Chapter 1
I had just inherited a cabin in the middle of nowhere and a large sum of money. My fiancé and I moved to the cabin as things slowly started to change in our world. Our basement was converted into a prepper's paradise. We had set up shelves and bins to hold supplies and brought over all the items we had from our old house to start filling them. Which wasn't much. There is a greenhouse and barn next to the main house. It was a beautiful sight when we first moved here, and we count our blessings daily. Due to the increase in rain, we decided to cover the walkways to the barn and greenhouse. Then everything started to change.
Living in central Florida, our temperatures in May are normally in the nineties. But on July 10th, we woke up to a cool forty degrees. Mike went outside to the barn to feed the animals, and when he came back, he said, "They are acting weird."
"Weird in what way, Mike?" I asked.
"Ivy, they are acting like they are getting ready for winter," He said. "I got the wood stoves going to keep them warm, and they seemed to settle down, but all the animals seem like they want to settle in."
"Do we have wood?" I asked.
"Yes, and since the storms last week, we have a ton of branches and trees down," He said.
"We are off today. I think I am going to go around the property with the chainsaw and start bringing the trees down, cut up the wood, and get it into the wood shed that's connected to the barn. I will also get our wood shed connected to the house full as well."
Looking out the kitchen window over the property, I said, "Mike, I think I need to overstock the house."
He looked at me and said, "Ivy, you hate shopping. What's going on? Besides, isn't prepping against the law now?"
Serving breakfast, I said, "When the storms came through last week, everything felt off. Then, when we went to buy the generator and solar panels, I heard people talking about how things were off, especially up north. Trees were starting to show fall colors, and in Canada, bears were found hibernating. All four of the freezers we have are ready to be filled, along with the shelves. I think we need to do it."
He nodded and said, "Alright, how about this? We can head to Rural King and Walmart and grab containers and supplies to start prepping. That way, I can get an extra gas can and have gas on hand for the chainsaw and generators. Then, when we get back, you can start your shopping to get the house ready. Does that sound good?"
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"Yes," I said. "We can take my SUV and we can even stop at both Walmart's to get extra gas cans, mason jars, and storage buckets."
We headed out and when we got to the stores they were a bit of a mad house. We each grabbed a cart and loaded up what we wanted for supplies. I noticed Mike had an extra chainsaw and blades as well as a hand saw. He looked at me and said, "They are limiting how many gas cans we can buy."
We checked out and went to the second Walmart seeing the same restrictions. When we got to rural king Mike went to get us more ammo and guns. I went to the home section and bought out all their mason jars both on the shelf and the clerk went and got me everything from the back. I called Mike telling him I was going to grab food from here as well and would be back in in a few minutes. He found me loading bags of flour, oats and rice to the shopping cart. He added even more to his cart and said, "Trust me I will explain in the car."
He grabbed a large amount of gas cans and we went to check out. After getting everything into the car we got in and he said, "When you go out today get everything you can. Something big is happening they had a TV on in the gun section and there was a reporter doing a segment about weird animal tracks in Alaska and then nothing the TV went to please wait. When the report came back on they did a weather report. Ivy I think your feeling is right. We need to stock up on everything we can. I saw Mr. Benson and he said do not order food online as the government can track what your buying. We can explain this as a stock up for moving to the country. But use cash from the safe.
When we got home Mike unloaded everything and set all my Mason jars to a pile on the floor in the kitchen. Then he took all the food I had picked up and added them to the dining room table. Going to my office upstairs I went to my safe and took out $5000 in cash to shop with. When I came back down he was changing into his work boots and I said, "I am going to go to the smaller stores first then finish up with Sam's Club. Since I am only working till noon tomorrow I may go to Costco to stock up more they also have freeze dried foods."
He gave me a kiss and said, "I am going to get started. Bring something easy home for dinner I am going to be chopping trees until we run out of light."
Going into the garage I grabbed our coolers and put them behind the drivers seat. From our house to Sam's Club I hit every smaller store that I could. I noticed that the stores had limits of what you could buy and limiting it to 1 cart only. If I saw gas cans I grabbed them and put them in the front seat of the SUV. When I got to Sam's Club there were announcements that there are limits on everything in the store and that only 1 cart was allowed to be used per family. I picked up everything I could fit on my cart and when I got to checkout I noticed all the registers were open. When I got everything loaded in the car I decided to take the long way home as I still had some room in the SUV. That was my saving Grace as the back way home had a lot of smaller stores which didn't have a lot of restrictions. The last store I found on the way home was a gun and ammo store and went in. I bought Ammo for our guns and a new cross bow for myself. When I got home Mike met me at the front doors of the house and saw I had bought a shelving unit that had gliders that locked.
When he gave me a look I said, "That's to go in front of the door to the basement. All the stores had limits on what you could buy and some where taking names down when you paid with a card. You were right about people being tracked. Also at Sam's Club I got us some winter coats they pulled out from the holiday season."
Mike nodded and said, "I will unload the SUV and later tonight we will go to the Circle K and fill as much as we can. We will pay cash for the fuel. I will make sure we have all the tops loosened before we go so we can fill what we can without raising suspicions. I added a lock to each of the woodsheds as well as the attached generator house. Your right I think something is happening as well. An officer came by today while I was cutting the trees in the front and I played it off saying my Fiancée was upset all the branches were down from the storm so I decided to clean up the property to make you happy. He laughed about our woman and also asked if we keep the gate locked. I told him of course we like our privacy and do not want people coming onto our land. Since I didn't let the animals in the pens today it looks like we are hobby farmers. I thank god they cannot see the greenhouse and only the covered walkway to the barn. You might not agree with me but I am thinking we may want to add walls to the walkways to the greenhouse and barn and a few decorative windows."
"That's fine," I said. "Especially with the rains as bad as they have been it may keep things a lot easier. I have also been thinking we may want to reinforce the windows in the barn and greenhouse. This tracks thing in Alaska has given me a weird feeling."
"My boss called earlier and said he thinks something is happening as well," Mike said. "He told me to take the day off tomorrow and do what I need to do. So I will get up early and go to Lowes and Home Depot to get what we need. When I get everything in I will build that shelf unit and get it in place that was a smart idea. We don't want people to know what we have here."
I worked on the groceries I brought when Mike came in with the last of what was in the SUV. He grabbed the shelving unit and put it together. When he was done he said, "Just be careful when you step over the glider rails but its secure to the doorframe. Also I made a false front for the lock. What are you going to put on the shelf?"
Walking over to the shelf with a box I had not unpacked yet I placed all my cookbooks I had collected. Looking at him I said, "Now all my vintage cookbooks have a place in the kitchen. Oh and I got some frozen pizza for tonight."
"Good," He said. "I have an alarm set for six so I can get the animals settled for the night and I am going to lock up the barn tight. When I am done I am going to cut more wood. If you need me let me know. Once its dark we will go get as much gas as we can and store it in the generator room. I filled a few cans this morning explaining we had trees down. I guess I can say we had to use the gas woodchipper as well."
After he left I worked harder on the groceries breaking down larger packages of meat. I would fill a laundry basket full and bring it down to the freezers with whatever dairy or frozen food I would unpack. Then when I had all of the meats done I started on the packaged goods that did not need to be stored in jars or buckets. By the time Mike came in from the barn to drop off eggs he said, "The animals are good and here are the jars of todays milk for the milk and cream. What are you going to do with it?"
"The same I have before," I said. "Make butter. Or butter milk and milk powder. When I got back I put trays of butter milk in the freeze dryer. The cream was used to make butter and I already took care of that and filled the butter jar and made blocks of butter which I froze. If the hens keep laying like they have been I will make dried eggs. But do not worry I will keep some to make pickled eggs for you as well. I did get some vegetables to make pickled vegetables to. I want to go to Costco after my morning meetings for work but in all honesty I am not sure if I want to take the hour drive."
"Well after the animals in the morning I will go get wood and windows for the pathways," Mike said. "But for now I am going to cut more wood. I have been splitting the wood between each of the woodsheds. I was kind of shocked with how much we have down around the property."
"Well once our food store is full I will help you outside," I said.
He laughed and said, "Ivy I would like you to keep spending the money and over stock us. If you go to Costco then on the way home hit all the stores you can until the SUV is packed full. How is the freezer space?"
"I got a lot and repackaged the meat and none of them even seem like I put anything in them," I said. "I will work on that tomorrow. If anyone asks I will say I am getting extra for our wedding that is coming up as we are going to be doing all the cooking. But when I put it in the freezer I am packing it in. So if the power was to go out it would be big bricks that we can run with the generator to keep frozen."
He nodded and went back outside as I continued to work on repackaging the food. When the sun went down Mike came in and asked, "You want to go to the gas station with me?"
"Give me a few minutes and I can," I said. "I just filled another laundry basket full of food and want to get it sorted downstairs."
Going to the basement I added all the items to the correct shelf and when I came up I said, "Ready when you are."
Looking into the bed of Mike's truck I saw all the gas cans. When we pulled up to the gas station he parked at the furthest spot and we got out. I said, "Can you get me a Pepsi from the fountain please. I will start once you pay.
The old timer across from us said, "Make a good excuse son they are questioning everyone."
"Thank you," Mike said as he headed in.
The old timer said, "After this go to a few different gas stations I have a feeling something is going to happen."
"Same," I said.
When the pump clicked paid for 100. I grabbed the handle and started filling the gas cans. When Mike got back he climbed in the bed and said, "You fill I will close and change out the cans."
We filled all the cans we had with us and put the rest of the gas in Mikes tank. When we left we headed home and I told him what the old man had said. He nodded and said, "Yeah I agree. When you leave tomorrow if you can get more cans I would fill them on the way home. I am thinking of buying a gas barrel at the stores tomorrow. If I do I may run and get more gas so we can fill these for the emergency generator and the chainsaw. Your right about something happening and the old timers are starting to speculate. I am also going to get some longer cords to the generator and make a fake cover to run them to the basement and kitchen in case me need them. I will over buy the wood so I can do all this and will make fake walls in the generator shed so we can hide the gas barrels."
"Do what you think is best," I said. "When schedules drop this week I will see when I can continue shopping in the next two weeks. This week we have meetings and stuff so I will see what's going on."
"Go ahead start cooking and keep working on what you were doing," He said. "I will get this inside and lock up the generator shed."
Going inside I placed the pizza wing combo I got into the oven. Filling the five gallon buckets with rice and oats I labeled the buckets when Mike came in. He saw the buckets and helped me carry them down. Taking the paper sacks I folded them for garbage bags and placed them in the upstairs pantry along with a few jars of things I kept up here for every day baking. When the food was done we ate while watching the night news. There was a special report that came up about a big foot sighting in the Canadian mountains.
Mike said, "That sounds like the report from Alaska earlier today."
"Mike," I said. "Do you think that the things happening have to due with creatures that people think are monsters?"
"I don't know babe," He said. "The way things are happening you never know."
After we finished eating we cleaned up and went to bed. That night it became a bit cooler than the night before and when we got up the next morning the thermometer outside our bedroom window showed it was thirty degrees. Mike said, "I will throw the heater on and start the coffee. Take your time getting up."
When he left I felt the house catch up and got out of bed and got ready for the day. Going into the kitchen I went to make sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches. When Mike came in I handed him breakfast as I was cleaning up the small mess. Giving him a kiss I said, "I have to get set up for work. I will check in with you when I get out of work."
"Alright babe I will eat this on my way to Lowes," He said as he wrapped his sandwich in foil, poured his coffee to a travel mug and cleaned his plate. He went out the door and I grabbed a water bottle going into my office.
Logging in I waited for the room for our meeting to open. When the meeting opened my boss Melissa came on the screen and said, "Hey guys we have a lot to go over but we have to address the elephant in the room. After last months storms and this weird cooler weather we are going to give you guys the next week off with pay to get your home winter ready. Now that being said you all can all can log in and work on your projects and tasks any time you want this next week if you want to earn extra money. I know I will be going to all the stores I can the next week to get what I can. Any questions?"
I put my hand up on the screen and Melissa said, "Ivy?"
"Do not use your cards," I said. "Since I was off yesterday I started getting a supply up since we just moved in and have not had a chance to do much shopping. If you use a card most stores are taking your name and tracking how much your shopping. Most of us keep a cash reserve and I would suggest dipping into that. The old timers here are speculating a lot and all saying this is not normal."
Matts hand popped up and said, "I agree with Ivy. My wife does shows so we have cash on hand in our safe and we went shopping yesterday. The same thing was happening at the stores we shopped at. If you have a way to hide your supplies I would do it because things do not make sense and if the government sees your stockpiling or are prepping they might try to take it."
Shelly's hand popped up and said, "We are preppers and have shopped for the last few years. We also have a massive garden and noticed the police have been going by a lot more. I agree if you have food hide it."
"I agree with Shelly," I said. "Mike was on the front part of out property cutting down all the trees and branches that fell or cracked along with branches that are down. He told the police officer his fiancée was throwing a fit because we are planning out wedding and with the property a mess we can't plant flowers or have people on the property if there a mess. He also started the fire pit on the property for wood we could not burn which we normally throw in our mulch gardening bins. Yes we still filled the bins for the greenhouse but he kept the fire pit going all day. Why would the police care if we are cutting wood. Something is definitely up."
Melissa nodded and said, "We had to do the same thing and we are a thousand miles apart Ivy. Thankfully your greenhouse cannot be seen from the front of your house. Ours can and my husband had to make a big deal of having to throw out a ton of plants due to something killing our plants. Thankfully it was the harvested plants and we were started to seed new crops."
Shawn said, "So your paying us for a week off and we can still work? Don't get me wrong my Dad gave me cash a few weeks ago and I am going to get more ammo and load up my house for Deb and the kids. Deb said the hospital is also being weird about people working and wanted to know what our home situation is like. She played stupid and said we are barely making it and if we both didn't work we would not have food."
"Be careful guys," She said. "Brian the owner sent out a company wide email to our our clients and said we have to upgrade our software so this week we will be slow but will catch everything up as soon as possible. You will see all tasked needed to be done asap. So this week the level of importance tags are in affect. Can I count on you all to commit to at least an hour a day to help with them?"
Speaking up I said, "No worries Melissa we have you all. Do us a favor though send a email to us saying software issues work when you can at what you can incase any of us have issues with the authorities. I have a feeling things are going to get worse."
She said, "You should have your email in the next thirty minutes. But I am dropping the girls off to school before they are late use this time to make your game plan logged in and be safe. I will be logged in on my phone and if you have work questions feel free to message me. I will leave the room up for a while but do not log into the system till at least noon."
For the following thirty minutes we talked and agreed to come on and off all day to work after noon. I said my goodbyes and grabbed more cash from the safe. Going into the kitchen I placed the cash in my purse. When I heard Mike pull in he came inside for more coffee and said, "Are you on a break?"
I explained what happened and that Melissa had snow where she lived. He groaned and said, "Well I went to Lowes and got a ton of wood including two gas barrels. I just emptied and placed everything in the barn. When I get back from Home Depot I am going to get started on the first section of the pathways going to the greenhouse. I am thinking I can get a lot of the walls up and windows in before the end of the day. Then the siding I got will go up after. Be careful there are police everywhere. Do me a favor when your shopping grab a few things that are wedding like and put it in a basket at the back of the SUV so we can play it like we are starting to prepare for it."
"Don't worry babe," I said. "I have a plan and I will do that anyway. I made a section in the garage already on the shelving we are not using for wedding supplies. But most stuff will be placed in the basement if they are our emergency supplies once I fill what I need to fill."
He gave me a kiss and headed out. Grabbing my purse I went out to the SUV to leave. Driving to Costco I was surprised that the roads were so busy. When I got to Costco there was the familiar sign of limits on items and only one cart per person. I grabbed the largest flatbed cart and went to start shopping. While shopping I noticed that there were people walking around asking questions to shoppers. When one came up to me they asked, "Hello Miss may we ask what bought you here today?"
Putting on a show I sighed and asked, "Have you ever moved?"
The man chuckled and said, "I try not to."
"Yeah," I said. "I think me and my fiancee should have thought about moving while planning our wedding which is supposed to have invitations going out in the next three months. Since it's my day off I decided to start buying for our wedding plus getting some groceries for the house as we have been living on hamburgers and pasta. I am so sick of spaghetti and burgers."
"So your food shopping and getting stuff for the wedding?" He asked.
"Yes," I said. "When my Uncle passed I inherited my family home and its perfect for the start of our marriage and a great place to have our wedding. But we both work full time so I thought why not shop today. Only problem is we also have camping trips coming up and I heard you all have freeze dried stuff as well. So I was thinking get some freeze dried foods we can cook on our camping and hiking trips. Personally I can make it on my own but we have a bit planned and if it will save me time with the wedding planning I was thinking why not."
"What a great idea," He said. "That way you can add water and have a meal. Well miss I see you plan on getting a bit of food. Shall I suggest looking in the meat department you can get a lot of great deals and my favorite is the taco kits if your looking for something easy today so you can spend more time on wedding planning."
"Oh that sounds good," I said. "We have not had tacos in forever. I may have to get a few as my best friend was stopping by tonight so we can start planning the wedding."
"Well Miss you have a wonderful day and happy wedding shopping," He said as he walked away.
"Thank you," I called out.
Walking through the store I added stuff to the car making sure to grab a few things for the wedding. I loaded up on an assortment of freeze dried foods and cases of drinks. I even grabbed a few assorted bottles of wine to make it look like I was really shopping for the wedding. When I headed up front I grabbed three gas cans to fill on my way home. Getting to the SUV the man who I spoke with came up and said, "Looks like you got enough for your house."
"I sure did," I said. "We are cooking everything for the wedding and a friend who is bar tending for us. But alcohol is expensive so I got some wine to start the pile for the party and the sterno for the buffet. But I do have a spare freezer so now I can say we will not be eating much burgers for a while. Also thank you for the taco ideas. I grabbed enough for all of us tonight as her husband and kids will be joining us."
"Do you need any help," He asked. "No but thank you I heard the craft store is having a sale on fake flowers so i am organizing so I can have room to fit some for the center pieces. But I was so happy you had gas cans because the storm took down a bit of trees and you can't have a outdoor summer wedding if there are trees down everywhere. I am going to give my fiancee a hint with the gas cans filled when I get home."
He laughed and said, "Well take your time if your anything like my wife she always wants to car packed a specific way."
"I am a bit picky," I said. "That's why I bought all our coolers for the meat so I can stay out longer to get everything I need without heading home right away."
"Well I hope you can get a bunch of wedding stuff," He said as he walked away.
After I finished unloading I decided to go to the Hobby Lobby in the next plaza. Thankfully I did see that their fake flowers were on sale. But since I was here I started with the seasonal items. Making sure to pick up the candles. When I saw seasonal food items I grabbed what I knew we could add to my cart. I shopped and bought crafting stuff for us to do and when I got to the wedding aisle I made sure to pick up some stuff that I thought we would actually use and picked up a bunch of flowers I thought that we could use for our actual wedding. When I picked up what I wanted I headed back to the food area and picked up the seasonal food items till my cart was full. I can always say engagement party if anyone asked. Going through checkout I went back to the car making sure all the wedding bags went into the basket and moved the basket to the front seat. Taking the gas cans I lines them in the back of the car. Seeing a Dollar tree I went in and filled my cart. Getting in the car I pulled into the McDonalds drive through I grabbed a sweet tea and chicken sandwich and headed towards home.
I know I had room in the truck still and I wanted to hit up the Asian Market I saw on the way to Costco. I knew I needed a bunch of sauces and ramen. When I pulled up I saw there were signs for 1 cart only. I grabbed the biggest cart and first shopped all the main isles. Then I hit up their meat section and said to myself, "Oh I can make hot pot for us soon I love this precut meat. Hitting up the Asian Vegetables and loaded part of the cart and before long I was in frozen getting our favorites. When I got to the rice section at the front of the store and saw the large bags of Asian rice. I made sure I grabbed an assortment and then went back to make sure I had sushi and rice paper wraps fitting them into my cart.
Going through check out I did not think much and before I left I grabbed a bubble tea. Unloading everything into the SUV I saw there was another dollar tree and went in. I could have sworn I saw the guy from Costco following me. I picked up wedding thank you cards and went through picking up wedding stuff and more steno they had. I made sure to look over the craft items throwing random crafts into the house. Walking through I picked up our daily meds since I was there. Going through the aisle with metal pans and trays I loaded a pile into the cart knowing that we would use them during the holidays and wedding. Talking out loud I said, "Oh I should get us snacks and easy things for Mikes lunches especially with us working extra for the wedding."
When I filled the cart full I went through check out. Coming out of the store I heard, "Fancy seeing you here."
"Well I guess we meet again," I said flashing a bright smile. "You would not believe all the good deals I found. Hobby Lobby had the flowers on sale and I got some to start the arrangements for the tables. Then they had gift stuff which I am going to use to make bridal boxes for our bridesmaids and groomsmen. Them Mike had called me when I was on my way home and asked if I got replacements for some of the Asian food we like and they had just put out meats for hibachi and hot pot. SO I decided why I was here I might as well get the things we love. Walking through the Dollar tree I found even more wedding stuff and things for our engagement part and crafting stuff to start my Christmas gifts I make every year. I left my master list at home for the wedding things I wanted but I think I got a good chunk of it today."
He chuckled and said, "Listen I am not going to spite you but people have been prepping for some mysterious thing they think is going to happen."
"Yeah when I went to the gas station last night to get milk for cereal this morning I heard the same thing," I said. "I'm sorry I don't know you name?"
"Its Dave," He said with a smile.
"Dave listen I will be 100% honest with you," I said. "Want to know why I had the time to do this today?"
"Sure," He said.
"I was getting ready to log into work when I got this email," I said pulling up the get out of jail email from work.
He took my phone and read the email, "Oh man system down off for the week with pay. That is very generous."
"Yeah," I said. "I have been texting a few of my co workers who were planning a Netflix marathon today and they have checked the system to see if we had anything yet. Look here they all replying nope and notta. We work for an accounting and financial analysis company and system down puts us weeks behind for 1 day of work."
"Since we work a lot I figured today would be a great thing to get a little extra, "Not to much though as I do not have much room. My next store will be Walmart and that's only to get mason jars for easy storage for open packages and maybe a few items I did not see at other stores. Prepping would mean I have to do so much and with work, hopefully we will be up soon. The wedding and still decorating the house I have no time to prep. I know I over bought but in all honesty I don't have a lot of room. I have shelves in the garage for the supplies for the wedding and I have a small pantry in the kitchen. I will be tetris the food into the freezer already so I may go buy a tiny freezer for the kitchen but it would have to be small. Mike said he is going to see if there is room for one next to a small cabinet I am going to turn into a coffee station but I do not see that happening. The stuff I got from Dollar tree are to make my fiancee homemade launchable he can eat on his way to each job site as he works for a construction company."
"Thank you Ivy," He said. "I see you are a very frustrated bride to be who is just trying to get non home stuff done while she can. You can be assured you are no longer on our radar."
Laughing I said, "Can I get that in writing? Dave I am only joking its a phrase we use a lot in my line of work. Your right I am a frustrated bride to me. I have been trying to get my guest list and addresses for invitations ready and believe me I am almost willing to pay my made of honor to go get them for me. She is a force to be reckoned with. Now I will say this wonky weather is giving me a headache. I am going to pick up stuff at the local Walmart and head home my head is pounding. The rest of my afternoon one I get my perishables away are to lay down and start binge watching videos."
Dave gave a sympathetic pat to my arm and said, "Remember to get the gas closer to home so your headache does not get worse."
"Oh my Dave," I said. "I almost forgot about that. Thank you for reminding me. See migraine is forming and I am gonna be out for the count."
Getting into my car I went towards home and noticed there was no one following me this time. When I got further away I did get a food saver and more mason jars for the package good I had. I decided to only get some cheese and filled the cart with some non perishables that I could fit including teas, cocoa and coffee. When I got ten minutes from home I stopped and got gas for the gas cans. using the remaining gas to fill my SUV. Pulling into the house I saw that Mike was on the pathway to the the barn. He saw me pull up and opened my door giving me a kiss. I pointed to the house and he went in. Taking off my coat I left it in the truck with my boots. Going in I pulled Mike to the Bathroom and ran the shower water. I told him in a whisper what happened and he said he would look around the truck and he would play along.
We went outside and Mike said, "Wow Ivy what is all of this I see a ton of wedding stuff"
"Oh my god you have no idea," I said. "Did everyone confirm tonight?"
"No they backed out the kids got sick with these cold temperatures," He said as he used a mirror under the car. He pulled out a microphone and said, "Well babe I will help you get all this in I have to head back to work soon."
"Oh thank you I am going to get the perishable away and stack whatever is left on the kitchen table and go lay down I have the worst headache. I think its a migraine," I said. "Also I got four gas cans full of gas so you have no excuse with getting the trees and branches cut up so we can decide where we are having the reception for the wedding."
"I have a light day do you want me to stay home," He asked. "No your alright sweetie I am gonna check in with work and lay down after I get the perishables away. Oh I need to throw my coat and bag in the dryer. I dumped tea all over myself on the way home."
"Oh and you like that coat," He said. "Go empty your coat and purse and throw them in the dryer. By the time you get that I will get this to the kitchen for you to sort at your pace when you feel better."
Taking all the items out of my purse I placed them in a bowl and made sure my coat did not have anything in its packets putting it on steam clean in the washer for thirty minutes. Looking at all the items in my purse I put the pile on my dresser. Then I checked my shoes too make sure nothing was stuck to them. Looking at Mike when he came in I said, "Baby thank you for getting everything for me. The coolers are still Ice cold so I am not sure what I will get done and what will be held for later. Also I got us Tacos for dinner. No more pasta and burgers."
"Oh man Taco's sound good," He said seeing the microphone in my hand. "Oh babe its cold in here let me start the wood stove so you stay warm. He lit a fire in the wood stove and I flung the microphone into the fire."
"I hope the rest of your day is good," I said. "I love you."
"I love you to Ivy," He said. "Get some rest and I ill cook the food tonight. I placed the gas next to the chainsaw I will get it started when I get home."
When he left I grabbed my tablet and started to watch YouTube. I grabbed a laundry basket and placed it on the counter. Placing piles of smaller perishable in it I opened the fridge and made some sounds. Then I quietly opened the latch to the basement and headed down to place food into the basement freezers. The larger packages I placed in one cooler to work on after I got the smaller packages away. When I had everything gone through I said, "Oh I forgot paper towels and toilet paper. Well that is another day."
I filled the inside freezer and latched the basement door cabinet to lock saying, "Thank god it all fit in the fridge and freezer now I can take a nap."
Shutting the curtains to the kitchen and the living room. After another two hours I had all the meat away and walked outside to see what Mike had left. He said, "Hey you feel better."
"Yeah a nap helped," I said.
"I know you want me to cut the branches but I found the windows for the covered walkway and wanted to get them in incase there is a storm," He said.
"Alright I am gonna do my obligatory check-in to work and I will be down in about an hour," I said.
Going inside I went up to the office and logged in. Looking at the work to be done I saw everything was at normal flag right now. So I spent two hours at my desk doing what we do. By the time I finished I knocked out a bunch of the work and sent Melissa a message that I did a bit of work and may log in later tonight. She sent me the thumbs up and asked if I got questioned and I told her about being followed. She replied, Shit I need to get everything in the attic and hidden that's where all our freezers are hidden as the basement is our room.
After I told her good luck I shut my laptop down and started to go through everything on the table. Filling the basket with more items I brought it down to the basement. The false wall that kept the basement from the stairs I made sure was shut I started to sort everything into the baskets and shelves. I took a few baskets and put a few things in then and placed them on the one shelf I had. I hit the door hook for the false wall and opened it up for the things I had stocking the shelves from the bottom up. Going into the garage I placed things into the bins and totes in the garage meant for the wedding. By the time I got to separating the big bags of items I had cleared more than half the items. By the time it was three in the afternoon I made sure everything was sorted, canned and put away. I made sure all the walls were locked and the latches were hidden. Then I went upstairs and sat on the couch.
An officer pulled into the property and when Mike bought him in I was laying down and facing the couch acting like I was sleeping. Hearing Mike walk over to me I felt him shake my shoulder. He said, "Ivy love there is an officer here to see you,"
Struggling to wake up I said, "What's going on?"
The officer said, "Ivy it cane to the authorities attention today you were doing a large amount of shopping."
I nodded and said, "Your right I did officer."
"You are aware that there is a ordinance through the federal government preventing people from prepping right?" He asked.
"Yes I am aware and I guess I was prepping but not in the way you think officer," I said standing up. "We moved in here a few weeks ago and have been living on hamburgers and pasta. We had to do food shopping. So I did get food in the house. But a large amount of stuff I purchased today were supplies to get what we needed into the house and our upcoming wedding. Well that and I got stuff to make our gifts for our bridal party and stuff to start my holiday gifts. That and we go camping so I got freeze dried stuff to make meals to take with is in a pot. Follow me."
Taking the officer I took him to the garage I showed him the soda and supplies on the shelves, "Your welcome to open the totes officer. Just be aware when you do they were empty before I went shopping. Our guest list is around two hundred people right now. I started doing the purchases for our wedding today."
The officer looked through the wedding stuff looking at the steno cans and candles. He sighed and said, "I will not say a thing about these as my fiancee is planning our wedding and we have three years and she has barely started."
Bringing him up to my office I showed him the food kits and said, "I am going to turn these into gift boxes for the people in our wedding party. Also if you look in this tote here its a large amount of crafting stuff to make gifts for Christmas. I always give my family at least one homemade gift every year. Last year I made 85 homemade gifts. Its May and I am so far behind right now."
I beckoned him again and showed him the fridge and freezer and said, "Please m careful sir when you open them I had to tetris the freezer."
He slowly opened both and said, "Well you did fill your house."
Pointing the the closet I showed him the freeze dried containers and the pantry full of non perishable foods. Looking at the officer I said, "I know the prepper law states we cannot hoard food and I understand that. We have not been prepping and would not go against the law. After this its milk and bread I will get at the store unless I see a good sale at the local stores. I may get a little more but that would be once the freezer empties a bit."
He said, "One minute."
Taking out his phone he called someone and said, "Sir I checked out the person of interest. Yes I saw what she bought and her packed freezer and fridge. She showed me everything she got for her wedding and I wish everyone I checked out was as organized as she is. My fiancee would be jealous if she saw Ivy's shelving with all the wedding stuff. I did see all her freeze dry stuff. Yes she has them on the floor of her pantry. This young woman is legit. This is a hobby farm and even offered me some eggs to take home since they had extra. The barn has two horses, chickens and one milk cow who are more spoiled then kids. This is a hobby farm with a lovely set of people. I saw all the trees and branches down as well they have a huge clean up to do. Ivy's fiancee Mike is a crafter and showed me a few projects he plans to do with the larger trees and their wood sheds are almost empty. Thank you sir will you send me the report that we do not need to come out again. I will stay here so I can give a copy to Ivy thank you."
He hung up the phone and said, "I know I lied and I see your not prepping but your smart to stock up your wood stores with this cold weather. Personally that's not prepping that's curing your wood for next winter. Now I also did not mention the plants in the green house nor your generator shed. That's because it looks like a garden shed to me. Ivy stay north of here if your shopping for a while and only do half carts. I am the only inspector in the area so if I get any calls for you I will be coming back. Mike I sent you the email that you cleared inspection. I would suggest since you do not work from home maybe you pick stuff up on your way home. Also thank you for the eggs earlier."
"Thank you man," Mike said.
"Just call me Gus," He said. "Ivy you are pale though you may want to get more sleep if you can."
Nodding I said, "Thank you Gus I have had a migraine since my talk with Dave earlier. I would hope they would go after criminals instead of someone who just wanted food in their house."
When Gus left Mike gave me a hug and said, "I have another hour outside and will be done with the frame, wood work and windows. Then I am going to get the siding up in the morning than getting those trees down. What are your plans for tomorrow?"
"Hopefully work and I have that big basket on the table to make pickles," I said. "I am gonna use the eggs from tonight and tomorrow to make your pickled eggs and some vegetables. But first and foremost I want to go to the farmers market down the road. Are you alright with me leaving?"
He walked over and hugged me saying, "Of course I am. If you see Mrs. Francie's Chicken cart go ahead and pick up her breaded chicken. We can make fried chicken bite salads for lunch."
Smiling I knew he wanted something for lunch he has been craving it so we can enjoy it together, "Don't you worry babe I will get it."
The rest of the night we just watched the news reports and people speculating on what is happening. We set the alarms for early in the morning and headed to bed. As we laid in bed with the TV on in the background we heard the wind pick up. We fell asleep to the sounds of the wind an we realized that by morning all the work Mike has done with the trees may have doubled.
As we lay down to bed I realized working with these creatures will save us all.
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