Total Darkness

5

"Ow! What the heck?!" I jolt awake at the sounds of the red headed girl's pain.
"Ahh!" I grimace at the burning sensation that races up my arm. I feel around the pitch black ground until my hand lands on the flashlight. I flick it on and shine it on my arm. The number 695 is burnt into the tender skin of the underside of my wrist.
"What the heck it this?" I shine my light at the girl. "Lemme see your wrist!" She sticks her pale arm into the small sliver of light and sure enough, a number is engraved onto her wrist as well. The only difference is that hers says 696.
"What do they mean?" She asks, interrupting my silence.
"How should I know?" I rummage around my bag and pull out another flashlight. "Here." I mutter as I hand it to her. "We only have to get to my house, my parents are big into camping, there will be plenty of battery powered lights there.
"Uh, okay." She flicks it on and we begin walking down the highway, weaving in-between cars and bodies. We only come across a few people here and there. The population seems to be split into three categories. Dead, panicking, or freakishly calm. I seem to fall into the last category, I'm not dead (I think) and I'm not panicking (at the moment).
"What's your name anyway?" She asks out of nowhere, once again interrupting my thoughts. "I'm Amelia, and I just figured since we've known each other for like, 20 minutes that we should introduce ourselves." She goes on before I can even answer her question.
"I'm Jo." I state simply, more focused on making sure we are going the right way rather than small talk. We walk on in silence, only stopping to check a sign and insure we are still on track.
"Oh my GOSH!" Amelia gasps suddenly.
"Keep it down would you! What is it?" "Jo, what town do you live in?" She asks suspiciously.
"Uh, Inglewood, why?" I shine my light at her and she's staring at a sign.
"The prison, it's like, three miles away from where we are." She points at the sign. "No, power, no way to keep felons in!!" She shouts before I can understand how a prison is relevant.
"Well they still have fences, so chill!" I try to act cool, but in reality I know there could be murders roaming the streets. "Let's just keep moving, only a couple more miles." I say as we walk away from the sign.