I woke up to silence and darkness. The only light came through the window, dull and gray. The silence was unlike anything I had ever heard before. There were the normal sounds of life, but the constant sound of static was missing. I had never noticed it before but it's absence was maddening. I had trouble rising to my feet without falling back down.

The moving pathways in the hallway were still. I kicked at them, but they didn't move. I shuffled to my brother's room with my hand on the wall to steady myself. The sliding door to his room was wide open. I squinted my eyes to make out the shape on the floor, which after a moment, I realized it was my brother Xander. He was curled up in a ball, rocking himself, and muttering words that I couldn't make out.

“Xander?” I whispered.

He looked up at me and in the dull light I saw tears shining on his face. “The silence,” he said with some difficulty, “What does it mean?” His voice quivered and I saw a side of him that I hadn't seen in years. Although he was only seventeen, he acted as the man of the house after father's absence. It bothered me to see him so vulnerable. I was always one step behind Xander, following in his shadow.

I tried to flip on the light switch but the room remained dark. Xander watched me with wide eyes as I flipped the switch again.

“This isn't possible..” I muttered to myself.

“It's not just the lights Zarah,” he said, “Nothing is working.”

“There hasn't been a blackout in more than a hundred years! Not since 2054!” I said getting hysterical, “They don't happen anymore! What if it doesn't come back on? Does anyone have power? How will we find out if the computers not working!How are we going to get a hold of anyone-”

“Shut up.” Xander muttered.

I stopped rambling and looked up at him.

“We need to go outside. That's the only solution. There might be other people out there who know what to do.” Xander said, and just like that, he was himself again, in control.

“Outside? But.. It's unfit to live out there! UV rays, spiders.. who know what could happen?”

“Then what do you suggest, staying here in the dark until we die of starvation or thirst?” Xander said sarcastically.

“That seems like a better option than going out there! Its not safe! It's too bright and.. and..”

“You can stay in here if you want. I'm going outside.”

And just like that I surrendered to his logic and followed him to the door outside. I was getting used to walking on my own, even though I missed the moving hallway. If only I knew what exactly would come from the outside world.

Xander opened the door hesitatingly and instantly we were shocked by the bright, sharp light. I covered my eyes and wished that I could just stay inside. Xander sighed and said, “Here goes nothing, Zarah.”

When my eyes got adjusted to the brightness I made out tall gray buildings that obstructed most of my view. There was barely any space to walk as there were buildings everywhere. I followed him down the street until we saw what at first we thought was rubbish, or a pile of trash. On closer examination I realized it was a human. He was the tannest human I had ever seen, his skin looked like leather dried out from the sun.

Xander kept his distance and called out quietly, “Identify yourself,” He regained his confidence and walked closer to it and repeated himself, louder, “Identify yourself!”

The human, I realized it was a man, slowly lifts his head, and looks at us with a sneer. “What brings you two zombies outside of your sanctuary?”

Xander scoffed, “Zombies? You look more like the zombie to me. When was the last time you showered?”

I chimed in, “Can you tell me your name?”

He smiled mockingly at us, “When was the last time you've seen the light, darling? My name is Peter, since you seem to care so much.”

I nudged Xander and said, “Come on, let's move along.”

“No, not yet... I’m not done with this guy. You don’t actually live outside do you? Why would you choose to do that?” He asked curiously.

Peter smiled again, the whole thing seemed like a big joke to him, “Yes, I actually do live outside,” he said in a voice mocking Xander’s, “I'm not brainwashed like you little twerps either. You would never go outside on your own, would you? I guess it actually worked. The resistance actually did it. About time too.”

“Resistance?” I asked, “I don't know what you're talking about. And they did what? Were they the ones who turned the power off?”

Peter laughed maniacally for a solid minute, almost in tears. Xander started to get mad and shouted at him, “Shut up! She asked you a question! Who's the resistance!?”

Peter stopped laughing and smiled cruelly at us, “It looks like your reign of stupidity is over. The power’s never coming back on. And it's not like there is anyone alive anymore who would know how to turn it back on. Most of you will probably die..” He started laughing again at the thought of it, “Haha.. I'm sorry. It's your own fault really. You never really questioned what it's like outside, did you? I bet you don't even know what happiness is. Only know how to defeat the next level on your video game.”

“How would you know? I bet you've never played one in your life! How do you know what happiness is?! What gives you the right to decide how we live our lives?” Xander yelled.

“When you're trying to ruin mine, I've got every reason to decide.”

Xander drew back his arm and tried to punch Peter, but Peter caught his fist in his hand. He grabbed Xander's arm and flipped him over on his back in a second, knife against Xander's throat. “Don't try to fight a warrior when you barely know how to walk.” Peter said and laughed again. Peter stood back up and laughed. Xander shuffled back up to his feet and started to run away from him until he tripped over his own feet and hit the concrete with his face. As to be expected, Peter started laughing again.

“STOP LAUGHING!” I screamed at Peter.

From the corner of a building stepped a tall man who was tanned like Peter. He had to be part of the resistance.

“Yo Peter!” The tall man yelled, “It worked! The pale ones are coming out of their caves!”

“Mitch!” Peter yelled in greeting, “Like to state the obvious, don't cha?”

“You want to explain what's going on?” I asked. “This guy has just been laughing like an idiot.”

“You think Peter here is an idiot?” The tall man said. “Hah, that's funny. Do you even know how to wipe your own ass? Doesn't that make you the idiot? Just let the robots do all the work. You want to know what's going on? You pale people and your technology are taking away all the life on this earth. We had to stop you before you took away everything, before you destroyed the planet. We, The Resistance, are a group of about 500 or so, we’ve been trying to live our own lives without robots choosing how for us. The only way to continue living like we do is to stop all the technology.”

Xander finally stood up after crouching on the ground holding his face in pain. “You're insane! The lot of you! Turn the technology back on! Turn it back on or fear the consequences!”

“You really don't know how to shut up, do you?” Peter asked. “You're threatening me? You pales are too stupid to survive. We're just doing the world a favor here. What could possibly stop us? The military? There hasn’t been one in fifty years. You pale’s have had your life handed to you. We’ll see who actually makes it. Survival of the fittest, no?”

Before my eyes realized what was happening, Xander was back on the ground with Peter on top of him, punching him in the face. Xander was screaming in pain and now it was Mitch who was laughing.

“Stop it!” I screamed, “Stop!” Tears were streaming down my face. Peter continued beating Xander as if he couldn't hear me. I saw the gleam of his knife and heard the sound of him stabbing Xander in the chest but my mind couldn't comprehend it. Peter stood up and stepped back and I ran over to help Xander. Blood was spilling out of his mouth and his lips moved as if he was trying to speak to me, but all I could hear was gargling.

“You killed him!” I screamed. “You killed him!”

“He was too stupid to live. Hopefully you're smarter.” Mitch said simply. “We'll give everyone a knife and matches, the rest of survival is up to you. Most likely you'll all die in a matter of weeks. Can't say we didn't give you a chance.”

I stood up and backed away from Xander. Fear had overtaken me. “Let me live, please, let me
live,” I begged.

Mitch handed me the knife and matches and said, “You're on your own.”

“I give her three days, tops,” Peter says.

I looked at them for a minute and then turned and ran as far away from them as I could. The outside world was unlike anything I was used to, full of filth and debris. I had no idea how I would find food, and I didn't know what the so called 'matches' were, but I knew that I would find a way to survive. I knew that I would stop at nothing to get the power back on and to avenge my brothers death. I would not let the resistance win.