Free When the Power Is Gone: A Powerless World - Book 1 by P. A. Glaspy Page A

started to refill them, but Russ stayed his hand. “Let’s get Brian moved in first, then we can chill a bit more. Brian, are you ready to do this?”
    Brian nodded. “With folks already casing the neighborhood? Hell yeah! What’s the best way to do this?” We all thought for a moment, then Janet spoke up.
    “I think we should do something like a fire brigade, over the fence. We don’t want to go through the front yards, in case there are people watching. If we do it out back, the fence should shield most of our activity. Brian can pass to me in his back yard, I can pass to Bob at the fence, Bob can pass to Russ over the fence, Russ can pass to Anne, who can either set it on the patio, or in the yard. The boys can help as well. As long as we get it in the back yard here, we can move it later. Would that work?” We all agreed that was an excellent idea. Russ got a ladder from the shed, and we got started.
    It took about an hour to get all of Brian’s supplies over to our house. He had an impressive amount of food stores for a single guy. I’m sure there was a story behind that, but we had plenty of time to hear about it later. He sent his bike and trailer over as well. Who knew if something like that could come in handy in the future. He brought a variety of clothes for all seasons, which told us he didn’t intend on going back to his place for a while, if ever. He locked up his house, climbed the ladder to the top of the fence, reached over to his yard and grabbed the ladder, and hauled it up and over to our side.
    “Don’t want those assholes knowing someone or something is over here.” Good thinking, Brian. He continued to amaze me. I couldn’t wait to hear his story. Somehow, I had a feeling we were going to have lots of time to talk later.
    We all worked together to bring Brian’s stuff into the house – to the kitchen, den and garage, depending on what they were. Once that was done, Russ looked at Brian. “You want first shift or third shift?” Brian reached for his pistol.
    “I’m pretty wired from everything that has happened today. I can take first shift. Can you get to sleep pretty quick?” Russ grabbed the bourbon bottle, turned it up for a good hit, and set it back on the table.
    “Yeah, that should help. You wake Bob at 1:00. Bob, you wake me at 4:00. Does anybody have a watch that still works?” Bob pulled out a wind up pocket watch.
                  “My grandpa’s pocket watch. From old to gold. Grandpa would be so proud. Good thing I’ve kept it wound.” He handed it to Brian. “Get me up at 1:00, buddy. Just knock on the door. I’m a light sleeper.”
    Brian took the watch and pulled a bar stool up to the front windows. He looked back at us with a determined look on his face. “Get some rest, gang. This may get really interesting, real soon.” He had no idea how right he was, unfortunately. The game was going to change quickly.
     
    ****
     
    Fortunately, the night was uneventful. No more drive-bys, all quiet outside. In the morning, Janet and I put on a big pot of coffee, gathered fresh eggs from the chickens, and made omelets with the last of the ham and cheese from the fridge. We had moved everything we could from the fridge to the freezer yesterday, trying to get as much cold as we could from the now useless appliances. I had frozen bottles of water in two-liter soda bottles, rinsed and filled and placed in the bottom of the freezer, for this purpose, as well as emergency drinking water when they thawed. Those bottles were still keeping the inside of the freezer cool enough to act as a cold storage. We might get another day or so of use with this setup out of the appliance, maybe more. We made toast in campfire stands over the camp stoves. With what Brian brought from his house, we had almost four loaves of bread we needed to use.  The one from our place was getting to toast age anyway, because I would have been going to the grocery store in a couple of days. It