Blackout (Darkness Trilogy) by Madeleine Henry

all goddamn morning.
    “Can you pass the potatoes?” Skinny asks the Shadow. I stop chewing and wait to see how she’ll react. She just continues to eat.
    “Can you pass the potatoes, please ?” he repeats. His sincerity is heartbreaking. She crunches a fish bone between her teeth and swallows it. I try to meet his eyes from across the table to tell him to stop. It’s not a matter of saying please. Shadows are survivors. They don’t care about us.
    He goes on eating without potatoes. We smack and chew without meeting each other’s eyes until all of our phones buzz at once. I’ve figured out now that two vibrations means a new voicemail, and one means a schedule alert. I pull out my phone and check.
     
    SCHEDULE
    **ALERT: 15 Minute Warning before Next Event**
    12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. RULES CEREMONY.
    Location: Floor 10 Auditorium. Description: Official introduction t o the Carnival. The rules will be revealed.
     
    As we head for the elevator, I realize this is my chance to see Star.
     

9
     
    “What are your names?” Skinny asks.
    Man , he has no touch. He stands between us in the elevator and looks back and forth to our faces like an eager puppy dog. Bit by bit, he’s coming out of his shell and getting more and more annoying. The Shadow crosses her arms and leans against the side of the elevator, bored. She rolls her eyes, and I stare at her arched dark eyebrows. They curve sharply and so cleanly, not a single hair out of line.
    “I’m Tinder,” he says.
    When we don’t answer, he stares at his thumbs. We drop toward floor 10 slowly. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.
    “I’m Phoenix,” I say quietly.
    “Hi, Phoenix,” Tinder says, perking up. “Where are you from?”
    “I’m from Dark DC, Tinder,” I say. 
    “Me, I’m from Dark Virginia,” he says. “I lived in the University of Virginia. My whole building got lit up when I came here. Everyone from my town is going to move in there. I saved them.”
    “Wow,” I mutter. “That’s really cool.”
    “I lived in the engineering school,” he says. “That’s where people studied electricity before the Blackout. Isn’t that ironic?”
    “Yes.”
    “I know ,” he says, shaking his head.
    The elevator doors open. We’ve arrived.
    I stare head- on at a crowd of DZs shuffling toward a row of doorframes in the distance. Their dirty ponytails and braids unravel down their backs. One DZ tears his tattered flannel shirt short at the sleeves in order to cool down in the crowd. Everyone is streaming into a dimly lit room I can’t quite make out.
    The Shadow dashes ahead, slithering between DZs to the front of the crowd. Damn. I follow and start searching for Star: her fine straight hair, or orange parka tucked under her arm. Any sign of her at all. I try to trace the Shadow’s trail, but DZs are packed shoulder to shoulder. I can’t get through. Frustrated, I wedge my leg in between two girls in front of me and shake my hips to wriggle through. One of them tips her head back and screams.
    “Get off me, pervert!” she yells.
    I recoil instantly. A couple of DZs jerk their heads back to eye me with distaste. I hold my palms up to apologize. Fine, I’ll stay here. Behind me, Tinder says “Excuse me” as he bumps into other DZs, and I shake my head for him. We shuffle slowly, step by step. The sour stench of sweaty teenagers fills the air. Finally, I cross one of the thresholds to enter some kind of movie theater. Rows of red velvet seats filled with jittery DZs face a hanging screen.
    I need to find Star.
    A DZ pushes me forward, and I stumble into a row of knees. Knitting my eyebrows together, I scan the room for her again. There she is. Second row all the way at the end. Her creamy profile looks solemn as she stares at the ground. Beautiful. My girl. Not wanting to waste any more time, I leap over a row of seats and make my way toward her. Step after step until, finally, I’m here. Just two feet away. I hold my breath and sit gently in