Alea Jacta Est: A Novel of the Fall of America (Future History of America Book 1) by Marcus Richardson

same time power went out. 
Right,” muttered Erik.
    “Those
missiles are unconfirmed too,” pointed out Ted.
    “And the
wildfires?” asked Stan.  “I think Erik’s on to something.  This is like some
big orchestrated…war or something!”
    “Now come
on,” countered Ted.  “Look, right now the only thing we know for sure—the only
thing that affects us is a plane crashed in Tampa and the power is out.”
    “Leaving
the plane aside, look at how much we depend on power!” cried Alfonse.  “Without
power, you can’t pump water at the water plant…you can’t pump gas at gas
stations,” he nodded towards Henry who just folded his arms again.  “That means
no drinking water, no toilets, no showers, no cooking…”
    “No
restaurants after whatever food they have on hand is out,” muttered Stan.
    “Yeah, and
no gas when you run out.  Now, when that gets out, and people figure out
that the cops will run out of gas at some point…all it takes is one rock
through a window, man.  If someone starts a fire, if there’s no power to pump
the water, the fireme can’t do squat.”
    Ted
frowned, considering Alfonse’s statement.  “I hate to say it, but you’re
right.  I mean, the Department only has about ten deputies.  The city cops got
around thirty or forty, more squad cars and a chopper.  But between here and
Bradenton, there’s 50,000 people.”
    “Most of
them over 50,” retorted Henry caustically.  “Not so much of a threat there.” 
Erik looked at Henry and came to the conclusion that if it turned into every
man for himself, he figured Henry would be one of the first ones to throw the
brick. 
    “Yeah, but
I can easily see Alfonse’s point,” continued Erik.
    The tall
black man smiled.  His teeth stood out against his poorly lit face. “Erik, call
me A.J.  I always hated that name, Alfonse.”
    “Okay, A.J.
it is.” Erik grinned.  “He’s right, though.  It took the power companies almost
a week to get everyone back on line last summer.  And that was only because
they could draw on resources and power from outside the affected area.  Now,
it’s starting to look like the whole country is down.”
    “Yeah, but
not everyone is without power.  I bet there’s pockets out there that still have
juice,” said Stan, scratching his head under his baseball cap.  He checked his
watch.
    “Well,
whatever.  What we gonna do about food when the power stays off for a week or
two?  If it’s off everywhere, how will the food get delivered to the grocery
stores?  Remember Katrina hitting ‘Nawlins?  It only took a few days for that
city to have a complete melt-down.  Eventually people will run out of cash…the
banks are closed, so how do we get money to pay for food that isn’t there?”
asked Erik.
    “This is
gonna get hairy pretty quick,” mused Ted.  He instinctively looked towards his
wife and family.  “Wish I had a house, plot of land and a garden.”
    “What about
our families?” asked Stan, looking over to the pool where his wife was
splashing with some kids. 
    Alfonse
looked with a worried face towards his wife.  She was bulging under her
maternity swimsuit.  Just enough to let everyone know she was pregnant, but
still a woman.  Not yet to the point where she just wanted to give birth and
get back her body.  “I can’t think about what will happen in a month or two if
the power isn’t on and Charone goes into labor.   God, what if she goes early?”
    “Tonight,
how ‘bout we just let the kids have fun.  We can worry about the rest of the
world and the future, tomorrow,” said Ted.
    With the
mood among the men growing more somber, they said goodbyes and started to break
up.  Henry informed his daughter he was going home and told her to come back
when she was ready.
    Alfonse got
into the pool and he and Charone stayed in the deep end.  They wrapped arms
around each other and were lost to the world, whispering and nuzzling.
    Stan
gathered up his wife