Phantasmagoria: Powerless

As she crept quietly down toward the door to the stairs, a door to her left suddenly opened and a raised hand pointed a gun at her.

The power had been off for three days now, but she hadn’t stepped outside the front door of her apartment during that time. The first evening, she had stepped out onto her third-floor patio. When she heard a scream somewhere beneath her, she remained in the shadows but leaned out enough to look below.

A man was being attacked by three others. When he’d gone down, they had continued to beat him. She had stepped back inside, locked the patio door, knowing that there was too much glass. It would be easy for anyone to get inside. By day two, the screams had entered her building.

Attackers had gotten inside. Her door was locked and deadbolted, with a short length of chain that was supposed to stop thieves from entering her apartment. She knew that none of that would keep out determined invaders. She had held her hand over her mouth when she heard a noise at her door, then watched someone attempt to turn the doorknob. Someone screamed in the hallway, then she heard a…