Black Sun by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 5

Reaching the end of the bridge, Abigail was the first to stop, grabbing her knees and bending her head down, while forcing herself back into coherence. Her breathing quickened as she tried to push the sight of death from her mind. Concerned, Ryan moved up behind her, and putting a hand on the middle of her back, rubbed gently.

“You okay,” he asked.

Still, with tears in her eyes, Abigail tried to put on a tough exterior, and standing gave a slightly quivering response. “Yeah,” she began. “I’m okay.”

But, in spite of her answer, Ryan couldn’t help noticing her shocked expression and squinting eyes. Taking her by the hand, he led her away, believing that doing so would ease her fear, and lessen the shock that seemed to overtake her. “Abby,” he said. “We need to keep going.” She nodded her head while continuing to wipe away the tears that had filled her eyes.

Shortly, they found themselves crossing route four, into Watervliet, and seeing the sprawl of houses in the darkness before them, Ryan realized how long their journey would be. “Fuck,” he whispered. “We got a long way to go, don’t we?” Finally, clearing her senses, Abigail looked out over the small town, barely visible through the dark veil of blackness that seemed to consume everything.

“Well,” she said. “I guess it isn’t just Troy.” Looking out further, they saw not one light in the distance. This gave rise to the fear that whatever had draped the city in darkness likely reached much further.

“Maybe it’s just the county,” Abigail said. Fear had become mixed with instinct, as Ryan’s mind reached out to the dark horizon, as something inside him became fully aware that whatever had blackened the city had likely affected much more than the county. Still gripping Abigail's hand, he led her down to the edge of the town, and stopping near route 32, looked off to the left.

“Isn’t there an arsenal near here?”

Abigail's eyes widened slightly as she wondered why this question would be raised.

“Um, yeah, why?” she asked.

Ryan’s voice hesitated as he searched for a safe answer. “Well, I was just thinking that if things get a little hairy, we might have to defend ourselves.”

It didn’t take more than a few moments for Abigail to realize that Ryan was considering arming himself, and that would mean breaking into the arsenal.

“Oh, no,” she began. “No guns! Fuck that shit!” Ryan suddenly turned to her, and looking into her eyes, presented an uncomfortable reality.

“Abby, listen to me,” he began. “Once people figure out how bad things are, we’re not going to be safe, and we have to get to Albany before morning. Do you want to be out here in broad daylight without a way to protect yourself? If we get split up, anything could happen. Do you understand?”

Abigail found herself on the edge of a difficult decision. On one hand, she knew Ryan was right, that if the power failure was wide-spread, they would need the means to defend themselves. On the other, she had a morbid fear of guns, knowing that once the trigger was pulled, there was no undoing the damage. “Okay,” she said.

Her voice was hesitant, as her fear rose to the surface. “You’re right. But you’re carrying it.” Neither of them had any training in firearms use, but Ryan agreed, sensing her anxiety.

Looking out, again, over the dark town, Ryan wondered how they would get to the arsenal. He knew little of Watervliet’s history, but he did know about the arsenal, turning to Abigail, asked if she knew where it was.

“I have a general idea,” she replied.

“Well,” Ryan said. “That’s better than being lost. So, which way do we go?”

Abigail pointed toward her left.

“It’s down there somewhere,” she answered. He followed her finger into the darkness. Hearing her uncertainty did not inspire his confidence, but at least it was a start. “Alright,” he replied.

Starting out again, Abigail took Ryan’s hand, and they cautiously walked in the direction she had indicated, Ryan asked her how certain she was of the arsenal’s location. “I know it’s there somewhere,” she answered. “It’s a big brick building. I think there’s a big sign in front of it.” This made sense, but they still had to find it, and ‘somewhere’ was not a comforting response.