This Broken City Sky

“So, you mean to tell me, the one morning I have a hangover from Hell, the power decides it just wants to shut…off?” Kat asked as she sat on the end of the bed, holding her head in her hands and keeping her eyes shut from the bright light that filtered into the room. Mikey was over at the table where the coffee maker to their room used to be and was drumming his fingers on the table anxiously. Gerard was working on his third cigarette in a row and was pacing the floor in front of the beds with an extremely thoughtful look in his eyes. Johnny merely sat beside Kat, glancing nervously around the room as he gently rubbed her back, trying to at least soothed the distressed woman.

“What do you think this means?” Johnny asked, glancing between Gerard and Mikey, since his sister was in no mood or condition to answer any questions logically.

“I don’t know,” Gerard answered truthfully before putting his cigarette to his lips and taking another long drag. Mikey continued to drum his fingers on the table, staring miserably out the window to the city below. The four in room ‘413’ hadn’t heard anything from the adjoining room, spare that the door was slightly cracked open. They heard no movement in the room, other than the occasional snore from Ray(Gerard and Mikey could tell which snores were his).

“It means that whoever is supposed to be running the electricity through here and powering it, is gone,” Kat spoke up in a groggy, rough sounding voice. Naturally, her voice was raspy anyway, but with the addition of how much alcohol she drank the night before and how many cigarettes she smokes it was bound to sound rough. “They’re either dead or one of those walking around outside. I mean, it’s not like we cooked much anyways, but the fact that this place goes pitch black at night is really disheartening.”

“There’s got to be some sort of backup system in this place,” Mikey said softly from his spot by the window. Kat took in a deep breath and looked up and around the room.

“But even then, it’s probably going to run on batteries…or gasoline,” Kat said shaking her head. “It’ll just run out eventually.” She cupped a hand over her mouth and let out a heavy sigh. She looked over at Johnny, who wore a worried expression on his face, and let her hand drop from her mouth. “I’m not going to sugar-coat my opinion, Johnny, but eventually, we’re going to have to leave and find someplace new. The food and water will run out and we’ll be forced to leave the safety of this place.” Mikey and Gerard exchanged a look before looking over at the siblings.

“Do you think there are people out there like us?” Johnny asked, looking around the room slowly. “D-do you think that there are any other survivors?” Kat let out a sigh and glanced between Gerard and Mikey before looking over at Johnny.

“I’d like to hope that there are. But…it’s very likely that we’re the only ones alive in this city…maybe even the only ones alive on the East Coast,” she said before biting her bottom lip hard.

“There has to be more people out there,” Johnny said, shaking his head. “I refuse to believe that everyone is gone.” Kat ran her fingers through her messy blonde hair and didn’t say anything in response, merely looking down at the ground. She then lay back on the bed, pressing her palms into her eyes gently until spots of color floated behind her eyelids. The headache she had was only increasing, mainly because she was hung over, but it didn’t help that she hadn’t had any coffee.

“Did I…say anything embarrassing last night…to anyone?” Kat asked hesitantly, not lifting her hands from her eyes to look around the room. Johnny shot a look to Gerard, who had his eyebrows raised so high they disappeared behind the slight fringe he had.

“Well…you were drunk, so I really didn’t think too much of it,” Gerard replied softly. Kat let her hands drop from her face and she looked over at Gerard with an emotionless expression on her face.

“What did I say?” She asked in a low, serious voice. Gerard let out a sigh and stubbed his cigarette on the window sill.

“Well…you kind of…said that you…” Kat let out a sigh and sat up.

“You know what,” Kat said, shaking her head, “how about we just keep that a secret between you and me, alright?” She reached over to the bedside table and grabbed her packet of cigarettes, lighting one almost immediately. Johnny shot Gerard an apologetic look before sighing heavily. They then heard the door to the other room open and the sound of two pairs of footsteps.

“So, guys, if you hadn’t noticed,” Frank started, walking into the room and setting aside the crowbar he had grabbed, “the power is out and it isn’t just a surge. Dylan and I just checked the breakers.” They could hear movement in the other room and Dylan talking quietly with Lily. Kat merely drug her fingertips through her hair, while expelling the smoke from her cigarette.

“Shit, man,” Mikey grumbled from his seat by the window, shaking his head, “it could have at least waited until one of us finished a pot of coffee. Shit.” Johnny let out a tiny chuckle and shook his head.

“Well…at least I took a shower yesterday,” he said with a shrug and Kat shot him a venomous look while taking a drag of her cigarette. The room fell quiet yet again as Frank sat down on the end of the bed opposite of Kat and Johnny.

“Look…Frank, I’m sorry about…being mean to you earlier,” Kat said, causing all eyes to dart to her. She paid them no mind. “It was really bitchy of me…and I really shouldn’t have been that way, seeing as though we’re kind of stuck together for a while.” Frank stared at her for a few moments before sighing.

“I’m sorry for being a royal douche bag when we first met,” he said, causing Kat to crack a rarely seen smile. Frank returned the gesture for a moment before Lily, Dylan, and Ray stepped into the room.

“There are solar panels on the roof that’ll power only the lights of the building,” Lily said, glancing around the room. “And if you all are desperately seeking coffee, the stoves in the suites are gas powered, so they’ll work until the gas runs out.” Mikey shot up from his chair at that and looked around with wide eyes.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get to making that coffee,” he said before clasping his hands together and rubbing them together anxiously. Gerard let out a chuckle and shook his head as laughter drifted through the room.

“You are fucking insane,” he said, looking over at his little brother. Mikey merely glanced over at Gerard, obviously unenthused with what he had said, only causing more laughter.

“C’mon then, Mikey,” Kat said with a smile, stubbing out her cigarette and grabbing her hand gun, tucking it into the back of her jeans, “unlike these fuckers, I can sympathize with an addiction to coffee. Then, once we’ve all had our fix, we’ll deal with the lack of electricity.” Kat didn’t have to tell Mikey twice, he was following her before she even realized he was. Frank and Gerard sent a look to each other as the door opened and quickly gathered up their weapons of choice and followed after.

Once the four of them reached the eleventh floor suite, Kat went straight to the cabinets and began to rifle through them, looking for anything for them to make coffee and bring it back down to the others. She sighed as she pulled out a French Press, knowing it’d probably be their best bet.

“I found the grounds,” Mikey chimed triumphantly as he pulled out a bag of Starbucks brand coffee.

“That’s the good stuff,” Frank murmured, staring hard at the bag of coffee. Kat stared hard at the stove before sighing heavily and shaking her head as she walked over to the taps of the stainless steel sink. She turned them a bit, yet didn’t expect any water to fall from the faucet. It didn’t.

“We don’t have any water, guys,” she said lowly, glancing around to the three other men in the room. Mikey just stared at her with wide eyes before pointing to the refrigerator.

“Check in there. There should be a few water bottles in there,” he said and Gerard quickly stepped over to the refrigerator, immediately pulling out a few water bottles and handing them to Kat, who had pulled out a kettle and began to fill it. Mikey leaned against the counter, tapping his fingers against the surface of it anxiously.

“Jesus, Mikey,” Kat quipped, glancing over her shoulder at him with a comical smile, “if you’re that impatient, you get the first cup, okay?” Mikey smiled widely as he watched her place the kettle on the stove and click on the burner. Gerard chuckled at his brother before closing the door to the refrigerator.

“We all get first cups, right?” Frank asked, glancing around nervously. Kat let out a laugh as she watched the kettle, waiting for the tell-tale whistle as she scooped a few spoonful of coffee grounds into the bottom of the French press. “I mean…we made the coffee…”

“Sure, Frank,” Gerard said with a nod before glancing over at Kat, who was shaking her head and laughing lightly.

“We‘re hopeless,” she said with a smirk, causing the three men in the room to laugh as well.