The Sleep Part I: The Fan & The Things That Hit It

Chapter 2: Oh Brother

I run. 

I jog.

I walk briskly.

I walk slowly.

I spew in the bushes.

I thought that in disaster situations, adrenaline is supposed to fuel your body. In movies, it’s only the really fat guys who slow down and get eaten by zombies. Everyone else miraculously runs and runs and runs. Even in heels… Especially in heels. 

My adrenaline got me two blocks from school. Pathetic. 

It’s funny, I thought it would be more chaotic outside, but it’s really quiet. A few cars are stalled in the streets and a few people are collapsed on the sidewalks, but that’s about it. No fires, no sirens… it’s all very calm. But I guess I shouldn’t expect that much, this isn’t exactly downtown New York. This is mid-afternoon in the boring burbs of Buffalo.

I take a right down a narrow street and notice my old babysitter. He’s passed out on his front lawn, next to his shiny red e-kick-scooter … Darcy’s school isn’t that far away but it would be a lot quicker if I could scoot there.

Does taking a scooter from someone you know, in a disaster situation, count as looting? Or is it showing initiative?

What if I leave a note? Looters don’t leave notes.

Hi there, It’s Evie Ballentrae (you used to babysit me).

Not sure if you’re aware, but there’s a bit of a situation going on here, and, well, you’re asleep. So I’ve borrowed your scooter to pick up Darcy. Promise to return it soon and take good care of it.

E.V.

I tuck the note under his shirt and my phone vibrates in my pocket, it’s my cousin Zara…

E.V - Can’t wake up parents. Old ppl asleep, electricity gone. WTF? Z.

Oh. My. God. 

It’s international. Zara lives in England. 

I read her message again. Electricity Gone. 

Will the power stay on without adults? What about tap water? The Internet? 

“Siri, how long does the power —”

BOOM.

A deafening sound interrupts my search. I look up and see a plane literally falling out of the sky. It tumbles and spins toward the ground a few miles away.

I turn away before it makes impact, but I feel it. The ground shakes under my feet, the explosion echoes all around me and everything falls quiet.

“Holy shit!” I gasp, shoving my phone back into my pocket.

With a new rush of adrenaline, I kick off down the street and don’t look back.

* 

Because Darcy is kind of a strange kid, he goes to a special school. Special in the sense that the students tend to sing a lot and have art-breaks, while the staff believe that structure and boundaries ‘limit a child’s development.’ 

He went to a normal, public school for a semester (the one that my older brother Rory and I both went to at his age), but he spent the entire time running away from teachers and climbing on cupboards.