Read Grid Attack (Cyber War #1) for Free Online Page B

do much to lighten up the room, but it is enough for me to finish finding all the remaining candles we have and take them downstairs.
     
    “Do you think we should move our bed down here?” I ask Tony, thinking it would be easier to heat just the main floor instead of trying to heat the upstairs, too.
     
    “Not tonight. It isn’t that cold tonight so we can stay upstairs. But yeah, I think we should do a little rearranging so the bed can be down here. It will be closer to the fireplace on the nights when it gets cold.” He said.
     
    I nodded as I thought back to one winter when we had a power outage for about a week. It was bitterly cold, but we had the fireplace and we kept it going for days.
     
    We also went through a lot of wood that week. A lot more since we were trying to use it to keep the whole house warm. We just piled the bed with blankets and used our body heat to sleep.
     
    During that power outage we knew it was temporary, it was just an inconvenience. Now, things are going to be different.
     
    Much different.
     
    When it got completely dark, we pulled down the shades and lit up several candles. They actually looked pretty cool all over the coffee table.
     
    I was getting hungry and because we had been so busy trying to get other things set up, it never even occurred to me to check the gas. I had a gas hot water heater which didn’t require electricity as well as a gas stove.
     
    The oven was electronic, but the stove could be lit with a match.
     
    I grabbed the long lighter we used to start the grill and went into the kitchen.
     
    As I turned on the gas, the stove didn’t click like it used to but I could smell the gas as I lowered the lit lighter down towards the burner.
     
    Poof! I had a lit burner. I smiled a little as I breathed a sigh of relief.
     
    “Well, at least we have gas…at the moment,” I yelled out to Tony, happy of my discovery. “It will allow me to cook and boil water for cleaning and bathing for as long as it lasts.”
     
    “Does the gas company use electricity to send the gas to us?” Tony asked.
     
    “I have no clue. But we have it tonight. So we should save our propane and use this as long as possible.” I said.
     
    It’s funny that I never checked on that before. I mean, I knew about the water and sewer, but I never thought to check on how the natural gas actually got to our house. Oh well, it didn’t matter now.
     
    I looked through the fridge and pulled out any leftovers we had to cook them off. We needed to eat as much of the stuff in the fridge that we had first so it wouldn’t spoil.
     
    We could always put some things in coolers outside. Actually, we could probably just move the refrigerator out on the porch as well. It was cold enough, and would keep animals away.
     
    Tony took some of the candles and put them on the dining room table, as I brought our plates of hot food and set them down. He picked up a bottle of wine and looked at me.
     
    “Shall we open it? Shall we toast to the new reality?” he asked, half joking and trying to make me feel better about our situation.
     
    I thought about it for a moment.
     
    “No, let’s save it. We never know when it might come in handy. Cash isn’t going to work soon. Food, water, and alcohol will be better than gold.” I suggested.
     
    He agreed.
     
    We did crack open a couple of beers with dinner, though. That helped us feel like we were just camping out.
     
    Any leftover food we put down on the floor and let the cats lick the plates clean. They weren’t going to be too picky when they got hungry.
     
    The water was still running and was hot, so I was able to clean the dishes before we went into the living room.
     
    Our normal routine was to eat and watch TV for a while before crashing. Tonight, it was so quiet we could hear the house settling.
     
    I snuggled up under Tony’s arm as we sat in silence for a while. We were both pondering things and our brains and bodies were exhausted from the