He was trying to get over the shock when suddenly someone collided with him again and grabbed his arm tightly while imploring and pleading for help. He recognized him right away, he was the manager of the supermarket on the ground floor of his building.
Whats the matter with you, neighbor? What happened? he asked.
I cant see, I cant see anything, theres no light, everything is dark, I cant open my eyes, he said.
What do you mean you cant see, something has fallen inside you, some liquid or sand? Rapha replied as he looked straight into his eyes.
His eyelids were closed and somewhat swollen, his eyelashes were like a welded together yellowish, viscous paste that oozed from his tears.
No, the blinding light, the blinding light! he repeated nonsensically.
Rapha still didnt understand anything and the man was saying incoherent things.
What blinding light? Calm down and tell me everything so that I can help you, he said.
The manager calmed down a bit, told him how he was in his supermarket, saying goodbye to some customers, when suddenly everything turned white, a powerful light suddenly appeared and invaded everything for a few endless seconds. Then a great pain appeared in his eyes and from that moment he had lost his vision, he was blind, it was very difficult to open his eyes, even if he managed to open them, he still couldnt see anything. He also told him how he heard the brakes, the beeping of the vehicles, the collisions and the shouting. He asked him if he had asked for help, and he answered that he had, but no one had come.
It was extremely hot, unusual for that time of year, Rapha was still drenched in sweat and it was very difficult for him to think and make decisions. He let go of the managers arm and headed down the street, while the manager shouted again for help. He kept walking, eluding and avoiding everyone in his path, he had learned his lesson.
As he passed a parked vehicle, he noticed that the driver was repeatedly trying to connect to emergencies on his hands free, the lines were not working, that story sounded close to him. As he watched this scene, he deduced that no one would come to help, everyone would be calling the emergency lines, and what if the help services were the same and they had also lost their sight, what if there was no one to help them, what if he was alone to take care of everyone? There were so many people, how could he organize everything, what to do first, what decisions to make, he began to feel the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, he panicked and ran.
As he ran down the avenue aimlessly, the view of the adjacent streets was very similar: smoke, screams, disorder, chaos, junk, inert bodies, blood, and human clutter. Rapha stopped running immediately, his extra kilos and the suffocating heat prevented him from doing so. He was very thirsty, so he went to a nearby bar. But before he entered, a tearful old woman, with unusual speed and skill, grabbed his arm and asked for his help. Rapha looked at her in terror and without thinking, almost instinctively lied to her:
Help me, I got blind! shouted Rapha.
The old woman let him go, realizing that he was in the same situation as her, and that he would be of little use to her. Rapha, surprised by the ease with which she had solved the problem, entered the empty bar. There was a television connected, it only emitted an image of an empty table, without sound. He changed channels looking for information about what had happened, in some stations the programming was normal, films, series, documentaries. On others it was time for the news, but there was no news, in one they focused on the floor, in another you could see a room with people feeling up the walls, the panorama was comical to some extent.
He poured beer into a glass and drank several one while thinking. The man felt overwhelmed, overtaken by events, powerless, and was convinced that his help would be like a drop of water in the immense desert, that he could do little. He already had his own problems with the last nights events, and he felt resentment and hatred towards this society that had tripped him up so much during his life. He had always felt marginalized, humiliated, why would he help them now? He thought that perhaps now was his time, he was overcome by a certain sense of revenge. At that moment a young and beautiful girl entered the bar, groping and stroking the air. She was wearing slender thighs because of a very short miniskirt that flapped when she moved, leaving her buttocks naked with only a thong in between. Rapha got up and hesitated, the effects of alcohol clouded his reasoning, he remained pensive for a few long seconds. He approached her from behind with stealth, pushed her and imprisoned her tightly on a table, the surprised girl stirred with all her strength as she screamed with great desperation, he didnt care about the womans screams, as they overlapped with those of the street. With his weight he prevented the girls struggle and waited patiently, after a few minutes the girls strength began to decline and with her defenses down, he took advantage of the situation and slipped clumsily inside her. After a few brief and strong swings, he relieved himself after many years of abstinence. The young woman only had strengths to cry, Rapha fastened his fly and invited her to sit down to rest, he gently grabbed her arm to guide her but the young woman drew strength from her own weakness, becoming agitated again in an attack of hysteria and feeling liberated, she ran away madly, tripping over chairs and tables until she finally collapsed on the floor, bruised and exhausted.
Rapha left the bar while turning his head in all directions to make himself sure that no one would have witnessed the events, leaving the poor girl there amidst pitiful sobs, thinking that her first time had been hideous and too fleeting.
The depraved man walked without remorse, convinced of the justification of his actions, of how badly society had behaved towards him, about morality or immorality, which he had to adapt to the new situation and if it favored him, he would take advantage. He owed nothing to anyone, it felt good to him, almost euphoric, sure of himself, he thought that his personal problems, inferiority complex, could be diluted by the unexpected turn of events. He had no obligation to help the community of which he never felt part. Besides, he was not a hero, nor a fireman, nor a policeman, nor a doctor doctor! At that moment he remembered Alice, the intense, good and shocking impression she had made on him. She did deserve to be saved and helped, he was capable of making an effort, and he could be a heroher hero, so he would find a way to get her attention.
Looking for an available car, Raphael found one with the keys in, and its radio was playing low volume. Perhaps it was broadcasting a news program, he tuned in to the stations, various programs were playing, probably from those pre-recorded programs, the announcer was asking for help on a channel because she had gone blind. He kept looking and on one got some vague news, the announcer, who had also lost his sight, but not his nerves, was repeatedly broadcasting some sort of emergency report. He told how most of the phone lines were overloaded with calls. That it all started with a powerful blinding light of which they were unaware of the causes. He ventured several hypotheses, it could be because of an atomic bomb, an unlikely possibility, and the country did not suffer direct threats or reasons for any aggression. Nor was any new type of terrorist attack ruled out. Perhaps the entry of a large meteorite into the Earths atmosphere would cause a large flare, another possibility was due to an unknown weather effect or some anomaly caused by the Sun such as a huge solar flare. The announcer continued to give some basic advice, to stay at home because it was the safest place, the one we knew best by heart, not to venture out into the street because it was dangerous and to wait for help.
Ha! Help" Rapha thought ironically.
He started the car and began to drive through the desolate street, it was impossible to move forward, having to avoid the other parked vehicles, since no one was driving. The worst thing was the people who were in the middle of the road and moved very slowly, when he managed to get a pedestrian to leave the path, on the other hand was again interposed another, it would take ages to reach the hospital. He had to find another means of transport, he found the possibility of running over people very excessive. He abandoned the car and walked for a while; the man was already beginning to adapt to the new situation by avoiding the area of action of those affected. He made as little noise as possible and, if he had no choice, Rapha would shout for help, just like the others.
He found a moped, he had never been skillful at driving them, although it might help. He drove clumsily to the hospital, and of course this vehicle was much more practical with which was easier to avoid people and vehicles.
He went into the emergency room, it was very much like the zombie movies he liked so much, chaos and disorder everywhere. Of course, the health staff was also affected, no one helped anyone, and everyone had enough to do. She wandered through the corridors, the rooms and the doctors offices, she couldnt find her, where would she be, she suddenly remembered that last night Alice had told another colleague that she was leaving at eight in the morning, so she thought maybe she could be in the car park. He went there by bike but didnt find her. She looked around a bit, until she saw an area under construction with a sign that said staff parking, forgive the hardships, we are working to improve. He approached and suddenly saw her, she was sitting on a curb in the shade, with a big pair of sunglasses covering her eyes, someone was with her, and he assumed it was a companion.
Hello, do you need help? Rapha asked.
Alice stood up with a start, between frightened and surprised.
Yes, yes, weve gone blind after the great glow, take us to the emergency room please, no ones been here for hours. We havent dared to go ourselves because the area is full of holes and potholes from the work.
Rapha explained that he was on a motorbike and that they could only go one at a time. He helped Alice up, told her to hold on tight, and they set off while he noticed Alices breasts placed on his back.
Rapha thought it was time to decide, he certainly was not going to the emergency room, why? There would be no one there to help. He decided to take her home and hide the fact that he had been her patient the night before. When she got off the bike, Alice, who was surprised, told him that it had taken too long to get to the emergency room. She asked what was happening, after hearing the cries for help from the people who were clumsily heading towards them, following the noise of the motorbike. He hastily informed her that they were not safe there and were in danger. Then he would explain everything to her more calmly because it was imperative to go out there, he implored her for a little confidence and after overcoming Alices suspicions, he got her home.
He sat her down on the sofa, Alice asked for water, Rapha went to the kitchen to get a glass and surprise! The neighbors cadaver was still there. Because of the frenetic succession of events, he had completely forgotten about it.
He felt sorry for him and lamented his bad luck, the killer understood that because of his blindness he had entered his flat by mistake. The remorse punished him because that situation could have been avoided if he had acted differently, if he had tried to scare him, if he had tried to dialogue Of course, everything became clearer after that but there was no solution.
Rapha returned to the living room and after giving the glass of water, Alice asked for her colleague who was waiting in the hospital car park. Rapha, first of all, gave her a brief explanation of the current situation, where everyone had lost their sight, where no public service was working, and told her, with great exaggeration to horrify her that gangs of survivors were looting, pillaging and killing. He told her that because he was sleeping completely in the darkness when the phenomenon occurred, he got no affection. He suddenly got the idea that more people like her partner might not be blind. But the tricky man saved that problem for later.
He asked Alice to wait for him there, while he went to pick up her friend. He closed the door of the room for safety and so that she would not notice that he was taking the killed neighbors body out. After dragging the heavy neighbor to the street, he placed him next to a wall.
Well, he had to start getting organized and setting priorities. He had to think about food, security, medicine, how lucky he was to have a doctor at home. He would solve any problems that arose by improvising as only he was good at.
He went into the supermarket under his house, where he met his neighbor, the manager. Under protest and a struggle, he took him out to the street, took away his keys, closed the doors and lowered the security shutters. The manager was left outside helpless, banging on the door and shouting.
Hell get tired very soon, Rapha said.
He made a small inspection; the market was fully stocked with food and all sorts of products. All the freezers were working and replete of goods. It had a back door with independent access to the blocks aisle, he could enter and leave the store comfortably without having to go outside.
While walking by the grocery store, he had an unexpected encounter, the supermarket assistant, a young blonde girl was lying in a corner. Rapha approached her stealthily and found that she was asleep. Rapha did not count on this setback. Now he would have to open the heavy metal blinds of the big door again to get her out of there or he could take her out through the back door and go out through the entrance of the block. He thought about it for a few moments as he watched her. The truth was that the young woman was attractive, she wore a short gown that left a smooth, soft thigh in the air, and her lips were fleshy and pink. He thought better about it and after a lewd smile, it occurred to him that her situation was ideal for satiating his base instincts repressed for years. Now was his moment and he was not going to waste it, his imagination evoked the pleasant instants of a sultan with his concubines, his particular harem. He felt powerful, strong, and euphoric and a surge of self-esteem encouraged him.
There was plenty of food there, he could feed her as well. Determined not to expel her he thought he could not leave her there, she would put his pantry at risk, and could spoil something, break it, or cause a fire by accident. He could lodge her in his house next to Alice, although he thought about it more carefully, perhaps later. Rapha had to think, consider, he came up with a brilliant idea, the house of his neighbor, who died by accident", was the house next to his own, because of its proximity it was much more practical for such plans.
He needed those houses keys, so he went out the front door of the building, approached the body of his dead victim. He looked for the keys and when he found them, he went up to the flat which it was empty. Quickly he prepared it, tidied it up a bit, removed the elements dangerous for a blind one, and went down again to get the girl. She was still asleep, he had to make up a coherent story to get her to come up to the flat without any problem. He looked in the office and found a portable radio, he tuned in to the station he was listening to, there was still that announcer with his short piece of news, more exhausted, but there he continued. Rapha gently woke the girl, who after a few moments reacted sharply: