Chapter 6
Her eyes shot open, and Sarah’s hands instinctively moved to her weapon and flashlight.
The entire block had been plunged into darkness.
An eerie silence encompassed her. The generators would kick on at any minute.
Grabbing her flashlight, she flicked it several times before remembering it wouldn’t work if they’d been hit with an EMP.
Sarah groaned. There would be supplies in the storage room that were protected, but it would be a pain to navigate in the dark.
Still, they couldn’t spend the night fumbling through the dark.
She fished around in her pocket and pulled out the lighter she kept on hand for her one addiction, cigarettes.
It was a terrible habit Sarah despised herself for having.
Now the little flicker of light made it possible for her to move to the landing and down the steps without breaking her neck.
Some of the inmates who struggled to sleep were now awake.
You couldn’t miss the complete lack of noise that emanated from the world around them.
Even in the dead of night, there was a hum to the facility as old as Glenwood.
Now there was nothing. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the clipping of Alan’s shoes moving down the hall in her direction.
She headed for the common room, where all guards met in the event of an emergency.
It bothered her that the generators hadn’t kicked in yet.
Even the emergency backup lights that would normally give off a dim glow appeared to be on the fritz.
Cursing under her breath, she thought about the pack of smokes in her purse upstairs and wished she’d grabbed them.
As soon as the others realized what was happening, they’d join her in the block’s common room.
Until then, they needed to figure out what was going on with the generators.
Alan appeared relieved when she met him in the common area.
“What in the hell is going on right now?” Alan asked. “The power is out, and the phones are dead, too.”
“I think it’s just a matter of the solar storm. The effects of the EMP must have gone out farther than the government predicted. It’s not often that our scientists get something like this wrong, but it’s not impossible. Everything is down now.”
“I know they have things in place in case something like this happens, but what are we supposed to do now?”
“For now, I want you to stay right here and wait for the others. I need to do a walkthrough and a count of the inmates.”
“You’re going to do a count right now? Shouldn’t you wait for the others first before doing that?”
“Normally, we would. The problem is that the protocol calls for a count, and I need you to wait for everyone else to get here,” Sarah said. “Now, I’m going to walk the block, and you’re going to wait for me to get back before doing anything.”
“Okay. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise, but you have nothing to worry about yet. I figure they’ll have us back up and running soon. Won’t even be enough time for the inmates to get riled up.”
“Sure, that’s easy for you to say.” Alan laughed. “I’d imagine there are more than a few of these guys who would like to get their hands on you.”
“Not today,” Sarah said. “Anyway, is Becky still at work?”
“Well, she was heading home when I got off the phone with her. I’m sure she’s made her way to the house by now.”
“Good. I’m sure it’s going to get even crazier now that the power and everything else are out. I’ll be back here shortly.”
The lighter had cooled since she’d used it to navigate the hall leading to the common room.
Now that she was moving through the halls again, she needed the dim light to do a head count.
The men hated it, and she did her best to let them keep sleeping, but she couldn’t spend all night on it.
She gave each inmate ten seconds. If she couldn’t see them breathing beneath the sheets, Sarah tapped on the bars to get them to stir.
As she moved from one cell to the next, keeping a mental tally in her head, she saw a familiar arm hanging out two cells ahead and grinned.
It was John. When he saw her coming, he drew his arms back inside the cell.
While Sarah trusted him beyond measure, she appreciated that he always followed protocol.
It kept the less-trusted inmates from asking questions and trying to push the rules.
He looked relieved when he saw her. Sarah was one of the few people who knew how much John feared the dark.
If she had a spare lighter and the authority to give it to him, then she would have in a heartbeat.
His fear stemmed from a traumatizing boat ride in the hull of an illegal ship to the coast of Florida as a child. The trip had taken his parents’ lives.
With the lighter again burning her thumb, she let the flame die out as she paused by John’s door. She hated that John was alone in the dark, and there was nothing she could do. They had to get to the flashlights in their protective cases, buried in storage.
“How are you holding up, John?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, I’ll be doing a lot better when the lights come on. That much, I can tell you for sure.”
Sarah chuckled. “I thought you wanted to break up the monotony. I’d venture to say that this should have done it for you.”
“You’re not wrong, but I’d still prefer the lights to be on. Besides, it’s just not the same when you’re locked in a cage, and there’s no power.”
“I understand. I’m sure they’re going to get everything back up and running before too long.”
“Still don’t have any idea how long it’s going to be or what caused it?” John asked.
“I think the solar storm hit a larger area than they were expecting. As for a time frame on how long it’s going to take, I have nothing but bad news. Just hold tight, and they’ll get us back up and going again.”
“Imagine that. The scientists and the news got their information wrong. I never would have guessed that could happen.”
Sarah laughed. “Yeah. I think I’m with you on that one, but I definitely expected them to be better with figuring this thing out.”
“See, that’s the problem with the government right now. They have their heads so far up their asses that they can’t see what’s right in front of them,” John said.
“Hey, now. It’s not all that bad.”
“No, but I got myself into this cage for the things I’ve done, and I think plenty of government officials should be right here beside me.”
“I can’t say I disagree with that. For now, you just relax, and we’ll get all of this figured out before too long.” Sarah smiled. “I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything.”
“Thank you,” John replied.
Sarah would be breaking the rules for John, a decision she’d made as soon as she’d seen the man’s terrified expression.
Once she had the flashlights in hand, she would slip one into John’s cell.
The man had served his time and deserved a few perks.
Plus, it was a blackout. All she was doing was making sure all of her inmates were safe physically and mentally.
John needed the flashlight for his mental health, and Sarah trusted him with it.
Moving to the end of the hall, she continued her count until she reached the end.
Everyone was present and accounted for, not that she’d expected anything different.
Twenty minutes had passed since the lights had gone out.
In the stillness of the night, Sarah could hear the doors on the far end of the block opening and knew the others were coming to gather in the common area.
She quickly jogged back to the main room just as figures started to emerge from the hall.
It was good to see them all congregating.
A half dozen of them had lighters just like her to guide the way.
She was certain Harden would have a few choice words for those with the banned lighters, but it was something they could deal with later.
At that moment, they needed to find out how long the lights were going to stay off.
Harden had joined the others in the common room.
She handed out long white candles with paper bases to keep the wax off their hands.
Sarah had no idea where their commanding officer had gotten them, but she was happy the woman was prepared.
They went around lighting the candles and getting settled before Harden cleared her throat.
For the first time, Sarah saw the panicked look in her eyes.