An Apocalypse

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Joe muttered into his phone as he left the office, dropping off a stack of flyers to be approved by the big man the next months promos. "The state fair is all set up, signed, sealed and delivered. That's not the problem, the problem is I can't find a tour bus to rent to save my life, and these guys want a tour bus.

He waved at the girls behind the desk and made his way to the public elevators. Six floors below him was a white oval with small figures moving around it. The ice rink was a huge draw in the hot months, especially now since they were having a small heat wave. No rain for six weeks and counting.

"Oh really? Well, that could work." He stabbed the down button and waited for the thing to arrive. "See what rates you can get me, will you? I have a meeting in about an hour, but let me know first thing tomorrow, right?" Joe sighed as he snapped the cellphone closed. If you didn't tell people you had a meeting or something people would call you 24/7 and that would just eat up what he had left of his sanity.

The blonde's real agenda was much simpler: A brew, a game, and a look see through the rental section of the paper. The silver doors slid open and he stepped into the cubicle and hit L for lobby.

"Hold that elevator!" Kristina shouted as she hurried to the elevator, it was hard to run in heels so she was walking quickly. Once she got to the elevator she smiled at the man that was there, "Thanks." She thought he was cute but she wasn't wanting to date anyone until she got her life together. She fixed her purse strap back on her shoulder, she brushed her bangs from her face and out of her vision.

Alex smiled at her choice of new sandals. Her old ones had been so very worn. As soon as she left the store, she threw away the old pair and put the new ones on. Bright yellow, to match her shirt that was quite loose and hung over her shoulder, showing one of her bra straps. She had straightened her hair in the bathroom this morning with a straightener she had in her car. Alex was also wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and her guitar slung over her shoulder, against her back. Her fingers were rough from playing the spanish guitar without a pick. Although she was blister-free from her prolonged practice playing.

Alex slowly walked toward the elevator and saw the sign saying "5th Floor". Smiling, she drifted over and hit the down button. Soon enough, an elevator dinged. It held two people. She smiled at them both and stepped in, seeing the lobby button had been pressed. Alex smiled to herself thinkinh Oooh, He's cute. Oh, so is she. Alex slid to the back and leaned against the wall, pulling her guitar in front of her, as not to squish it against the wall.

A glance at her watch nearly had Samantha wigging out right there in front of the elevator doors. She had five minutes to get up about thirty floors and it felt like the elevator was simply refusing to come. How many times had she jammed her finger into the damn button? At least twenty times if not more. She knew such efforts were made in vain but it made her feel better to be doing something versus just standing there having a panic attack.

As she waited she went over her mental check list again -- identification, application, resume, portfolio, credentials. Check yes to all of the above. Her thoughts were interrupted by the resonating ding of the elevator arriving. The doors eased open painstakingly slow and her impatiences had her trying to slip in before they even had a chance to open fully. The edge of the rather large, but slim, portfolio caught on the corner of the door causing her to stumble and nearly drop everything she was holding. She bumped into someone but didn't glance long enough to see before mumbling a quick apology and attempting to situation herself where she wouldn't poke out anyone's eye or smash anyone's foot -- she was a concerned citizen after all.

"Thirty-seventh floor please," she said breathlessly as she finally settled after what felt like an eternity of clomping about like a graceless idiot. What these people must think of her. Then she remembered that she didn't care what these people thought of her -- they were strangers, people she would likely never see again the second she arrived at her destination. It wasn't that she didn't care about them but it extend to common courtesy and stopped there. She had enough on her plate not to have to wonder about the problems in everyone else's life. Since she was confident each of them felt likewise she didn't feel bad for not inquiring about anyone's day or ask about weekend plans. Well, maybe she felt a little bad.

"No worries," He smiled at the model. She had to be one, as the modeling agency was on this floor and they all wore ridiculous shoes and just so clothes. Then they were joined by a musician, a little rough around the edges, protective of her instrument and slyly checking them both out. Lastly a hurried woman fussed in and tried juggling everything in her arms, just as the doors closed and the box started moving she asked for her floor.

"Um, this elevator is going down..." Joe told her. He had the feeling that wouldn't be welcome news.

He was about to say something else when the lights flickered and the box shuddered before continuing. "Whoa there." He frowned. "That was unusual. The malls usually pretty good about.."

The lights dimmed and the box fell a few feet in rapid freefall before catching itself, jostling the passengers within. Joe looked around. "Everyone OK?" He asked, lending a hand to help up one of the women who had fallen.

And then everything went black. The emergency lights didn't click on. "Damnit." Joe muttered and fumbled for his cell. It had a flashlight feature. But it was dead as well. Impossible, because he had it on the charger at work and he had just be using it.

Going down? Could this afternoon get any worse? No sooner had the thought crossed her mind when the lights flickered and the elevator shuddered slightly. Groaning inwardly, Samantha closed her eyes and rubbed absently at her temples. If she was late for this meeting she might not get another chance! The man was saying something about how wonderful the elevators normally where when the lights dimmed. She was about to comment when without warning the elevator dropped out from beneath their feet. For a heartbeat Samantha was fairly certain she was going to die. Then with as much warning as it had given before falling the elevator stopped.

With all the stopping and going she managed to lose her balance but not before losing her grip on the portfolio. It hit the floor with a thud and the end result was a stack of high quality photographs getting scattered across the floor of the elevator. Perfect. Before she had a chance to right herself and start gathering, Joe was offering out a hand to help her up. She reached out to take it a moment before everything went black.

"What's going on?" she gasped quietly. She righted herself, releasing his hand to dig through her pockets. She didn't smoke but she had in her youth and having a lighter on hand was simply a habit. She found it in the bottom of her pocket and a few flicks of her thumb and a small light illuminated just a tiny area of the elevator. "Why did we stop?" She was trying to remain calm but being trapped in an elevator was no exactly the most ideal of situations.

Kristina always hated elevators so she held onto the bar on the side of the wall. She would have taken the stairs but she was in heels and her feet would have been sore before she got to the lobby. She gasped when the elevator lights flickers and shuddered. She tightened her grip on the bar but when the elevator fell a few floors she screamed and lost her grip on the bar when it jerked to a stop. She fell to the floor and out of her heels, she quickly felt for the bar then grabbed the bar and pulled herself up.

"Everyone all right?" Joe was in a small room full of women who have probably just fell down, but he was worried they'd think he' was some sort of masher if he reached out to help anyone if he touched the wrong body part, so he kept his hands to himself.

A light flickered in the darkness. "Awesome," Joe said now that he could see again, the brushed steel walls reflecting the glow feebly. He picked up the Emergency phone and frowned. Nothing. No dial tone, no click... nothing. He put it back and stabbed the emergency bell button. "Must be a power outage." He said somewhat confidentially, but fear was curling in his belly. Even if the local towers were out, that wouldn't kill his phone from a full charge, he just wouldn't be able to connect.

"If it is, I don't know how long it'll take for someone to come around to this bank of elevators, we can wait, or we can pry the doors open and see if we can get out ourselves." Seemed logical to him, but sometimes what seemed common sense was alien to other folks... especially womenfolks.

"What if we're between floors and can't get out to either one?" Kristina said her voice shaking with fear, she hated elevators and the one time she didn't take the stairs the damn thing get's stuck. She felt in her purse then after getting her iPhone out she tried it, it wouldn't turn on, she knew it had a full battery the last time she checked. "If it's just a power outage then why wont my cell work?" She looked at the man fear in her eyes, though she couldn't see all of him.