Part 1 

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I glanced back over at him, and then watched him as he jumped off of my bed’s edge. I turned to let my eyes follow him as he ran out of the room, still yelping out.

Suddenly, right after he had entered the hallway, a strong force shook the entire room.

All of the picture frames on my walls as well as the number of random objects set out on my dresser and desk rattled furiously. The floor almost seemed to move at a fast, but stable, rate under my feet and, even though it really wasn’t much, it still forced me to stumble over and down to the floor below.

I caught myself before I fell, though, miraculously.

“Shit,” I commented, instinctively sliding my cell phone into my back jean pocket as I attempted to step toward the doorway ahead of me.

Bud remained outside of the doorframe, barking directly at me.

“Come on,” I yelled to him, urgently. “Outside, Bud!”

I pushed past him once I made it into the hall and began to take off down the slightly shaky corridor. Once to the end of it, I gave my best effort at not toppling down the staircase as I sprinted to the ground floor. After that, I ran toward the front door a bit to the left, and then stopped right in front of it, Bud standing beside me.

I reached out to twist the door handle as soon as I could, at the same time that the quaking around me began to soften. I pushed the door open immediately and stepped onto the small, wooden porch on the other side.

I gazed up at the sky.

It was unnaturally bright green with splotch-like areas of deep purple scattered throughout it.

“What?” I mumbled at the sight.

Suddenly, Bud leaped in front of me, hopped down the porch steps, and went on barking as he ran toward the road across the front lawn.

“Bud!” I shouted, instantly beginning to chase after him. “Bud, stop!”

As soon as I stepped foot into the street, he halted and fell quiet a few feet in front of me. I proceeded to sprint up to his side, and then glanced back up at the sky ahead, above all of the roofs of houses at the very end of the road.

I froze.

Something was causing the sky to turn completely black from far away, one quick mile at a time, and the whole phenomenon was coming directly into my direction.

I heard a soft whine come from underneath me, and then gazed down to see Bud jump up on his hind legs and throw his front two paws onto my thigh.

“B-Back inside, Bud,” I stuttered out, now turning back to the house.

Before I could take off sprinting into its direction, though, another quake shook the ground, causing me to tumble to the pavement below.

“Ah!” I screamed out as my knees scraped the gravel from underneath my light skinny jeans.

Bud barked out a few more times while the sound of a few more people yelling out from behind me could be heard.

I kept my hands on the road until, after a few moments, the shaking stopped once more.

I pulled myself carefully up to a stand, and then glanced over my shoulder to see a number of my neighbors across the street running to their cars and pick-up trucks.

“Car,” I whispered, and then shot my head over to Bud, who was now scratching his claws against the bottom of the screen door ahead. “Oh, God…”

I immediately rushed up to him and pushed my way back into our two-story home. He sprinted in beside me as I turned and ran into the dining room.

“Car keys,” I mumbled, now ramming my body into the dining table ahead. I reached for my small, baby blue purse from across it, and then spun back around and took off toward the front door once more.

“Bud!” I shouted as I fumbled with my purse’s zipper. “Bud, car ride!”

I proceeded to search the inside of my bag as I slammed my side into the screen door once more. After another short moment, I seized a keychain from the purse with one hand, and then flipped my head upward to see Bud sitting a few feet away from the door, unmoving.

“Bud, come on!” I shouted.

He lowered his head into his paws and let out a loud whine.

“Bud!” I pleaded, still holding the door open with my backside.

He raised his head once again, but didn’t budge.

“Ugh,” I grumbled, now rushing over to where he sat. I then reached down and snatched the side of his green collar with one hand, my purse and keys in the other, and pulled him toward the doorframe. Once there, I pressed my side against the door handle yet again and effectively swung the screen gate wide open in front of us.

I let go of his collar as I stumbled onto the porch, and then hurried down the wooden steps and rushed to the near right where a short, paved driveway sat.

“Here, Bud!” I yelled out, now approaching the passenger side of a 2001 red Ford car.

I stopped myself right in front of the forward-most door, and then reached out to grab at its handle and bring it outward.

“In the car, Bud!” I went on, pulling the door open just enough for him to slip past it. I waited a second for him to comply and do so, and then slammed the door shut behind his back.

I proceeded to sprint my way around the front of the car, right between the hood and the large, closed garage door beside it. I glanced across the street as I came to the side of the driver’s door and noticed that absolutely none of the neighbor’s cars had left their own driveways yet.

I didn’t look for long, though, and went on to throw open the car door by my side and plop down in the seat on the other side of it.

As soon as I sat, I threw my purse into the passenger seat, where Bud sat, and jammed the thickest key on my keychain into the ignition.

However, when I turned it into place, nothing happened.

“What,” I muttered, now trying to start the engine once more.

Again, though, it remained silent, and nothing in the car turned on.

No lights, no sounds.

“No, no, no,” I went on, trying to turn the key a number more times.

Still, nothing would happen.

I threw my hands up, and then slapped them down on my lap.

“Just my luck,” I said, shaking my head.

I flickered my eyes to the rearview mirror above the dashboard, and then twisted in my seat to get a better view of the other unmoving vehicles across the street. I also noticed that everyone that had been outside running to their cars were now gone and out of sight.

I looked back to Bud, sitting in the seat on my right, as he stared out the passenger window beside himself. I followed his gaze for a moment, saw the pitch black clouds that were gradually getting closer to where we were, and then turned back to my own window.

“Come on, Bud,” I commanded as I threw the door open beside me once more.

I jumped out of the car, let him leap out behind me, and then swung the door shut yet again. After that, I hurried back to the front door and proceeded to step back inside.

As soon as I made it past the doorframe, though, another slight quake shook the ground.

“Ah!” I screamed out as I tripped and fell onto the floor, Bud falling to my side soon after.

I both heard and felt the room shake and rumble around me for a few seconds before it subsided.

“What is going on!” I shrieked, right before I started to pick myself back up to a stand.

Immediately after that, a loud clicking sound rang out around me, and I saw a lamp in the living room ahead of me flicker on.

Instantly, I ran toward it, and then turned to face the flat-screen television on the wall across from it.

I lunged toward the sofa on the right and swiped the T.V. remote from its armrest. After that, I pointed the controller at the television set and hit the power button.

I stood and watched as the screen came to life and showed the picture of a young woman with curly blonde locks on her shoulders, a thin red jacket underneath them, and a black microphone raised to her mouth in one hand. In the background, behind her, was a large, grassy field with a deep purple, cloudy sky above that. At the bottom of the screen was a red bar with the headline ‘Unexplainable worldwide catastrophic events unfolding’, and I listened as the T.V.’s sound came into focus, allowing me to hear the woman speak.

“…everywhere. Anything that runs on electricity, including car batteries, are subject to unexplainable drainage. All power grids are experiencing bouts of the same nature.”

I dropped the remote back on the couch and reached for the iPhone I had kept in my back pocket.

“Everyone is advised to remain indoors at this point in time.”

I brought the cell phone up to my chest level and held in on the side power button.

“We… wait, we’re getting word now from… w-what?”

I flickered my eyes up to the woman on the screen for a split second and saw her throw one hand up to touch the communication device in her ear. Immediately after that, though, I returned my attention to the phone in my hand and saw its screen turn a bright red, signaling its power-up to me.

“We are… um…” I could hear the woman stumble on.

As soon as the screen in front of me changed to a scenic picture of cold rivers and snowy mountains, I swiped it with my thumb, and then rushed to tap the ‘call’ button that soon appeared at the bottom.

“T-There are reports of a black cloud seeming to-“

I proceeded to hit the picture next to my dad’s contact name, and then threw the iPhone up to my ear, gazing up at the T.V. at the same time. It was then that I noticed the picture of the woman was becoming a flickering blur, and there were no sounds emitting from it any longer.

Just then, though, the phone my ear began to let out a loud, high-pitched constant beep. I brought the screen back down to my chest and saw that the call time was still counting, now past 00:05, but the beeping noise wasn’t changing into anything else.

“Ugh,” I grunted, now tapping the ‘end call’ button.

“New York is…” I heard the woman’s voice suddenly resurface, although she sounded more urgent than before, the television screen was now black, and the sound of her continued to waver in and out. “…attack… in… and… Paris…”

Suddenly, I felt the phone in my hand begin to vibrate, and then the sound of a familiar song began to ring out.

‘I don’t want no scrub…’

I jerked the screen up to my face, saw the name ‘Chris’, and instantly swiped ‘answer’.

“Hello?” I shouted, before I could even get the phone up to my ear once more.

However, no sound came from the device.

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-iKari