When the World fell asleep.

Chapter Eight....

Chapter Eight.......

Dublin,Ireland.

29th of December 2012

10:06 AM

Maria sat staring at her daughter willing her to wake up.She was terrified that she would never hear her daughters voice again,that she'd never see her smile again.Maria wanted to kill Gary for dragging her into that building but then she wanted to hug him for getting her out.

She was so confused that every thought she had was in direct contrast to the one before.She let out a sigh and stretched,her limbs were sore from sitting still for so long.

Gary hung back at the sittingroom door staring at Lisa the longer she ramained unconcious the more convinced he was that she wasn't going to wake up.

"She'll wake up,Gary!" Eric reassured as he squeezed past him,"She's a strong woman!"

"Yea...She is." he swallowed the lump in his throat and turned away.He couldn't watch her anymore it was too hard and he needed to focus on finding some food.There was five of them now and they were running out of food fast.They still had most of the Christmas dinner food but the turkey and ham hadn't been in the fridge for  four days and he didn't want to risk anyone getting sick.

He looked through the presses one last time,there were a couple of cans of beans and a pan of kind of fresh bread.That wasn't going to get them far.

"We got enough food to keep us going?" Michael asked as he walked into kitchen and filled himself a glass of water from the tap that thankfully didn't run off electricity.

"No.....We need to find some.Maybe we could break into the Tescos down the road see what we can find." Gary suggested.

"I guess but by the looks of town people have already been looting.Dunno what we'll find." Michael shrugged,his body languaged screamed hopeless but he kept a smile in place grateful that these strangers had taken him in.

"We have to try!" Gary insisted making a list of what they needed most.He wasn't sure himself weather or not they'd find any of this stuff but he still had to do something except stand around and feel helpless.

New York,America.

28th December 2012

11:22 PM

Craig sat across the table staring at their new arrival Jack letting out a frustrated sigh.

"We should stick together there's safety in numbers." James reasoned from his spot by the door.Craig wasn't so sure,his apartment was only a small three bedroom and they already had four living here another two might just put too much of a strain on them.

"I swear we won't be any trouble." Jack pleaded he looked defeated and scared but there was something about him that Craig didn't trust.The man's mere pressence seem to set him on edge and he didn't like it.Now was hardly the time for taking risks."Please...My daughter is scared.....I'm scared!"

James put a steady hand on Craig's shoulder trying to will him into letting the man and his daughter stay,"Craig we can't turn them away!"

Craig gave a tight nod and turned to face his mentor before turning back to Jack.

"It will be tight squeeze but you and Sasha can have the masterbedroom.I'll give you in sleeping bags and extra pillows.James you stay in the guest bedroom for now and Andy can stay with Cara in my bedroom while I sleep on the couch."

The other two men just nodded in agreement.

"Ok now that's done with...Anyone got a clue on what the hell is going on?" James piped in.Craig stood up and retrieved his phone,laptop and camping radio.He tossed them all on the table before speaking.

"The phone and laptop are completely dead.The electricity as you can tell is out and probably not coming back on..." he gestured around to the candles that were keeping the kitchen dimly lit."So I have no idea if the TV is picking up any signals...I tried my iPod and MP3 player both dead but this radio....." he picks it up and looks at it.

Carefully examining the dials and old fashioned screen,it was dusty and hadn't been used in years but Craig had a funny feeling that it might work because it wasn't run by electricity or battery.

"Could work....I figure that what ever has caused this has been aimed at electrical items.But this radio is a wind up,you turn the handle till it comes to life.Sooo if I'm right and there's any radio waves out there we might be able to pick them up!"

James looked at the radio in Craig's hands praying that he was right.They needed to figure out what was going and if it was permenant.

"Lets try it then." Jack whispered.Craig just nodded and began carefully turning the handle slowly going faster and faster,his heart pounding faster with every turn,his hopes rising and finally....The radio sputtered to life.The three men's hope soared but we quickly dashed when they realised all that was coming through was white noise.

"But atleast now we know that it's affecting only electrical items!" Craig sighed turning it off and letting the radio drop to the table.

"Yea but that doesn't explain why Cara's parents dropped dead!" James hissed, he stabbed his fingers into his temples in an attempt to ward off his growing headache."Or how it started?!"

Jack squirmed uncomfortably in his seat a strange look crossing his eyes, the look was so brief that Craig almost missed it.Jack knew something and Craig was determined to get it out of him.

"Well there's nothing we can do tonight...Everyone get some sleep we'll go out in the morning in search of some more food but I think for now we're better off staying here." Craig said.

"Yea......Every where is going to be over run with scared people, we're better off staying in small groups until we figure out what's going on." Jack whispered, he sounded defeated and unsure but there was a hiden meaning behind his words. A secret he was hiding.

James nodded and Craig headed out to the hall to gather the nessecary blankets and pillows so that they could settle in for the night.

Dublin,Ireland.

29th of December 2012.

3:30PM

Michael stood in the empty aisles of the dark supermarket looking around.They had managed to salavage a trolly full of tinned goods and bottled water but anything of value had been stripped from the once vibrant store.

He laughed at how stupid it was to rob a TV in world without electricity. Gary came barreling down the aisle with his arms full of toilet roll, he threw them into the trolly and took off again.

Although Gary was certain that there were no police or any disciplinary action but it did nothing to quell the nerves bubbling in his gut. He found the medicine and first aid equipment they needed for Lisa and returned to Michael.

"Lets get out of here" Gary hissed. He didn't want to hang around any longer than absolutely nessecary.

Michael just nodded and followed the older man out, they remained silent and lost in their own thoughts as the made their way back to the house through the streets of their broken city. Michael couldn't help but think how easy it was to tear civiliastion down.

"What do you think caused this?" he remarked as they stopped outside the house and took in the burnt cars and broken looking houses. "Like this couldn't possibly have been an accident!"

Gary just shrugged and looked at his new friend,"Why does it matter? It's done now we need to adapt and move on..."

"No we need to fix it....We need to figure out a way back." he shook his head refusing to accept that his world was changed permenantly.

Gary just scoffed at the younger mans ignorance, it was clear the world couldn't recover from this. Even if they figured out a way to fix it, people's lives would remain changed forever.

They carefully pulled the heavey trolly into the house. Gary could hear Eric and Maria mumbling in the sittingroom. He motioned for Michael to bring the trolly into the kitchen.

Gary's heart dropped into his stomach as he reached out to the sittingroom door, he could hear Maria sobbing. He knew that whatever happened after he opened this door he would have to deal with it and move on .But he was woefully unprepared when he saw what was waiting for him.