Living in central Florida our temperatures for May usually went into 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 the 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 wants 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 getting those trees cut up and 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 over stock the house."
He looked at me and said, "Ivy you hate shopping. What's going on?"
Serving breakfast I said, "When the storms came through last week everything felt off. Then when we went to buy the generator and solar panel set up I heard people talking that up north things were off. Trees were starting to show fall colors and in Canada they found bears 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 go out to Rural King and Walmart and go grab a bunch of containers and supplies to start prepping. That way I can get 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?"
"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 you 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 meet 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 of stuff 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 freezer. 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 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 said 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 kictchen 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 fin 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."
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 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 Lou," He said. "Ivy you are pale though you may want to get more sleep if you can."
Nodding I said, "Thank you Lou 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 Lou 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.
*******************************************************************************
When we woke up the next morning I went downstairs to start breakfast and decided the leftover taco's would make good breakfast tacos so I scrambled up some eggs to get started. Mike walked through and said, "That looks so good."
Sitting down we ate and when we were done I cleaned up the little mess we had. Mike grabbed his boots and asked, "Should I bring all the cream and eggs in from the barn?"
"Yes I will catch that up and by the time I get back the butter milk in the freezer dryer should be done. I will fill out bottle for the fridge after I made some home made ricotta and mozzarella," I said. "I also have to work on and off between food projects."
Going outside I felt it was a bit warmer and put two coolers into my truck. Checking my purse I added a bit more cash to my wallet and headed to Walmart. Going in I stopped in the craft section and grabbed some more things to make Christmas gifts. Going to the canning aisle I debated on what size jars and containers I wanted to make while loading up on pickling spices and stuff to make cheese. I heard, "Ivy you look so much better today!"
Turning to the voice I saw Gus and said, "Hello Gus! Yes I am. However as sick as I felt at the end of my shopping and coming home I realized I forgot to stop here as I am going to pickle things today since I can't work until the next week. But when I went to check my vegetable pile I realized no pickles until I go to the farmers market. Mike went to grab me my mason jars and I only had three left."
Gus laughed and said, "That's the way it works. Ivy this is my fiancée Cloe. She also has the same plan as you and to pickle her garden. I bet between both of you we will buy them out."
Laughing I said, "Hi Cloe. We just moved so my greenhouse is nothing but seedlings. I am hoping that we will start to get things in the next few months."
She laughed and said, "Well we will probably see you at the farmers market. We love pickles with our meals and Gus here will bring a full jar with him to work to eat while in duty."
I laughed and said, "Oh my Mike is the same way. He begged me to get the stuff for pickled eggs. Even after we gave you the eggs yesterday Gus Mike checked the hen house again and we have two more dozen, not including what he finds before I get home."
Cloe looked at me and asked, "Do you dehydrate or free dry as well?"
"Guilty as charged," I said. "In the freeze dryer now is a large batch of butter milk. Before I left this morning I put in the parsley I found at the Asian market for cheap. Once my herbs start growing I will have to still buy but then I will be able to go to the greenhouse for whatever I need."
"Gus was telling me he had to do a prepper check on you," She said. "I think its ridiculous."
"Same but I will not even try to break that law," I said. "I can almost guarantee everything I make the next few days will be gone in a few weeks because Mike works so hard and the Asian culture has it right eating pickled food helps with digestion. We noticed we have had less stomach troubles with having a few pickles a day."
We filled our carts and walked towards the cleaning isle and I grabbed laundry detergent and dish soap. Then when we got to the food area I saw a lot of yellow tags on the food. The worker saw my looks as I browsed dairy and looked towards meat and said, "They had a supply issue and will be having us reset the shelves tonight for the next truck."
When he walked away I said, "Gus would this be considered prepping if I go get more jars and can some of the meat for easy meals?"
He laughed and said, "Nope I guess your going to get more jars like us?"
We ran and loaded the bottom of the carts with jars. Between both of us we wiped out most of the jars. We walked through the dairy and meet department and grabbed what we could can and pack. I did grab cheese and creams. I loaded smaller packs of meat and when I found huge pork and meat packs I grabbed them to break down as well. Gus and Chloe did the same and when we got to produce I saw they had fresh peeled garlic marked down to super cheap. My car was loaded when we got to the check out. When I finished putting everything in the car I headed to the farmers market.
When I got to the farmers market I grabbed my pull behind cart and started on one side of the market. The vendors were all smiles and before I was a quarter of the way through I filled my cart. Heading back to the SUV to drop things off I saw Gus bringing a cart to his truck. We both laughed and I headed back in. Personally I think I bought way more from the non food vendors but I couldn't help myself. When I got to the meat and artesian section I stood still and said, "Will power."
Cloe came up next to me and said, "Forget it throw caution to the wind we are."
Laughing I went to Mrs. Francie's chicken and I got an assortment of different foods. Moving on I found the homemade sausage stall. I love this stall because they have grilled up samples ready to go and I loaded up on their assorted sausages. When I got to the end I saw they had bulk items. Emptying my cart I came back and found that they were selling large boxes of fruits, vegetables and meats. Talking to the vendors I saw they have large quantities of beef pork and chicken fat. One of the workers had a hand cart and anything I could not carry they loaded up for me. I just had enough room when we loaded all the boxes in the SUV. When I got home I was so happy to see the siding Mike put up on the walkways. It matched the house and the barn. I heard him call my name and looking up I saw him n the roof.
Calling out I said, "Mike what are you doing up there?"
He said, "I ran out of siding so I had to run to Lowes. You have to see what I got. Come to the bedroom and then I will unload the SUV."
Heading up to the bedroom I met Mike at the window overlooking the back roof. I was surprised to see large solar panels. Looking at Mike I asked, "Where did this come from?"
Smiling he said, "When I went in to get more siding so I could cover lines and finish up going to the greenhouse. They had an overhead announcement that they had ten solar panel set ups at a discounted rate. I went over and checked it out. It came with these five panels and a converter box. So I did a set up in the kitchen. The spot under the window in the corner I set up the first setup. I also have another set up to put on the backside of the barn. I am going to cover the cords and run the extra line to the converter box through the now enclosed walk way and that box is going into the basement so we will have that and the generator."
"Mike that is amazing," I said.
"So before you go into the kitchen Gretchen gave a lot of milk last night and this morning. I poured them into the jars and cream is forming on both," He said. "Also your freeze dryer stopped so I set it to the finish setting."
We walked down to the SUV and Mike looked in and said, "Wow Ivy you got most of this at the market."
"Well and Walmart," I said. Telling him about what was going on at Walmart with the discounted food. Then I said, "I did get a lot from both and will process a lot of the vegetables in the freeze dryer. I also got a bunch of beef, pork and chicken fat. There is also a few boxes of bones to make bone broth. Also there is a massive box of beef bits that I am going to break down to stew or ground beef. Now that its all in I am gonna take an hour to see what I can get done now but all the boxes have frozen packs in them so I can take my time. The coolers I filled from Walmart also have eggs, cream, milk, meat and cheese. I am going to sort it and get stuff to the coolers to see what I a going to make from it."
"Well I see you have bags from Mrs. Francine's so why don't I make lunch and you go do an hour of work," He said. "Right now this will hold and you won't feel bad for not working."
"Well let me at least grab some of the pork and beef fat," I said. "That way they can start cooking down low and slow."
I grabbed out three crock pots and put one of each fat in a crock pot. Mike started cutting up a salad from what I brought today and I saw him grab out the deep fryer to make us lunch. Going up to the office I started to work. Seeing some high priority I knocked out those items as fast as I could and after an hour Mike came in with a huge salad plate. He said, "I added more fat to each of the crock pots and put the rest of the chicken into the cooler. Do you want me to take the bags of precut vegetables from Walmart and put them in the freeze dryer?"
"You remember how to?" I asked.
"Yes I do," He said. "I will make sure each type of vegetables goes on a different tray. Also I am grabbing out the other two dehydrators and will get them started with the shredded carrots and a few other items. Also I am assuming all the bread you got is meant for croutons. I will get a few pans started in the oven as well for you. Also there is a huge box of chicken bones with some meat on them is that for chicken stock?"
"Thank you," I said. "I will eat and work and when I am done I will come down. Yes that is for chicken stock if you want to pour that big box into the crab pot there are also carrots celery and onion and a thing of herbs to go in there as well."
Mike saluted and went downstairs. I continued working and eating my lunch. When I finished my lunch I finished the project I was working on and when I completed it I sent a message to the boss and said I may be back later. She gave me the thumbs up and as I was walking downstairs I saw Mike was out working on the fallen trees and branches.
Starting with the coolers I took out the single packs of meat and filled my first laundry basket full and headed down to the basement. Everything that has to be repackaged or worked on I put on the end of the dining room table next to the milk and cream Mike brought in from the barn.
While I was sorting my neighbor Maggie called and asked if I had any spare butter milk she was going to make biscuits to freeze and ran out. I told her give me about thirty minutes I was going to make some butter now. She said she would bring some large mason jars in exchange for the butter milk and I got out my mixer to start churning the butter. I had three extra large jars of butter milk by the time she knocked at the door. I shut the shelf to the basement and met her at the door.
She looked at me and said, "You are a lifesaver. Here are four of the same size jars in payment for the buttermilk. With everything happening I decided butter milk biscuits precooked and frozen would hold. I am also thinking with as much as you gave me I may make some butter milk pancakes as well. So you know you can freeze butter milk as well. I place my extra milk and butter milk in gallon size freezer bags and freeze on a tray laying flat."
"Oh that is good to know," I said. "I am making some ricotta and mozzarella today as well. I read that afterwards if you jar it cream will form on the top again and you can make more butter. It was suggested that you can add honey or herbs and its a great way to make flavored butters. I may try that to stretch everything further and the leftover liquid can be used in the garden."
Her eyes lit up and said, "Let me know."
When she left Mike came in and said, "I have a new freezer for you I will bring it in so you can freeze butter milk and more butter. It will have to go into the space before the secret wall. But it will hold the butter milk and milk you decide to keep. Also I took five dozen of the eggs you brought home and put them on the wood stove to hard boil for the pickled eggs."
Leaning up I gave him a kiss and said, "Thank you babe. I never thought to freeze the milk or butter milk. It will be like giant bricks of ice."
While I worked on more in the kitchen with consistent butter making from all the creams I got at Walmart I got out my cheese making pot and started to get milk hot to make home made butter and ricotta cheese. Mike came up and said, "I had it plugged in in the barn so your ready to go to move your butter to the bins I placed in there. Also I have baskets in there for ricotta and mozzarella."
Going downstairs I grabbed all the butter I had made from the other freezers and added them to the new freezer along with the cheese I made. While I had the first batch of cheese forming I started to break down the meats and vegetables. I noticed that the beef fat was ready to strain and put in jars. Grabbing a bunch of mason jars that I had cleaned and dried I took the fat and started to strain it through a fine mesh strainer with a cheese cloth. When I filled the first batch of jars I added more fat to melt and placed then in the basket after labeling. Between all the items being worked on I cut a few steaks for Mike to grill that evening. After seasoning them I placed them in the fridge. After cutting more steaks and adding more butter milk to the basket to freeze I went downstairs to put everything away.
For the rest of the day I continued to work on everything I had purchased. By the time Mike came in the house for dinner I had everything ready to go for dinner and a large portion of items put away. Mike saw the steaks sitting out on the counter and said, "Oh man babe this going to be a great dinner. How much more do you have left?"
"The freeze dryer went on the final cycle and I have potatoes in the jars ready to be pressure canned," I said. "The last of the fats are also almost done as well. I think tomorrow I am going to go north while you cut up more of the trees. Now that we have the dairy freezer I am excited to add and fill more. I think I will hop onto work after dinner for another hour or so tonight."
While Mike got the grill started I went to start adding the melted fat to the jars. By the time he came in with the food I had only a small pile of food to be worked and that was all in 1 cooler with freezer packs. My phone binged and I saw a message from Melissa that said, "Do not come back in tonight get things as fast as you can. We have a meeting scheduled for tonight at 10pm if you can swing in."
Walking outside I showed Mike the message and he said, "They live a thousand miles away I wonder what is going on."
Going back inside I put the pressure canner on and started the process while we ate. When we were done Mike cleaned up while I grabbed the trays from the freeze dryer and emptied all the vegetables into large mason jars. Then I refilled them with the last of the bagged precut vegetables I had and chunks of zucchini, onions and pepper strips. We worked until my alarm went off for the meeting. Mike told me to go and he would keep peeling the carrots I was going to can as well as getting the green beans jarred as well.
Logging into work meeting room I saw everyone. Melissa and Brian appeared on the screen each looking worried. I said, "What happened guys you look like you seen a ghost?"
Brian gave a stressed chuckle and said, "Ivy a ghost would have been a blessing."
Kyle asked, "Please tell me they didn't try to bust you for prepping?"
Both Liz and I said at the same time, "No but they tried to with me."
Melissa said, "The kids were watching TV and the dogs started barking so we checked the security cameras. I will let you tell me what you think. Actually before we do get your spouses in on the call."
We all stood up and got our significant others. Sitting on Mikes lap Brian said, "I am shocked with what we caught."
Brian hit play and we heard the kids playing in the back ground. Then we heard their dog start barking and growling. In the background we hear Brian say, "Benji boy what has gotten into you."
A few second latter we heard Brian say, "Holy shit."
We watched as a massive group of wolves cross the screen. Mike leaned closer and said, "Man I used to work in the back woods in Canada and those are not timber wolves."
Esteban's wife asked, "Please tell me you got bored and played with CGI."
Esteban said, "My love what do you mean?"
"My class just went over this," She said. "Those are Dire wolves. Do you see when they go past the swing set their haunches are almost up to the top of the frame. Dire wolves were supposed to have went extinct a couple thousand years ago. Their hides are like armor the only way you can kill them is along their rib cage underneath. They were used by armies to attic cities due to how deadly they were."
Polly said, "Well then if Brian can give me the ability to share you need to see this video from last night."
She pulled up a video and you heard Polly's horses going crazy in the barn. You see here run to the barn in her robe and the lights come on. Then while we hear her soothing the horses you see three giant creatures pass the barn right where she had just ran. They stopped for a second and the woman creature shook her head no and the continued on. A few minutes later Polly comes out and goes back to the house. She said, "I will not leave the house without my rifle after seeing that. My horses are being kept in the barn or the paddock during the day. They are brought back in before sun down."
Esteban's wife said, "Those look like frost giants. But they were only legend in north Alaska and Canada. What in the world is going on?"
Brian took over and said, "My brother works for the government. There is going to be a state of the union address in the morning. They are supposed to lift the prepping ban and will be putting a curfew nation wide starting tomorrow right for sundown. Take tomorrow and get as much as you can. If you do not have security camera's get some. Be safe everyone we value you all and are thinking about you."
We ended the call and Mike said, "I will get more wood to reinforce the walls to the pathway tomorrow as well as lights to run along the pathways. We have the security camera and I will put them up in the morning. Do you want to do the state of the union address or are you going to start early in the morning?"
"I want to watch the address and them will be heading north," I said. "Keep your shot gun with you at all times. We need to get this house ready. While your out please head to animal supply store and load up on more feed for everyone."
He nodded and said, "They open at 6am I will go there first. I should be able to get everything before the address starts."
"Okay I will finish up everything I can tonight," I said. "Well at least till 11:30 tonight. Then I will continue on in the morning until the address then I am going to leave after the presidents speech. I may just do one big circle and finish up in town. I know I want to hit the weight store."
Mike said, "I am going to check on the animals and will come back and help you."
As Mike went outside I started to work on more items. By the time Mike came back almost everything was prepped for the following morning and Mike started cleaning up the mess. As our alarm went off we had just a few more bags and one cooler full with frozen packs still keeping it cool. We brought the basket down and added things to the shelves. Looking at the four freezers Mike said, "The chicken cooler is half full, The beef freezer is half full, The pork and other meats is half full and the packaged goods is a third of the way full."
He walked to the freezer with the butter milk, butter and cheese and said, "Wow that is a lot of butter milk."
Laughing I said, "Yeah there will be more in there tomorrow. With all the eggs I am thinking of making omelet bags with some of the eggs we have as well. I will probably make those tomorrow after we see what I get. Just add all the eggs into the basket tomorrow and I will work on more tomorrow."
We went to bed and during the night we were woken up by the sounds of howling. Mike looked out the windows and Mike said, "I don't see anything."
Going back to sleep we woke up at 530 when the alarm went off. Mike got up and went to use the bathroom and I went to the kitchen to make coffee. When he came down I had his to go cup ready and was looking at the property. He looked where I was looking and saw giant wolf prints in the dirt around the house. He put his mug down and went to check on the animals. Coming back in he said, "The animals are all alright. I will take care of them when I get back."
When Mike left I grabbed all the jars I prepared the night before and placed them in the pressure canner on the wood stove. As the canner was coming to temperature I brought the stock back to a boil instead of a simmer. While I worked through everything I watched some videos on my tablet and by the time Mike came back my rolling cart in the kitchen was half full of everything I canned that morning. The stock, meat and vegetables were in the canner and the last of the items were either packaged for downstairs or in the freezer dryer or dehydrator. Cleaning up all the dishes he came in and said, "I will definitely be reinforcing the walls and getting more gas to fill everything. I have a feeling your going to be very busy today as people have seen a lot of strange creatures."
"After seeing Polly's video's I don't think they are all bad," I said. "But I will be careful I promise."
We put the TV and waited for the state of the union address. When it came on President Trump looked more stressed than ever. Unlike most state of the unions his wife was standing next to him holding his hand. He started to speak, "My fellow Americans. Normally I can say some strange things however, this may be the strangest woods that are ever going to come out of my mouth. As you all are experiencing winter seems to have come back when we should be outside having picnics and outdoor activities with our families. As of today not only is the United States but the entire world is under a state of emergency. The cold weather has seemed to awaken creatures of old. So to the people who follow paganism or the old ways please I ask you if you know anything about lore call the number on the screen below. We are taking any and all information we can. As of this morning over thirty different forms of creatures from old have been seen in the cold weather including Ice Dragons in Alaska. Making this clear DO NOT fight them or attack them just call or go on the hotline with information. We want peace. Also to keep our people in this country safe all emergency shelters are open. We are lifting the preppers ban and everyone can buy as much as they want. If you have financial constraints go to your nearest EBT/Snap office with your family count and we will be issuing emergency funds so you can feed your family. Also as of right now as of sun down every day you must be on your property. We are implementing this for your safety as many of these unknown creatures come out more at night. Please me safe my fellow Americans. We are praying for answers and ---"
Someone came on stage and said something in the Presidents ear. The look on his face was one of shock and he asked, "Are you 100% positive."
The gentleman stood back and said, "Yes sir all the other countries are looking into it now but it looks like this is happening."
The President hugged his wife and said, "My love I think you can explain what is going on a bit more than I can. Everyone when the temperatures dipped my wife told me of a story told to her by her Grandmother and apparently she hit the nail on the head."
"Good afternoon," She said. "When the world feels like it has had enough it will send the creatures of old to bring the world back to peace. First there will be five years of winter to stop the world in its place. Then there will be two years of heat and summer to kill off the bad in the world. Then there will be four years of fall to bring about the darkness to remove the evils. and two years or a perpetual spring to bring the world back to normal. On the fourteenth year the seasons will reset. But be aware all the creatures of the seasons will be around to keep the peace. If these creatures find you to be evil and unjust then you will have thirteen weeks to change your ways or you will be punished. This is to reset our world and the creatures who appear will fade with the end of each trial period. When the world resets it will be a time of peace or if anyone fights the world she will fight you back and you will be no more. I apologize if it sounds cryptic but we have thirteen years give or take and the world herself will choose how long she wants each season to be."
Mike was holding onto me when we heard a noise outside. Looking out the window I saw fur. Mike asked, "What do we do?"
Looking at him I slipped on my shoes and grabbed a steak from the basket I just cut. Placing the bag on the inside of the door I opened it and saw a beautiful gray and black dire wolf leaning against the house. Mike asked, "Are you crazy?"
Shrugging I walked to face the wolf and said, "Good morning."
The wolf turned to me and huffed. "You poor thing you been walking a long while are you tired."
It put its head down and I asked, "Was it you we heard last night?"
Lifting its head I heard the word, "Yes"
"Oh you can talk," I said. "My name is Ivy what's yours?"
"Young one my name is Sila," It said.
"Sila are you injured," I asked. "I am not very knowledgeable but I would like to help you."
Sila put her paw out and said, "I stepped on this in the woods before I came to your land. Do not fear I will not harm your animals."
"Mike babe come out here she is hurt," I said. "There is a hunters trap on her front paw."
Mike came out and I said, "Sila this is my fiancee Mike. We will do what we can to help you."
Mike went to the trap and said, "When we moved in we cleared all these traps off the land they are inhumane."
He said, "I have to get some tools from my work shop. Stay strong Sila we will help you. Babe go to the emergency supplies and get as much bandages as you can and stuff to clean the wound. I feel like your going to have to get more if it broke a bone we will have to dress the wound for a few days to stave off an infection."
Running into the house I went to our bathroom and grabbed as much bandages I could carry. I also grabbed a few bottles of hydrogen peroxide. Adding a second steak to the pile I went back outside. Placing all the items next to Sila I went into the garage and grabbed the baby pool I had in there and when I came back there was another wolf standing next to the house. Sila said, "Do not fear Ivy this is my mate Moha."
"Hello Moha," I said. "We are going to do everything to help Sila."
"Thank you young one," He said. "Our pack went more south but I will not leave my beloved."
Mike came out the door and said, "I could never leave Ivy either. Sila listen this is going to hurt these traps are meant to dispose of creatures but I think I have a way to get this off. I need you to be as still as possible."
Mike took our his metal saw and said, "Babe go get our thickest towel and we need to get it soaked in water. we have to get it under the metal and around her paw because the blade will make the metal hot. I do not want to burn her."
When I got back with the towel Mike had filled the pool and had a bucket to pour water with. He soaked the towel and said, "Babe I want you to put on these safety glasses and sorry I know its cold but I am going to soak your legs and you need to block the sparks from Silas head. When I say to pour I want you to pour a slow stream of water where I point. Moha I need you to stand back please."
Mike looked at me and said, "Ready."
Mike worked with steady hands and cut the first side of the trap. When he said I poured water onto the glowing metal. After a few minutes we hear the first side break. Sila said, "Oh that feels a lot better already."
Mike went to the next side and we did the same process When the trap was completely broken Mike said, "Sila this next part is going to hurt a lot we need to remove the trap. Moha can you please trade with Ivy, I need you to keep Silas leg on this wood so we can remove it. Ivy babe we need to do this as fast as we can I will pull the top and you push the bottom. On the count of three."
We removed the metal from Sila's paw and she howled. We moved the wood out and I moved Mike aside. "Sila Mike is going to refill the water and I am going to clean the wound and bandage it. This will hurt a bit."
I opened a full bottle of hydrogen peroxide and pored it over the wound. After I got it as clean as I could I used womans maxi pads coated with neosporin and placed them over the wounds. Then I wrapped the pads with bandages. When I was done I sat back and asked her, "How does that feel?"
"Much better young one," She said.
Mike said, "Good. Now for the important part you cannot travel for a few days and your welcome to stay here as long as you need to heal. Moha there is a river past the house which is on our property and there are fish if you eat that. All we ask if you do not harm our animals."
Walking to the door I went inside and grabbed the steaks and said, "I figured you might be hungry. What do you all eat?"
Moha answered and said, "We like fish."
Mike said, "Well then your in luck Sila can rest here as long as she wants or I can get you a shelter closer to the river. The river is packed with fish."
Moha said, "Sila prefers to lay on the grass will you show me the river and we can look for a shelter?"
"Mike if you have things here I am about to head out," I said. Bending down to Sila I asked, "Should I try to get some medicine for pain from a vet office or feed store."
"No young one," She said. "I just need rest."
Getting the coolers back in the truck I headed out. I headed north and as I was going through one of the back roads a large wolf walked out in front of my SUV. Stopping I asked, "Are you lost?"
He walked over and said, "We realized two of our pack headed was left behind we back tracked to find them."
"Do you mean Sila and Moha?" I asked.
"You know where they are?" It asked.
"Yes," I said. "I know you all eat more fish but I ask you not to bother my animals that are in the barn. They are rescues from rough situations."
"Of course," He said. "How do we find them?"
"This road your on go about ten miles," I said. "You will see a intersection and I am going to have my fiancee meet you so he can bring you to them. Give me a inute alright."
Mike- Fiancé
Melissa- Boss Brian-Husband/owner
CO workers- Matt, Shelly, Shawn, kyle, Esteban, Liz, Polly
Dave- Government official that thought Ivy was prepping
Gus- Cop
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