Nobody was sure how it was revealed, but outside of the building we were all residing in, the rest of the world had more or less fell into anarchy. Our building had limited resources, but there were a lot of people so certainly, there was the manpower to make things work as long as everyone did their part. Communication with the rest of the world no longer seemed possible, so we were all sort of off the grid.
There was another building not far from where the building this dream was taking place in, and I suggested with the people I was with, that perhaps we should send some people over there, and forage for supplies and gather anything that we could use in our new residence for an indeterminate amount of time. Many agreed with me, and we made tentative plans to make the trek over to the other building.
Before executing the plan to travel, someone brought to my attention that what if the other building were not completely empty as I had initially hypothesized it was? What if there were other people in that building, in the exact same predicament as we were in? I hadn’t considered such possibilities. The trip to the other building never happened.
A day later, outside our building, I watched as a white car approached the gate to the complex. Surprised, puzzled, that there were other people, thoughts of communicating with these outsiders entered my head. It didn’t last long as the fascination quickly faded as the car rammed into the gate, busting the doors open, and the cars entered the parking lot. Emerging from the lot were numerous Max Max-like thugs and hooligans, clearly bent on trashing our civilized fortress and ransacking our efforts at survival. I watched, mortified, as two people I care about who happened to be outside made an attempt to hide inside of a car were denied, by someone gripping the door, while another, sadistically smashed the windshield, leaving both stunned in disbelief. I couldn’t move, as I stared outside at the chaos that had erupted with absolutely no provocation whatsoever.
I don’t know if I were attacked or fainted, or what, but the next scene of the dream was me standing on the rooftop of the building. Some time had passed, and my building had apparently merged with the invading building to some capacity. We weren’t slaves or second-rate citizens at this point my knowledge, but I stood there looking off into the distance where plumes of smoke and gray skies loomed, with a dreary sense of disappointment in humanity and society.
I wake up. It’s 3:45 a.m., and I’m cold. I don’t feel safe in my own house, and the comfort of the red light on the alarm panel, indicating that the alarm is indeed engaged does not help. I can’t help but wonder if it was just a dream I had, or some kind of premonition that my house was being cased or something. Two houses down, the annoying pitbull starts barking, and this concerns me; this fucking dog begins barking at the smallest of events, whether it’s seeing my porch light come on when I’m outside with my dogs or when I whistle or clap to get their attention. But in this instance, it’s starting to bark because it heard, or saw something that caught its attention, which makes my blood run a little cold. A neighbor had told me that they had spotted some coyotes in the neighborhood, which is a little concerning to my animals, but at least coyotes aren’t trying to break into homes, inflict harm, and steal belongings. I was worried that there could be someone nearby.
For once, I’m actually kind of glad it’s such a nuisance, because it’s actually doing a serviceable job. There’s a good chance that all in all, there was nothing happening, and it was just a coincidental eerie dream combined with the sighting of a wild animal. But regardless, I still went downstairs, turned on an outdoor light, and my kitchen light, and made sure to turn lights on and off as I traversed through my home.
