A National Crisis

 The day is December 29, 2023 and Earth is in a global weather crisis and the United States was at war from within. This crisis started out so slow that people did not see it. But when the chaos descended upon the world the true human spirit was renewed. Neighbors started helping neighbors and our governments realized they lost the control over their people. 

My family was fortunate in mid September I inherited my biological fathers farm that is in the state park system. The farm came ready with chickens, rabbits, a home and 3 greenhouses. My family made fast work of making sure the animals and greenhouses were productive. I turned the basement of the home into a stock pile room. We had shelves, baskets and freezers put in and doing this helped save us for the chaos that was to come as the entrance to the basement was hidden behind a moveable shelf that unless you hit a latch could not be seen. This saved our family.

I was also the type of person who stocked up on canned, dried goods and produce so I had a collection of dried fruits and vegetables. Then one day during a phone conversation with my daughter she had told me she had went to go food shopping and a lot of the normal things she would buy seemed to be out of stock or the store had placed limits on what she could buy. I offered her some of the things I had and she said no she knew where it was if she needed it. Then one day she called me crying telling me that someone broke into their home in the city and stole all the food she had in the house. My partner and I realized things were getting worse and offered her and her husband a cabin we had on the property. They agreed to move in as they did not want their two kids to be in any danger. 

After speaking about how bad things were getting we took a large amount of the cash that I received from my inheritance and decided to spend the day stocking up the hidden food cellar. This would save us and my daughters family in the chaos that was to come. We left the house at 6am leaving behind my Grandchildren with their Dad and my partner and Father In Law Guarded the cars as we stocked up on dry goods and some meat at the stores we visited. We realized as the day progressed more and more stores were tightening what people could buy and by 8pm that night we made sure the meats were in the freezers and the following day I organized all the dry goods and made sure the all the packaged items were secure in containers. A week later we received letters in the mail with a pack of cards stating that we could only purchase food at food stores three times a week and once the week had its checked boxes we could not get anything else.

This caused a panic and people started to panic shop. We increased our animal production and started hunting on my land and fishing from my boat dock storing all the meat we could. My family also started to build up the walls on our property and we were glad we did. One day while my daughter and I had went to the peach trees on the property with the plan to harvest and can them. Halfway there my Grandson pointed to a man in the distance near the garage on my home. I took out my gun and we drive our electric cart over. He was going through my canning jars. I told him he needed to leave. He said he would not and kept searching. My daughter took the kids into the house and found my partner and his dad. They came out and he went crazy saying he was taking over the property. We had to call the local rangers to remove him as the police told us they were not dealing with petty things like this. That was when we realized the government was starting to fail. The man was removed from the state park entirely.

Later that week we had a meeting with our neighbors and realized this was a problem we were all affected by. A representative for the state park said that they would increase patrols and we should just bypass the police and call them. Everyone at the meeting agreed we would have to be more vigilant. The rangers all lived in cabins around the state park and we would supplement their pay with foods from the gardens as well as letting them fish or hunt on the property. 

At the end of September we woke up to my daughter calling from her cabin. She asked if I had checked the news or had been outside. 

I grumbled as I woke up and said, "Its my day off sweetie and 8am. I was going to sleep in."

"Ugh wake Ben and put me on speaker." She said, "You are not going to believe this."

I shook Ben awake and he listened to my daughter Cara, "Did Grandpa wake up yet?"

Ben said, "We were up late and its 8am I doubt it."

"You might want to look outside to the snow on the ground." She said, "Go ahead and look I will wait."

Ben jumped out of bed and hurried to the balcony door, When he opened it he said, "Shit."

He took my phone and said, "Cara is Mike awake?"

"Yeah he is stumped. Why do you ask?" She said and then followed it with, "You have a plan?"

Ben laughed as he said, "Don't I always. Tell Mike to get his boots on. I am gonna go wake Dad and eat breakfast we need to get the houses ready. You and mom are going shopping. I wish we had a way to keep the kids here people will be panic shopping. Let me think about that I think it would be safer to keep the kids here while you and mom go to the stores. When you all eat head over here and come in I will unlock the back door."

Looking at Ben I said, "Shits hitting the fan. GO wake Dad I am going to get dressed and start an easy breakfast."

Heading down to the kitchen I looked out the windows and sighed. The view of the property covered in snow was beautiful but this was going to cause complete chaos. I started to fry up some sausage and eggs when there was a knock at the front door. I went to open it and found Max and Mark two of the park Rangers standing there. 

"Hey guys come in out of the cold I got coffee on now." I said.

"Thank You Maggie," Max said as he followed me to the kitchen.

"I guess your here because of that," I said pointing to the snow outside.

Laughing Mark said, "How did you guess. We wanted to know what your plan was. Current temps outside are 31 degrees."

"She and Cara are going to load up at the stores that allow every day shopping and use all her days left she has," Ben said. "Dad is on babysitting and stacking duty as Mike and I are going to thin trees and cut some down for the wood stoves and fireplaces in both homes."

Max said, "Good game plan. I know you have extra freezers so be on the look out. A bunch of wild turkeys have been seen going through properties and deer season starts at noon so keep your guns handy."

Ben looked at me, "Love I will keep breakfast going. I know you are going to get very little perishable but meat and cheese but can you please go sort and organize the freezers and bring me up the big freezer bags. Between Mike, Dad and me we can bag 3 deers each and its unlimited turkeys."

I called Cara and told her to organize her freezers as well. Heading into the basement I looked at the shelves and containers' we use for food storage and saw room to add and what we needed. I went to the first of our 5 freezers and organized each one as quick as I could leaving the doors free for what I buy today and quickly condensed down to where we had room in each one. After I made sure everything was packed tightly I headed back upstairs. 

I walked into the kitchen and overheard Cara say, "You both just ate and your ready for round two?"

My Granddaughter Allie looked up and said, "Ben is cooking breakfast I wanted eggs."

Looking at Allie I said, "Aww mommy she needs her strength she is gonna help the guys and play in the snow." 

Kai came over to me and put his arms up to be picked up. Lifting him up he nuzzled me and said, "Meemaw I want to go with you."

Sitting him on a chair I said, "Kai baby its to dangerous. The snow is going to make people drive and be crazy in the stores. Mama and me are taking my truck so we are safe. Besides Grandpa needs help stacking wood when daddy and Ben bring it to the house."

"Fine," he said climbing down and went next to sit next to Grandpa.

Looking at Ben I asked, "Where is the want list?"

He got a big grin handing me a list, "You know me to well. We will need the stuff on the list if the snow gets worse. I would stop at the auto place first for what's on the list. I also put your tire size on the list and see if they have or can order snow chains for your and my truck. As long as one of us have it we should be okay and as you are the one that goes to town."

Nodding I read through the list and asked,  "Okay should I go to rural king for some of this stuff and work my way in?"

"Yes and take the back roads as much as possible. I know once you get to the highway it will be hard but a lot of people cannot drive in the snow and there are going to be a bunch of accidents." Leaning over he handed me a sandwich and said, "You and Cara should go now while the kids are distracted."

Cara and I Grabbed our bags and headed out the door. I noticed Ben had turned the seats down already and I checked my bag for the government card so they could track us. Cara did as well and we were on our way. We headed out of the property and Cara saw the turkey herd and called Mike. She also told him to let us know if the freezers get to full. Going past a local gas station called Fraziers, car repair and convivence/food store we saw a sign that said, "We have snow chains."

Pulling in I saw the owner Charlie. He walked over to me and gave me a hug as he said, "Maggie you coming in for Snow chains?"

"Do you have my size?" I asked as he went to look at the tires.

"I sure do," He said. "It will be $50 and I am going to put them on for you so give me your keys. I am gonna assume you and Cara are going to prep like my daughter is doing today?"

Nodding I said, "Sure am. I see the produce market is set up so while you do that I am going to check out what your vendors bought."

I called Ben as we were walking to the produce market and told him to bring his truck and have mike bring their car as well to see if he has chains. We walked through the produce stand and Charlies wife May came out to talk to us as we shopped. I loaded a cart with everything I thought I could use as did Cara. I paid for my chains and produce and met Ben and Mike outside. He took the cart and loaded my stuff into his car as he waited for Mikes chains to be put on. When it was Bens turn Mike loaded Cara's items into his car.

Ben gave me a hug and said, "Be careful and go slow even with the chains. The county does not own a snow plow so its going to be hard going but the truck should handle it. Also I went inside and got the stuff needed at the auto parts area so just do your shopping starting at rural king. I will leave everything on the counter so you can sort and do what you do when you get home."

Cara and I left heading towards the main road again. When we turned on the first public road she whistled and said, "Oh my there are a bunch of flashing lights."

 Even taking the back roads we saw many cars off to the side from sliding in the snow. I thanked god for the chains. When we got to Rural king we saw the parking lot was almost empty. I grabbed my handgun and put it in the holster I had a feeling we may need it today. We each grabbed a cart and grabbed everything on the list. Then we headed to the gun shop area and I loaded up on supplied I knew we would need for our guns at home.  When we passed the food sections I saw sacks of grains and flour and grabbed more then i thought we could ever use and then I also grabbed extra mason jars to store everything. Cara did the same and after we checked out the security team offered to walk us to the car for safety. Cara put her items in the middle of the car and I loaded everything into the back. The security guard wished us well and we were off to the next store. 

We tried to hit up the stores that we knew wouldn't make us use our allotted three stamps so we headed to the oriental grocery store. When we walked in the owner handed us cups of tea to drink as we shopped. I thanked him and Cara and I loaded up two buggies each. He also had a worker follow us out to make sure we were not bothered by anyone. I looked at Cara and said, "I wonder if woman have been attacked while shopping?"

As we drove to the next store she looked at her phone and gasped, "Mom you were right. People are trying to steal from woman and kids when they leave the stores. Police are not coming to calls so security teams are assisting."

We decided to only go to stores this far out that were not crowded and I was glad we did. Almost all of the stores had woman being walked out and we soon filled the truck to the brim. We stopped at Caras house first and she put the meat and perishables away and left everything else to sort till later. When we got to my house we did the same. We were just about to go back out to the local stores when there was a message from the emergency broadcast system. "Dangerous levels of snow fall predicted in next 48 hrs. Take cover and shelter in place."

Ben looked at me and said, "I filled 15 gas cans for the generator. Mike and I will be cutting wood and getting it in the wood boxes and garage till we cannot see and the snow starts and gets to heavy. Just keep going back and forth till you can't anymore. In the totes outside are 26 turkeys and 2 deer. Mike has a deer and about 15 turkeys. Dad is going to start cleaning them once the kids go down for naps. I am leaving room in the garage for your truck and I am going to move the boat and park under there."

Cara and I headed to our local stores and saw a lot of the stores were almost empty. We made quick work of going to all the stores and finally used up our 3 stamps for the day. As we got everything loaded in and started to leave the parking lot I said, "Why don't we order pizza so we can get everything sorted and ready to go."

She agreed and we drove to a local pizza parlor and ordered six pizzas, 2 boxes of garlic knots, 2 salads and 2 deserts. As we waited for the food to be finished I heard my car alarm go off and I ran out along with the Restaurant Manager. I drew my gun and said, "Unless you want me to shoot you get away from my truck."

The guy looked angry and said, "Bitch give me what's in there."

"No way this is for my family," I said. "I suggest you leave now as the police will not come even if I shoot you."

The guy walked towards me and said, "I will TAKE your fucking truck bitch."

Raising my gun higher I said, "I would suggest you go. I am a deadly shot and will not allow you to get near my truck."

He ran at me as the police pulled into the parking lot. The manager stepped in front of me and sucker punched the guy in the face. The man dropped to the ground grabbing his face. The police pulled him up and placed him in the patrol car. Turning to the manager I said, "Your lucky, we live in the state forest and the police told us to deal with it."

Cara walked out saying, "Mom you good?"

"Yeah Cara is the food ready?" I asked.

She walked out with the kitchen helper carrying the food. She climbed in and they handed all the food to her. I asked the officer if I needed to stay and he said, "No your good."

We headed home and dropped 1 pizza off along with the remainder of caras stuff to her house. Then we headed to my house and unloaded my car. I put all the meats and perishable away and found that one freezer was full of frozen game turkey. I stuck my head outside to see Bens dad Miles butchering a hog and both the kids watching him.

Miles looked up and said, "My helpers are fascinated with me butchering the animals."

"Well kids, Mom and I just unloaded the car and we got pizza for dinner. Are you hungry or do you want to hang with Grandpa some more." I said, "Or do you want cold pizza and watch Grandpa."

Kai jumped up and ran inside for food. Allie went over and hugged Miles and said, "I will be back I like hot pizza."

After the kids went in I said, "I am putting the food in the oven to keep warm while I start putting this all away and canning and packaging. Its insanity out there."

Miles said, "I been listening to the news reports via my ear piece its bad. People have been killed over this already. Canada and North of Virginia is in a complete lock down."

I went in and the kids were eating. Cara was holding Kai and he was sound asleep on her shoulder while Allie was eating pizza. She said, "After Allie eats we are gonna go home."

"No worries cara I will drive you over." I said. "we do not need the kids getting sick."

After Allie was finished eating we loaded them into the truck and i drove them over to the cabin. Allie saw all the bags and said, "Mommy is it really scary in town?"

Cara looked at me and I said, "Allie sweetie people are scared and when they get scared they do foolish things. We will be shopping on and off to make sure we have everything we need to get through the snow until its time to play in the sun again."

She accepted that answer and went to put the TV on. I drove back home and talked to miles while he ate some pizza. As I started to fill the mason jars with things I had gotten Ben walked in and said, "Dad the snow fall is getting bad do you want to move the game to the garage?"

Miles laughed and said "nope I have my heated blanket and the fire pit going. I am comfortable and getting it done. Maggie I did get 2 pigs and its all starting to freeze on the table I have a bowl of fast for you to render down. Its clean and ready so if you get the crock pot going i will bring it in. We will have enough to make 4-5 good size jars. I want to finish this tonight. I also have fish and crab pods set up off the dock so I will bring them up in the morning."

Ben sat down and said, We are going to cut more wood tomorrow. I filled the wood box next to our fireplace upstairs and the bin inside is also full. Dads box and bin is also full. We filled the box on the patio and the box for the fireplace and wood stove are full as well for the kitchen. Mike filled everything for him and cara as well. We are starting to make a wood wall along the back of the porch to block the wind. I have a tarp over it. I see you were successful today. How are all the freezers looking?"

"More then half full. I am going to use the crates in the garage to put a a lot of these jars in," I said. I stopped. 

Ben looked at me and said, "What's wrong?"

I sat telling him about the day and what happened at the pizza place. He looked at me and said, "What do you want to do?"

"Honestly I want to go to the sports store tomorrow and get more ammo as well as rural king for ammo and more grain bags. I also want to go to the asian store again and fill up another few carts. Rural king opens at 7am, The Asian store opens at 8. and the sports store opens at 9." I said, "But I do not want to risk Cara."

"Well then you and Ben leave at 630 in the morning," Miles said as he came in the door. "I will be up and my first plan is to see what is in the bins at the river. Then I will be hunting on the property. You all will be back by 1030am and we can hunt and cut more wood while you deal with whatever you don't finish tonight."

Ben said, "We can make it fast and get what we need. We can hit any other non stamp store on the way back as well. I will wait in the truck and we can get more wood cut. We are basically just getting things over prepped now."

I got up and hugged Ben and heated up his food while he showered. Miles finished the deer and ran mikes pile to him and he came back inside and made another plate. We put all the deer, pig and turkey into the freezers and still had a bunch of room left as we were packing them tight. I continued to work on the non perishable food pile until Ben was ready for bed. Before we headed upstairs we plugged in our mini generators to charge to run my dehydrators if the power goes out. After I showered we fell asleep fast and woke up to a new dusting of snow and when we got to the kitchen Miles was sitting at the table with a look of anger on his face.

"You all need to get as much as you can. I am coming with you. I will guard the cars and me and Ben can switch it up. The government is putting caps on everything starting tomorrow including the sale of ammunition. I am picking up a new crossbow and arrows today." He said, "They are trying to get people to depend on the government."

Shortly after I got a text from Cara and Mikes parents were sitting with the kids as they were going to go to the stores again to load up. They followed us to the stores as Mike Ben and Miles all guarded the cars while we shopped. We doubled down and spent more this time around at rural king and the asian store. Some of the time miles or one of the guys would join us to buy items as well. By the time we headed home all our cars were loaded down and later that night I had everything in its hidden place in the pantry as well as all the freezers were full. Our freezer in the kitchen as well as the freezers in the basement were packed with meat. Any meat we got after the fact were now being cooked, then canned and dehydrated. All the additional fruits and vegetables I got were canned or in the dehydrator. 

When I had all the food items put away I took my book of seeds and went to the first green house. I plugged in my winter heaters and checked the pipe stove. As I checked the wood box Ben came by and said, "I didn't forget you I knew we had to get this one filled today." 

He passed me some wood through the door and I started the fire to warm the green house. I took a metal bucket and filled it with snow and put it on the fire to melt as not to run the hose. Soon I had water melted and started harvesting and planting in the greenhouse. The bed closest to the stove held old potato plants and when I started to turn the dirt in the bed I discovered it was full of volunteer potatoes. After harvesting the potatoes and bringing them into the house to can and dehydrate I added fertilizer and planted garlic. I watched Ben cut the tree branches and logs and soon enough heard the first gum shot of the day. I poked my head up and saw Ben bringing a wild hog up to the house. Miles was already outside setting up the smoker. I grabbed my coat and joined them as Ben said, "Maggie I think we can eat some of this tonight, Make some bacon and then some jerky after we cook this what do you think."

Smiling I said, "That sounds great remember any extra fat put in a bowl and I will melt it down to make lard."

I grabbed what Miles needed and soon enough the hog was in the smoker. I went back to continue working on the green house. Ben came in to check on me and bring me a bottle of water and I asked, "Did you bring wood to the wood box yet?"

Ben started laughing as he turned me and said, "You were so busy harvesting, planting and cutting plants back you did not even notice I filled the box and stacked a bunch of wood next to the door."

Shaking my head I said, "You know me when I get started."

Kissing my forehead he said, "I sure do and that's why you had me laughing. Why don't we take a break and see how that pig is going."

We went into the kitchen as miles bought in a few bowls of meat. "I got a few of those wild turkeys when I went to check the crab and fish crates. I have a pot with the bones and carcasses' to make broth going on the fire outside. I did cube up the meat and I figured we can get these canned to add to the shelf stable foods. Also I have a bowl here of pork that I cleaned off the fat as well as the fat to make lard."

He continued saying, "I also have a bunch of chicken skin and fat I figured you could do something with that as well. If you render it I wants the crispy skin."

I gave a salute and him and Ben headed outside. While I was working on changing out the dehydrator and canning the potato's there was a knock at the door. When I opened it there was a a local ranger named Sue standing in the doorway. "

"Hey Sue come on in out of the cold," I said. "Would you like some coffee? We have been keeping the pot going while the guys work outside."

She followed me to the kitchen and said, "Oh thank heavens yes. Maggie are the guys around?"

"They are cutting wood and smoking a wild pig Miles got this morning," I said. "Why is something wrong?"

"Actually I need to give you guys an update we just got," She said as I handed her a cup of coffee.

I poked my head our of the door and asked miles to get Ben. As he did so Sue checked out everything I had going in the kitchen. "You have been busy. How much more do you have in the green houses?"

Sighing I said, "Probably another 2 days. I found these volunteer potato's when I went to turn the bed over for garlic. So I got these out and planted 100 garlic for the upcoming year so far and I am going to clean and can these some with and some without skin. However I know you like your spice and I have some peppers and potato to go home with you."

We chatted as I jarred up everything that was ready and I rendered the fat from the turkeys and the pig. I added a throwaway jar of pig fat to Sues pile as the guys came into the house. Sue told me to keep going and the men joined us in the kitchen. As I strained out more of the pig fat into the jars Sue said, "So you guys are aware we are on our own now. Unless someone is killed the police will not be coming out."

"Someone tried to break into James and Donnas place this morning and we heard Donna screaming as James ran them off. They called the police and asked if anyone was shot? We arrived at the house as Donna said no. They police asked if they notified the park rangers. When I took the phone dispatch said we handle things as we see fit the police are to busy in town and to tell residents to only call if someone is dead."

She continued, "Everyone out here has been doing what you are and hunting canning and gathering. Everything is being used including the bones after they make stock."

Miles laughed as he said, "Yup I have the turkey carcases boiling away to make broth and I am sure Maggie will be grinding those bones up as well for her garden."

Ben stood next to me as he refilled Sues coffee cup and said, "We saw how bad it was getting when we went to town earlier. We will probably be doing a few more runs as I am guessing we will be getting a order from the government soon to stay in your homes."

"Are you all looking for anything for the house?" Sue asked. "Mr Paul and Miss Milly are looking for some root vegetables as Fraziers sold out. Their greenhouse crops are not ready yet."

I heard Ben tell Sue that I had bought Rural king out of canning jars this morning and we were good as I went into the greenhouse. I grabbed carrots, sweet potato's, a few green and yellow squash and a few eggplant for Paul and Milly. I walked inside and grabbed another bag and added some of the potato I harvested this morning. I handed her the two big bags and another with some eggplant for herself and said, "This should help out until they can harvest."

I asked if she had her coffee thermos in the car and when she said she did I told her to go get it so we can warm it up and Ben helped her out with the bags. When she brought the thermos in I filled it full with what we had left and handed it back as Miles went to start another pot of coffee.

"Thank you Maggie," She said lifting up the cannister.

"Your welcome Sue," I said, "I think I will be going to the stores every morning from now on until we are are put on lock down. I know some stores locally have ammo and even though we are good I want to add more just in case."

Ben put his arm over my shoulder and said, "So what I hear is Coffee date and I get to guard the truck after the first store?"

Sue said, "We are advising to keep one person on property at all times. After what happened at James and Donnas house we want to make sure there are no break ins."

Miles walked back into the kitchen and said, "You do not need to worry about that as I will be here."

After Sue left Ben went back to cutting more tree branches and wood. Miles went out to search for more turkeys we could can and I went for a walk to the water with my gun incase I found anything. As I walked the property I found a apple tree full of fruit. I called Cara and had her grab the electric cart and baskets so we could harvest them. The kids found it fun picking up the apples that fell and Cara and I used our pole arms to pull more down. After we were done gathering apples we found some berry bushes that we gathered as much as we could while the kids snacked on the fruit. On the way back we met Miles on the path and he had a basket of crabs.  He joined us and the kids were in awe of the crabs.

When we got back he handed the basket to me and said, "You know what to do. Do you want me to peel the apples for applesauce?"

"Yes please," I said. "But save the skins I am going to make apple chips with the skins."

He grabbed the baskets of apples and headed outside to peel and watch the smoker. As he did that I did what I do and washed the crabs and added them to a pot to steam them. Once the crabs were steamed I broke them down and placed the shells into a pot to boil to can the crab meat with. I took the lump meat and started to fill small jars and stick the meat filled legs into a larger mason jar to keep for later on. During this process I switched out herbs from my dehydrator and jarred them up to add new to the dehydrator. 

By the time dinner rolled around I took some potato's I had harvested and put them in the oven to go with dinner. As I pulled out the pan to check the potato's the electric went off.  Ben and Miles came in and Ben ran to grabbed the charged electric generators for the dehydrators.  After we plugged in what we had dehydrating I started the wood stove. Mike popped his head in and said, "We have no power either we just started the wood stove as well as the fire place. I was listening to the radio and they said they do not know when the power will be back on. I am glad we crammed everything in the freezers."

He left and Ben started a fire in the living room and our bedroom to keep the rooms warm over night. Miles came back from his room and said, "Can you can on the wood stove? The pig should be done in a few minutes."

"I guess we will find out," I said as I added my canner to the wood stove. I got out two of my oil lanterns and lit them so I could see what I was doing in the kitchen. I added my small canning pot to the stove and started to can the carb meat I had just finished as well as a few jars of seafood broth. While the water came to a boil I cleaned up and stacked everything to continue in the morning. I checked the power level on the dehydrators when Ben came in.

"Are you going to be able to can the pig?" He asked. 

As I was adding the crab to the small canner I put the lid on and set the timer. I said, "I will have to on the stove. We can't let it go bad. I am thankful I got a bunch done already and with the wood stove we should be able to finish. Thankfully all four dehydrators have herbs in it now so once those are done we can save the power generators until the power comes back on."

Miles bought in all the meat from the pig. We sat down and ate dinner and afterwards we loaded all the meat into the jars. Once they were sealed and ready to go I started canning all the meat and by the time I finished canning everything on the stove, the herbs were done and we cleaned up all the trays as we finished the last batch of meat and set the jars on the counter to cool over night. We all headed to bed after we made sure the dishes and wood stove were cleaned and everything was locked up. Not knowing what we would find in the morning.

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When I woke up in the morning I noticed Ben was already awake and he had added to the fire in our room. I sat up and tried to put the light on and saw the power was still out. I grabbed my cell phone and saw that it was a little after 9am. I climbed out of bed thankful for the fire and saw Ben and mile outside trimming more tree limbs and we had gotten a large amount of snow. I headed downstairs and found Miles at the kitchen table. He looked up from his coffee and said, "I was up at 1am when the power came on. I plugged in the mini generators and they charged for a few hours when the power went out again. I was watching bay news 9 and they said this may be a daily occurrence. I think Ben and I are going to set up that solar panel system so you can write and we can charge our phones. Funny thing is Wifi Data and cell service are still running when I plugged the modem in when the power went out."

Laughing I said, "Well that's interesting."

Miles tilted his head and asked, "What are you thinking?"

Sighing I said, "Nothing good."

As I said that I saw a police officer pull into the driveway. I saw Ben and Mike put down they saws and walk over to the officers. I pulled on my boots and coat and went outside and walked up to the officers. Looking at the officers I said, "Is there something we can do for you officer?"

The officer looked at me and said, "Maam we are looking into rumors that this area has illegal hunting going on."

"Thats funny officer," I said. "This is private land and per state code we can hunt on our our private land or defend ourselves. We were also told by the police they were not coming out here due to the crisis and weather. Now as you drove onto my private 15 acres I am going to ask that you leave as there is no illegal hunting going on on my private land which is secured by a 10 foot stone fence along all fifteen acres. I would also suggest you all be careful going to other properties as this is PRIVATE LAND and we are governed by the state park system as well as law and legislation in regards to hunting, fishing and maintaining the land."

As I was saying this to the police officers, Max, Mark and Sue pulled up in their jeeps. Max spoke up and said, "Well said Maggie. Hello officers we received word from some of the local residents that your questioning legal hunting on their land. How can we help you?"

Ben came over and whispered, "Something is up."

Nodding I said, "I figured that out with your dad a little bit ago when he said internet works when he had it on the portable generator."

Sue came over to us and said, "Maggie since the men have this handled would you mind if we refilled our coffee and I used the bathroom."

Smiling I said, "Sure thing did you get the guys thermoses?"

She held everything up and as we walked away she said, "Something is going on. Police have come out and tried to shake up people that border the edge of the private property. I called the precinct when I first heard about this illegal hunting BS and they had no clue what I was talking about."

"Wait here," I said. 

I walked back over to the officers and said, "Gentleman sorry to interrupt you but can I please have your name and badge numbers. Also your cards would be helpful."

The one in the passenger seat said, "That won't be necessary."

Walking behind the patrol car to come to the drivers side I snapped a picture of the car ID as well as the license plate. Walking up to the driver I said, "I have pictures of you both which I am legally allowed to do as well as your car. Name and badge number please or I will call with this information and send the pictures."

Both officers pulled out cards and handed them to me. "Thank you gentleman that wasn't that hard. Now if you will excuse me I have some work to do."

I joined Sue and Miles on the porch and we went into the house. Sue said, "You think they are trying to stir people into giving them things?"

Everyone else came in and Max asked, "Maggie what was that about?"

"Miles told me this morning that when the power was out he hooked up the modem to the mini power generator we have and the wifi worked," I said. "This morning we have officers trying to claim illegal hunting. This is all private property any hunting on our land is legal as long as we remain in our limits. I noticed the driver was looking over the property while we were talking. These trees will start running sap soon which we will be able to harvest and use. He was also looking to the house as well as the garage. I am thinking that they are casing the homes. I sent all the pictures to Sue so she can contact the police department. I want to know who they are and why they came out."

Later that day I posted the signs on the property that said, Smile your on camera. As I posting the camera signs the very same officers drove past and they stopped and one asked, "Your cameras work?"

Smiling i said, "They sure do I have solar power and generators that keep my feed live and active. Everyone coming onto this property are on camera. We are on camera now as well. My neighbors all have the same set up. That and we are under our own authority so we have the state park on speed dial and are ready to go with anyone who tries breaking into or onto the property."

The driver asked, "Do you think you can defend yourself against people breaking in?"

I turned and showed them the coat I was wearing that said, Sharp shooter national champion. As I turned back around I caught their worried looks and I said, "I won this competition sick with the flu and barely able to see straight. I have no doubt I will be able to protect me and mine."

The first cop asked, "What kind of work do you do?"

"Oh me I am a blogger and a writer," I said. "My partner is ex military and retired. The same goes for his dad. My son in law is also private security for the government."

"A writer who can shoot," The driver said. "That is very interesting."

"Most of my neighbors are ex military," I said. "Or retired cops. I know a few were special forces and we had to forgo shooting competitions during our BBQ's since we all get the bullseyes all the time. So let me ask you this as we have spoken to the local police. This is a dead zone what are you boys really doing in here?"

The driver looked at me and said, "You writing a new book?"

"Oh I am pursing writing now on a more permanent basis, however, my main job is classified." I said looking up from my phone. "That you do not have the security clearance to know. So you are aware the camera have your faces on them I would suggest whatever your planning you stop now. The people here take care of each other and we will not allow any shit to happen you get what I am saying? We know there are not supposed to be any police here and you are being monitored."

The driver looked at me and asked, "Is that a threat to an officer Maam"

"Oh good heavens no," I said. "However we were told by the sheriff there should be no police in the area as the park rangers are in charge and he is mighty interested to find out why you boys have been out here for. Now I have to go can a bunch of food."

I pulled out my phone and watched them on camera as I walked away. I decided to keep the volume off until I was in the house. When I walked in I shut the door and pulled up the volume and heard them start to argue. I sat and listened as the one in the drivers seat said, "Man we may want to change the plan these people are not to be messed with."

The guy in the passenger seat said, "Man don't be a pussy they are a bunch of country hicks. She was probably just trying to scare us off."

The driver said, "She went to the captain man what excuse are we going to use?"

The passenger said, "She didn't talk to the captain man. Stop worrying about it these stupid hicks will not be able to stop us once we bring in the prize. No one will know that we have a shop here and they are blocking our path. If we need to take care of it further, accidents happen."

I clipped the video and sent it over to sue and to the captains email as well. the rest of the day I worked on the boxes of produce I had. 

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The following morning after working on a few projects for work I decided to start my great canning and soup making expedition. I stood up and started prepping the tomato's to can. Ben walked in and wrapped his arms around my waist and said, "Did you get all these tomatoes from the greenhouse?"

Leaning back on him I said, "No the other morning when I went to use my last in store ticket for the week I stopped at Fraziers and they had a bunch of softening produce so I got these, onions, peppers and well all those boxes of assorted vegetables so I am going to make some some sauce, salsa, canned veg  and pickles. I figured it helped them out and I can make some more stuff that we would like."

As he nuzzled my neck he asked, "What can I do to help?"

I smiled and said, "Oh a helper then will you please dice up six of those big onions while I sort the tomatoes? I have so many tomatoes here that I am also going to make a massive batch of tomato basil garlic soup."

As ben got to work dicing the onions I picked out all the tomatoes that were small and got a roasting pan to put in the grill. I added 3 of the 6 onions and had him peel up 2 heads of garlic chopped up.I had hin peel and seed 4 jalapenos and then chop up a batch of parseley. After that was mixed in I add salt and pepper and had been put the roasting pan inside the wood oven for me to which he said. "Maggie my love that had to be 10 pounds worth of stuff."

Laughing i kissed his cheek and said, "Well after I make grilled cheeses for lunch we will have some soup to with all of that. Then I will can it. While I wait I am going to start the salsa. Do you want to help or are you off and running?"

"Maggie my love I am meeting Mike to cut more wood near the river," He said. "I found a few trees that could not take the snow and toppled. How long till lunch?"

Looking at the clock I said, "set a timer for 3 hours and then start cleaning up to come in."

As he left the room I started the to get the salsa items together. I started to chop the colored peppers, Jalapenos, added in the onion ben ahd chopped and started to chop all of my Tomatoes. By the time ben came back in I had a huge bowl of Salsa made. I had called Cara over and we made Grilled cheeses and I finished the vat of soup and made some chips to go with the salsa.

Cara looked serious as she said, "I helped make the grilled cheese so I get a few small jars of salsa and soup right?"

Laughing I said, "Of course. I was going to put the salsa in the smaller jars are you okay with that?"

She looked at me and said, "Just put it in a leftover container for the salsa I will eat this later this week. I can always get more later. But I love this soup. I would love a few med jars of this."

"Well I guess we will get these canned after we eat sweetie," I said. 

Kai called out, "More soup please! With chips."

Cara looked at him and asked, "Did you eat your grilled cheese?"

"Yup I liked this soup," He said. "I eat for dinner to."

Cara groaned and said, "Oh no not again. He did this a few weeks ago when all he would eat was cheesy eggs. Mom I may need more he normally eats the same for 2-3 days straight."

I got up and got more soup to cool and said, "I will give you a large tupperware bowl for him and then can you some more jars for your pantry."

After we finished eating Kai and Allie laid on the couch and fell asleep to quick naps. I started to Jar the tomato soup and salsa while I had Cara start peeling all the carrots I got. I figured if things calmed down for a bit we may be able to get to the store again soon. We were just sitting in the kitchen working on things when Ben came in with Sue behind him.

I got up and poured her a cup of coffee. "So Sue what excitement do you bring us today?"

She laughed and said, "Did you now check your phone? I sent you a reply to the video you sent me."

"To be honest Sue I been doing my normal with canning before I have a work meeting tonight," I said. "What's going on."

"So after you sent those videos of the cops to the sheriff he had stuff looked into," She said. "Apparently a officer owns a small plot over the river and after following the other cops they found a whole grow operation. Its being raided by the feds as we speak."

Cara looked up and said, "Well shit, how big of a operation sue?"

She said, "Seven acres and they wanted to use the river and pull it through the properties."

I handed Sue a bowl of soup and said, "Have some and tell us all the big details. Like what was the look on their face?"

Sue dug in and started telling us about the drug bust as I continued to can more soup and salsa. She laughed and said, "When the feds pulled up at 5am this morning and went into their grow operation  they offered bribes and product and the head drug admin that was there laughed and slammed them in the police van. They asked the officers how they found out and they were told your men have big mouths and made threats against the hicks in the woods."

"Maggie that worries me what if they trace it back to our cameras?" Ben said, "I know we can handle it but I worry about the kids."

Cara said, "Never you mind the kids they will be safe. We have cameras in the garage and we will be putting them up. Mom I know that you don't like to bring work into it but maybe you should to see if they can do perimeter alarms."

"Maggie," Sue asked,  "I would hate to ask but what do you actually do for a living?"

I looked at her and said, "Sue I would love to tell you but for your safety as well as my family I work as a researcher for the United States government. My job is quite classified."

Sue smiled and said, "Enough said."

"Thank you," I said. "But Cara your right I may reach out to my boss and see if there is something we can put in place. I may put a email to him after I get some of this done. Especially since I am thinking of doing a store run tomorrow. Going into the main city and towards the bigger stores."

Ben said, "I will go with you and Dad can stay. Once we get home I will get some more wood chopped and then I have some work to do as well."

As we were talking the power came back on and Cara ran home to plug in her charges and Ben plugged in all of our charging stations. As we finished rushing around Sue washed her bowl and said, "I am glad I left mine plugged in this morning. I hope it lasts for a while. Maggie if you are going to town if you come across some baby wipes and powdered goat milk grab me some and I will pay you back. We have found some stray cats closer to the cabins and I think people may start dumping animals and pets. Milton grabbed dog and cat food the other day and we also feed them fish and scraps but if we find some babies the goats milk is a great substitute."

"Sure thing Sue I can do that," I said. "I was planning on rural king and tractor supply."

As we were talking there was a emergency alert released on our phones. Ben and me looked at the message and said, "Shit."

Sue looked at her phone and said, "This is insane they are limiting store deliveries. I am glad I have my greenhouse."

Ben said, "Maggie how much do you have left to can?"

"I have the last batch in now and am at a good stopping point why?" I said.

"Its only 2pm lets head to the odd stores around town." He said, "Dollar stores, gas stations and pharmacy stores likes CVS. The prices may be higher but we need to stock up. I am putting the bins in the truck now so we can load them in and keep adding to the bins."

My timer went off and I took the last of the out to cool. Miles stood up and said, "You guys go make sure you have cash out of your safe. I will bring all of your empty mason jars up from the basement and get the rest of the jars out of the garage. Stop at every store you can think if you get meat we can can it. I will try to make room for cheese and dairy in the freezers. But if anything we can keep it in the fridge. I will also clean up this mess so it will be ready for when you get home. I will put the boxes from fraziers on the table so you know you have to get that done now. Also remember get more butter or even crisco and margarine we can get that canned from what I read."

Ben and I jumped in the truck and headed to fraziers first. When we walked in CHarlie looked up and said, "Get what you can guys we already pulled stock for our house but we do not know what we will have come later this week. We got a truck about 2 hrs ago but after the alert that went out we may get hit soon."

Ben and I grabbed a flat cart and started to grab cases of fruits and vegetables'. When I came to a stack of mason jars I added them as well as I knew my garden was barely harvested and depending on weather I may have to can it all. Ben and I looked at the canned stock and picked up additional items we may need. Although my chickens were still laying I decided to grab a few dozen eggs to store. I also grabbed some a large amount of powdered milk and a bunch of fresh cream to make fresh butter and buttermilk. We paid and loaded up the produce in the middle of the truck and headed to the local doller tree. When went in and was told one cart per family. We went through the stores marked path and Ben and I grabbed everything we could fit into the cart. We made sure that we had meds and canned foods as well as basics like nails and matches. After we checked out we headed to the local CVS and saw the same thing on the door. One cart per family. Ben said for me to go in and he was going to guard the truck as people were around looking quite unsavory. When I walked out Ben had me go to the drivers side door and he had me load the truck as he stood behind me. After we laoded he locked the door and had me get in as he returned the car to the stores front. 

Ben made the decision to start to go to all the stores in lower traffic areas. It took a little longer but as the stores all seemed to limit what we could buy we were in and out fast and by 7pm that night we came home with a loaded up with what we got. All the dairy I got was put in a bin on the back porch for me to sort after we get home tomorrow. It was so cold out I knew the items would be fine until we got everything sorted and put away.

Ben went to do some work as I sat at my computer and sent an email to my boss about perimeter security. As I started to put things away I heard a bing on my work laptop and recieved a message that said, "Maggie we have you we know things are getting bad out there. Will there be someone home between 10am and noon tomorrow?"

I replied back, "My partners dad will be here does he need to accept a delivery for me? Sorry with limits on store items we are going first thing in the morning to load up on more supplies."

After about another hour of putting supplies away I received the last message from work for the night, "Maggie prepare Miles to take a rather large delivery. He will have to show ID and it will be miltiple packages. Yout might want to clear a lot of room and floor space. Speak with you soon. Also if you need some time to get yourself ready you have permission to slow your work."

I met Miles and Ben in the den and asked Miles if he would be okay with accepting the delivery. Miles looked up and said, "Sure Maggie what kind of delivery?"

"Miles I do not know." I said. "In the reply it said to make room as its going to be a rather large delivery with multiple packages. When covid started they sent us a month of food maybe they are sending supplies. Just have them load whatever they bring into the living room and dining room.I will unpack it along with everything else left from today and what we get tomorrow. But for now I am going to check the basement and get everything else sorted."

As I walked away Miles called out, "I made room in the freezers and the mini freezer is almost empty."

I walked down to the basement and sorted the paper shelves and moved the toilet paper to its own stack under the stairs where the empty jars used to go. Ben had built me shelves under there for the jars and baskets for lids and rings but I did fill all the top shelves with the toilet paper and one full section with paper towels. As I sorted even more I made more room and took the older stuff and moved some stuff around and made sure the wall stacks would be safe. and I went upstairs to get ready for bed and soon Ben joined me. We fell asleep and by the time our alarm went off at 5am I knew the day was going to be a long day.

As I headed to the kitchen Miles shuffled in and asked if I wanted him to do anything. I said yes, I told him if he got bored I had four boxes of older potatoes that needed to be peeled if he wanted to peel then I am going to dehydrate some and can some. He asked me to get the dehydrators out and he would start them while he waits for the delivery. I showed him how I was going to make potatoes for hasbrowns. I showed him how I peeped and cut them and then moved the boxes to the counters. He said, "I will load up the dehydrators and then get the remaining ones ready for canning. What else can I get peeled while your gone to help you clear all of this?"

I added the older carrots, sweet potatoes and two boxes of assorted acorn squash and a few pumpkins. He laughed and said, "I will get done what I can while you are gone."

Ben and I were on the road and pulled up to Rural king as they opened. Ben headed to the hunting department and I went to the food areas. I found bulk powdered goats milk and grabbed a few cans and then I loaded up on mason jars and sacks of dried grains. I was walking the isle and I found food grade mini storage buckets and safty lids. I grabbed 100 of each for dehydrated and sacks of food and grabbed more sacks of wheat flour, oats, and wheat berries. I shopped their grocery section and when I finished Ben found me and his cart was loaded with hunting supplies and more food and seeds for my garden. We paid and loaded up the truck. We headed over to target next since the asian store did not open for another 45 min. we grabbed up on extra toilet paper and paper towels. We shopped their medical isles and headed to the food section after the cleaning supplies. By the time we paid and loaded the car the asian store was open and we headed there quickly. Since  they had a lot of produce deeply discounted We loaded up and as I filled a cart Ben would go through check out and put it in the car. When I finished the last isle and loaded up on rice and grains from their bulk section we checked out and when we got to the truck we heard sirens. The owner came out and said, "Maggie you might want to head closer to home there was a riot at walmart and people are going crazy in the stores due to some limiting on what you can buy."

Ben shook his hand and turned to me saying, "we will take the longer route home and get to a few of the hidden stores and we should be packed by then."

Nodding I said, "Good Idea."

We headed to a doller general and made quick work of shopping and headed to a out of the way publix. Ben said he would wait in the truck and told me it would be okay. When I got back we loaded and had half of large tote left with room. As we went to leave Ben noticed a small Dollar tree and I went in and loaded a cart full and made sure to get more toilet paper. After we loaded the car ben said, "Lets get home and hide this all away."

I nodded and as we traveled home we commented on the police around town, especially in the larger store areas. When we got home Ben pulled up to the front porch and tried to open the door. It would not budge and Miles came out of the garage and said, "Sorry guys my note fell. Maggie your delivery came and well yeah umm I made room for us to get to the basement and the kitchen but everything will need to come through the garage."

Ben and I walked into the house and there was boxes galore I looked at ben and said, "What in the world." 

Miles said, "I started stacking the boxes but i think we need to start unpacking and getting more wood as the NWS just predicted 10-15 inches in the next three days. Oh and Maggie I just finishes getting the potatoes for the dehydrator done when they came so nothing else if peeled at the moment."

Ben said, "Okay dad lets unload the truck and we will leave Maggie to all of this. Maggie will you be okay with this so we can get the cart out and really start loading wood?"

"Ben if you bring in all the bins I will sort everything. I need to see what some of these boxes are as well. We did not get anything but cheese and butter and those are all in the bin behind the driver seat. That bin can go on the back porch as well." I said. "I will be using the boxes if I need to for extra storage. If you can just make sure I can use the mason jars and mini food grade buckets and lids."

He came over and kissed my cheek and looked around and said, "Love you good luck."

Looking around I took off my coat and hung it up and took my shoes off and looked at the pile closest to the basement. I grabbed a pair of scissors and found a case of kids puddings. I took half the box downstairs and placed on the snack shelf. I decided that some of this would be good for Cara and her family as well. Opening a larger box I found it packed with toilet paper. I grabbed the packages and moved all of it downstairs. I decided I would use those boxes in the green house for my mini stove. After a while I opened boxes of crackers, instant mashed potatoes, boxed milk, powdered milk and powdered egg containers. I told Cara I had some stuff from my work delivery for her and she laughed and said, "Mom I do not have any more room. Could you keep it there for when the kids come to visit."

Laughing I said, "Sure thing sweetie. You okay?"

"Yeah," She said. "Kids are stir crazy and I am trying to work from home during all of it."

"Okay call me if you need anything," I said. "I have 3 rooms worth of stuff to put away."

Hanging up I went back to work and finally can across a wooden crate with a note on top that read, "Maggie this is a perimeter alarm system the instructions are inside."

I went to the first tote of stuff I bought at the stores and took the mini food grade bins and lined them with the bags you could buy for then. I lined up 10 of the buckets and started emptying the wheat flour, white flour, regular flour, rice and oats. After I filled the bins I labeled them and moved the buckets downstairs. I continued to sort and store as the day went on and my kitchen table was loaded with produce I would have to work on. I decided to open more boxes and found five boxes or assorted breakfast MREs 5 boxes or assorted lunch MRE's and 5 assorted boxes of dinner MRES. I took the boxes and labeled them bringing them down to the basement. Since they were in heavy sturdy boxes i decided to stack them to where the guys could get to them if they wanted to go hunting and have a quick hot meal.

I heard a car on the driveway and shut the basement door and went into the kitchen and started to empty more of the totes. I found more assorted rices from the asian store and was canning then putting the cans in a crate. After lining up the cans I stacked more of the boxes from my job in a pile and infront of the basement door. I also grabbed a gun and made sure it was ready to go just in case the chaos followed me home. I heard Ben outside and then I heard him say can I help you?

Miles walked in and grabbed the shotgun and went outside saying "lock the front door and door to the garage."

I went to the green house and made sure the doors were locked as well and left the kitchen door as the only door unlocked. I also moved to the living room and shut the curtains. I heard the car leave and then Ben and Miles came in and I asked what happened?

Ben said, "That was couple wanting to stay in our barn. I was nice but told them this was private property and no one would let them. I phones sue and max and let them know people are trying to stay out here now."

"Well," I said. "The perimeter system is in the wood crate over there. I am moving fast to get everything stored away. I am going to take five minutes to peel carrots and get a pressure canner started to can the first box of carrots. Opening boxes is tedious and I have found some very random things. So I am going to sit for a few and prep."

"Good Idea!," Ben said. " I would suggest that Maybe you limit what we have in the inside of the kitchen like only one or two or open jars of dehydrated items and pasta."

"I was thinking of that as well," I said. "Thats why I want to get this all of this processed and put away. I am thinking that I will just make some frozen pizzas we have in the kitchen already. The oven will be warm as I was making the homemade croutons from that box of old bread I picked up today. But its almost 230 do you want some lunch while your in here?"

Miles said, "I was going to use that pulled pork in the fridge to make all of us sandwiches and whatever is left we should can."

"Okay leave it on the counter and that will be the first thing I can," I said grabbing a case of jars. After filling the jars I put them in the pot and started the first canning process. I also wiped down the jars of salsa and tomato soup and brought them down with the jars of rice. I checked on the potatoes and saw they were going well and as the meat was in the pressure canner I started to jar the carrots and get them ready for the next turn in the pressure canner. As the timers were on for the meat I went through more of the totes we filled during that time moving more canned downstairs.

Ben saw the boxes inside a big box and asked where I wanted them. I told him that they were going to the greenhouse and that i would use them for the warming oven and fire pit. He took the first box out and I opened another box and said, "Wow." 

Inside the box was 3 emergency medical kits that contained everything we would need. I had miles put one in his room and I put one in our bathroom and Ben ran the third one over to Cara for emergencies. Opening more boxes I found even more toilet paper, dish soap, laundry detergent and dryer sheets. Taking one container of detergent and a box of dryer sheets to the laundry room I moved all the extra items to the basement to hide. I sorted more of the shipped boxes and found assorted packaged food. I packed the boxes full and took the boxes down to the basement when my timer went off. I shut the burner off and let the pressure to come down and once those were done I removed them and moved them to a the laundry room counter to cool and started the carrots. I sat with another break and peeled another eight jars of diced potatoes. After I had them ready I worked again on all the in the boxes. 

Ben came in and said "do you want the cold items to come in." 

I said "yes and said if you hand me the cream I am going to make butter, compound butter and butter milk to freeze and store. ALso I can throw the cheese and already purchased butter into the freezer. If people come and snoop i do not want to risk the food being stolen."

He brought everything in and I poured the first container of cream into the electric butter churner. I took two of the heavy cream containers and took them to the freezer with more butter and cheese. When I came upstairs my phone was ringing and it was Cara, "Hey mom I took the kids for a ride and fraziers just got a huge delivery. Mr Charles told me to tell you to come buy what you can as they are going to be closed until the next delivery in two weeks."

"Oh wow okay let me get ben to watch the stove and I will head down," I said.

Miles and Ben walked in and said, "Whats going on?"

"Cara just called Fraziers just got their last delivery for two weeks and he told cara we will get a deal if we come down." I said.

Miles said, "Don't worry about it. When the time is done I will shut it off and et the pressure come down. I would get the stuff as well with everything is going on."

Ben grabbed our jackets as he shut the basement door, "Lets go see what we can get."

We headed over to fraziers and when we got there we saw Mike loading boxes in the car and said "people are showing up I would fill a cart have Ben take it to a car while you go back. They got a lot of great deals and meat and dairy."

I grabbed a cart and Ben grabbed a second one. We went into produce and found full cases on the floor with loose cases next to them. I grabbed tomatoes, pumpkins, assorted squashes that would hold. I went through every isle and when the first flat cart was over full ben switched with me to go pay. we continued for another hour and when the store was to packed we grabbed just a few more cases of jars and headed home.

After we brought everything in I took the meats and put them in the fridge freezer. I started making the pizza for dinner and once it was done we sat down. I cleaned up my mess after we ate and settled in for the night. Looking at all the containers I said to Ben, "I will have to finish this and harvest the remaining part of the green house to get everything planted for the next round of crops. I do not want to leave much out there due to the fact people can break in and steal it."

He nodded and said, "I agree we are going to get more of the wood cut and the perimeter fence up in the morning and more wood cut the next few days. I am hoping to get enough to block he back porch windows and over fill all the bins. I also want to make sure we have a big enough supply in case the weather gets really bad and we lose power again."

We went to bed and over the following few days we continued to get everything sorted. By the end of the week I processed everything from fraziers and stuffed the basement pantry full. After I finished harvesting and replanting the greenhouse I processed all of that and I had three mason jars left. Ben decided since we used the Mason jar area with all of of over stock in the basement he would build me a new cabinet in the greenhouse. I came home one day with a wooden cabinet next to the inside door. He made shelves that would fit multiple sized shelves as well as my new food grade jars. We finally thought that life would be different but more normal. That was until one night while watching TV when an alert from the emergency broadcast came across the screen.

Attention all citizens of the United States this is a public notice no one is to leave their homes. Only emergency personel and hospital staff are allowed to leave to go to work. If you have an emergency you must call emergency services to have a text sent to you with permission to leave your home. This is for your own public health and safety.

We looked at each other and I said, "So it begins."

My cell phone went off and I had a text from work that said, "Work meeting. Tomorrow at 9am. Urgent everyone must attend. This is not a drill."

*******************************************************************************

The next morning I was up and showered in my office by 830 with a cup of coffee.  Locking the door I shut the blinds and logged into my work site. I entered the meeting and put my headset on. When it loaded my boss was on the screen.

"Mitchel its been a while," I said.

"Maggie its good to see you," He said. "Did we over load poor miles yesterday?"

Laughing I said, "No he was fine. He had it handled it and now we have a good stock for now. I finally ran out of mason jars."

"Even after the 200 you were sent in the emergency package?" Mitchel said in surprise.

"Even with the emergency package," I said. "My emergency stock room is packed to the brim and I had to use the crates from the shipment to make new shelves. We had been shopping every day until they put the home order in place. Cara thanks you for sending everything in crates as well because she also had to use the crates for storage. The lids however are in our wood bin."

Mitchel nodded and said , "So Cara's storage is full as well?"

"Yes but we always say we can make more room if needs be," I said.

After that our team started popping on. When we were all accounted for Mitchel started, "Good Morning team I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. We are at war."

"With who?" I asked.

"Internally Maggie," Mitchel said. "This weather event has prompt the government to control the people. I am afraid things are about to get much worse. I am glad so many of you live out of the cities and for those who are in the cities you all have ways to get out or can still be safe. We have learned the marshal law is only the beginning. They are going to start monitoring what everyone is doing in their homes. From TV to computer usage. We understand that you all have your alias's and your other jobs. But we will need to continue with what we do."

"Mitchel our team is a para investigation team," I said. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"It was leaked to us that the government is going to start with the homeless and other sectors that will not be missed," He said. "The United states has dropped in popularity and as a super power. From what was leaked to us the government is going to heard men woman and children and use them for activity against other countries."

"How?" I asked.

"Mind control and drugs. He said.

"As you all have top secret and government researchers tag you will be left alone," He said. "You will be receiving another shipment later today three times the size of the ones you got last time. The black crates are for your eyes only. Bring them into your secured room and you will know what to do. The remaining is for your family. Maggie you will be recieving additional black crates for your family in your compound. The same goes for Beth, Kyle, Mark and Sal. They will also receive their own shipment of personal supplies from the office. Not the same size as yours but a big one. Everyone sort and hide as soon as possible."

"Whats the ETA on home bound," Sal said.

Mitchel said, "They are saying indefinitely. Which is why we have to stop before millions die. As of today we will be communicating through your emergency tablets. Any and all messages will come through there except for staff meetings which will be live so we can account to the government for work. Be safe everyone and know we will solve this."

The screen went black and I got downstairs after calling Cara to give her a heads up. The guys looked at me and I said, "Its bad and we were right. Get ready we are about to get a massive oh shit shipment."

Miles said, "Lord let me see if I can make room downstairs We may have to build crate shelves up the stairs. Thank god they are wide enough."

Ben was on the couch and I sat down next to him. He put his arm around me and said, "Can you talk about it?"

"Its bad Ben," i said. "Like possible millions of lives can be lost bad. We were told to keep the homestead going and this does not have an ETA. My Tablet is active now for work."

"Oh shit that is bad," He said. "When is the delivery coming?"

"Later today," I said. "Once for us. One for Cara and all black crates I have to open in the office. Those items are classified."

Miles came up about thirty minutes later and said, "I used the crates and made shelves going up the stairs that we can add to. Anything I need to know?"

"Leave all black crates alone," I said. Miles knew I did government work and he knew it was classified so he never asked extra questions. Looking in the yard I said, "I wish we had freezer space."

"Why babe," Ben asked.

"Look in the yard," I said. "Everything is packed and we are out of jars right now."

Miles looked at me and said, "All the jars? Does Cara have any?"

Laughing I said, "Nope. The Crates under the bar are to hold them once we use them. I think we have close or over 5000 jars used."

My phone rang and when I answered Cara said, "Hey Mom!"

"Hey sweetie whats up?" I said.

"Listen Mike broke the rules and gassed up at Fraziers," She said. "Charlie said fuck the rules and come get what we want because he does not want stock in the store. Mike is home now but I called Sue and she is letting everyone know. I am going down."

"Okay I will head there let mike know to be ready for the delivery," I said.

She laughed and said, "After seeing your house he is having loaded in the garage."

"Good Idea I will see you in a bit," I said.

Ben asked "whats up,"

"Charlie said come get what we want," I said. "I will dehydrate everything why not."

Ben stood up and said, "Dad your in charge we will be back."

Miles said, "I hope we can sit after they get here."

Ben and I each drove a car and gassed up. Ben grabbed a cart and I did as well and we stocked up. I saw Charlie had a few cases of mason jars and Ben grabbed them. Looking at CHarlie I said, "I am paying you."

He laughed and said, "For the gas yes. Everything else I have not packed up no."

"We will see Charlie," I said. Going into the produce tent I grabbed bags of onions and garlic. I went isle to isle and when I came to the herb plants I loaded some onto the cart to add to the greenhouse." I found a few boxes of apples that were spotting and grabbed them as well. Going back in I grabbed a bunch of vinegar. I found a lot of vegetables that were going and grabbed some for dehydrating. 

As I went to the counter I heard ben say "Charlie man take it in case you need it."

Taking out cash I said, "Same and I will be back."

Sue pulled up as Ben loaded his car and mine and we headed back in. I grabbed meat to dehydrate and can and went back to the produce stand and grabbed more. Walking up to Charlie and he said, "Okay I am not arguing."

"Do you have more Mason Jars in back?" I asked. 

He came back with six more of assorted sizes and said, "Thats all I have left."

I paid for them and handed him more cash for the rest. I said, "I may be back I am loading up."

As we loaded my truck sue came out with her first load and said, "My dehydrator is going and I am running through my jars now. I will get all I can."

Ben said, "I will help sure you can fill a cart and you will be full."

As I walked back into the store I saw more of my neighbors arrive. I grabbed more vegetables and meat and I saw CHarlies wife walk in and grab meat as she said, "I am canning as fast as I can. I do not want anything to go to waste and Charlie is packing up the canned as fast as possible."

"Well We helped out a bit and I grabbed some of the apples going to make more apple sauce and apple cider vinegar." I said.

"Ohh good idea," She said. "Listen at the end there are about twelve cases of mushrooms all starting to go. Get a few they turn brown anyway from dehydrating but will be a good source of protein. Also thos sacks are peanuts and you can can those to make boiled peanuts."

I hugged her and said, "Understood you take care I have a work thing coming I have to be there for."

She hugged me tight and said, 'We have been prepping for this for years I cannot believe its happening. We love you guys and will see you soon."

I walked out and Ben said, "I helped cara load everything and she just fit it all. "All your mason jars are on the front seat of the truck. When we get home you go in and start prepping and putting away as I just saw two massive black trucks leave. We will unload everything so you can start."

We got home and Miles was outside laughing and when he saw me he came to the passenger side and grabbed the jars saying, "Well your boys know you. The guy unloading said I could unpack the first 10 crates and they are all jars of various sizes. The spared us the kitchen with the exception of the jars. Go in I already have the canner on the stove and all the dehydrators ready on the counter. You tell me what else you want out."

"I need the crate with the massive pickle jars from the garage. There are 5 crates with 6 in each. I am going to have you and ben peel apples and we are making apple cider vinear and the rest I will use for the dehydrated things. I brought most of their bread to make croutons and breadcrumbs in the oven."

Miles looked at me and said, "Get started we will unload everything."

I grabbed the first flat of mushrooms and got them started in the dehydrators. I set Miles up with peeling apples and saving the scraps and soft pieces for the Apple cider vinegar. When Ben came in I handed him a flat of potatoes and had him start to wash and cut up so I could can them. 

While they got that started I went into the hallway and opened the first crate. I found a crate packed with packaged soups and stews in bags with the instructions of just add water. I took a few out and added them to my mini pantry in the kitchen in case we lost power and just wanted to heat something on the wood stove. I walked the crate to the basement and added it to a pile that was stacked infront of the freezers creating a wall between them and the rest of the food. As I continues to empty I found a lot of toilet paper. As I sorted I found various black crates and after sorting they contained the essentials such as prescription medications and medical equipment. There was also large envelopes of cash and gold bars for bartering. We continued along with our project as I went I would stop randomly and start canning items. The guys would sort the regular crates as I worked in the kitchen and switch when I had them start the next pile. 

I heard Miles go this massive crate. When he opened it he said, "Ben help me take this crate apart."

Inside the crate was a small stand up freezer with a note saying, "I know you have a hidden basement but keep this upstairs to throw people off just in case."

Ben said, "Good idea"

As he moved it to a open spot in the kitchen and plugged it in he grabbed the cheese and butter and added it in. When I had the potato going in the first canner I started sautéing a large pan of ground beef we got to can. When the potato was set on the kitchen to cool I had miles slice up a full crate of onions to make pickled onions.

We worked into the night and I finally got all the meat into the freezer or canned. The herb plants I got I added to the greenhouse and checked all my plants. As I walked around I saw that I will be doing another harvest soon. We made a big dent in the vegetables and the crates. The lids we would break up and out in the inside wood bins. When we went to bed that night we had moved all the remaining vegetables we got to the kitchen and placed them on the counter. 

Waking up the following day I noticed the sun was higher in the sky and my alarms did not go off. I sat up and saw a note from Ben that said, Relax and shower you were exhausted and I shut off your alarms. Besides it saturday.

I sat up and took a shower. By the time I went downstairs it was going on eleven and I saw Miles canning up carrots and a huge pickle jar full of dried mushrooms. When I came in he said, "I switched out the mushrooms and peeled carrots and cut them up. Also in that pickle jar there is a jar I made of saurkraut from some of the cabbage you got. I also have cabbage ready to go to can. To make room I labeled the jars after I checked them and already brought them down to the basement.

"Wow you really got alot done," I said. "Where is Ben?"

"He has been going through the safe crates." He said. "He added some stuff to the upstairs pantry and he found some odd things. Do you know they have dehydrated Riccota Cheese. I guess its freeze dried. I took out a package of mozzerella and figured I can throw together a thing of baked ziti tonight for dinner. Also we found six boxes of various freeze dried foods. Also we had another big snowfall last night and the wall we made to separate the freezers from the canned foods is working well."

"Good," I said. Looking at the bread I said, "I guess I have to get the bread started."

"Nah," Miles said. "We have a stack of black boxes next to the dining room table."

I took the first two and brought them to the office. In them I found a sat phone and alternates forms of ID's for us and cara's family in case we needed to run. I also found boxes of emergency medical items that would be found in a operating room. I opened my fake wall and added them to all my guns and equipment for work. When I brought more up I found night vision items and other weapons I had been trained on.

We ended our weekend finally getting everything processed and put away. We decided to finish the  the second day for dinner and sat around the TV. We were watching a movie when the news broke through with a reporter saying, "Ladies and Gentleman good evening we interupt your broadcast for a message from the white house."

The screen switched to the oval office and the president was at his desk and he started, "Ladies and gentleman we ask you stay in your homes. We understand that this may be inconvienient and you may have to go to the store for supplies. However this will be stopped for the next week. We will allow stores to offer delivery for sales and there will be online options by the morning. We ask if you go outside you stay on your own property and do not go to other homes for your safty. There will be reprecussians if you leave your home. Stay safe and god speed."

My tablet binged and I looked at the message and it said, "They are going to announce in less than 48 hours a virus like covid to incite a panic this is phase one. They are starting to pull the homeless that they can find living on the streets, most are in shelters or staying with the churches in make shift shelters. Stay in your property we hear all violations will be arrested and may not be able to get home."

Miles and Ben looked over my shoulder and shook their heads. We went to bed for the evening awaiting for the other shoe to drop. When we woke up the following morning we started to notice that things were shifting fast. There was a announcement via the news that if you live in another country the airports will be allowing people to return home. People were advised to head to the airport and all international consults and visitors from the United nations were shut down and people were heading home. By day two the line at the airport had people being put on planes to Canada then go home and all US travel had been shut down. Essential workers will be contacted by your employer to down load your digital pass to travel to and from work and to obtain a car tag as well.

I was in the garden when my phone sent a alert from the emergency broadcast system. New announcement with be broadcast on TV and radio starting in ten minutes. We headed into the living room and the president filled the screen. He started his speech, "My fellow americans due to the odd weather systems a new virus has been discovered in our great country. Loiex 12 is more deadly than covid and we have found a large group of men in Michigan who are now in quarantine. Some have already passed away. So stay in your home and we will update you when we have more information.

I said, "They are trying to divide everyone and create fear."

Ben looked at me and asked, "Your going to get called in aren't you."

Shaking my head I said, "No."

Miles looked up and asked, "Why would she be called into work."

"Give me a few guys," I said. Walking out of the room I headed to the office and hit the secure button. Loading my laptop I sent a message requesting a conference with Mitchel.

A video call came through my screen a few minutes later. Mitchel asked, "Are we secure?"

"Yes we are," I said.

"Whats up Maggie you never message me like this," He asked.

"Did that background check on Miles come back yet," I asked. 

"Yes," He said. "Is he getting suspicious?"

"No," I said. "He walked in and asked if my work would call me in. I need to tell him Mitchel. He made a few comments about how generous my employer was sending all the supplies."

"He passed the background check but you need to stress the importance of secrecy," He said. "The government thinks we are computer analyst and not a super secret organization that takes out issues in governments. Hell we are more classified than the president. Use your best judgement on what you tell him and remember besides Ben and Cara no one else knows until Miles."

"Understood Milton," I said. "Are you guys okay being in the city?"

"Yes," He said. "We have a hiding spot for supplies and Lannie did what you did until we got put on lock down. She actually had a us a huge stockpile started before we started telling you all to prepare. When things started getting spoke about she packed the storage room and everything we sent the agency went to all higher ups as well. She cursed me but the kids now have crates in the basement and the forts they make are hysterical. What did you do with the crates?"

"The lids were put in the wood pile," I said. "The crates were used to hold any mason jars I use and for storage for everything. Ben screwed some together under the kitchen bar counter so I can place the few jars I had left. But once I harvest from the garden I will be canning as well."

"Do you have enough seeds," He asked.

"Yes when Cara and I went to get shopping done I picked up a ton of them as well as root starters for potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic. Depending on what you drop for schedule this week I will be out harvesting, canning and dehydrating and back to planting."

He laughed as he said, "Well that's what Lannie is doing. I put a cover from the lower floor to the greenhouse so she can get our there without seeing people."

"Well let me let you get back to the family," I said. "I may even get into the garden after I speak with Miles."

 

Loiex 12

Maggie-main Ben- Partner Miles-Bensdad

Cara- Daughter   Mike-Cara husband Allie and Kai

Fraziers gas and store Charlie

Mitchel- Maggies boss, lannie

Max and Mark , SUe Park Rangers. 

Nighbors- Mr Paul and Miss Milly    James and Donnas