Mary ran to her car first. She made her way down into the building garage and fished for her keys. She found them and then found her way to the car. Of course, some part of her was telling her it was stupid to try this. Obviously everything had stopped working and her car was likely to be one of the things not working, but finding the car was habit and it felt comforting to do that.

She had a moment of panic when she reached the labyrinth that was the underground garage and saw that all of the lights were off. She waited a moment until her eyes adjusted to the dark. She could make out enough shapes to move forward. Each step seemed to echo loudly in her ears and she became convinced there was someone following her more than once. She tried to stay calm.

She reached her assigned parking spot and felt her way to the door. She soon realized she had electronic locks and couldn’t get the door open. She had another moment of panic. She started breathing faster and her heart raced. She forced herself to slow down and get it under control. She did not get paid the big bucks she did to panic. She cursed under her breath.

She turned and stared back into the darkness. She thought she heard someone else walking slowly in the darkness somewhere on a level beneath her. She heard something else from the street level that sounded like something else exploding.

She cursed again and leaned against her car. She looked down at her hands and at the keys she held in them. She could just make out the silver in the gloom. She thought she heard a voice now from somewhere below her.

Hello? She called.

She heard only her own voice echo back to her. She sighed. She was imagining things. She needed to get out of here. She was going to have to walk and that was the end of it. The thought of doing that in her heels caused her to wince but she knew it had to be done. If so, fine. She just wasn’t sure about getting around plane wreckage and fires.

She began walking back the way she had come. She paused a moment when she thought she heard footsteps behind her again. She called out again and got no response again. She shook her head and told her to get a grip in herself if she wanted to get through this. Just then a hand fell on her and she screamed so loudly she thought she might rupture something in her throat.

What’s going on? A male voice spat into her face. Why are you here?

Get away from me! She screamed back and pushed at him.

The world’s ending out there, the voice said. This is my place. I own it I own the underworld.

She couldn’t see his face. She could smell him. He was probably one of the homeless that lived around here. His voice was harsh and gravely. There was a kind of heat coming off of him as though he had a fever.

Just leave me alone, she said.

You come down here and you need to pay me.

She gripped her key chain and extended her hand. She had a vague idea of where he was and she released a stream of pepper spray. She heard him scream and choke and stagger away from her. She turned and ran.

Behind her she could hear him gagging and coughing and uttering curses at her. Some of the words sounded nonsensical. The ground beneath her shook again and she knew something else had exploded above her or maybe collapsed but it was better than being down here with that man. She ran and ran, her heels now clicking and clacking against the cement and those echoes mixing with those of the choking and cursing man below.