced up at her intensely.
"The first aid kit! Hurry up!"
"Uh, yes, yes, let me find it!" she stammered.
She dashed behind the counter and rifled through an old cupboard. Within moments, she returned, proffering a small crimson valise to Chuck.
"Will this do?" she inquired.
The truck driver nodded. As he bent down to tend to Bryan, the sound of another door opening came from far at the back of the store. Two men emerged out of the dark.
"Definitely…" Chuck thought to himself.
One of the men was clad in an apron, whilst the other wielded an antiquated oil lamp to guide his way.
"The generator's dead, I have never seen that in all my days!" bemoaned the man, who appeared to be the owner of the store. He addressed the three women, seemingly unaware of the newly arrived strangers. "We've had all manner of outages before, but never that."
"Everything appears to have gone out all at once," the second man chimed in. Then his eyes fixed on the three strangers. "Who might you be?"
"We from Road 75, not far from here," replied Ron. "This is no ordinary power outage. It's something more substantial. Something anomalous."
"I have seen no lights coming from the city," interjected the aged farmer. "What the hell is happening?"
The little girl suddenly got up and sauntered towards the injured man, her curiosity piqued. She peered at Bryan's face, as pallid as freshly fallen snow.
"Eva, come here!" her mother exclaimed.
"Mommy, what's wrong with him? Why is he drenched in blood?" inquired the child.
"Don't look, sweetheart. The man is hurt, that's all," responded her mother.
She approached and averted her daughter's gaze. Chuck remained preoccupied with his medical kit. Bryan's sweat-drenched face was deadly pale, and he remained deeply unconscious.
"I think I have managed to stop the bleeding," announced Chuck. "For now, at least."
Julia expressed her gratitude briefly, momentarily assuaged. But the situation remained dire. There was no way to call for help.
"We need a doctor, or he won't make it," Chuck spoke without conviction, and Julia sensed it. She glanced down at her husband, her expression pained.
At the sudden sound of an approaching engine, they turned as one.