Blackout!

Tires squealed and rubber burned as William Anderson tore up the back country roads. A resident in America’s Pacific Northwest, he had been at work when the power had shut off. No flickers, no warning, no explanation. As far as he had been aware, there had been no storms that had occurred, and over the past two days, the news had just got worse.

The gas stations were shut down due to no power, the generators at the grocery stores were running on fumes, and the power company couldn’t say anything more than ‘we’re working on the problem, please be patient.’

The contact he had with friends across the country revealed they didn’t have power either, and the group chat he had on Discord, which included several people ‘across the pond’ in Europe gave him information which made his heart sink.

As far as he could tell, the whole world was without power. 

A total blackout.

The news passed on by truckers who had passed through or even got stuck in the small town made the already-overwhelming situation even more bleak. 

Airports had grounded all craft, barely getting them out of the air before the situation could cost lives. Yes, generators were running, but for how long? Cities were already in turmoil, riots breaking out in nearly every hub of civilization as people panicked. Several cell phone networks had already gone down due to insufficient fuel prepared for the cell tower generators. Even in their small town, the situation was worsening. The question on everyone’s mind was the same: How bad is it going to get?

That brought him to his current situation, racing out of town, heading about ten miles north to a couple RV’s nestled in the mountain foothills. He hadn’t heard back from one friend, one that he knew already lived in a precarious situation, and he had grown too worried to just wait for information. All he could do was hope for the best.

The situation that greeted him was far from the one he expected. In the early summer breeze, his friend Mattis was sitting in a lawn chair, drinking a beer and reading a book out in front of his RV. Mattis looked up as William jumped out of his car, marking his page in the book and setting it aside.

“Hey man. Want a beer?”

“Are you crazy?!”

Mattis actually considered it for a moment. “I mean, I guess? I don’t have the paperwork to prove it, though.”

“Do you have any idea what’s happening right now?!” William nearly yelled as he strode up.

“I’m reading a book and drinking a beer. Something happen?”

“Did something ha- the world’s without power, idiot!”

“Oh. Oh yea, I know.”

William had already gone from frantic to a relieved sort of anger, and now he moved to confusion. “You know?”

“Boss called me the other day. Said power was out and that she’d call when it gets restored. I called her this morning and she said it was still out, so I didn’t need to worry about coming in today, hence why I’m drinking.”

“I mean across the world!”

“I do have friends in other countries.” Mattis said dryly before taking another drink. “So yea, I know.”

“So why the hell are you sitting here drinking?!”

“...Because the beer is gonna get warm and I needed to make space for the pizza in the fridge?”

William nearly popped a blood vessel.

“Alright, alright.” Mattis sat up. “What exactly would you suggest I do?”

“Well…I mean…What are you going to do?!”

“That’s what I’m asking you.” Mattis replied calmly. “Instead of sitting here on a beautiful afternoon drinking and reading, what should I do?”

“Do you have enough fuel? Food? And your food is gonna thaw out and I know you have horses and-”

“Take a seat, dude.” Mattis sat back again, gesturing to a folded up chair that was leaning against the RV. Giving up, William followed his instructions.

“So, the biggest thing is water, right?” Mattis asked, to which William nodded. “Well, technically shelter, but water is next. I imagine people are hoarding water in all the jugs they can get their hands on, in their sinks, in their bathtubs, shit like that. When I used to live in the city, that was the plan in case of disaster. Well, I like my bathtub not filled with stagnant water, so I’m not doing that.”

“Then what-?!” 

“Would you relax!” Mattis snapped, his friend’s frantic mood getting on his nerves. “Our well relies on gravity!”

William blinked. “It does?”

“Yea, it does. We’re on a hillside, yea?”

“...Yea…”

“When we moved in last year, we dug our well uphill. It’s got enough of an angle that we don’t have to have it powered. Hell, do you actually see any power lines around here?”

William looked around, it occurring to him only then that he didn’t.

“Yea, as it turned out, it would take thirty grand to get power up here since we’re too far away from the main road and any other power lines. We have generators and a couple small solar panels, just enough to keep the batteries on the RV’s charged. My parents are on the other side of the property and they have about the situation. Now, I suppose I could run into town, try and get some more fuel containers and fill them, but what good would that do? Here in a month it’d be useless anyways.”

“...What?”

“Geez, did you pay no attention in school? Fuel generally doesn’t last more than a month or two unless you put additives in it, and that ship has sailed. I figure I’ve got enough to last me about a week constantly running the RV. In fact, most people are gonna be shit outta luck here, except people like ranchers and farmers. You know, people who are used to storing a lot of fuel at their own places, and even that won’t last forever.”

“But what about food?!” William’s nerves, which had calmed down a bit while Mattis had been talking, were once again back in full-force.

“I have a garden.”

“That won’t be enough!” 

“Oh, I know.”

Mattis’s blunt and calm approach to the situation confused William into calming down once more. Taking advantage of the break, Mattis explained again.

“So, neat fact, you need a thousand square feet to grow enough wheat for a small family, if I recall correctly. It’s not that much space, and we have twenty acres and access to water. We planted a small garden, not enough to survive on, true, but what you don’t see is a clearing up the hill where we were working today, planting potatoes in above-ground planters. Once I found out about the shitshow that was happening, my wife and I decided to expand the garden to something that can support us. We have canned and dry goods to last us a couple months, and hell, I’ve seen enough deer around here to know I can take one or two without hurting the herds too much. That’ll tide us over until the garden is ready, if the power doesn’t come back.”

William tried to cut in again, but Mattis raised a hand. “Just let me finish, alright?”

Subdued, William nodded.

“Thank you. Now, we have a wood stove we installed in the beginning of the summer in the RV for heat to supplement the propane heat during the wintertime. It’s not the first time we’ve done something like that, and I’m paranoid enough so that I insulated the shit out of it. I’m not looking forward to cutting trees by handsaw and axe if the power doesn’t come back and we run out of fuel for the chainsaws, but we’ll have heat for both RV’s in the winter, as well as a five hundred gallon tank of propane that we can make last for a long damn while, if we use it sparingly. As far as the horses go, true, we don’t have enough hay to last for a long time, but we have twenty acres they can graze on, save the garden, and we’ll have time to put some away for the winter months. It won’t be easy, but we can survive.”

William sat back. “Wow. This impacts you…a lot less than I originally thought.”

Mattis chuckled. “We’ve lived like this for most of my life. Don’t rely on electricity, plan for the worst. My parents and wife are already here, so I don’t have to go gallivanting across the country trying to make sure those I love are safe. Yea, shit’s gonna suck for other people, especially in the cities, but the ones I actually give a damn about are safe. If anyone tries to come take what’s ours and compromise that, well…” He shrugged. “We’re remote, so it won’t happen. If it does, I have what I need to take down any varmints that come along.”

“Kinda cold, isn’t it?”

“Yup.” Mattis replied. “But it’s practical. Speaking of which, why don’t you grab your things and come on up for awhile? We got an empty RV. It’s small, but it’s livable.”

“You sure, man?”

“Hey, I’m gonna put you to work.” Mattis grinned. “But yea, it’s fine. The more the merrier.”

“You just turned a cold shoulder to everyone in a city.” William pointed out.

“The more the merrier, when it comes to people I trust.” Mattis amended. “Better?”

“Better.” William shook his head before heading to his car. When he got there, he turned to look at Mattis again. “Hey, I just have one question.”

“Yea?” Mattis asked as he picked up his book.

“Why are you so calm about this?”

“Will, I’ve spent my life having a backup plan.” Mattis explained. “It wasn’t called paranoid or doomsday prepper or shit like that, it was just called smart. If you prepare for the worst-case scenario, which this is, then when it comes along, you’ve already got a plan and are ready for it. Yea, living through this shit is gonna suck if power never comes back, but the truth be told is that it doesn’t really affect me. I suppose most people would have this situation looking like some horror movie, but to me? I have my family, I have a plan and already prepared for this, and I’ve never been ‘plugged in,’ so to speak. Hell, I even know how to make my own mead. I have my books to keep me entertained, my wife to keep me company, and my land to work. If anything, this is a vacation.”

“You’re a strange one, Mattis.” William said with a shake of his head.

“Imagine what my wife has to deal with.” Mattis joked.

William got back in his car, started it up, waved, and drove away, leaving behind the least concerned man in the world.

P.S.: While the author understands this story may seem far-fetched, it is actually heavily based in reality. Mattis’s name has been changed to protect his identity, but he is a close friend of the author and allowed the author to use him in this story.

Some parts have been exaggerated, or more correctly, advanced in time. As of this date, it is the late winter after Mattis moved to the Pacific Northwest last fall. By the time the hypothetical date this story occurs on comes around, the assets explained by Mattis will be a reality.

Mattis said that he hoped his lifestyle would help others understand that you don’t need to be paranoid or worried about an apocalypse in order to prepare for a worst-case scenario, and that people in the cities need to have some kind of backup plan so that, should something like this occur, they could survive.