One Hundred Degrees

David woke up at seven am and he knew instantly that today wasn’t going to be any different from yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that. In fact, David would learn, today was going to be even worse than the past thirteen days. The temperature was already ninety degrees. He got up and took a cold shower. Cold was not really the right term as the water coming from the tap and shower was nearly eighty degrees. He washed his hair and basically rinsed off the sweat from last night, and then he got dressed for the day. Cotton underwear, T shirt, light Khakis and canvas sneakers. Over this, he wrapped a white cotton sheet around his body as a Toga. Everybody for the past two weeks looked like they came from Saudi Arabia.

David went to the fridge and got out the milk and juice and had cereal for breakfast. David was prepared, more so than his neighbors. Oh he had told them to be prepared for anything, but his advice went in one ear and out the other. He was what you would call a “Prepper”. He had been storing shelf stable foods, fruits, vegetables, rice, beans and various canned good as well. He had purchased and installed a back up generator for his home that was hooked up to a very large propane tank. When the blackouts came, he had the necessary power to maintain his refrigerator and freezer as long as the gas company kept the gas flowing. He had propane stored, enough to last two months, just in case the gas company shut the natural gas off, before needing to refill the propane tank buried deep in the back yard.

He kept this fact hidden from his neighbors as they would, in all likely hood, attempt to steal from him. So far the city had power to maintain their sewer and water facilities, and the power company maintained the natural gas to the homes. But that could end at anytime. David had been preparing for such a disaster for years and he knew that when the gas, water and sewer ended, so would the civility of his friends and neighbors.

David washed out his dishes and put them away. He went outside and checked the gas meter and so far it was still providing the fuel his generator needed to keep his freezer and refrigerator humming. But should it stop it would be a quick and easy switch over, for him anyway, from natural to propane for the generator. He only ran his central air conditioner when the neighborhood had power from the grid, and that was severely controlled by the power company. Only run them at night between ten pm and six am. He knew that if he ran his when they were in the blackout, his neighbors would come to investigate.

When the first of the blackouts hit over a week ago, the stores were quickly depleted of their generators. So far the people were lucky as the gas stations remained open and they could get fuel for them. The grocery stores remained open and you could still buy fresh foods and hygiene products. David had a leg up on that as well. He had been purchasing toilet paper, paper towels, soaps, shampoos and first aid supplies for years ahead. If the well ran dry, he could maintain for over a year. He had put in another large propane tank behind his garage under the guise to be used for cooking and heating should the gas company fail. His neighbors never gave it a second thought as many of them had similar tanks sitting in their back yards.

For the next twenty four hours his neighbor hood would have power from the grid so he locked up and went to the store. He was buying eggs, bacon and breads. He grabbed his allotment of canned veggies and soups, only three cans each per customer, a ten pound bag of sugar and salt, and some rice. He had just paid for them and was heading for the door when the power went out.

“What in the hell? Were sposed to have juice for the whole day,” the store manager stated as he got on he phone.

“Well I better get home and try and keep the eggs and bacon from spoiling,” David said and then he walked to his car and drove home. The neighbors were outside looking around when he pulled into his drive.

“We’re all out of power,” Tom stated when David got out of his car.

“Keep your fridges and freezers shut for as long as you can then. Maybe it’s just a temporary glitch. Hopefully the power will come back on in a little while,” David offered.

“This shit sucks. It’s supposed to be on until midnight,” Tony yelled.

“Don’t know what to tell you. Just try and keep your cold stuff cold for as long as you can. Some of you may need to run your generators for a while. I’d go check on the gas stations if I were you also,” David said and then he went inside and locked his door.

And so it begins. The electrical company blew out several transformers and had to shut down most of their feeder lines. Right now only hospitals, nursing homes, police stations and fire stations were top priorities, and most all of them had their own back up power that would last them months. After a bit there was a knock at Dave’s door. It was Tom.

“Some of us are going down to the gas station to get fuel. Do you need any?” he asked.

“No, but thanks. I’m using the natural until it shuts off. One of you might want to think about bringing along one of your generators too,” Dave suggested.

“Why would we need to do that?” Tom asked.

“Because if the gas station doesn’t have power and they don’t have a back up generator. How are you going to get the gas into your cans?” Dave asked.

“Hm. Never thought of that. We better grab Bill. He’s an electrician and can hook it up to the pumps for us,” Tom stated.

“That’s good. Work together. Help each other out and we can get through this heat wave,” Dave stated.

That was nine am. Nine thirty and his neighbors were back, and mad as hell. George wanted double the price for gas and the Mayor wouldn’t do anything about it. They sat around grumbling about the price of gasoline when Frank came out of his house half naked.

“The fricken water just went off,” he sputter half covered in soap.

Everyone ran back to their houses and checked. No water. They started calling the City hall and were told that their pump had burned out because of the low voltage. The city was now rationing water. They had to go to the fire station and they could get ten gallons of water per person living in their homes per day. Dave grabbed two five gallon water containers and went to the fire station and got his allotment for the day. He now went into lock down mode. He locked everything he owned.

When David had his house built fifteen years ago, he had a well company come in and drill a water well. This he had out behind the garage. He was prepared for the worst. By eleven am the temperature was over one hundred with no end in sight. David made cold cut sandwiches for lunch and washed them down with some cold milk. He was watching the news and all across the nation power companies were loosing transmission lines. Transformers were melting down because of the heat, half the country was in crisis and in some cities the others were acting like terrorists. Going around in roving bands, stealing water, food, gasoline. Anything they could use. Dave didn’t want to think about the shotgun and buckshot that he had in his gun safe. But if it came down to it. He was going to survive.

Three pm and Dave was sitting on his front porch drinking a cold beer when his brother Ted called.

“Hey Dave. Me and the family are going up to the cabin. You want to tag along?” he asked when Dave answered the phone.

“Naw. Thanks anyway. I’m gonna sit here and watch the grasshoppers,” he replied.

“No one can say you didn’t warn them,” Ted said.

“That’s right. I’ll see you when you get back. Have a safe trip Ted,” Dave said.

“Yep. You be careful also Dave,” Ted said and then hung up.

Dave went in to make supper around five and the temperature had peaked out at One hundred and two degrees. A new record. After supper he watched some TV and around seven the power came on. He stayed up until ten and then went to bed.

Maybe tomorrow the heatwave would break...

The end?