Free Deep Shadows by Vannetta Chapman

look where her curls poked out in all directions. Carter usually teased her about it, but one look told him that they had more important things to talk about.
    In that moment, he felt a deep anger well up inside him. He was supposed to go to the Market and work his shift today. He worked fifteen hours a week for minimum wage. The job provided enough money to puta little gas in his car, cruise the burger joint with Jason, and maybe stop to flirt with some girls at the park. It was the summer after senior year, and he was supposed to be enjoying himself before beginning the grueling work of college. Now all of that had been stolen from him. For all he knew, there would be no college by the time September rolled around.
    It wasn’t fair.
    Why did it have to happen to him, to his generation? Why didn’t the adults, the people who were supposed to know everything, prepare better?
    â€œStop frowning. We haven’t even told you the bad news yet.” His mom leaned her elbows on the picnic table and rested her head in her palms.
    Carter shrugged.
    Max stood, took the boiling water, and poured it into a tall glass pitcher with a metal top. Then he added several scoops of coffee.
    â€œThree minutes and we’ll have you that important first cup.”
    â€œPromise?”
    â€œYup. That’s one promise I’m sure I can keep.”
    While the coffee brewed, they told Carter the details of the mayor’s meeting and how they had seen the substation blow up.
    â€œAnd you came home and went to sleep? We all could have died in our beds.”
    â€œNot likely,” Shelby said, stifling a yawn with her hand. “There’s a creek between us and the power station.”
    Max looked from Carter to his mom. “I went to city hall for the six o’clock meeting.”
    â€œAnd?” Shelby and Carter asked at the same time.
    â€œMayor Perkins already knew about the substation, of course. As far as telling her what we saw from the top of the water tower—”
    â€œYou climbed the water tower?” Carter turned to stare at his mother.
    Max waved away his concern. “Your mom’s still quite athletic.”
    â€œSeriously?” Carter turned to Max. “She trips on cracks in the sidewalk. I’ve seen her do that more than once.”
    â€œI’m sitting right here.” His mom started to run her hands through her hair, but settled for trying to pat it down into some sort of order.
    â€œAs for the mayor, she wasn’t surprised, but she was glad to have it confirmed.”
    â€œHave what confirmed?” Out of habit, Carter put his hand in hispocket, checking to see if his phone was still there. Already it seemed like a lifeline to a way of life that no longer existed.
    â€œThat we’re not alone. Every town for as far as we could see was blacked out.”
    â€œThis is terrible. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” Carter saw a look pass between his mom and Max, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even care that he sounded like a child. He wanted to go back to bed, sleep, and wake up to a normal world.
    Max had other ideas. “I need to get inside the Market, Carter. Would you mind changing into your work shirt and meeting me back out here in twenty minutes?”
    â€œMy shift is cancelled.”
    â€œYeah, I know.”
    â€œAnd the store is closed!”
    â€œLet’s deal with that when we get there.”
    Carter shook his head. He wasn’t in the mood for Max’s save-the-world ideas. Why couldn’t they let him have just one day off, even when the world was ending?
    â€œFine.” He grabbed his bowl and spoon and trudged toward the house. The urge to check his phone again was almost overwhelming, but he knew it was useless. Every time he turned it on, he used up a tiny bit of its power. Soon it wouldn’t turn on at all.
    He checked his insulin levels, measured a dose from the bottle he was currently