Chaos

All over the world, people were losing their sight. Panic was immediate. Transportation systems caused the main havoc. With drivers, airline pilots, train engineers and ship captains going blind within a short period of time, crashes and accidents of major proportions occurred everywhere. Within a few hours of the emergence, millions perished around the globe. It was only the beginning.

Many turned to their television, radio or smart phones for information about what was happening. Within the first day, all television and internet communication simply stopped. The talking heads that usually told the community about current events could not see the teleprompter. The writers couldn't write. All radio, television and internet communication ended. The world was "in the dark."

Whereas most of the population would be "taking care of business," on a normal day, there was no busy-ness now other than survival. People who had been blind from birth attempted to go about their busy-ness as usual, but immediately noticed a marked difference -- silence. There was no street noise, no airplane noise, no train horns and no noticeable activity around them; only the sounds of birds chirping and squirrels frolicking. Other than humans, the animal world was not affected.

Roy and Betty were glad their sons were with them. After communication with the outside world was cut off, Roy did not wait to react. (Sight be damned; we can't just sit still!) Having been in construction contracting for as long as he had, he knew what blindness would do to the maintenance and operation of the electrical grid. He had a generator in the basement with plenty of fuel in case of emergency. When Roy built his home on five acres, he hadn't considered the possibility of needing so much acreage, but it would now come in handy.

"John, Mike, it's impossible to know what will happen next, but I'm pretty sure that the electrical grid cannot operate without engineers and maintenance crews. My generator will kick in when that happens, but we have to conserve fuel. Crawl along the baseboard and unplug everything you can find, except for the refrigerator and freezer. Even though we won't be able to cook, we have enough cans and dry goods to last for some time. We had a delivery for the water cooler a couple of days ago, so we have at least a week of water for the six of us. If and when we regain sight, we'll need the food in the fridge and freezer. If we don't regain our sight, humanity will disappear from the planet. Let's plan to see again."

The roads were littered with stopped cars and trucks. The drivers and passengers had no idea what to do other than remain in their vehicles. Some got out of their cars and tried to walk on the road surface while yelling for help at the top of their voice. All that echoed were the cries of others who had done the same thing. There would be no help available.

Hospitals were useless with blinded doctors and nurses. It would not be long before those in need of care would perish. Business ended. All movement stopped. Other than the moans and cries of despair, the world was silent.