had to pull her weight, and more. She’d worried about Carol and Olivia stepping up, and they likely were thinking the same thing about her. Carol might have, anyway; Olivia was too young to be that analytical.
The coming crisis would test them all. She didn’t want to be one of those who failed.
“I’m glad she’s with Nathan and his folks,” Carol said. “Being alone right now would be awful.”
The three others nodded, all of them imagining how bad it would be to have no one to rely on.
“I’d feel better if I knew what to expect,” Barb said, her soft face worried. “I don’t mind hard work; that’s how I grew up. I just need to know. What will work, what won’t? What should we be doing, what should we forget about?”
For some reason, the others looked at Sela, as if she had the answers. She had spent some time reading up on CMEs, but that didn’t make her an expert. How could anyone be an expert on something that hadn’t happened in the modern world?
“All I can do is guess,” she said slowly. “Texts should work—might work—even after the grid goes down, unless the CME fries the towers. They work on radio waves, right? The radio stations all say the waves will be wonky for a few days. After that . . . maybe. But cell phones have to be charged, and even then coverage is bound to be spotty. We have to decide if it would be worth using precious power to charge a cell.”
“Yes!” Olivia said instantly.
“I don’t see having a powered-up cell phone as being more important than having light,” Carol said. “Especially since the odds are against anyone you’d want to talk to also having a charged cell phone, and that the networks would be operational. Not right away, anyway. Later on, maybe, because you know everyone will be working their butts off trying to get everything up and running.”
“I charged my cell phone this morning,” Sela said. “What about y’all?”
“I did,” Olivia said. Of course.
Carol made a face. “I think it’s about seventy percent.”
Barb sighed. “I haven’t even turned mine on today. I forgot.”
“Then we’re good for a while, between the four of us, if any cell service works.” Another thought occurred; they’d been so busy doing all the food prep and canning that she’d forgotten about water. She had a good bit of bottled water from her store, but that wouldn’t be near enough. “We should get busy, right now, filling everything we can with water. When the power goes out, it’ll be a lot harder to come by.”
They all got busy, filling every glass, every cup, every bowl, every pitcher and jug they could find, all while keeping an eye on the small television. Sela sent Olivia to Carol’s small bathroom, which was attached to her downstairs master bedroom, to fill the tub there with water, as well.
The anchors were seriously explaining that anything that relied on satellites was already down, and there was no telling how long it would take to repair or replace them. Getting the power grid up and running would have to come first. Then they began listing places where emergency rations would be distributed, and where medical centers would be set up. Hospitals would be too difficult to manage, with dark stairs and inoperable elevators. The practice of medicine would become smaller, and more basic.
As she automatically filled containers with water, Sela wondered how long those emergency rations would last. Here in the valley, at least, starvation wasn’t on the radar. Getting food would be more difficult, but there were deer and other game in the area, as well as hunters who’d be happy to provide. She’d never had squirrel stew, but there were plenty of them around and she wasn’t entirely opposed to trying it if their supplies and deer ran out. Okay, she was opposed, but that would pass. She imagined a lot of food dislikes would be ignored before this was over.
The water coming from the faucet suddenly thinned to a trickle, then stopped altogether. “What on earth?” Carol said, looking at the television, which was still on.
“The water board must have turned everything off and disconnected, so the pumps won’t be fried,” Sela said, looking at the clock and thinking that, truly, the water board had taken a chance leaving the water on this long. She turned the faucet off and looked at their supply of water, at the kitchen counters and table