The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka

Author:Aimee Pokwatka [Pokwatka, Aimee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

* * *

Brandon was clearing out the survival memoirs when the lights in the lobby went out.

“Again?” he said. He was holding one book about fighting a bear, another about self-amputation.

Everyone froze, waiting for the lights to come back on. From the stacks, the kids made ghost noises, undead moans.

The lobby remained dark. Nadira gave up waiting and hauled her graphic novels to the vault, where the power remained on, while Lucy disappeared into the romance section with her phone’s flashlight, searching, Mad heard her tell Quinn, for a book she’d seen in her mom’s bedroom. At the desk, Marshall convened a meeting with Arthur and Jim.

“Could it be a transformer?” Jim said. They’d grown used to the sound now, the constant knocking of owls against windows and doors. Who knew what else the birds were hitting?

“Not if it’s just one room at a time,” Marshall said. His nose had stopped bleeding, but he had a tissue stuffed inside, just in case.

“Are you an electrician?” Roberta said. Randy appeared from the hall holding a small toolbox.

“Are you an electrician?” Marshall asked Roberta. “Are you?” he asked Arthur and Jim.

No one in the building was an electrician.

“Then I’m the best you’ve got,” Marshall said. “Could be bad wiring somewhere, or overheating, but if it hasn’t been a problem before now, probably not.” He reached into Randy’s toolbox and pulled out a screwdriver.

“You don’t need a screwdriver to check the circuit box,” Roberta said.

“We don’t know what we need,” Marshall said. From the box, he also pulled a long flashlight, which he handed to Arthur. “But don’t worry, little lady. We’ll take care of it.”

Roberta looked at Randy. “Go with them,” she said. She waited until the seniors were out of the room before she called him back and took him by the shoulder. “Don’t let them fuck anything up.”

Randy nodded vigorously as he went after the men, who’d charged off in the wrong direction.

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