Chapter 2

We decided to have a meeting of the minds after seeing the news report.

Hank was panicking a little. I thought I was going to have to slap him around a little bit but my sister used her feminine wiles on him and settled him down. It mainly involved her ass on his lap with a bit of strategic wiggling. Luckily, the kids had already been put to bed even though it was summer break for them.

"There is no way to say it," I started. "This is going to get real bad. I assume martial law will be declared anytime now." I paused with a sigh. "Then it will get worse." There were distracted but thoughtful nods around the room.

"Lou," I continued, "we need to clear out everything from the shop that could be useful. Especially, the guns."

"I was thinking the same thing, brother," he replied.

"We'll do that first thing tomorrow." He nodded his head in reply.

"Do any of you think we should invite anyone else?

"

Lizzie, Belle and I had no other relatives close by now that mom and dad were gone and Belle's dad was a dead beat. I had most of my best friends here with me so I was good. Jesse was Lizzie's closest friend near here and I knew of no others she would think to invite. Her negative shake of the head was no surprise as were the Blackwaters' communications of the same. Hank was the only one I was unsure of.

I looked to Hank for his reply.

"My mom would be the only one I can think of," he said. "I was going to ask if I could bring her here. She's a helluva cook!" We all chuckled at that.

"Give her a call," I said. "She can handle my meat any day."

Hank is fluent in sign language. He told me I was number one.

Helen Matthews was fifty-three year old ball of fire. She ran the local meat processor with an iron fist since her husband had died four years ago. Helen was still an attractive woman at her age, with the energy of someone twenty years younger.

The first time I met her was at their shop when I brought in a deer to have processed. She came out just as I was dragging the sixteen point buck in through the bay doors. Helen looked at the buck, then gave me a thorough up and down and with a raised eyebrow and said, "I'll take care of that big piece of meat for ya." Then she busted out laughing at me as I was turning different shades of red.

We watched as Hank pulled out his cell to call his mother. It wasn't a very long conversation. He said hello, listened a few seconds, said goodbye and ended the call. Hank looked up, shaking his head.

"She's packing; she'll be here in the morning."

Lizzie got up at that point and grabbed her purse saying she was going to the clinic to get her personal items and a few more meds. We had her little medical room squared away complete with an examination table, hospital bed and a lockable cooling unit to keep medicines in. The rest of us talked things out until about midnight when Liz returned, then called it a night.

I woke up at my normal time of 5 a.m. and took care of my morning ablutions. As I was making coffee, I realized that that was one of the things we all had over-looked when gathering provisions. Most of us only drink coffee in the mornings, but that didn't make it less important. I gathered my keys, a couple of medical facemasks, and vinyl gloves to make the trip to Wally World.

The parking lot looked like a war zone. Empty grocery carts were scattered all around with one lone employee trying to corral a few here and there. There must have been some excitement because a police officer had his car parked between the entrance doors. I didn't see him wearing a mask but he at least had gloves on. He gave a little wave as I walked by his cruiser.

Wal-Mart had been almost cleaned out of food. There were few employees around; I bet a lot of them stopped coming into work when last night's story aired. People were looking at me strangely for wearing the mask, yet others nodded their head in acknowledgment of my smart thinking. Luckily the coffee hadn't been hit too hard. I grabbed four big cans then loaded all the foil bag-type containers that I could. I stocked up on tea as well; both hot and cold. For the kids I picked up lemonade and Kool-Aid mix.

I happened to walk down the laundry detergent aisle and grabbed a few more bottles of bleach. Bleach is liquid gold in an urban survival situation. I did buy a pallet load of bleach at Sam's, but I would rather have too much then not enough. I knew utility services wouldn't last forever. The electrical issue was covered by the generator - barring mechanical breakdown. Solar panels provided heated water and charged the two battery banks.

When the water distribution stopped, then we could run into issues. That was the reason I had bought the two 1000 gallon water tanks. I had two 100 gallon water cisterns collecting rain water from the roof that I used to water my potted plants and planter boxes. That water would be treated for us to use. Eventually the water situation would force us out to the bunker with its water well and filtration system. My belief was that the shop was the most defensible until things settled down. I also wanted to keep the bunker a secret as long as possible.