“Hang on, I’ll be—”

  “You guys ok?” Barry’s voice asked amidst the dark. A small light shone from the corner of Ryan’s eyes.

  “Yeah, we’re good,” Daisy said.

  What has he been up to? Ryan thought to himself. A light flashed before him, as he had to cover his face and squint his eyes. “Ah!”

  “Could you be any louder?” Barry asked, holding a flashlight and furrowing his brow.

  “Could you watch where you use that?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you there; I could only hear your guys’ voices.”

  “What happened to the power?” Daisy asked. “How did we lose it?”

  “I’m not sure. It must’ve been a short circuit or something. I’m going to inspect the generator and get the power back on.”

  “Um, what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Ryan asked.

  “Just wait here. It shouldn’t take long. When I get power working for these machines, you can return to what you did before. In case I take too long, or you need anything before I get it working again, there are flashlights in the drawers that you can use. Don’t even think about slacking off, either.”

  Barry turned on a heel and walked away. Ryan rested his head on the desk and closed his eyes. He figured he’d take a short break while he didn’t have to work for the time being. After what felt like an hour or two, Ryan pulled out a flashlight from the drawers and got out of his seat.

  After a bit of shuffling from the chairs, Daisy raised her head and turned to the sound of the noise from across the room, or wherever it came from, though she had an idea of who it was that did it.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Bathroom.”

  “Ah, okay. I’ll let Barry know in case he makes it back before you do.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  “Don’t sleep on the toilet again.”

  “Believe me, I won’t.”

  The light shone off on the floor and in an adjacent direction as footsteps faded from her ears. She creased her eyebrows while staring at her phone. Wasn’t the male restroom the other way? Daisy didn’t pay it any mind and continued with what she was doing before. Maybe he had trouble getting around the place, what with it being dark and all.

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  In truth, though, Ryan didn’t need to use the bathroom. It wasn’t like he wanted to get out of work; he just took advantage of the situation to take a break. He figured resting his eyes wouldn’t hurt, especially since he had difficulty sleeping the past few days. Ryan had to wait for the power to turn back on anyway, and it wasn’t like he was going anywhere far or for too long, either.

  The soreness in his muscles ached, and his vision grew fuzzy, which made walking in a straight line hard. Ryan placed a hand on the wall and carried himself forward, one step at a time. Just anywhere with some quiet. He stumbled across a door that led to the broom closet. It's small, but it'll have to do. Ryan went inside and moved objects around to make room before closing the door behind him. He lied down on the floor and set the flashlight next to him, so it wouldn't roll over and hit him in the face.

  Just a few minutes, at least, until the power comes back on.

  He turned off the flashlight and closed his eyes, trying to think happy thoughts before lulling himself into a deep slumber.

  Unexpectedly, a loud, muffled sound jolted Ryan awake, but he dismissed it and drifted back to sleep, the mystery of the sound lingering in the air.

  After some more time, Ryan woke up on his own, still in the darkness.

  What’s taking him so long?

  Ryan moved his hand across the floor until he sensed the flashlight and grabbed it. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, letting out another yawn. How long had he been sleeping? It didn’t feel long, at least, not to him anyway. He crawled over and reached for the knob, but the door didn’t budge. Strange. He slowly got up and attempted to push the door. It creaked slightly, as he ground his teeth and his muscles tensed up.

  Was something blocking the way? Where’d it come from? Why is pushing a door difficult for him now?

  Eventually, Ryan stumbled out of the closet, nearly losing his footing. After he composed himself, he clicked the flashlight, but it wouldn’t turn on. A little sunlight creaked through the windows as dust settled in the place, and the computers lit up one by one.

  Oh, power’s back on. I should get back to work.

  His mind still tried to comprehend and process his thoughts as he slowly made his way to the lounge. Ryan hoped that a nice cup of coffee would help keep him awake. Something got his attention, though, as he stopped altogether. He turned to face the window and looked through its cracks. He walked closer and peered down from the third floor.

  His vision was still blurry, and his ears were ringing. Ryan could make out muffled screams, but didn’t understand why. In front of him were people running out onto the streets and sidewalks. They were running away from something, or rather, someone. But what or who? He didn’t know what had caused them to be in such a panic, especially this early in the morning. Wait, was it morning? He didn’t know how much time had passed since he last fell asleep. Did he skip a day? Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Daisy or Barry since waking up. Where could they be?

  Ryan rubbed his head, not knowing if he was still dreaming or not. Without thinking, he trudged to the elevator. When that didn’t work, he took the stairs to the first floor and made his way past the exit. He had to force open one door before stepping outside, only to be greeted by the sun hitting him above his head.

  Ryan shielded himself with his hand as he squinted his eyes, still trying to process what was happening outside. The screaming grew louder but was also mixed with additional noises of property damage, car horns, and grunts, creating one muffled pile big enough to give a headache.

  As he wobbled and took a step forward, the slamming of car honks finally jolted his mind awake. Time slowed down as Ryan turned towards an incoming speeding vehicle in its wake. He nearly fell back, but couldn’t react in time. Life flashed before his eyes as he blacked out.