Blackout • NH

Chapter 40

"Aiden!" Ellen screamed.

"Shit, everyone get off now and leave the horses here." I say.

We all begin to walk forward. Hum, boom, hum, boom. It would repeat. The hums would last about 7 seconds and the boom would come after that.

I make my way towards Aiden to help when the boom came, I flew off my feet and landed into the river. I quickly swam back to behind the tree line.

"Aiden! Are you okay?" I shouted.

"I'm pinned down, I can't get out. The horse is lifeless." He says, his voice struggling to reach us.

"Hold on, we'll get you out!" I say.

I decided to cross the river, risking being eaten by alligators to reach Aiden. I make it safely to the edge and walk along the shore to the beaver dam that Aiden landed on. I climb to the top when the hum got louder and the boom came.

I suddenly fell back and landed on a sharp stick poking out. The stick going through my hand when I tried to catch myself. I let out a shriek in pain.

"Niall! What's wrong?" Marion shouted.

"I have a stick that went straight through my hand! It's bleeding so much." I shout.

I grab the stick, take a deep breath and quickly pull it out. Screaming in pain. I'm shaking now, I'm losing blood so I quickly rip my shirt off with my good hand and tie it around my hand to plug the bleeding.

I get up and make my way over to Aiden again. The boom sound came again and I flew back and landed on my injured hand. I scream out again.

"Fuck!"

"That's it we are coming over!" Marion said.

"No! It's too dangerous!" I shout back.

"Aiden, are you still with us?" I shout.

"Yeah." He says, sounding very tired and woozy.

"Don't go to sleep Aiden, stay with us!" Marion shouts.

"Niall! I'm coming over!" Harry shouts.

Louis tries to hold him back but he jumps into the river and makes his way towards me.

"Niall, I've seen this sort of stuff before. But you usually only see it in space." Harry said.

"When the power went out, something altered in whatever is down the river. Something electric. Something with power." He explained.

"In space, when a star dies, it will get three times its original side and then collapse, releasing a sound wave that travels far across the galaxy it's in or even farther. The power from that force of the star dying out can cause a few waves after it for trillions of years, eventually dying down until they stop." He explained.

I look at him with my eyes wide. I look back at the group. Marion is still talking to Aiden, making sure he stays awake.

"If anything, I hope I'm right about this. But there's a massive power plant down stream. One of the breakers could've malfunctioned when the blackout occurred, causing the sound waves to knock anything down that's not grounded, like a tree, building, giant rock, anything." He said.

"Why would here still be power radiating from the plant if the entire world is out of power.?" I question.

"It's a hydroelectric power plant. It uses the river's current to make electricity." He said.

"You mean..."

"Yes Niall, there's still power in some parts of the world."

Oh fuck.