It was an eerie sight. Dark. Foreboding.
Looking down revealed a massive city. Towering buildings stretched in every direction until they disappeared into the shadows.
He was on a balcony, looking out at the streets below. Far below. Ensconced in total darkness.
The entire city was blacked out.
After he stared long enough, images began to appear. Shapes. Angled rectangles. First on the corners, then more as his eyes adjusted. Until he could see them everywhere.
Billboards. No, signs. Giant and dark. First tens, then hundreds of electronic screens. Resting silently. Featureless, around the bases of the cold, darkened skyscrapers.
And between them, in the streets, something appeared to be moving. Like rolling black waves billowing in various directions.
He squinted, attempting to discern what the movement was. It was too difficult to see through the twilight, but something was down there.
And then it came. Even before his eyes could see it. Like a cacophonic wave.
Yelling.
And screaming.
And crying.
All of it mixed together in a swirling wave of anguish and misery.
The movement his eyes could not make out … were crowds of people. Wailing from below, endlessly.
From the blackened city streets of downtown Tokyo.