Blackout (Darkness Trilogy) by Madeleine Henry Page A

the empty seat beside her. It creaks and startles Star, who grabs her chest as if her heart might jump out. We look at each other. Tears jump to her eyes, and she’s stunned—overjoyed.
    I take her hand tenderly. “I’m here,” I whisper.
    “Phoenix …” she says, her sweet voice thick with emotion. She can’t find any other words to say. I wrap my other hand around hers, and she does the same. Forget the Easy chandeliers and lamps, her touch is the real electricity. What I feel with Star keeps me warm, and nothing else is truly bright. My Star.
    “Quiet, now,” a voice booms throughout t he room.
    W hispers behind us fall silent. The open door beside each frame swings slowly shut. The last DZ to wander in looks familiar, and he takes the seat next to me. I furrow my brow to remember, and then it hits me: Blaze. From Dark DC. He’s brought his shotgun with him, propped between his knees. I turn my head away from him instantly, and a shiver runs down my spine. Star’s eyes widen in fear when she recognizes Blaze, and she looks down fast at her lap. Suddenly, the lights go dim, and the giant screen in front of us turns white. Blaze shields his eyes, disoriented. For now, at least, he’s distracted.
    The C arnival appears on screen.
    “On January 6, 2015 , the Blackout struck worldwide,” a familiar voice booms throughout the auditorium. Images alternate on display. First, mountains of trash on a city street. Rats seethe over the stack of bags barely visible against black sky. Now, a shot of a highway gridlocked with four lanes of motionless cars. Some people are craning their necks out windows, others are mid-run in a panic down the road. Now, a photo of an empty hospital. An abandoned school covered in snow. The Easies might be trying to scare us, but this is the most comfortable I’ve felt all day. These might as well be pictures of home.
    “ The United States government gathered its best engineers,” his voice continues. “As they drew up plans to restore electricity, it became clear: There would not be enough for everyone anymore. The flare had destroyed all transmission lines. The climate was new and unpredictable. At best, only half the nation could have access to light and heat. The United States made the most difficult decision in its history when it chose to build the Frontier and then, a decade later, to power only the northern half.”
    A map of the United States appears on screen. The Frontier is traced in a dotted black line from where it starts in the middle of California up to the top of Dark Missouri and then down between Dark Virginia and Maryland. It looks like a giant frown.
    “After mandating the construction of the Frontier, the United States adopted a new kind of government. Local authorities replaced centralized control. Every state came to be ruled by one elite Family. For the thirty states, there are thirty Families. They handle all political matters separately and internally, cooperating only on matters of the military, foreign policy, and the Carnival.”
    Each state above the Frontier glows individually, one after another. The Dark Zone has been amalgamated into one giant area of outcasts shaded gray. I glance over at Star. She is riveted and does not notice my wandering eyes. Good, I think, at seeing her focus. Maybe she has a better chance at winning this than I thought.
    “Even with power, it took more than six decades to repair the damages incurred in those ten years we survived in the dark. Natural decay and desperate human activities nearly ruined our nation as we knew it. Only now, in the year 2082, are we technologically and culturally on par with where we were when the Blackout hit. Life in the United States today is very similar to the way it was in 2015. We have barely advanced.
    “ The Dark Zone has suffered even greater damage, and the region has shown no signs of progress. As DZs, you have survived great injustice. Your lives have been ruled by chaos and darkness.