On the Benefits of a Woman's Scream

At that very moment there was a loud grinding sound, and then something crashed with such force that it could have seemed as if a war had begun. The women shrieked in unison, and the light in the locker room went out. Then, briefly, the emergency lighting flared up, lazily flickered, and died—after which the locker room plunged into pitch-darkness. The room was in the basement level, so there were no windows there. And why would there be windows in a women’s locker room?

“—What was that?” Yana asked the darkness after a short silence.

“—Terrorists attacked the fitness center,” Masha guessed from her corner.

“—Everyone, stay where you are!” Nina Alekseevna ordered.

“—Sure! Where to go when you can’t see a thing?” Masha agreed sarcastically.