When the Power Is Gone: A Powerless World - Book 1 Read Online Free

cages, Bob.”
    Bob took on an equally serious and slightly pained expression. “What? They didn’t work?” Bob would have taken that as a personal failure, since he was the electronics geek and had done more research than anyone on how to build one that would actually, hopefully, work.
    Russ looked down at the floor, and back up at Bob with a smart-ass smirk. “They worked great. We were just going to the garage to check the big one. Let’s go buddy.”
    Bob turned his frown upside down, smacked Russ in the back of the head, and headed for the garage. “Asshole.” That was a term of endearment between these guys. We went to the garage and stood before the cabinet like it was a shrine. This was a big deal.
    “Bob, since you missed the appetizers, you can open the main course,” Russ said. Bob grinned again, took a deep breath, made the sign of the cross (and he is NOT Catholic), and reached for the handles. We all took a deep breath with him, and pretty much held it as the doors opened. The first thing Bob grabbed was an electronic volt meter. If that functioned, the rest of the equipment had a good chance of working as well.
    He flipped the switch, and the display lit up. “YEAH! ALRIGHT!!” Bob was fist pumping the air, while the rest of us did another round of hugs and high fives. We had electronics and power. This life changing day was starting to take a turn for the better.
    We were all feeling pretty good about the direction things were going and talking about how to utilize the protected electronics when there was another knock at the front door. Everybody we needed to worry about was here. So, who was at the door?
     
    ****
     
    Russ and Bob both had their side arms on them – Russ from earlier, and Bob from his trek home. His gun and his GHB were always with him when he went back and forth to work, just like Russ and me. Prepping 101: your preps mean nothing if you can’t get to them. Russ told the rest of us to stay in the kitchen while he and Bob went to the door. Looking through the peephole, he turned around and mouthed the word “Brian”. I think we all rolled our eyes at once.
    Brian was the snooty neighbor from the other side. He was single, probably because he was annoying as hell and full of himself. He had the latest and greatest of every gadget out there, the most technologically advanced available. He was some kind of financial planner, so he kept banker’s hours and hadn’t left for work yet. He was wearing a suit and tie and holding his phone in his hand, while constantly trying the power button. He had a look of complete confusion on his face when Russ opened the door.
    “Hi Brian, what can I do for you?” Russ was starting with polite. I knew it wouldn’t last. He couldn’t stand Brian.
    “Yo, mornin’ Russ…say, is your power out? Everything just shut off a while ago. Funny thing is, my phone isn’t working, which is weird, right? I thought maybe the battery went dead, so I went to my car to try the charger and my car is dead too. I mean, what the hell, man? How could everything be dead?” The whole time he was talking, he was still pushing the power button on his smart phone, as if one of the attempts would be the magic one that turned his precious lifeline back on. Pitiful. But then, a few years ago, that would have been me. Before I took the red pill.
    Russ covered up a sigh, looked Brian in the eye and nodded. “Yep, all ours are down, too. The whole neighborhood is out.” Russ decided to try playing dumb.
    While Brian was an ass, he wasn’t a dumb ass. He looked at Russ, looked over at Russ’s truck in the driveway, then back at Russ. “Didn’t I hear you drive up in your truck right after everything went off? Is your truck still running? Why is your truck running but not my car? I mean, my car is state-of-the-art. Can you give me a ride in to the office? I have a big meeting at 10:00, and I really need to be there for it. It would really help me out, man.” Brian