Ashes and Daydreams

Chapter 2: Gray

I sat up and surveyed my surroundings. All I could see was gray and black. There was no color.

There would never be color again.

I closed my eyes and painted my mind red. Red, my favorite color. Red, the color of blood. I tried to see it, to remember it--vibrant shades of crimson and scarlet. Blazing, alive with heat.

But all I could think of were my gray, lifeless surroundings and how cold it had become.

"Darlena?" Anna whispered. "Is that you?"

I shivered. "Yes," I choked out. The air was stuffy, and I knew I was inhaling it even with the oxygen mask. "Have you seen Aunt Lindsey?"

It was an impossible question, because we couldn't see anything.

"Right here," Aunt Lindsey cried weakly.

We're alive, I thought. At least we're alive.

But then I remembered Mom and Dad. In the airplane. Flying towards Wyoming, where the Yellowstone Supervolcano had erupted.

Tears streaked down my face, washing away some of the ash.

"Darlena!"Anna cried. "I can see you now! Part of your face!"

And in spite of myself, I managed a smile. Maybe it was the last time I'd ever smile.

"Do we have electricity?" I asked, standing up. The ash was up to my knees, but walking through it wasn't too difficult. I felt around the walls. Finally, I flicked the switch.

Nothing.

I sat down in a mound of ash and tried to focus. Tried to clear my head.

But how can you clear anything when the world around you is covered in ash? When you can barely see inches in front of you? When the world is on fire and freezing to death at the same time?

"We need to wait," I muttered. "We need to wait until the smoke and ash settles."

But would it ever settle?

"I need to go outside," I shouted.

"Don't," Aunt Lindsey pleaded. "Don't go outside. You don't know what's out there. We're safe here, and that's what matters."

"I need to see how bad it is."

I didn't wait for Aunt Lindsey's response. I opened the door and looked down the hallway of the apartment building. There was so much ash, I couldn't tell where the doors were.

I trudged down the hallway, the ash up to my waist. It was all dark gray. All dark gray. I coughed slightly, which scared me. The oxygen mask wasn't helping anymore.

I wondered how many people had died just from inhaling the ash and smoke so far.

Fortunately, we only live on the second floor of the apartment building, so I didn't have too many stairs to walk down. Which was good, because the stairs were buried in ash, and I was afraid that I could fall. I had to grip onto the railing--or, at least, what I thought has the railing--and sort of slide down. I felt bad for the people living on the higher floors.

I sort of slipped at the bottom, and landed awkwardly on my side. But I landed on a pile of ash, so it was okay.

I felt around the walls for the front door. I struggled to open it against the mound of ash outside.

If it was bad in the partment building, then outside, it was 1000x worse.

The city of Milwaukee was buried in ash.