Blue Death (Short Story)

2. Strong Like a Penguin

So, this is how the city looked like thousands of years ago.

I rambled in late nights before, but I never saw Alexandria this dark. Even when electricity went off, there was always a fading ray of light coming from somewhere. Sometimes it was the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina(*); lights never went out there. But not this night. This night, darkness reigns over the whole world, even the Bibliotheca has fallen to it.

All men of Alexandria are in the streets now in front of their buildings, gathered around fire. Some of them carry cudgels and metallic chains, staring at me when I pass by them. I can't see their eyes, but I can tell from their dark figures they are looking at me. "You should hurry back home, son," one of them advises me. I want to tell him it's a bad idea to hurry while you can't see what's beneath your feet. I'd stumbled twice before I reached him. As I don't feel like talking at the moment, I just nod.

I remember I read that penguins make long journeys between the ocean and their breeding grounds; journeys that take months on foot. I'm a penguin now, I tell myself, yet my journey is much shorter. As my legs are killing me, I realize I'm not as a strong as a penguin.

At last, I spot my block at the end of my line of sight. I'm the heart of the penguin, I remind myself. The March of Ali is going to end soon.

As I arrive, the scene at our block is not much different from what I saw in my journey. Our neighbors are gathered around a fire they made at the entrance. Each one of them is carrying a weapon; either wooden or metal. All except Dad who carries nothing. Perhaps, he has his pistol strapped to his waist.

"Ali?" Dad called out, his voice betrays his doubt. I'm sure the way I walk makes me look like a zombie.

"Thank God! He's fine!" said Mr. Fekry, our neighbor who lives in the second floor. I recognize other familiar faces, but I don't recall their names. I'm surprised they all know me. I'm received by pats on the shoulder and the head before Dad rescues me from this forest of tangling arms.

"Where were you?" Dad asks me. I know this tone; a mix of worry and rebuke.

"Corniche," I reply. "Near Commander Ibrahim Mosque(**)."

"And my car?" he resumes the interrogation.

"I left it there," I swallow. I'm not sure whether it's nervousness or thirst.

"Oh God!" one of our neighbors exclaims. His name is Sameh, I remember. "Is everything there down like here? The cars and the mobiles and everything?"

"Everything's dead, sir," I reply.

"This is unbelievable!" Mr. Fekry puts his hands on his waist, contemplating the cars that occupy the street. "What happened to these machines?"

"EMP." The thought suddenly crosses my mind. I know he won't understand what I'm talking about. Only a geek, like me, will get it. I read about it before in the Future File series(***).

"What did you just say?" Dad's eyes widened.

It's a waste of time to explain to him. Probably, he will ridicule my source of knowledge if I tell him where I brought that from.

"You mean an electromagnetic pulse, right?" Dad asks. I'm stunned now, nodding with my jaw dropped down.

"You know about it?" I ask.

"Of course, smarty." He smirks. "Did you forget that your father is a retired Navy Commodore? The question is how do you know about such stuff?"

I never thought that Navy guys would know about such stuff. But this is not the only thing that surprises me; it's the look in Dad's eyes. "An EMP," he muses, holding his chin. "We're in real danger if what you say is right, son."