NightFall by Roger Hayden

presence.
    “ Dad?” Kelly said,
hurrying over. “Mom?”
    The other students watched in near
silence as Josh scurried away as if facing the most awkward moment
of his life.
    Mila hugged Kelly and then went toward
Josh—who backed away, embarrassed.
    “ What are you guys doing
here?” he asked.
    “ We’ve come to take you
home,” Rob answered.
    Kelly was not
enthused. “But they’ve had us in here all
morning. We’ve haven’t seen anything yet!”
    Mila put her arm around
Kelly, comforting her. “We’ll come another
time, honey. We have to get home now.”
    “ The power is going to
come back on any minute,” Kelly said. “I know it.”
    Rob leaned in with a stern look and
not a hint of patience left in him.
    “ Do you have all your
things?” he asked.
    Kelly nodded with her backpack over
her shoulders.
    Josh was empty
handed. “What is this all about?” he
asked.
    “ Get your things and let’s
go,” Rob said to him. “I’ll explain later.”
    Josh seemed to get the
message and moved quickly back to the table as some of the other
kids looked up and watched him, snickering. “Have fun sitting here all day,” he said back to them,
grabbing his backpack.
    Rob and Mila thanked Mrs.
Ramsey. “You have no idea how much you’ve
done for us,” Mila said.
    Rob looked around the
cafeteria one last time. There was no conceivable plan to look
after them all. He only hoped Mrs. Ramsey would heed his warnings.
Feeling magnanimous, he lifted up the end of his shirt, exposing
the pistol in his pocket. “Mrs. Ramsey. I
don’t want to alarm you, but I really think you might be better off
with this. It’s the least we can do.”
    She recoiled. “Mr. Parker. This is a gun-free zone. I’d suggest
your family move along before any of the security guards get wind
of this.”
    “ I understand,” Rob said,
lowering his shirt. “Just remember what I said. Things are only
going to get worse. Your best bet is to wait in here until proper
accommodations can be made to get these children home.”
    Mrs. Ramsey nodded. “We plan to, Mr.
Parker. The safety of our students comes first at all
times.”
    Rob didn’t envy her position, and he knew they had to move on. He
looked to his waiting family and signaled to the double doors.
“Let’s go.”
     
    True to
Rob ’s fears, things only seemed to have
gotten worse outside. Museum security guards had organized a vast
perimeter around the building with barricades and extra guards. He
hurried his family down the stairs outside the museum’s north
entrance, down onto the sidewalk where crowds had assembled along
5th Avenue in a cacophony of pandemonium. Neither Josh nor Kelly
looked prepared for it.
    Rob stopped them before
going any farther. “Stay close to us. We
have a good two miles back to the car.”
    They tried to listen, but were
distracted.
    “ Why’d you park so far
away?” Josh asked.
    Rob outstretched his arm in an
all-encompassing gesture. Easily outnumbering other vehicles,
Yellow taxis filled all three lanes of the 5th Ave and East 82nd
Street intersection near the museum. The roads were filled with
hundreds of people, on the sidewalk and street corners as well. The
NYPD was on the scene, mismatched between riot gear and regular
uniforms, trying to enforce order.
    Lines of street vendors defensively
manned their stations, trying to keep up with the demands of the
encircling crowds, growing impatient and demanding food while
waving cash in the air. Local news crews were on site, trying to
get their equipment to work to no avail.
    “ What happened?” Josh
asked. “Why are there so many people out here?”
    “ Listen to me carefully,”
Rob said, trying to talk over all the noise. “The power grids are
down. Cars have been disabled, along with phones and electronics.
We have to get out of the city. Everything will be OK as long as we
get to the cabin.”
    Josh pulled out his cell
phone, powerless like all the others. “But
I thought it was just