Darkness on a Pale Blue Stone by D. T. Peterson Page A

Since, you know, the blackout?"
    "Uh, wow, I can't even remember. It was the third, I think, when the blackout hit. What's today's date?"
    "No idea. Hey, Gresson! What's today's date?" Sean asked.
    "The eighth," he replied.
    "Five days!" Sean exclaimed. "Seems like it happened yesterday. And yet, it also feels like we've been walking for years now."
    "I don't know how much farther I can walk. My legs are killing me," Marie said.
    "I'm sorry, honey," Michael said, then he turned to Gresson. "Hey! Maybe we should take a day off tomorrow while we're in the city. It's been almost a week of non-stop walking."
    As Michael made his suggestion, Sean whispered to Marie, "Hey, at least you're in shape. I hadn't walked more than a mile for years. I can't even feel my legs anymore."
    Gresson looked over at Michael and replied, "We don't have the time for a break."
    "And we don't have the energy to keep up this pace. Can we at least take a late start tomorrow? Maybe avoid some of this storm?" Michael said.
    "Maybe," Gresson replied.
    As they came closer to city, the highway became more crowded. No one recognized Gresson, however. Even if they could see through the rain, he had put up his coat collar for added rain deflection and to avoid the need to make another speech.
    It was late in the afternoon when the group saw the outskirts of Baltimore in the distance. Small fires were scattered on the horizon, but none were nearly as terrifying as the inferno they had seen in New York. After another hour, they were nearly within the city and the already dark sky grew darker as the sun set behind the clouds. While the rain during their journey had been loud, it was trifling compared to the noise now in front of them. Shouts, hollers, crashes, and the occasional distant gunshot could be heard. Order had yet to come to Baltimore.
    "It's going to be chaos downtown," Alice said.
    "If we..." Gresson started, but was interrupted by two gunshots just ahead of the group. Others on the highway scattered, but before the group could react, several rifle-armed thugs ran up to them from the side of the road. One of them was pulling along a limping young man who appeared to have just been shot in the chest.
    "Who are you?" Michael asked the thugs, trying to maintain confidence. Privately, however, he was terrified. He desperately awaited shots from Gresson's pistol.
    "My name's Damien, pal. And this is my crew. We don't gotta name, but uh... we sure got everything else!" the apparent leader of the gang said and laughed. This was followed by hollers and fist pumps from the others. They held up some of their valuables, no doubt much of it stolen from the city. After a few moments of putting their camaraderie on display, the armed men composed themselves. Damien said, "You know what, though? There's one thing we don't got at the moment. Something I know me and my boys here really need. Can ya guess what it is, man?" When he received no reply, he said with a wide smile, "We need some 'company,' if you know what I mean." The others behind him immediately responded with laughter. "So, is that your girl there, man?" Damien asked Michael, pointing a finger at Alice. Sean and Adam managed to stand in front of Marie, hiding her from the thugs view.
    "I swear to god, if you even think about..." Michael shouted.
    "Oh, I'm thinkin about it, man! Whatcha gonna do?" Damien nearly screamed.
    "Hey Damien, looks like there's another chick behind those two assholes," one of Damien's companions said. "Looks like a young one."
    "What's with you and the young girls, Ronny?" Damien jokingly asked. The others laughed heartily at Ronny's expense.
    The limping man groaned, "Hey, I thought that was Damien's thing." The immediate silence that followed strongly implied there was some truth to this statement, or at least some related past event. The limping man was thrown to the ground. He grunted as he hit the wet asphalt.
    "I shoot you in the goddamn chest and you still got the balls to