The Writing Dead thread submission

}< Prologue >{

Lou put away his safety goggles next to his ear protection, put in his hearing aid, picked up the newspaper and went to the couch to conclude the day. He took the cage of his new pet and put it next to the TV. He figured he should name the frog after something mythical, and he wasn't sure how he would keep his methods a secret. Something fitting would pop up soon as he got a better habitat for his majestic show piece, he thought, as he sank into his couch, broke eye contact with the animal, and turned on the television. Now he jumped up again right in the air. Lou stood with his eyes wide open, unable to blink, staring at the television screen, trembling, and just forgot about everything he had achieved in the past few weeks. He never thought this outcome would be possible. He wanted to wake up now, but there was no escape from reality. Why didn't he bother to call back? He could have prevented it, or at least saved so many lives.

>{ Earlier that day }<

"So, Ettina, describe to me what progress you are going to make today", Ed said. "Well, I am here today because the electrical circuit is finally installed," she wasn't going to finish her sentence, when the electrician opened the door, who looked puzzled as if he just tried to travel to Mars but came back to ask for directions. "There seems to be an older installation embedded in the foundation of the building that conflicts with your desired configurations. I have to make a temporary shortcut if you want to use the electricity today, I propose a short term solution." "Let me see what hideous outcome you are talking about", said always curious Ed, and the two of them disappeared into the basement. Ettina was not prepared for her career to turn into zoo keeping. Anymore setback and the animals are going to have to be sold. She was dressed in her white uniform, and tried rehearsing in her head what steps she would take in the supposed finished laboratory to undertake initial experiments. The sink in the kitchen, and the central heating on her floor echoed noises that the electrician and Ed down in the basements caused. She picked up the phone to call her colleagues in the head office from the other side of the world. Annoyed by the sounds from down the reinforced iron door of the elevator shaft, that sounded like a construction site, Ettina went over to the balcony, trying not to think about the bills that would grow as there might be a complete renovation, even a plummer needed later, and the contractor might have to be contacted soon, by the sound of it. She wasn't afraid of heights. "Etty! Tell me how the results are looking!" Said Lou on the phone. He wasn't normally enthusiastic at all. To this day his voice didn't match any image in her head of what he could look like. Trying to think of a way how he looks just made her feel silly, but she was glad about his refreshed attitude."There is a delay in our agenda, we can't begin testing today." She calmly replied. She wasn't sure if Lou heard her, but from his reaction he didn't seem annoyed by the noise on her end; "Well, we are living up to expectations. Most subjects recover before they even know what hit 'em!" How long lasts the interval between shock and revival?, she thought in excitement. Ettina thought about the side effects of the chemical bath. "It's important nobody contacts the press before enough data are covered with certainty." The growing noise from inside, briefly reminded her to make an appointment with the dentist, and she just wanted to close the balcony door. "I'm surprised, congratulations to you, Lou and the rest of the enterprise, I think the news will spread fast. I really hope we will have the same --- "

Ed looked at the sweaty electrician that smelled like burned rubber, grind metal and dank concrete. He had been at the job for the morning and he had a blank expression on his face that was placed high on his neck, with a heavy chin and deep, dark, dirty but rare wrinkles around a nose with a bridge wider then the two far ends of his nostrils. The elevator ride took them to the lab. Ed was really proud of his work, and knew his pride was out of place at the moment, but he just wanted to compliment the electrician, who discretely had "Marcelino" as a name tag embroidered on his chest. Ed was proud his office had access to two elevators, and that it was functioning, and that there was a functional electrician in it. "Your first job today?" Asked Ed. "Yes, and I was thinking of taking the rest of the day off." Said the electrician, while he spontaneously shuddered the keys in his pocket. "Not that I'm going to cancel anything". They entered the basement. To Ed's relief, the animals were stored safely and healthy away from the equipment and dusty dig site. He saw the basement floor was made out of concrete and had the electricity, and other lines among pipes cast into the ground, without efficient orientation or proper modern day functionality. He was against using this location, but the head office needed quick verification of test results, when they had it, they could send in an observer for official verification, and then begin large scale experimentation with government funds. By then, this project would have become obsolete, so it was serving as a cheap, short term solution anyway. Clearly, his job was to create the future, but right now he believed in cleaning up in the present, for leaving traces of a representational past. A historian would be happy here, not a scientist. The whole floor needed to be renovated in order for it to become a genuine trustworthy lab. The electrician went at it to pull some lines, poke with his tools in trenches and holes, scraping off rust from pipes, as he explained how a shortcut can be made, fitting to the lab's needs. "Just shove the dirt under the carpet", Ed agreed with the solution, to make no further delay in the agenda. "You will have access to the circuit before lunch", the electrician required no further assistance, except possibly for being served by Ed at his installed coffee break, lasting until lunch. Ed turned to the elevator with the mesh netting door, and was glad to leave the site because of the noise that started to come from the equipment. Maybe this day it was better to give the animals some rest before handling them, and he figured he should spend the rest of they day testing the cages, testing the microscopes, the clamps, doing theoretical experiments and all round check ups in and around the lab doing work of too great importance. *Clang!* The old elevator got stuck. Ed wasn't even two meters up, still could see the electrician who already noticed the situation, through a gap. "I need to reassemble a lot of cables in order to get the elevator running. I hope you have something to do in the meantime." He said. There was no emergency button or anything in this outdated cage. "Well, instead of fixing that, let's focus on opening the doors", Ed replied, with his head and knees on the bottom. "I can fit through the gap". With a lever they forced the doors open, and Ed got out. He was never in the basement before this day, but he had seen blueprints. There was a different way out, a crawlspace leading to the elevator shaft of the public elevator. They could get on top of that, then get in to it, and be free. Ed explained the idea to the electrician, who was a professional, so he didn't leave his equipment behind. Besides, they could use it to enter the functional elevator. He took the electricity off, because of the risk of fire hazard, and he was not sure when it would be necessary to return and followed the sound of the scientist, who might have found the opening to the tunnel, because he was making sounds of being pleasantly surprised. Ed was 100% surprised, but not totally pleasantly, as he did find a way out of the basement. "I am afraid of the dark." The smart thinking electrician knew what to do. He turned the light and the electricity back on, followed by relief and praise of Ed. Then he started to remove and connect wires and light bulbs, and went into the tunnel to decorate it. After a while he heard the electrician return, and he had time to look at the creatures in the cages with terror in their eyes. "I have lit up the place and installed a wire, pull it, if you are at the end of the tunnel. There is light from the elevator shaft, so then I will pack up and come after you in the dark. Don't stick your head out the exit; the shaft is too tight for passing trough anything other than the elevator." "Thank you", Ed said with a wide smile, that turned into an ever wider grin when he entered the decorated tunnel to the elevator shaft, worried. The shaft was silent, the elevator was not at their level. He pressed himself to the wall, then he yanked the string.

The line was dead. Great. The noise from inside was gone too. Then: an audible roar, a buzz raced through town, and Ettina thought this sound was added in movies for drama.

* BZZZwooMMMmmm *

The lights went off. He blinked. The sound so loud and prolonged didn't seem right for a couple of light bulbs. He looked around in complete darkness; there was no light source available up the shaft. He started to shake and pulled again on the rope. He wanted to hold on to it, but felt it being pulled back to the basement. Ed backed away from the exit to the shaft, afraid of falling into the shaft. "Hey, man get me out of here!" He yelled. No reaction.

As Ettina looked up and peered around town, her gaze hunted about, as all power in town turned off in synchronicity. A crashing car, cars honking. More crashing. Chaos: the city was without electricity. Nothing lit the shadows that were cast by the tall buildings. Some people got out of their cars to resign from traffic that has become lawless and rowdy, some didn't even park. The subway station drained the surfacing crowds it poored on the street. Some buildings flushed all residents. Ettina felt little for a couple of minutes, overlooking the unfolding drama. She went back inside. Nothing worked, not the lights, not the TV, not the phone. She was kind of glad if she could go home after this turn of events, she has been a nervous wreck in anticipation of this important day already, but it didn't matter anymore. Either way, she went to the door to the basement. Stuck. She fiercely knocked on the door. No reaction. "Eddy! Ed!" She yelled with her ear against the door. She yelled louder. Nothing. She decided to wait, eventually they had to come back, and she didn't want to risk missing out on them as they would be looking for each other. She went to relax out.

Ed heard how the metal buttons were pushed several times in close sequential up different floors up the shaft of the elevator. It wasn't going to move. The rope slipped from his fingers, no matter how much he held on. He had to follow, the shaft was not an option without the electrician's guidance. "This is not funny! I will have you fired!" On his way back, he turned around the corner and to his surprise he saw light. Entered the basement again. He heard breathing from the animals, but not an electrician. There was a fire, and he saw the electrician there. Dead? The cables have caused a fire. Warning the authorities was not the best option within the time span, so he had to use his expertise. The electrician might just be capable of finishing his job right after he got him back on his feet. Although the circuitry wasn't finished yet, Test subject #2.1 had already administered shock. Ed opened the barrel with liquid. He lift up dead the electrician and placed him in the barrel. He added the sparking cables.

"Fireworks." Ettina couldn't help herself. She didn't hear herself, nor the sirens, nor the helicopters, however, because of the loud, spectacular crackling noise, from the electrical grid that got a fatal overload and the power outage came to a 360 degree end. It was blown totally out in a few seconds; telephone lines, the metro, tram, streetlights, all kind of facilities, became a fountain of sparks. Explosions. Black smoke started to rise from all around the city and flames took a grip of the many structures. Panic. Many injured people. The streets needed more place for ambulances and firefighters. After viewing this spectacle for a while, her worry about Ed had her thinking normal again and she went inside, only to figure out the TV went on but it did not broadcast anything. The power was back on, somehow the apartment building was safe from destruction. The elevator still was stuck though, and there could be no telephone calls. The public elevator was back in service. The doors opened.

The electrician roared unearthly loud after the reaction had stopped and Ed removed the cables from the empty barrel. What body parts of him made that sound is uncertain. Ed's eardrums were shattered from the reaction's loud feedback, so he was pleasantly surprised to see Test subject #2.1 'yawn', an obvious sign of life. The electrician was not what he used to be before he died. All his muscles were forced to absorb the energy that would have disintegrated anybody without the proper guidance, and every fiber all served one single purpose. It wasn't clear what ever the reassigned function of the brain was now, because that organ's wires are definitely fried. "Let's find a way out of here" Ed said, and he was pleased when he saw the attempts of the electrician were to follow his example. The barrel fell over and thus the electrician escaped from his contraption and got on his feet. His posture and stance had changed, all his bodily cells were overloaded and buff, but damaged and broken at the same time. His hair was in all directions, except downwards, and smelled like coals. He let out a constant wheezing, peeping, coughing sound, sometimes it even resembled a song.

Ed reached the elevator shaft and saw his chance to jump on the elevator in service. He saw the electrician crawl from around the corner of the tunnel, who happened to pace up as he saw Ed. Ed started to break into the elevator, and to his surprise the people that were in it, left the cubicle quickly. His reflection scared him; his ears had blood dripping down his white professor's uniform. He didn't know he has gotten deaf until now. He was very proud. His first attempt at reviving a creature was an actual human. He waited to push the button to Ettina's floor until Test subject #2.1 came up. Faster then expected. "I owe you one", Ed said, as the electrician plummeted from the elevator's trapdoor down next to him, and reached up...

Ettina jumped in terror from her dreamworld, up from the most awful terrible screaming known to man. All the misery she had just witnessed around town couldn't add up to this horror. She covered her ears, and in panic stood in front of the public elevator. In went up. Up. Up. The terror louder, nearer. Nothing. Almost at the penthouse. Her heart jumped when it went for her floor. Her eyes wider as ever before, the doors opened, a smell of coal welcomed her. Since when did they paint the elevator red? Ed? Missing lumps of flesh from his face and he reached his arms up to her, with gaping wounds in his arms and coves in his hands. The electrician? With a skin color that wouldn't be fashionable on any one ever, gnawing on Ed's lower legs, soaking in blood. They both looked her dead in the eye, grunting, Ed fell over flat on his face, his eyes still locked on Ettina's, reaching an angle inside his skull quite inhumane. The electrician reached on his legs and stomped on Ed's skull and went for a hug with Ettina. Ettina was paralyzed and couldn't take her eyes off as she backed away, Ed reached back on his feet with his skull barely in one piece. Ettina now screamed, seemingly enough to leave both gentlemen in a slight state of perplexity. She turned around, opened her eyes again, and closed the balcony door after she fled there. Unfortunately, that one is made of glass.

Outside, a speeding car to find refuge in places that didn't just had the most devastating electrical black out in the history of mankind. The driver was really about to stop, because she drove past a building that looked like it was unaffected. She drove slower and looked up, as if the building was going to fall over, on her car. But it didn't. From the sky, an assortment of bodies rained down and before she could anticipate, they plummeted into her hood.

*SCHLACK* *THANG* *CRUNCH*

Three people just committed suicide... or was it a horrible accident? Poor S.L., her front window was completely red now, and her car total loss, so she went out. The odd sounds originating from the pile of metal and flesh where the impact happened, just were a little too ominous and made her want to get the hell away. The wry door wouldn't open completely and to her shock she could feel movement, and when she looked, there was an uncalled for sign of life, she just rather didn't witness. A gargling bipedal silhouette rose from where it had landed and started to propel autonomously. An other body that shouldn't be in a state accountable for residing any lifeforms just started to disengage from the scenery under guidance of screeching from the third and most violent one who rose mighty tall above the wreck. S.L. decided to close the door again, and climbed to the backseat. She hoped no unwanted visitors would look here to file any insurance claims at this time of day.