Tales from the Red: Morning

            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.