IC: "The Night the Lights Went Out"

[Alice2015]

Roxie Harrington (profile) and Tom Dawson (profile)
Harrington Hills Vineyard
Harrington Hills (an eastern unincorporated suburb of San Diego)

Nearing 7 am, shortly before sunrise
Sunday, 19 January 2025 (>5 hours after TLWO at 1:44 am):

"Hey Mrs. Harrington," Tom said, "I gotta get, y'know, going. I left your drink at the bar."

"Roxie," she said, smiling. "Call me Roxie."

She could see the discomfort, the awkwardness in Tom's face; he'd obviously heard more of the argument between her and Viola than she'd intended. Roxie disliked public encounters such as she'd had with the other woman. She wasn't a drama queen and disliked them very much, too.

Tom closed the distance between them, placing a hand on her shoulder as he asked, "Are you good?"

"I'm fine," Roxie lied. She looked toward the open door of the den as if looking for her husband, then looked back to the younger man. With a sincere tone, she said, "Please, Tom ... don't leave, not yet. I..."

She took his hand in both of hers, holding it almost intimately. Roxie wasn't above flirting with a man to get what she wanted from him. The only problem was that she didn't know whether or not her husband already had designs on Tom. She wouldn't horn in on a man who held Glenn's interest. It would have been easier to decide what to do if she knew whether the man was straight, gay, or bi.

"Listen, Tom," she continued, releasing her hold on his hand and looking up into his eyes. "I think you should stick around ... you know, if you don't have to be somewhere else this morning. I don't think Glenn would have made that deal with you just 'cause he needed a ride home. I think he sees something in you. He's good at judging people. I think that he thinks that you're a good guy ... and I think he would be disappointed to find that you left so quickly."

She stepped past him, her shoulder brushing his as she took his hand again, saying with a chipper tone, "C'mon, stick around. You won't be sorry. My husband's a master over the grill, and with the power out, he'll be firing up the brickettes for lunch. You already know we have the best booze, and you could teach me how to make a Mojito."

As she was talking to him, Roxie was trying to pull Tom back deeper into the house. She laughed. "It's been a long night. If you want to nap, we can put you up in one of the guest rooms ... a hot shower, change of clothes..."

Roxie had forgotten that the electric pump at the water well was without power. Luckily, though, three years back they'd installed a 1,500-gallon water tank at the highest point on the estate to increase the water pressure to both the home and the vineyard's irrigation system. With it full at the time of the blackout, they'd have water pressure for at least four or five more days. The only issue, of course, was that there was only one shower's worth of hot water left.

"Whatcha say?" Roxie asked, playfully pressing the issue.

 

[Alice2015]

Angel Daniels (profile) and Jason Flynn (profile)
Flynn's home
Durango, Colorado
6:15pm (15.5 hours after TLWO at their local time of 2:44am):

(Angel's last post and Flynn's last post.)

The two men attacking Angel -- no, three, there were three! -- had finally ceased her flailing about and had firm control of her arms and legs. As she screamed for Flynn yet again, one of the men held a hand over her mouth; he was clumsy about it, and Angel got ahold of a finger and bit through the skin enough to fill her mouth with blood. The man screamed and cursed, then punched her in the cheek. It stung like the dickens right now; tomorrow it would be swollen, black and blue.

Then, a loud boom cut through the night, startling the men and causing them to turn their attention away from her.

"Let her go now," a man's voice called out in the dark, adding, "and I'll give you the chance to leave with your lives intact,"

Angel almost immediately realized that it was her host and screamed out, "Flynn! Stop them!"

A moment later, there was another shot ripping through the otherwise quiet night, and one of the men grasping Angel cried out in pain and dropped to his knees. She took the advantage to return to kicking and flailing, getting a hand loose and reaching out to rip her nails through his cheek, despite them being cut short to a utilitarian length. Again, another scream broke through the black.

Then, suddenly, Angel hit the ground, only one man still holding onto her. She was rattled enough not to realize that the man's who'd been shot was on the ground grasping at his wound, trying to control the bleeding, while a second man had taken off directly at Angel's savior. She punched the man still holding onto her in the nose, breaking it and, yet again, causing one of her would be rapists to cry out in agony.

Angel looked toward the third man and screamed, "Flynn! Watch out!"

 

[Alice2015]

Eleanor Gumble (profile, pic) and Hannah Blanchard (profile)

"The Bazaar", Austin, Texas

Noon, Sunday, 19 January 2025 (>8 hours after TLWO at 3:44am local time):

(Eleanor's last post here, Hannah's last post here.)

"Okay, since you've already established currency and other... systems," Hannah began her Shark Tank-like presentation, "then the chance of this ... whatever is going on, going away anytime soon is slim."

Eleanor could see that the younger woman had a good grasp on just how bad she and her husband saw the blackout. It simply made no sense that everything would simply quit working all at the same time if it had simply been a power outage.

"Evidently, you and your spouse are very resourceful people," Hannah continued. She talked more on the situation, complimenting, "Getting ahead is the best way to be ready for anything; we both know you're on top of that already."

"My husband and I aren't necessarily what you would call preppers," Eleanor said, "but we are well aware of how fragile the world around us can be at times and how people can be left with nothing in the case of an emergency. That is what The Bazaar is all about, in a way."

"Great minds think alike," Hannah spoke.

She brought up a box, then brought out a can with the tiniest of sprouts just barely breaking the surface. For the next couple of minutes, she explained all about Jarvis and what he needed to become sustenance for people who might very soon be desperate for food. She talked about her education in organic chemistry and her kudos on the front of Colorado's Fine Gardening magazine. Eleanor was very impressed, not that that surprised her; she'd seen something in Hannah almost from the moment she'd met her.

The young woman brought up an issue that had been in the forefront of many a conversation between the Gumbles and others in the community: the transportation and sometimes importation of the food that kept this country fed. It had been obvious to Henry and Eleanor for years that Austin's population needed to eat closer to home; too much of what people here put on their table came from too far away, be it from across the state, from another state, or even from another country.

Hannah's warnings about raiders hitting stores of food were something that worried Eleanor as well. One only had to recall the images of the people of the Gaza Strip raiding relief trucks for food and water to know that desperate people would go to any length to feed their children.

Hannah made her pitch for a place to grow Jarvis and his brethren, ending, "I'd like your help in starting a garden and expanding it in the way of a hidden greenhouse."

Eleanor thought about both the possibilities and the potential drawbacks, finally saying, "I think I know a place where you could do this ... grow your plants, without anyone knowing or presenting a danger." A local approached, asking Eleanor if she was interested in buying some things she'd brought to The Bazaar from home. Eleanor told her, "Take these back to Henry. He's at the grill. Tell him I said to buy them. He'll pay you and feed you and your children, too."

The woman's face showed her incredible gratitude, and after she and the two toddlers sticking close to her were gone, Eleanor returned to Hannah. She told the young woman about a building that had had it aluminum roof sheeting ripped off by a tornado. "Most of the windows were broken. They're covered by plywood. Everything else, though, is intact: rafters, walls, doors..."

She sipped from a bottle of water she'd brought with her and thought. "If we replaced the roof with plastic sheeting, then covered it with that transparent corrugated roofing material ... polycarbonate sheeting ... we used some on our home's porch a couple of years ago..." Eleanor's lips were wide in a smile by now. "Would that work? You'd have sunshine, a double layer ... we could use propane to heat the place if you needed it warmer in the winter and spring months..."

They were interrupted yet again by someone wanting to sell five warm sweaters she no longer needed. Eleanor could see that the woman was desperate; she pulled five $5 Bazaar Bucks from the pocket of her smock, handed them to the woman, and told her, "Go find Gail, over in the rummage sale area. You know her, yes...? Tell her to hang these up and mark'em $8 each. Then, you go back to the barbeque and tell Henry I said he was to give you a to-go meal for you and the little ones."

Again, the woman was obviously appreciative, leaning down to hug the generous woman around the neck before hurrying off. Eleanor again turned her attention to Hannah, smiling and asking, "Whaddaya think...? Would that work? If you need something different, I'll see that you get it. I love this idea."

She listened to what Hannah had to say, then said, "Now, Jarvis and his buddies aren't going to provide for a few months ... which means that The Bazaar isn't making money, which means that you aren't making money. You said you have an education in chemistry...?

"I can almost guarantee that we're going to have a need for someone as smart at you, Hannah," Eleanor said, her tone very complimentary. "So, here's what I have in mind in the meantime. You do your greenhouse thing ... put the time into it that you need to put in to make it work ... and ... I'll make sure that you have room and board ... some Bazaar Bucks in your pocket. All you have to do is put that brain of yours to work for the benefit of The Bazaar and the people who work or shop here ... and, when you have time, do some whatever work around the building. Earn that room and board. Fair?"