Chloe flew down the stairs of the Planet, pushing her way past the throngs of panicked employees who were making their way up.
"Where are you going?" Shouted one of her co-workers, a short balding man. He grabbed her arm, trying to pull her in the opposite direction.
"To my desk. Now let me go!" She snapped jerking free of his steel grip.
"It's your funeral Sullivan." He sneered and disappeared into the crowd.
Less than fifteen minutes ago all of the power in Metropolis suddenly went out, computer systems crashed, and basically all hell had broken loose. Chloe was upstairs at the time on a break.
"Oh my goodness, what is this?" The receptionist from the front desk cried. She began to look around the crowded area and spotted Chloe, coffee cup in hand. "Hey, blondie! You're good with computers; do you know what this is?"
Chloe whirled around. Janice, the receptionist was always needing her help. She began to lose count of all the times she had to help her unfreeze the computer, or reboot the system after a crash. Yet somehow, she could never remember her name. "Just hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete, Janice!" She laughed.
"No, blondie. I don't think that's going to help….this." The sound of alarm in her voice was enough to intrigue Chloe. She pitched her empty cup and walked behind the desk, as Janice swiveled the monitor over so she could see it clearly.
"What the?" Was all Chloe could muster as she watched the screen. It was ablaze with bright green symbols, flashing fast like Christmas lights.
"I swear. I didn't do anything" She pleaded.
"No, I know you didn't do this." Chloe replied. She recognized the symbols immediately. They were the Kryptonian symbols that just a day earlier she had tried to decode. The same symbols that when read, told of the impending visit of a rebel Kryptonian named Zod. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she didn't like it. The two of them stared at the screen for a few minutes in disbelief. Janice looked especially dumbstruck. Chloe looked up to see a group of employees walk past them, chatting loudly. She turned her head to over hear their discussion.
"Yes, and then all this green gibberish just popped up on the monitors. Everyone's computer in the news room has been affected, and nothing is working. My friend Pam up in HR said none of the computers are working up there or in the executive office's either. Kahn was apparently pitching a fit."
This definitely peeked her interest. But before she could process the information, all of the lights went off followed by a succession of loud pops and snaps; several overhead lights shattered, spraying sparks to the ground. Chloe ducked behind the reception desk as a light above her exploded. She heard a few high pitched screams and expletives. As she stood back up to get a better look at the scene, a man from outside jumped off his bike and ran in through the revolving doors. He looked shaken. He came over to them, and threw his Daily Planet messenger bag down. He stood for a moment, to catch his breath, before he began to speak. "I see it's finally reached our offices..." He said, surveying the damage. "It's crazy out there! All the power in Metropolis has been going out, from building to building. Traffic lights too, everything. I must have passed at least five car accidents on the way here. I overheard that the gas mains are shut down, the subways are dead, and there are people still stuck in them..." As if on cue, several loud bangs came from the closed doors of the elevator shafts. A group of people rushed to aid the trapped over a chorus of "helps." "Elevators too".
Chloe and Janice exchanged looks. Janice lifted the phone receiver up to her ear. "The phones are dead." She whispered.
"Yeah, and so are the cell services. My service is shot; no one else I ran into seemed to be able to get theirs to work either." The man continued.
Chloe pulled her cell out of her pocket. She tried to dial Clark's number but nothing happened. It was indeed dead. "No one has any idea what's going on?" She asked.
"No. The only thing I was able to hear was that the city's main computer system went haywire. Some sort of weird green virus. Then, well all this." He gestured to the commotion all around them.
Chloe looked out through the windows of the lobby and could see frightened people begin to scurry up and down the now darkened streets. Women were walking in tightly knit groups, glancing over their shoulders. A large group of men came up beside one of The Daily Planet delivery trucks parked out at the curb and began to shake it violently. A man in an orange jumpsuit jumped up on the hood and began to kick in the windshield. An old man hurried by as the group let out a whoop of maniacal laughter.
"What is going on out there?" She wondered. "This is madness."
Suddenly, something came flying through one of the front windows, sending glass chards everywhere. Moments later a frazzled woman, with blood oozing from her head ran into the lobby screaming at the top of her lungs. "Belle Reeve! Everyone is loose! The prison's! There all loose, there everywhere! They are taking over the city! It's the end of the world!" Then with great flourish, she threw her hands up in the air and fainted dead away.
The trio exchanged terrified looks. "I'm out of here, you two should get out of here as well. Asap!" The man said and darted off to help the woman.
Chloe was now officially freaking out. She doubted it was the actual end of the world, but she knew this couldn't be an ordinary power outage. A simple power outage wouldn't affect the cities computer systems, and basic infrastructure in this way. And places like Belle Reeve and the local penitentiaries had strong back up power systems in place for this exact reason. But if it was true, and the systems failed, sending all the prisoners and assorted crazies loose, she needed to get out of Dodge – and fast. "Are you gonna be alright?" She asked Janice.
"Yes, I'll be fine. Now you, go, get outta here." She replied, giving her a stern look.
Chloe nodded and dashed off towards the basement stairs.
Chloe was now at her desk, gathering up her belongings as quickly as possible. The emergency lights, powered by a generator, were flashing eerie shadowsalong the now almost deserted basement offices. She wondered how long the generator's batteries would last; before she was flung into total darkness. "Maybe it is the end of the world" She thought with dread. "The symbols did say Zod was coming, and now they're all over the computers. Who knows what he could have in store for us? What if Metropolis isn't the only city being affected? What if it spreads around the world? Maybe this really is the end. God, I might never get to tell him."
She momentarily closed her eyes to stop the tears that threatened to break through. She felt ashamed to be thinking about it at such a moment; when the entire outside world was in chaos, but she couldn't help it. She had accepted that he was in love with Lana, and maybe would always be. She told herself, as long as he is happy, that's all that mattered. And she meant it. But she never stopped loving him. Not once. And regardless of his feelings for Lana, he deserved to know that much. Or rather, she owed it to herself to tell him. "Keep it together Chloe. This isn't the end. You will get to a safe place and everything will be fine. Clark will come to the rescue somehow. He always does. You will have plenty of time to tell him that you love him, okay. Plenty." She looked around with determination. Now was not the time, and she knew it. She had to get out of there and to safety.
The Planet offices were now empty as Chloe dashed up the few flights of stairs back towards the insanity outside. "After I get through this, I promise I will tell Clark." She pushed through the revolving doors and found herself in the middle of a disaster zone. It was a black, starless night illuminated only by car fires that were burning out of control. People were running up and down the street in panic, shouting and screaming over the sounds of windows smashing and metal crunching. She felt glued to the spot; stunned by everything going on all around her. Amazed at how quickly the city had descended into anarchy.
Crowds of looters were climbing in through the windows of a nearby department store, hauling out TVs and other valuables. Groups of men in orange jumpsuits with the words Metropolis Penitentiary printed on the back were shaking cars in an attempt to flip them over. She heard a giant boom behind her as one finally fell. Chloe jumped and looked around frantically for someplace to hide. She had to get it together; it was not safe to linger in the streets. Suddenly there was a crack and a large puff of smoke. Chloe gasped for air, and turned to catch herself in front of a line of policeman, beating down the uprising with riot gear and throwing smoke bombs. "I have to get to safety."
Chloe began to weave her way through the disorder. A little further down the street she spied an abandoned building that was left unscathed. As she ran towards the shelter she saw a large man out of the corner of her eye. He lurched at her and grabbed onto her purse straps. "No! Leave me alone!' She screamed above the noise, hoping someone would come to her aid. No one noticed, or cared, and she struggled to hold on to it. She almost regained control when she felt someone kick her in the shins, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. Her head hit with a thud, and she looked up to see two hulking men standing over her.
"Why looky what we got here." Growled one of them menacingly.
"I see. A pretty little chicky that's all alone." Said another, who was now swinging her purse from his hand; dangling it above her in a taunting fashion.
She heard another voice shout from a few steps away.
"Hey! Leave her alone!"
"Clark?" She managed to get out. Her head was throbbing and she felt weak. She tried to see what was going on, but her vision was now blurry and she could only make out fuzzy outlines of objects.
"Looky, we got ourselves a hero!" Snapped the first man.
"Let her go!"
"What are you gonna do about it?' Barked the second.
She heard a scuffle erupt above her. She could hear the smack of fist against flesh; grunts and groans as she heard bodies slam into one another. There was a large crash followed by the sound of retreating footsteps. Chloe got up on her hands and knees and began to slowly crawl away, her hands rubbing raw against the rough pavement.
"Wait, let me help you. I don't want you to cut yourself. There's glass everywhere."
She felt herself being picked up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt relieved. He had come to save her, just like she knew he would. "Clark, I knew you would come."
There was a pause. "I don't know who this Clark is you keep asking for. But I'm not him. Now I have to get you to the hospital, it looks like you could have a pretty serious head trauma here. Now just calm down. You're gonna be alright."
Confusion overtook her. Who was saving her? Where was Clark? A sharp pain exploded in her temple. She felt a spinning sensation and everything went black.
To be Continued...
