Preppers: The Event (The Falling Book 1)

by P. D. Clover

  “Hey there monsters! What are y’all doing?... have you been eating Nutella?” I asked.

  My son immediately had a giant smile on his face and said, “Yep! Gram said it was okay. I’ve been eating Nutella and chocolate chip cookies! And the sisters have just been eating spoonful’s of Nutella!”

  “Well then, you are all running high on sugar…What are you watching with Gram?”

  “We are watching Earnest Goes to Camp, Daddy!” my oldest little girl said.

  “I love Ernest! He is my favorite! And how about you, Munchkin? What are doing?” I asked my youngest daughter.

  She just growled and charged me, wrapping her arms and legs around the calf of my right leg. Suddenly spurred to action by Evie, Lily and Paul gave out war cries of their own and charged in full steam. High on sugar and filled with uncontrollable giggles from the delirium only sleepy children seem to be able to manifest, they tried to bring me down. As though I was Gulliver and they were Lilliputians, I leaned down and began tickling until the cries of “I’M GONNA PEE!!!” filled the air.

  “I win monsters! Maybe next time!” I said as the herd of insanity ran off to fight over who should get to pee first.

  My mom was standing in the kitchen watching and not saying anything. She was just smiling. That alone gave me reason to be on edge.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Nothing, nothing is wrong… Why is something wrong?... You need to tell me something?”

  “Ah, you spoke to Katy.” It wasn’t very hard to put it together. After the strangeness of my call, it only made sense that Katy would call mom.

  “Thank you for watching the kiddos, Dee will be home in a bit. I really appreciate it… You came through for me… Thank you,” I said, trying to ease what was seeming like an uncomfortable and tense energy in the air.

  “Is what she said true?” Mom asked.

  “What did she say?” I asked.

  “Don’t play dumb Henry, I know better just bec…”

  I interrupted her, “How can I confirm or deny what she said when you won’t just tell me what exactly was said?”

  My mom rolled her eyes and huffed. Then she grew still. “She said you called her and told her that the world was ending tomorrow and that she should get food and guns… She was crying. She also said you apologized to her,” my mom added, almost in a trance.

  “Yes, I said all of that, with a few more words. But those were the general points,” I confirmed calmly.

  “What should I do Henry?” my mom asked me, almost childlike. It was very disturbing.

  I replied, “Stay here until we know what exactly is going to happen… Do you still have that pallet of dehydrated food in your basement we got you six years ago when you moved into the neighborhood?”

  “Yes, I do. Why?”

  “Because that was enough food to last one person 4 years. It’s good for 30 years, so you will be fine.”

  “Okay, okay… So, I can stay here tonight?”

  “Sure. Take the spare room. We will know more tomorrow,” I said.

  “What’s gonna happen Henry? What is this?”

  “We do not know what. We just know when…tomorrow at 2 p.m. eastern… That’s all we know,” I said.

  “You’re doing all this… and you don’t know why? That’s crazy!” she said with a bit more of her old familiar snark.

  “I am doing this on the word of someone I would trust with my life and everything I have. In fact, I am doing that exact thing… He is my friend, and friends are the family you choose,” I replied.

  “He is not your family! And I have plenty of friends! I would not do… whatever it is you’re doing because they said the world was gonna end! That’s crazy!” she declared, now back into her usual snarky demeanor.

  I looked to see what the kids were doing. Apparently, after peeing and seeing that the adults were occupied in conversation, they decided this was the perfect moment to raid the rest of the cookies and Nutella. What can I say, my kids have great instincts!

  “Mom, you don’t have real friends. You have people you like to complain about, with, or to. Big Mike is my friend, and he has access to some very important people and information. If he said it, it’s like I said it. Believe it or not, I don’t care. But you are welcome to stay here and wait and see. Maybe I am crazy, and I just ruined my financial world. Or maybe I just did the right thing at the right moment that may just save our lives.” I said as I walked into the living room to watch Ernest P Worrell defend the summer camp with my Nutella addicts, at least until Matt showed up.

  My mom walked outside to smoke.

  Chapter 10

  My dog started growling. I slid out from underneath my little band of heathens, all mesmerized by Ernest P. Worrell. I walked through the kitchen towards the side door, and I saw red light illuminate the frosted security glass on the door. Before opening I reached up and hit the pause button on the chime as to not drive my curtain climbers back into a frenzy. As I walked out, I saw Matt backing in his trailer and truck into the parking area. Behind Matt was Dee, as Matt finished straightening out his rig, Dee blew past him, stopped and swung that trailer in like a pro. That was one of her superpowers. I wish I could back up a car half as well as she can back in a trailer. I have no idea how her black-magic- trailer-backing-in power works, but I wish I could do it. She puts every man I have ever seen to shame with that ability. To think, we discovered it by accident a few years ago at a campground in Florida, that had entirely too tight of spaces for modern campers. I was losing my shit because myself and three other men from the campground continued to fail in backing in my camper, when Dee jumped in to give it a try. She parked it perfectly in one go. It didn’t matter that the campers on either side were over the line and in our space or that a tree was growing at an odd angle, forcing her to swing the camper around it before being able to straighten out. It was amazing! Everyone just stared in awe. Ever since that day, I have had her back in our camper, trailer, boat…whatever may need to be backed in. Why get in the way of a professional? As Matt applied his truck’s parking brake and exited, Dee rolled down the window and called out, “You park that thing like an old lady! You need to learn how to park little boy!”

  Few things in life bring Dee as much joy as giving men hell for their inferior trailer backing abilities.

  Matt dryly responded, “I would say something to defend myself, but you’re not wrong.”

  I just laughed and walked over to Matt as Dee was getting out the SUV. She gave Matt a hug and said, “Really happy you made it. It’s good to see you again, although I am sorry about the reason.”

  Matt responded, “Why? It’s not like it’s your fault. Unless God has decided to smite us because of your unnatural parking abilities!”

  “Not funny Mr. Holloway,” Dee said.

  “I don’t know Dee. He may have a point,” I said.

  “HA, HA, HA,” Dee laughed sarcastically as she walked to the side door.

  “Hey Boss!” I yelled before she went in. “Could you move the camper to the side of the house? It’s flatter there and will make for easier set up.”

  Dee stopped and smiled a wide beautiful smile, “Why don’t you do it, my big strong husband? Oh, never mind…I think we all know why.” And with that she went in to greet the waiting mass of insanity that is our children.

  I just shook my head, opened and closed my mouth a few times, and let out a long breath. I heard Matt giggling because, after all, she wasn’t wrong. We all knew why I needed her to do it. It was the same reason Matt had nothing to say to her when she heckled him.

  “Anyway,” I said turning back to Matt. “It is good to see you. Thank you for keeping to the plan.”

  “No worries Bro. The way I see it, we need each other. We’ve got this! So, what now?” he asked.

  “Now? Now we keep on keeping on… Grab your go bag and cash if you have any left and whatever credit cards that still have room on them. First things first, we need to go steal a tr
uck and keep getting what we can. Dee and I have seen others out buying what they can. I was also thinking about having Dee buy some crypto currency. Who knows how this will shake out in ten years,” I said.

  Matt replied, “I like it. Why don’t we just hit a coin shop in the morning? Gold and silver are still gold and silver.”

  “That’s a great idea man! I cannot believe I didn’t think of that.”

  “Meh, no worries bro, I’m smarter than you.” Matt replied dryly.

  “Hahaha, maybe…but I’m still taller and better looking.” I said with a smile.

  “That’s hurtful and go fuck yourself,” Matt said with a laugh.

  I pulled out my keys and tossed them to Matt. “Would you do me a favor and grab my go bag and the AK-V off the seat? I’m gonna go in and grab the cash out of the kids’ bags and extra mags for the AK-V.”

  Matt said, “Sure Buddy! Is it the AK-V from the range?”

  “Yeah, we already snagged Magnus’s goodies from the range. I’ll be right back,” I said as I walked back into the house.

  The door was slightly ajar, probably so I wouldn’t set off the door chime. I walked towards the staircase. As I started up, I could hear Dee upstairs trying to put the animals to bed and failing. I stuck my head into the girl’s room and told Dee my plans to go out with Matt to try to get as much as possible. She understood. As I left the girls room, I passed the spare bedroom, sitting on the bed was my mom. She was crying. I have never been the emotionally supportive type, so I figured the faster I could get what I needed and get out the better.

  “Hey mom, I need to borrow your car for a little while. Would that be alright?” I asked

  She didn’t say a word. She just nodded. Sitting there looking at the floor, lost in her own thoughts. I decided to leave and shut the door. She clearly needed a moment to herself. That really bothered me, the silence and stillness of her behavior. This woman would bitch and complain if she won a million dollars. Something was up, but I didn’t have time to decipher it. I had real things to do and I was losing time. As I walked through my bedroom and into our little pass-through room that led to our master bath, I stopped and knelt down to grab the kids Go-Bags. I checked the right, outside pocket of each bag and as sure as the sun rises, there was 2 thousand dollars in each pocket. We didn’t keep as much cash in the kids bags as we did our own, but that was another 6 thousand in cash. I now had a little something extra, just in case I once again needed to grease someone’s wheels.

  I also grabbed my purple gun case that held my personal AK-V and six loaded 25 round mags of 124 grain jacketed hollow point ammunition. Now I was ready to go back out into the early morning hours and see what we could make happen.

  I fully shut the side door as I exited and hit the lock button on our electronic door lock that would simultaneously lock all the doors at once. I specifically bought these locks for this reason. I could link them all together using Wi-Fi. I really hoped whatever was coming didn’t destroy that, as I had five doors on the first floor, not to mention the door to the widow’s walk that lead to our master bath and our basement door. Having to check each door every night would be a real pain in the ass.

  Matt had my bag, his bag, and the AK-V from the front seat of the Expedition. As I walked up, he tossed my keys back to me and asked, “Which vehicle are we taking for the next leg of this journey? Unless you want to spend time unpacking one of these rigs, and I personally do not…nor do I think that would be a wise use of our time. What exactly do you plan on using to keep this little shopping spree going?”

  “My mom’s KIA,” I said as though it should be the most obvious thing in the world.

  Matt chuckled, “That shit box? Really? … I mean, are we only stepping out for a bag or two of Groceries? Because that would make sense, if that is the new plan. I suppose… still gonna be a tight fit Brother.”

  “Ah hahaha, have some faith man. Let’s get this shit loaded in, if Big Mike’s time is off, I do not want to be walking back with nothing but my Glock, a smile and my dick in my hand,” I said grimly.

  “I get it, making people laugh is all good and well, but it won’t really help us get back any faster,” Matt said with his dead pan delivery.

  “You are such an asshole. Now come on. The car is down on the street out front.”

  “Did you remember to grab the comically oversized wind-up key for it?” Matt asked flatly.

  “Even better, I plan on having you push. Now less shit talking and more moving,” I said with a grin.

  “Shit in one hand, wish in another, and see which fills up first!” Matt exclaimed as he slung his bag and grabbed the full auto AK-V.

  We walked down to my mom’s tiny KIA. I opened the back door and tossed in my bug out bag and AK-V kit bag. Matt did likewise.

  Matt asked, “Your mom doesn’t lock the doors?”

  I laughed a hard belly laugh, “AH HAHAHA, the doors don’t lock,” I said.

  I pulled my keys out of my pocket, which had my mom’s spare car key that she had given me ten years ago for some unknown reason. I started the engine and was immediately met by the sound of a knocking engine and squealing belts. Matt looked at me a started to speak, but then closed his mouth looked forward as he mumbled something I couldn’t make out under his breath. I think it was, “if this thing explodes, I’m gonna kill you” I could be wrong, in all fairness, the engine on this toy car sized vehicle was very loud until it ran for a few minutes to get warmed up. I shifted into drive and slowly released the brake pedal only to her the squealing of rusty pads. Great, just great… I really hoped I could get to my desired destination without crashing. Matt grumbled again, he hated riding in vehicles with neglected maintenance. In his defense, he did once breakdown in rural Mississippi and had to walk twenty miles for help, in the heat of August. That may have been my fault.

  “What was that sweetheart?” I asked. “I couldn’t hear you over the purr of this high-performance machine!”

  Matt looked me and said in his classic dry delivery, “I hate you.”

  “I know Precious, but the million-dollar question is what ya’ gonna do about it?” I asked with a big ole shit eating grin.

  “I need more friends,” Matt replied looking out the window.

  “Look on the bright side. She is getting a new vehicle next weekend!” I said.

  “What? Next weekend? I don’t follow?” Matt said.

  I was laughing, “I told her I would have my small business get her a car next weekend if she came over and helped me tonight! HAHAHA” I said still laughing.

  Matt let out a hard belly laugh, “Man, you are such a dick!”

  “Welp, you’re not wrong” I said.

  I gave another laugh as I hit the gas and white smoke rolled out of the tailpipe of the car as we rolled down the road.

  Chapter 11

  We pulled into the U-Haul rental facility in Kingston, which was just a fancy way of describing the old decrepit gas station turned U-Haul rental and return hub. I’m pretty sure every small town has one of these places. The only reason I didn’t go to the one in my town was, it was right on the main street…no cover and far too much exposure for what I needed to do. I pulled in and parked my mom’s shit box of a car next to some other broken-down vehicles, all in various states of either being repaired or scrapped. It was impossible to tell which.

  I parked the car and killed the engine. I looked over at Matt and said “Take off the license plate but leave the stuff in the car for the moment. I want to make sure we can find what we need before we move bags and guns.”

  “Understood,” he said as he walked to the back of the car to remove the license plate with his Leatherman.

  I got out of the car and then reached in to grab my Go-Bag, in the left hand outside pocket was my lock bypass kit. I had purchased most of the contents of it from Sparrows Lock Picks online. While I had spent a great deal of time learning to pick locks, I found that 99% of the time, all that was needed was a bypass tool designed t
o exploit one of the many known vulnerabilities in common door and pad locks. All too often people will try to protect thousands of dollars’ worth of property with a 5 to 50-dollar lock that can be bypassed faster with the right tool than if I actually had the key. This time was no different. The keys to the rental trucks at this location were kept in a heavy-duty steel box, that was anchored into the concrete wall. It would take a tow truck and chain to pull it free, and I would still need a cutting torch to get into it. However, I can skip all that hassle because the pad lock used to keep it shut was a simple Chinese clone of Master Lock No 5, probably purchased at a dollar store. The lock can be easily raked or picked with a little practice. It can even be done quickly, but thanks to cheap manufacturing processes of these types of products, there is no need to do either. The locking mechanism is not shielded from the core. In normal people speak, the spring and bolt that actually do the locking and unlocking are not protected in anyway. All I needed was my Sparrows Master Switch, a thin piece of hard steel that I will slip into the keyway past the pins and lock core, directly into the locking mechanism. With a practiced movement I slid the Sparrows Master Switch in and pivoted the tool and the lock opened, all in under a second. It really was that easy. The number of known bypasses for commonly produced locks is mind blowing. People will spend thousands on a secure door, fence, lock box and spend 5 dollars on a lock. An hour on YouTube watching TheLockPikickingLawyer or BosnianBill and the average person can learn to overcome most pad locks. With a little practice over time, most dead bolts and house locks can also be beaten. It just takes time and practice.

  There were only 3 sets of keys in the box, which made perfect sense, since there were only three vehicles parked at the old gas station. One 32-foot moving truck and two pickup trucks. I grabbed all three sets, walked over to the big truck. and started trying keys. As luck would have it, it was the third one I tried and that somehow seemed to fit. After the whole end of the world, homeless guy, tongue cutting thing…this just seemed par for the course.