It was a normal early October morning as Sandra Hopkins made her daily commute to her office on the eighty-first floor of the Corporate Tower in Kansas City. For the last six years Sandra had been the administrative assisstant for John Clement, one of the founding partners at the Law Offices of Clement, Hinkley, and Sanders. Mr. Clement was a good friend of Sandra's father, they had served in the Army together during Operation Desert Storm. Sandra had speculated that her father had pulled in a favor to get her that job right out of college, although he swears that he didn't.
When she arrived Sandra started her normal daily routine. First she would print out Mr. Clement's daily schedule, second she used a system of highlighting the times with orange being top priority, yellow second priority, blue is third priority and pink could be moved or cancelled if more time was needed on another matter. Ater that was completed and laid on Mr. Clement's desk, it was time to make coffee and order in breakfast which was either muffins, bagels, or doughnuts except on Fridays when the office was treated to a catered breakfast provided by one of a few local restaurants in town that the firm had a contract with to cater breakfast or lunch once a month in return for legal sevices given by the firm.
Promptly at 9:00 am Mr. Clement walked through the doors with his briefcase in hand as he did every morning. "Good morning Sandra, how was you weekend?" "Good morning Mr.Clement, I had a great weekend. How was yours?" "Exceptional my dear, Thank you." For six years it was the same greeting every morning only altered a bit to accomodate for weekends and holidays. Sandra knew she had an excellent position at the firm, however, she wished at times it was not so monotonous. She took her seat behind her desk and swiveled the chair to take in the gorgeous view of the city, the office was on the top floor of the tallest building in the city and offered a bird's eye view of the entire skyline and all the way to the suburbs.
Sighing deeply she turned the chair back to face the desk and was startled by Mr. Clement standing in front of her desk smiling. "Is something the matter Sandra?" "No sir just admiring this beautiful view as I do every day." She tried not to sound bored but was afraid she had failed. "What can I help you with Mr. Clement?" "I was just needing a contact number for Mr. And Mrs. Binetelli." After a few clicks of her mouse she wrote down the number and handed it to Mr. Clement. "Here you are sir, would you like for me to get them on the line and transfer it to your office?" "That would be great Sandra, thank you."
As the day progressed Sandra carried on with her usual routine, stopping once in a while to look at the clock on the wall across the room. At 4:05 pm she turned and looked out the window to give her eyes a rest from the computer screen. Far off in the distnce she thought she saw a bright flash. Lightning, great a storm is coming for the drive home, she thought to herself.
As she turned around to finish her work so she could leave a bit early in hopes of beating the storm, she noticed her computer monitor was black. She pushed the power button and nothing happened. She noticed the flourescent light in the office was out as well. Just then Mr. Clement called out from his office, "Sandra did we lose power?" "I think so Mr. Clement, my computer and lights just went out." She said looking down at her cell phone. "Mr Clement, is your cell phone working? Mine isn't turning on." Walking out of his office with his cell in his hand he shook his head. "No Sandra. It won't come on. It was on the charger so I know it has battery."
The two stepped out into the hallway and saw the rest of the workers and partners in the firm looking confused at their phones and computers. Flipping light switches off then back on. "What is going on?" One of the partners asked. Sandra turned to Mr. Clement and told him about the bright flash of lightning she saw in the distance just before her computer and lights went out. Listening in disbelief he decided to walk to the parking garage and see if his SUV had power. Sandra decided to go with him as well as a few others. She noticed that the parking garage looked like a car lot, every car no older than 3 years with a fresh wash and wax on them. Sandra thought the worst when she noticed this. This is great, She thought. If that flash wasn't lightning but an EMP I am going to be stuck here. We are all going to be stuck here, in the city. When the people in this city run out of food They will demolish every building in the city rummaging for food and drugs.
One by one they all tried to start their cars with no luck. Not one car would turn over. Sandra could see the panic starting to show in their eyes. She closed her car door and opened the trunk, thanking God now that she didn't get the automatic locks or the keypad entry on her car like some of her coworkers did, those people could not even unlock their cars to retrieve some personal items.
From the trunk Sandra removed a backpack and a pair of hiking boots. Everyone stared at her like she had two heads. "Who carries a bag and hiking boots around with them?" Sandra heard someone whisper but couldn't make out whose voice it was. They all made their way back to their office, and told those who had not went with them the news. Sandra went into her office which had a private bathroom and she changed from her business attire into a sports bra, T-shirt, and jeans that she had in the backpack. Mr. Clement walked into the office as she was pulling the second hiking boot on. "Sandra, what are you doing? It will be dark in a couple of hours and you cannot walk home before it gets dark." "Mr. Clement, I have twon young children at home with their grandmother who are probabaly scared to death. I am going home to them tonight." "I understand your concern, but you need to stop and think about the consequences. What if you don't make it home Sandra? What if something despicable happens? You know how evil and malicious people can be. For God's sake stop and breathe and think. I will go with you if you wait for morning." Mr. Clement, by morning every person in the city will realize that the entire grid is down and will be looting and rioting, raping and killing. If you want to leave we should leave now!" "Okay, just give me a few minutes to discuss the options with everyone please. Then I will change and go with you."
Mr. Clement went into the lobby and addressed the others and explained to them the situation and that he and Sandra were going to start walking for their homes. Coincidentally they lived in the same neighborhood just opposite ends, Sandra and Josh lived in a smaller house on the far end of the neighborhood and Mr. And Mrs. Clement lived in a bigger more luxurious house on the closre side of the neighborhood. Some of the employees opted to leave as well, but some of them and some partners decided to stay the night to see if the power comes back on. Also some of the partners and their assisstants were a little too close and probably wanted to take advantage of the extra time with each other to fool around.
It was about 5:00 pm when Sandra and Mr. Clement left the office. They were both in pretty good shape so they were making good time and agreed they should be getting home in roughly four hours. while walking the two started talking, Sandra was shocked to find out that John as he insisted she call him, had a get home bag in his office. She never thought he was that type of person, however, he was in the Army with her dad and it was him who instilled that into her head since she started having sleepovers at friend's houses.
As they reached the halfway point of their trek, the sun was completely down and the light was almost gone. They both noticed the darker the skies got the more people started coming out into the streets. Most were just curious as to what was going on, others were barbecuing to use the meat from their refrigerators before it got too warm and spoiled, And of course there were those who were floating from street to street acting like curious and concerned citizens getting the occasional free hot dog or hamburger as more people lit their barbecues to cook dinner.occasionally John would grunt and point out to Sandra groups peering over fences and into windows scouting out the easiest and best targets. "Window shopping." John said with a grin.
When they reached the entrance to John's street he asked, "are you sure you'll be okay alone?" Sandra replied,"Yes it's only a few more blocks. But if you and your wife need anything I live in Sheffield Rd. The second house on the left with blue door and shutters." "We will and the same goes for you, Josh, and the kids. You be careful Sandra."
