Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – Restlessness
For many in the shelter, sleep didn't come easily, and Eric was no exception. Aged and worn, although the thin sleeping mats protected their users from the chill of the cold concrete beneath, the hard rubber was barely softer than the stone below. After only a few minutes of tossing and turning on a questionably clean pillow beneath a blanket that faintly stunk of mildew, Eric inevitably gave up on sleep, opting to play on his phone like many others across the shelter.
Of course, that didn't mean everyone was struggling to fall asleep. Not even five minutes after the lights had been turned out, a rattling snore resembling a diesel engine had roared to life, reverberating in the corner of the shelter he and his coworkers had chosen as their sleeping quarters. However, when Eric looked over to find out who had decided to smuggle a chainsaw into the bunker, he had been surprised to realize it was Will. Eric still found it amusing how the quietest one among them was the loudest sleeper.
Thirty feet beneath the surface, it was no surprise that his phone couldn't get a signal. However, Eric had come prepared. Visits to the shelter were almost seasonal, and the people of the world had long adapted to the challenges of the inevitable lock downs. Everyone had something downloaded on their phones to weather the long, boring hours entombed beneath the earth; whether it be books, games, or movies. A sea of screens lit up the pitch black of the shelter like a sparse spattering of stars amidst the void, though that was more of a testament to the hardness of the sleeping mats rather than mankind's adaptability. However, as Eric tapped mindlessly on his phone, it was neither the hardness of the rubber beneath him nor the harsh red battery indicator telling him his phone was almost dead that drew his attention, but his previous conversation with Hector.
Eric hadn't been entirely truthful earlier when he'd spoken about the Flood, though he hadn't exactly lied either. The boredom, the monotony, and his dissatisfaction with the mundane were all genuine opinions, and it was true that he didn't want any of the chaos and destruction that had come with the Flood, but that wasn't all of his thoughts. Eric also held an unpopular opinion, a question he held deep within his chest for fear of being viewed harshly for his thoughts: Was the Flood really so bad?
The sudden dimming of his phone's screen as it went into power saver mode interrupted his thoughts, and almost absentmindedly Eric tapped on the screen before continuing his thoughts.
It was almost as if everyone was so blinded by the wonders and horrors of the Flood itself that no one stopped to think about all the changes it brought. Once mankind had gotten over the initial shock of the leaks, they had reaped a harvest unlike any ever seen before or since. The technological advancements of the first five years of the flood dwarfed the next forty after its end, as supernatural resources literally rained down upon the earth. The blind were given sight, disasters predicted, clean energy sources discovered, and lines of scientific inquiry had opened up that were simply impossible through mundane means.
Once more, the dimming of his phone's screen distracted Eric, and with mild irritation Eric tapped on the screen before continuing his thoughts.
Then, eight years after it started, the Flood dried up. Resources became scarce, advancements slowed, projects shrank, and the supernatural withdrew from the world as quickly as it had arrived. Although the supernatural didn't recede to the near non-existence of pre-flood eras, all the promise of utopian technologies and boundless potential had withered, leaving behind harsh experiences and mundane magic. Imagining where society would be if the Flood had continued for just one more year, or if the Flood were to reoccur with modern shelters and lock down procedures in place, was enough to make Eric's bleary eyes sparkle.
Once again, Eric's phone grew dim, distracting him from his thoughts. However, this time, as Eric tapped on the screen, it went completely black instead, its battery spent. Sighing for probably the thousandth time today, or perhaps the first time if it was after midnight, Eric realized that he would had no choice left but to attempt to get some sleep.
Yet, if anyone were to point this out, they would be chastised. Time and time again, some intellectual would shine the light of modern perspective on the flood, explaining that in spite of the horrors and hardships, the world had come out stronger for it. Time and time again, the masses would rise up, attacking them as heartless or ignorant of the true suffering the Flood had brought. It wasn't as if these intellectuals were calling for the Flood's return, or anyone even had the power to bring it back. They were just trying to put things into perspective.
Hector was right. Boring brought with it safety, security, and confidence in what tomorrow would bring. However, what were the costs? Without the Flood, society was stagnating and its economies were contracting. The next great milestones in human ingenuity were all fighting with one another over the resources necessary to be developed, and even fifty-year-old breakthroughs couldn't be implemented in modern society without the materials brought by the leaks. Society was at a bottle neck. In Eric's eyes, the price of boring wasn't worth it, though he'd never say it aloud.
Setting his phone within his nearby shoe where it wouldn't be stepped on, Eric pushed his blanket down to his waist before grabbing his jacket and draping it over his upper body. Although it wasn't quite as warm as the thick wool quilt, the chill of the concrete box around him wasn't too bad, and a slight chill was certainly worth not having the blanket right up under his nose. Turing onto his side, Eric faced away from the sea of screens, trying his best to ignore the sawmill sleeping five feet away from him.
However, just as Eric closed his eyes and felt himself begin to drift off, a light murmuring reached his ears, pulling him back from slumber. Although cell phones were permitted after lights out, talking was not. Larry could issue a fine, though Eric didn't think the old man had it in him, being as kindhearted as he was. Irritated, Eric waited for the doorman to sort things out.
However, contrary to his expectation, as time passed the murmuring grew louder. At first it was a trickle, a confused exclamation here, a note of worry there, but as the seconds passed more voices joined the first. The trickle of voices grew into a stream, and then a river, until in a short while an ambient chatter filled the bunker, notes of worry and concern dominating the atmosphere. As the nearby snoring suddenly stopped, Eric realized something was wrong, his drowsiness evaporating as he rolled over to see what was going on.
Immediately, a blinding light stabbed into Eric's eyes, forcing him to wince and blink until his vision adapted, revealing the source; his phone. Nestled within his shoe with its screen pointed towards him, the small device irradiated him with a piercing white glow, the flash of his phone's camera illuminating the opposite direction. Remembering his dead battery, Eric watched the thing in disbelief, not quite comprehending what he was looking at until, with a lethargic blink, his phone went dark.
Looking out into the shelter, a similar sight could be seen. Mostly awake by now, the residents of this concrete box could just barely be seen twisting and turning their heads in confusion and alarm, illuminated by the intermittent light of their devices. Eric could sense panic and uncertainty beginning to grow, as people woke their neighbors and wondered aloud what was going on.
"What's happening?" Eric jumped as Derrick's groggy voice called out from behind him, realizing with a start that he was also on edge. Like the majority of people, he had never experienced an the supernatural in person, though he had assessed enough damages to recognize the event for what it was.
"Electrical disturbance. The leak's flaring up." Eric's voice croaked as he spoke, his throat dry from nerves.
"This deep underground?" Derrick was incredulous. Eric could only shrug in response.
"Things must be bad up top." Hector's voice called out from the dark, and Eric turned to find the man sitting up from his bedroll, resembling a specter as the ghastly pale light of his phone illuminated him from below. As he watched, the older man turned his phone over, wincing at the light as he pried open his device before removing the battery and setting it beside him. Without its power source, the device went dark.
"You'd better remove your batteries if you don't want your phones shorting out." At Hector's reminder, Eric hastily mimicked the older man's actions, setting both his phone and his battery beside his shoes. Beside him, Derrick did the same.
Unsettled by the excitement clamoring through the shelter, Eric stood up and walked over to the table, his nerves refusing to let him sit. Instead, he opted to lean against the table top, allowing the cold of the concrete floor to drift through his sock and into his feet, chasing away whatever drowsiness remained. A moment later, Derrick and Hector joined him by the table, and from the corner of his eye, Eric watched as Will approached, opting to sit at his earlier seat adjacent to the wall.
Out in the shelter, panic began grow as people's fears began to feed off of one another. For most people, the supernatural was a far off thing, a mysterious force somewhere out in the world. Few had every directly witnessed anything paranormal outside of a museum. Slowly but surely, the uncertainty and fear began to build towards hysteria until a harsh voice called out, cutting through the darkness and panic.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone