Runners

Lights Out

  Just before the shit hit the fan, J.J. and I had been spending some quality time together, since we didn't get to see each other nearly enough, just messing around, playing video games, watching scary movies, ya know, girl stuff.
  She was on Christmas break from her senior year of high school, which is how she came to be stranded at my house when the world as we knew it went belly up.
  We had spent the last few days rooted in front of the tv screen, watching the beginning of the end on CNN. After the first twenty four hours, from the time the plague apparently hit every capital city on the face of the earth, CNN aired on every channel.
  Well, except cartoon network.  We'd been flipping back and forth between burning cities and Family Guy for the last week.
  On the fifth day the vaccine was released. That same evening the 'lucky' ones who got the vaccine first started collapsing for seemingly no reason. These were rushed the emergency rooms to determine what went wrong, and of course our loyal CNN was there to cover it all.
  On the sixth night, the screams started, and the cameras went black. It quickly cut back to the horrified faces of our regular news people, who scrambled to collect themselves after what we had all just seen and heard.
  On the seventh morning of the apocalypse, the power cut off.
  J.J. was in the shower at the time, and her startled screech roused me from the light doze I had been nursing on the overstuffed couch in my living room. As I'm sure you can imagine, I hadn't been sleeping too well at night.
  "Everything okay back there?" I called down the hallway.
  "COLD!" rang into the room, followed by a stream of expletives that somehow led me to guess that the hot water had cut out.
  "Alright, alright woman, I'm checking it out," I yelled back as I heaved my tired form off the couch, giving it one last loving pat.
  As I was stretching the kink out of my back I noticed the tv was dark. "Oh, just fantastic..." I muttered darkly to myself as I shot the set a glare and tottered out of the room, still half asleep.
  I slunk through the kitchen and into the laundry room. Cracking open the door, I reached a hand in and flicked the light switch. Nada.
  "Ugh," I groused as I turned and seized the flashlight I kept on top of the microwave. I shoved open the door all the way and stepped into the dark room. "Why aren't there any windows back here?" I wondered aloud, not for the first time.
  I turned the flashlight beam on the breaker box behind the washing machine and eyeballed it suspiciously.
  As I suspected, everything in its proper place, no switches tripped. It seemed the power had actually gone for good this time, though it had been flickering ominously for a couple of days now.
  Just to be sure I flipped the main switch off, then on again in a vain attempt to resurrect the power. I flicked the lightswitch again hopefully, then sighed my defeat.
  I gave up and stepped out, firmly shuting the door on the dark, creepy little room just as I heard furious footsteps pounding down the hall.
 

Sorry guys, I know it's a short chapter but it was way too long and this way the only good stopping point I could find. I don't like putting chapters into parts, because then it just starts to get confusing! Buuut I'm probably going to wind up publishing another chapter today just because I'm so excited to get into the story and the characters! So vote if you want that chapter up today! Or if you just like what you see so far :) as always, comments are welcome! See ya soon!