Free The Blackout by Stephanie Erickson

in.  A woman now stood next to Black Beard.  She was about a head shorter than him, and had blonde hair and a kind look about her. 
    “Forgive our inhospitality, but there’ve been some rough folks moving through,” she said.
    “No apology needed.  We understand.  Although, we didn’t see anyone on our way here.  The road was totally deserted,” Clint assured her.
    She looked at her husband.  “Well, that’s good news.  Maybe most of them have moved on.” 
    The man laughed skeptically.  “We’ll see about that.”  He scrutinized us.  “How do I know you aren’t packing weapons in those packs and intend on shooting my whole family? Hmm?  I got my own interests to protect here!” 
    Gary looked at Clint.  “Fine.  You’re right,” Gary said, weighing the options.  He decided.  “Here.” He removed one of the packs from his shoulder and offered it to Black Beard.  The door wasn’t open wide enough for him to pull it through the door, but the gesture was there.  “Search our packs.  If you find anything sinister, you keep it to defend your family with.” 
    Black Beard narrowed his eyes.  “Wouldn’t you keep your protection somewhere that would be easier to get to than buried in a pack?” 
    They were losing him, and wasting time.  Gary turned to Clint and lowered his voice.  “Maybe we should just forget it.”  Clint nodded resolutely.
    Before they turned to go, Gary had one last thing to say to Black Beard.  “Ya know, I don’t know what you folks have been through, but I’d like to think if our situations were reversed I’d offer up some solution, even if it wasn’t inviting you into my home.  I’m just not the kind of guy who likes to watch people struggle if I can help them in any way.” 
    Black Beard looked over his shoulder and sighed.  “Ah, forget it. You might as well come in.  We don’t have much to offer you, but it might be nice to have some company for a change.”
    Gary nodded.  “Thank you.” 
    They set their packs just inside the door and took a seat in the living room.  There were two kids coloring on the floor near the brightest candle.  “These are our kids, Barry and Lucy.  I’m Karen, and this is my husband Jack.” 
    “Pleased to meet you all.  What happened?  Why do you say we won’t be seeing our families?”   Gary asked.
    “Oh, now, don’t you listen to Jack,” Karen replied.  “He’s a bit of a doomsdayer if you know what I mean.  He seems to think this little predicament is more than temporary.”
    “What makes you say that?”   
    He puffed on a pipe and sat himself heavily in an armchair nearest the fireplace in the corner.  A small fire was happily crackling away.  He swept the stem of the pipe from one side of the room to the other.  “Look around you.  Where is everyone?  Where’s the cavalry, so to speak?  Why has there been no word of recovery?  Because everyone is in the exact same boat.”  He punctuated his statement by pointing the pipe at them with the last three words.
    Gary nodded, also fearing that scenario, but hoping he was wrong.  “Have you had any information from distant cities?  Any other travelers moving through?” 
    “Nope.  Mostly rough folks – thieves and such – probably from the big city.  But it seems the situation is the same there.” 
    Gary nodded, his suspicions about Philadelphia confirmed.
    Jack got up and went to the other room.  He came back with two mugs full of water, some bread, and warm cheese.  “We’ve been trying to finish this cheese up before it goes bad, anyway.”
    “Well thank you.  We’ve been living off vending machine food for the better part of three days.  It’ll be good to have something different.” 
    While they chewed, Jack took the opportunity to ask them some questions.  “So, what’s your plan?”
    Gary shrugged.  “I’m not really sure.  Just keep walking south until we find someplace with power and the ability