Evita
Gerard woke to a hot, dark bedroom. The power had gone out. Again. She picked
up her phone and glanced at the screen. Almost ten in the morning.
She threw
back the sheets and climbed out of bed. Her joints cracked and ached. She
twisted her torso, right and left, then did a series of gentle knee-bends
before walking to the bedroom window and opening the heavy curtains. Bright,
hot sunlight flooded into the room, temporarily dazzling Evita.
Outside the
window, Walden Street was quiet and still. As Evita watched, a police drone
buzzed down the street. When they'd first started deploying the drones, a few
months back, they had been an odd sight. Now, they were just part of the new
reality.
Evita
walked downstairs, not bothering to get dressed. What was the point? She was
stuck at home, unable to work, until the power was fixed. The blackouts were
becoming more common as the summer went on and housebound power consumption
skyrocketed.
Evita
grabbed a bottle of KoffiWater from the fridge and stepped outside, onto her
deck. She checked her phone for signal, but had no reception. The towers were
down, which suggested the blackout was widespread. She could hear Mr. Yugo's
generator purring softly down the street, and, once again, Evita thought about
buying one of her own. Or maybe getting some solar panels. Lots of people were
getting solar these days.
She leaned
against the deck railing and sipped her KoffiWater.
"Hey,
Vita."
Wincing,
Evita turned and saw her next door neighbor, Janice, standing on her own deck.
They were separated by small yards and a head high wooden fence, but Janice had
the kind of voice that carried. She was
dressed, as always, in gray slacks and a white blouse, as if she was about to
rush out the door to work.
"Good
morning, Janice."
"Did
you hear about the Muncies?"
Damnit, thought Evita. "No. What
about them?"
"They
died," said Janice. "DOH carted them off this morning."
"Was
it the red?" asked Evita.
"I
think so. DOH has the whole house taped up."
"Damn."
"I
know," said Janice. "It's so sad." Sympathy expressed, she
segued into irritation. "Evelynn borrowed some Christmas decorations from
me last year. How am I going to get them back?"
"Do
you really want them back?" asked Evita.
"They
were nice."
"Just
go online and buy some nice, new
ones. Treat yourself, Jan."
The light
above her back door bloomed into life and Evita gave a quiet sigh of relief.
"The power's
back on," she called to her neighbor. "I've gotta go charge up my
phone. See you later, Jan."
She stepped
inside before her neighbor could respond. Her phone trilled. Evita glanced
down, saw a text from the government. Given the stress on the state's power
grid, they were instigating rolling blackouts after sunset. More info would
follow.
Fuck, thought Evita and made a mental note
to call Jerry Yugo and find out where he had bought his generator.
