Awakenings

I woke with a start, drenched in sweat and confusion. Outside there was a cacophony of alarms, and I could smell smoke and dust. It was too hot.

There was an orange flicker behind the curtains. Somewhere, not too distant, something big exploded. A woman screamed, and there was the sound of men shouting. I couldn't make out any distinct words.

The house phone was dead, and my mobile had no signal. That was strange in itself. I'd never had any problems with signal strength in my flat. Whatever was going on out there was big.

I pulled back the curtains as another explosion shook the windows. I couldn't see what was burning, but the orange glow in the buildings opposite told me that it was on this side of the street, whatever it was.

Shortly, TV and Radio news stations would start urging calm, and for civilians to stay within the safety of their own homes. Probably too soon just now though. For now, they would describe little more than what people could see from their own windows, make conjectures, and propagate myths. Behind the scenes, they'd frantically try to contact the authorities.

I didn't plan to wait for the sanitized censored story to be spoon-fed to me. I wasn't any safer at home, and Sky News weren't ever going to tell me what I needed to know any time soon.

The power was down, so I dressed in the dark, pulling the laces on my boots tight. It was time to find out what was happening.