{"id":83,"date":"2011-04-08T00:22:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T04:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=83"},"modified":"2011-04-08T00:22:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T04:22:00","slug":"day-zero-chapter-1-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=83","title":{"rendered":"Day Zero – Chapter 1 – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cUngh.\u00a0 What hit me?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI think that it was a bookshelf, but I could be wrong.\u201d\u00a0 Muscles straining, Carolyn and Jacqueline heaved the metal shelving unit, now bereft of books, off of Davon, who lay sprawled on the library floor, books all around him.\u00a0 Nearby, Rory was picking his way through the wreckage toward the doorway to the stairwell, which stood ajar, a yawning maw looking into a stairwell choked with drifting dust.\u00a0 The building wasn\u2019t creaking, nor was there the sound of the masonry starting to crack.\u00a0 Maybe that was a good sign.\u00a0 Maybe.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It should be a good sign, right?<\/em>\u00a0 Jacqueline started to pick her way down the row of what had once been the stacks, toward Rory and their way down and out of the building.\u00a0 Goosebumps rose along her bare arms.\u00a0 She wanted out of the building, suddenly silent and eerie as a tomb.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHow do the stairs look, Rory?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cUhm.\u00a0 Okay, I think.\u00a0 Give me a second.\u201d\u00a0 He jerked the door a bit further open, casting a baleful glance toward Jacqueline.\u00a0 \u201cThis is the last time you\u2019re ever getting me into a library.\u00a0 Ever<\/em>.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She tried to laugh, but it sounded like a bitter croak.\u00a0 Rory hated libraries, feared them.\u00a0 He\u2019d always said they gave him a bad feeling, made his skin crawl, made him feel like someone was watching him.\u00a0 Marin usually just laughed at him and said he\u2019d probably spent too much time in one in a past life, which usually earned her a dirty look.\u00a0 Jacqueline wasn\u2019t sure what to think about that\u2014then or now.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolyn had Davon on his feet, now, and was tucked under his arm, steadying the tow-headed young man. \u00a0He looked like his head might still be ringing from the shelves and books falling on him, though his eyes were clear.\u00a0 Carolyn shook her head, looking bewildered, only half visible in the dim and the drifting dust.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat was that, really?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 Jacqueline looked back toward the door to the stairwell, illuminated from the skylight above.\u00a0 Rory had pushed the door most of the way open and was standing near the top step of the stairway leading down, on the solid stone and steel landing.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLooks okay from here,\u201d he called back to the rest.\u00a0 He started down, slowly at first, then a little more quickly as it became clear that the stairwell was, in fact, stable.\u00a0 Eager to escape as ever.\u00a0 Jacqueline couldn\u2019t blame him.\u00a0 She had to admit the idea of being entombed in a giant concrete box wasn\u2019t a very appealing prospect.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Davon shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cGuess there\u2019s a reason it won design awards in the \u201870s.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolyn shook her head, looking as grim as Jacqueline felt.\u00a0 The three started to slowly make their way down the stairs after Rory, down the single flight to the library\u2019s main level.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It would have been pitch black but for the windows\u2014most of them broken, now\u2014along the outer walls.\u00a0 Dust drifted lazily in the air.\u00a0 The banks of computers were dark.\u00a0 No one was within sight.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGuys?\u201d\u00a0 A voice called from the far side of the circulation desk.\u00a0 Kellin peeked over the edge of it, her gray eyes wide.\u00a0 She must have heard their footsteps in the strange silence that blanketed the world.\u00a0 Her voice was almost shaky.\u00a0 \u201cI think something really bad just happened.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou think?\u201d\u00a0 Rory\u2019s voice dripped with his usual sarcasm, but even that seemed strained.\u00a0 Jacqueline winced.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something bad really <\/em>did just happen.<\/em>\u00a0 She cleared her throat, picking her way toward Kellin.\u00a0 \u201cWere you the only one working circ desk today, Kel?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin nodded, raking lank tangles of brown curls out of her face as she straightened and climbed over the desk with Jacqueline\u2019s help.\u00a0 \u201cDrew was down in archives, I think, though, in the basement.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c\u2026not anymore.\u201d\u00a0 The tall man looked about as tired as any of them had ever seen him.\u00a0 A bruise was forming on his cheekbone and one arm hung a little more limply than it should have.\u00a0 \u201cWrenched my shoulder pushing a fiche reader out from in front of the door,\u201d he explained, slowly working the arm up and around in a circle.\u00a0 It popped sickeningly and he winced, then worked it around in an arc again\u2014no sound the second time around.\u00a0 \u201cAny of you see what happened?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJust a flash.\u00a0 Boom.\u00a0 Windows blown out.\u201d\u00a0 Kellin frowned.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTwo flashes.\u201d\u00a0 Davon rubbed his head.\u00a0 \u201cI saw two.\u00a0 Was looking at the corner window on the second floor.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSky\u2019s red,\u201d Rory muttered from near the shattered windows.\u00a0 \u201cCome see.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The friends crowded close, peering through the shattered window, craning their necks toward the sky.\u00a0 Clouds drifted lazily through the air, but not against blue.\u00a0 The sky was indeed red, deep and angry, streaked dark somewhere high above the normal summer clouds.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt looks like blood,\u201d Rory mumbled, staring at it.\u00a0 Jacqueline made the sign of the cross on herself, pressing a hand against the silver and gold crucifix she wore around her neck, a gift from her long-ago first communion.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Her heart fluttered.\u00a0 Is this the end of the world?<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin looked sidelong at her, brow furrowing slightly, and said softly, \u201cNo.\u00a0 It\u2019s the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cUngh.\u00a0 What hit me?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI think that it was a bookshelf, but I could be wrong.\u201d\u00a0 Muscles straining, Carolyn and Jacqueline heaved the metal shelving unit, now bereft of books, off of Davon, who lay sprawled on the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-01","category-day-zero"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1l","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}