When the Power Is Gone: A Powerless World - Book 1 (10 page)

Bob stood up. “Well, I think this calls for a shot. No, I’m not saying we get hammered, but I for one could use a good stiff drink. Bourbon, straight up. Who’s in? It could be a long night.” 

Six hands raised at the table. All the grown-ups looked at the kids, who looked back at us with a serious expression. Yeah, they could probably use a little sip as well. I pulled out seven glasses. Bob got the bottle from the liquor cabinet, and poured five three-fingers, and two about one. We each took a glass. Bob was still standing. He raised his glass and took us all in.

“I’d like to propose a toast. To us making it to this point, and to the future we are preparing for. It is not going to be pretty, if what we saw across the street is any indication. But we have each other, and we have each other’s back. We planned for this, and worse. We will get through it, together. Cheers, gang.”

We all raised our glasses, clinked them together, and drank the whiskey. The warmth I felt from the tip of my tongue to the pit of my stomach was exactly what I was looking for. Just a few minutes of not thinking about the crap out there.

“Ok, now we’ll make some coffee.”

Janet was already on her way to the kitchen. We had moved the camp stoves inside, not even in the sunroom anymore. We couldn’t take the chance the smell of our food cooking would be picked up on by anybody out scavenging, or the Baxters, for that matter. With the burned-out neighborhood out by the mall, those people would be displaced and looking for somewhere to hole up, maybe even thinking they could ride this out. Since the “visitors” last night, we had brought everything in from the sun room and the back yard that we had used out there. The less evidence of our existence, the safer we were – for a little while, anyway.

The rest of us stood up with our plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware and headed to the kitchen. We had a dishwashing station set up at the sinks. Bob directed the boys to dish duty. They grumbled a little, but they got started as soon as Janet dumped some hot water in from the camp stove. The grownups got coffee and went back to the table. With what happened last night (early this morning), and then today at the Nelson place, sleep would probably not be in abundance tonight. I for one was wired, and I hadn’t even had any coffee.

We talked about the ramifications of the scavengers in the area. How long before they started looking in other houses on our street? In our houses? Russ and Bob both felt they would work their way through the houses they could scope out first, like the Nelsons, but eventually they would get to the ones they couldn’t see into – and break in to find out what was inside. The longer the power was out, the more desperate people would get. Hell, the Baxters would probably be topping that list in the next day or so. We had a week, maybe two, before they got to our houses. So, the question was, do we leave now, or wait them out?

We talked it over, all the scenarios we could think of – none of them seemed particularly viable, other than the scumbags getting to us sooner or later. So, what was the plan? Leave now, or wait? How could we know the best path to take? For our families, for our future? Where was that crystal ball when you needed it?

Since we didn’t have a crystal ball, we had to use an alternative plan. The one where we had a 24/7 security detail. The guys manned the watch through the night. During the day, we alternated the boys and us girls. There was always someone watching the front, and half the time someone upstairs watching the road. The guys napped when they could, but we were almost on permanent watch. We cooked inside, trying to use up the rest of the perishable foods that were thawed in the freezer. We cooked the rest of the ground beef and put it back in the freezer with the thawing bottles. We were still maintaining a cool-to-cold temp in there, so the foods we cooked would be good for a few days. The ground beef would be used for spaghetti sauce and shit-on-a-shingle – ground beef in a gravy sauce, on mashed potatoes or bread. We cooked the stew meat, which would give us a few more days before we had to turn it into stew or soup. We were coming down to the final days of the freezer use and were trying to get the most out of the thawing bottles of water.

The next night after the raid on the Nelson house, the pickup was back. It was parked up the street, but the occupants were scoping out the houses on that side of the street – none of those folks had made it back home. Their places were vacant, and thus vulnerable to the scavengers. Well, the upside is they were working that side of the street and not ours – for now. We watched out front and from upstairs. They checked out each house, not breaking in to any that we could see. They looked into three more houses on the opposite side of the street. When it looked like they were done, they got back in the truck and left. The rest of the night was quiet.

In the morning, we were eating breakfast – oatmeal, with coffee for the adults, and hot chocolate for the boys – when we heard the pickup again. Hearing it during the daylight hours meant there was something worth taking the chance for in one of those houses. Two doors down from the Nelsons – I didn’t know their names – the scavengers pulled into the driveway. Our guys made a beeline for the front windows, with Brian heading up the stairs with Russ’s binoculars for the view over the garage. From what they could see, the marauders did the same thing as they did at the Nelsons. They went around back, then, a few minutes later, they came back out front carrying bags and boxes. We guessed there were at least weapons in the loot they carried out. Why else would they chance being seen in the daytime?

We had no idea how many of them were in the group, where they were staying, or what their plans were. We could guess the plans – take what they needed, by whatever means necessary, to survive. As to where they were staying, probably not far. There were other houses between here and the mall, so they could be camped out in there. How many of them there were was the big question. They had taken a bunch of guns – at least half a dozen at the Nelson house, who knew how many at the other place. It sounded like they were arming an…army? Maybe. Armed mob? Probably. Either way, it was nothing good for us.

We were coming up on a week since the lights went out, and things had to be breaking down, from a societal stand point. We weren’t venturing out past the yard. We needed to get some kind of intel. Time to fire up the mini ham radio.

Russ asked me to go get it from the faraday cage. I pulled it out and turned it on. Static. But we knew night was better for reception. With the current situation, we didn’t have a lot of daytime interference, but even the sun could cause problems. After the sun went down, we should be able to get a clear signal, if there was one out there. That was still a few hours away, so we decided to get back to the business at hand.

Just then, we heard a commotion outside. We beat it back to the windows and saw Dan and Don Baxter standing in their driveway yelling over to the thieves. Yes, they were that stupid. Could they not see the guns the men had? Could they not figure out what they were doing over there? The Baxter men were asking the scavengers what was going on. Don was belligerent.

“Hey assholes – what do you think you’re doing? That’s not your shit. Who do you think you are, just going into people’s houses and taking their stuff?”

The guy who seemed to be the leader of the group walked out to the road.

“What business is it of yours, asshole? Is this your house? Mind your business, before I make you my business. Get back in your own house. You don’t want to get involved here.”

Dan stepped up closer to the road and started yelling over to the men as well. Like father, like son. “Now look here, we know those people. That’s Will and Maggie White’s house. They must have been at work when everything went off and just haven’t gotten back home yet. Probably staying at a hotel or something. You can’t just take their things. That’s robbery!”

The leader laughed. “Dude, are you clueless or what? If they ain’t home by now, they ain’t coming home. Everything is off, everywhere. There’s no more running water, no more grocery stores, no hotels, no credit cards, no more cars running – well, no new ones – and it’s every man for himself. You better be looking after your own – before someone gets to your house and takes what YOU got!” To emphasize his point, he raised the barrel of the shotgun in his hand ever so slightly in their direction.

Dan looked at the men coming out of the house and saw boxes and bags. From where he was standing, he could see guns, ammo and food. He had a look on his face like he had just connected the dots (FINALLY!), and he leaned over to Don and said something in his ear. Don nodded, and both men backed up, heading backwards to their house. Dan was talking as he was backing, “Sorry to bother you fellas. Y’all have a good day now. We’ll be going.” The gang leader shook his head, and turned back to the White’s house and his men.” Come on, let’s finish this one. We got two more to hit on the way out.”

****

Janet and I decided spaghetti would be good for supper, so we got the sauce going. We had canned tomatoes from last summer, as well as dried herbs we had preserved from the herb garden. After it had cooked down, we added the meat and some mushrooms we had gotten on special and dehydrated. Another hour and we’d put the pasta on. Some of Brian’s wine would go really well with this meal.

The boys kept watch while the guys got a quick nap. After their latest run, that included three houses on that side of the street, the scavengers had left and not come back to the neighborhood. Maybe being confronted by the Baxters would keep them out for a while. Doubtful, but we could hope. The rest of the day was quiet. As the sun was setting, we strained the pasta and called the guys.

Dinner was wonderful. We talked about the group that had been down the street and what they might have gathered from that house. If what they apparently took from the Nelsons was any indication, it was not a good thing for anybody but them. We also talked about the Baxter clan and the feeling the guys had that we had not heard the last from them. I was sure they were right. Desperate people do crazy, desperate things. I felt bad for the child, but not bad enough to let them get any idea of what we had in the way of supplies. If we gave them anything, they would just keep coming back for more. And I was right – the wine was awesome with the pasta.

After dinner, Janet and I took dish duty, while the guys pulled out the radio. They went out to the sun room to see if they could get a clear signal. They left the door open so we could hear as well. Russ was scanning channels, when we heard a woman’s voice come through, clear as day.

“If anyone can hear this, please let us know where you are. Don’t give specifics – just your state, maybe what part. We don’t know much more than you do, if you don’t know anything. That’s pretty much the situation for all of us, that we have heard from. We have gotten reports from north to south, east to west, all four corners, and lots of places in the middle of the country. This is affecting the entire country, possibly the whole continent of North America. We’ve heard rumors that it was an attack, but not who did it. There has been no statement by any government entity letting us know what’s going on or what’s being done to fix it, that we have heard. We are going on the assumption that we’ll be on our own for a while; there’s no telling for how long. Stay tuned to this channel, and we’ll provide any updates we get nightly. For now, let’s take a few minutes and let you sound off as to where you are. In the meantime, stay strong and vigilant, fellow survivors. God bless us all.”

We sat and listened as people replied with their state and area. We heard middle Tennessee, which got our attention: there were others in our area, possibly similarly prepared, besides us. There truly were people from all over the country commenting, praying, recommending things to do, asking for advice – it got to be almost too much.

The original speaker came back and broke in.

“Okay, sounds like we are getting more and more people on here. We’ll try to set up some times for different things to discuss – security, homesteading, first aid just to name a few that have been brought up. Please tune in tomorrow evening for an attempt at a schedule. Good night fellow Americans!”

We had a mixture of feelings. Concern, over how wide spread this was. If it affected the whole country, that would mean we would be dependent on other countries to help us recover. With all computers and chips in this country fried, replacements would have to come from somewhere else. They would surely want something in return.

Fear, that this could have been an attack. By whom? Who would do something like this? They effectively plunged the majority of this country back to the nineteenth century. The only reason for someone to do something like that is to have the upper hand in a fight. If they had electronics and we didn’t, we were dead in the water, army against army. Too much of our military was dependent on electronics.

Anger, at the ones, whoever they were, that caused all this. The innocent people who had already died, because they didn’t have life support, or dialysis, or refrigeration for their insulin was just the beginning. Most people knew nothing about how to grow food, how to clean game, basic survival knowledge that had been lost in the last 100 or so years – hell, probably just in the last 50. Those people would likely die of starvation, or be killed by someone they were trying to steal from.

Mostly, we were guardedly optimistic that there were others out there, like us, who were trying to make it as well. We decided we would make every attempt to tune in nightly, to get as much info on the outside world as possible. Things were going to change quickly. The world, at least our part of it, was going to turn into a big steaming pile of dog defecation, and we needed to be as ready for it as we could be.

The guys had brought the chickens and rabbits into the garage, so I wanted to go check on them, to make sure they were good for the night. Russ said he’d go with me. Oh yeah, I forgot – no one goes anywhere alone, and the garage was outside the technical confines of the house. We went to the garage through the door from the kitchen. Russ’s truck was inside, and my SUV had been pushed out into the driveway. The truck was much more valuable now. Russ had put up a temp pen for the rabbits, with a dog house for a hutch. The chickens were in cages; cramped, but safe. There was no man door to the outside, so the only other way into the garage was through the garage door or the house. Russ had locked down the big door so no one could open it from outside. They were safe for now.

We were headed back inside when we heard something – or someone – rattling the latch on the gate to the backyard, on the other side of the garage. It was locked from the inside too, but someone was trying to get in. Gee, wonder who that was?

****

Russ made a beeline for the kitchen, motioned to Bob, and they both headed out the front door. I told Janet and Brian what we’d heard, so Brian headed for the backyard. The boys made to follow him, and I stopped them. Rusty started to complain.

“Mom, we should be out there with Brian, in case someone gets in. He shouldn’t be out by himself. What happened to no one goes out alone?”

Smart kid, using our own rules against us.

I conceded, to an extent. “Stay in the sunroom. You can open the windows so you can hear and see, but don’t leave the sunroom. Understood?”

I expected a triumphant smirk, but what I got was a serious expression and curt nod.

“Yes ma’am. You’ll be able to see and hear us the whole time.”

I was proud of how grown up he was acting and scared to death that he had to grow up that fast. He and Ben went out to the sunroom, staying back in the shadows and, true to his word, he left the door open to the kitchen. Janet and I stood by, listening and waiting.

Russ rounded the corner of the house, pulled his pistol, flipped on a Maglite, and yelled, “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! HANDS UP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GET SHOT!”

The culprit jumped and turned to face Russ and Bob. Yep, Don Baxter. Couldn’t even wait 48 hours to try to break in. He held his hands up and was visibly shaking.

“DON’T SHOOT! I didn’t take anything! I was just coming to have a look…”

Bob stepped into the flashlight beam.

“A look at what?? Whatever we have on this property is NONE of your concern and is absolutely NOT yours to take!!”

He picked Don up by the front of his sweatshirt and slammed him into the fence. Don grabbed Bob by the wrists, trying to break free, but Bob had him outweighed by half again his weight. Bob was in shape – Don was a skinny little shit. Bob slammed him into the fence again and again, until Don let go of him.