When he noticed the power was out, the first thing he did was locate the

flashlight

and the

lantern

. Both battery powered. Then he checked how much battery his phone had. 83 percent. Not bad. He turned it on low power mode. Reduced the brightness. Made sure the internet still worked. Thank god that did.

After that he took a deep breath. It was still daytime. He should run to the store and buy some ice. If the store was still operational that is. Who knew how long the power would be out. He had frozen meat that would go bad within a day or two. Yes. Ice was the first order of business. He grabbed his light rain jacket, rolled it up, put a hat on and headed out.

The key twisted. The engine roared. The car only had a half tank left. He'd fill that up too. The radio was down. Not all the stations. Just the one he usually he listened to. Some local student radio. Must mean the power outage was highly localized. The intersection at First st. and Burton was out. Usually the Burton cars had the right of way. But now people were treating it like a four way stop. A real slow four way stop. Nobody trusted each other.

He swung into a

gas station

. Electricity was still working here. Filled up. Paid. Observed all the people who were out and about. Different energy in the air. Keith wondered if he needed a gun. Damn he wished he had a gun. Things could get ugly he thought.

He had turned off the radio earlier. The static felt uneasy. He drove in the silence of the car's hum. He would go to the grocery store an get three or four bags of ice. He could've gotten some from the gas station. But he wanted to pass by Max's. See if people were still there. If they still had power.