Prepper Central: A Prepper Fiction Novel (Prepping - Together we will Survive Book 1) (2 page)

I held the shirt up for her to take a look at it.

‘Nah. There should be a beige one with buttons running down the front,’ she replied.

I scavenged through her side of the dresser, finally stumbling across something that looked similar to the one she’d described, though it did indeed seem more brown than beige.

‘Is this it?’ I pushed my hand towards the door, far enough for her to get a good glimpse.

‘Yup, that’s the one. Thanks hun.’

Back in the living room, I motioned for Marge to sit up so that I could drape the sweater over her shoulders. Though this was by no means necessary, as she wasn’t far enough along in her pregnancy to find reaching her arms around her waist difficult, it made me feel charming.

‘Look at that,’ she smiled. ‘You’re already practicing for when the baby comes.’

‘I sure hope the baby comes out a tad bit smaller than you, or you’re gonna have a hell of a time pushing.’

Marge landed a friendly punch on my shoulder, before reaching for my hand and allowing me to pull her up. We flicked off all the lights before closing the door behind us and heading to Prepper Central.

The cold air stung the back of my neck as I made my way to the bold wooden door that housed the meeting attendees. Prepper Central’s meeting were held in the auditorium of Cherry Hill High School, a location that was once too big for the number of people in our community who were into prepping. Now, however, seats were hard to come by and a large portion of the members found comfort by bringing cushions that they could place on the floor while listening in. Marge and I were two of the first members of the group and thus, there was always a seat waiting for us right at the front, regardless of how late we showed up. Marge snuck her hand into my jacket pocket, relieving her fingers from the cold, removing them only once we’d entered the room. As with all late arrivals, we became the center of attention with all eyes feasting on us. I gave a polite nod, Marge spoke a silent and general ‘hello’ and we headed to our designated positions.

‘Nice to see so many faces here today.’ Tommy, the leader of the group started to speak. ‘I am truly honored to see, not only the old, but also the new and I’m confident that together, we can build a stronger community, one that won’t allow our walls to come tumbling down without a fight. To start off, I’d like to introduce the newcomers. So, those who are joining us for the first time, please stand up.’

I turned around to see that our group had increased by five. A small number but one that could make a great difference, depending on the skills the individuals possessed.

‘Hi. I’m Betsy,’ said a small figured lady with freckles traveling from her face to her neck. ‘I’ve been interested in prepping for some time now but haven’t found the need to get started until, you know, this crisis. I’m happy that our community has people like you who are so willing to take others in and teach them how to be safe.’

‘Thank you for that,’ Tommy said, bobbing his head to illustrate that he wholly appreciated Betsy’s gratitude.  ‘It’s a pleasure to have you with us.’

A point of Tommy’s finger told another newcomer to speak.

‘I’m Jonathan. Forty-two years old. Ex-military.’ Applauds filled the room. ‘Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. I haven’t been living in Cherry Hills for long and so, didn’t know until recently that this group existed but I’m definitely happy it does.’

Jonathan paused and Tommy chimed in. ‘Thank you for the great services you have carried out for our nation.’ Everyone cheered again. Jonathan bowed before taking his seat.

Next up was, ‘Milly Morgan and Jeremy Morgan. We’ve been to a meeting before, years back,’ the wife continued, ‘but weren’t able to keep up because of our schedules and having a newborn to tend to. However, here we are, ready to learn again.’

‘Welcome. Welcome again Milly and Jeremy. It’s nice to see that you’ve found your way back to us.’

Last up was, ‘Anthony. Just moved into the area and I’m definitely happy to see that we’ve got such a strong community in the region. I’ve actually been a part of a prepper community before and hopefully will be able to introduce you to some new tidbits as well as learn much more myself.’

‘We’re happy to have you,’ Tommy smiled. ‘Okay, so now that we’ve got everyone acquainted, let’s get Stewart up here to brief us on the situation at hand.’

Stewart, a stocky man but a man who’s perhaps more informed than every news reporter in town stepped forward. He squeezed past Tommy who was leaving the stage to give Stewart enough room to make his broadcast.

‘Hi everyone. I’m Stewart. As most of you know and as Tommy just said, I’m in charge of providing the group with updates. Today, we’re going to talk about banks. Yes, those places where way too many of us have our earnings tucked away, and our savings appreciating. Well, where our savings were meant to be appreciating. I know that some of you have already taken the necessary measures when it comes to getting the banks out of your lives and for those who haven’t, you’ll want to listen keenly. A new stress test came out which shows that eighteen of the twenty most important and largest banks in the United States have failed to show financial stability. Talks have been circulating about the severity of the levels of the bank’s cash reserves and the difficulty in strengthening these weak spots. The weaker these spots become, the weaker our economy becomes and soon enough, we’ll be looking at a survival of the fittest kind of situation. Preparing means that we’re going to have to skip out on the fairy tales and plan for a worst case scenario while hoping that it will never exist. Together, we can fight. Together, we can ensure that the banks don’t die holding onto our cash. Of course, if things do progress in a less than favorable manner, that money won’t mean much. So that’s why we need to ensure that our investments are properly planned as to get the best out of them.’

Stewart went on to inform everyone about the government’s position in all this- explaining how the highest figure in our country is unable to rectify the situation. Of course, everyone in the room had their hearts filled with fear and their eyes close to tears. Though the things he said weren’t things we hadn’t heard before, every time that man spoke, reality dug itself in a bit deeper. I reflected on the conversation I had with dad, crossing my fingers that when it was time to ‘rescue’ him, I wouldn’t have to struggle. He was a hard headed dude; one who loved his home and more than likely wouldn’t want to let it go without a fight, even if he knew that it was in his best interest. Mom, I was sure, would be easier to deal with. However, all in all, I just wanted things to go back to normal. I wanted all our meetings to have been for no reason.

A few more speakers entered the stage during the two hours that we sat in the auditorium breathing each other’s old air and listening attentively to what was being said. When it was time to leave, Anne snuck away to get in a conversation with Cindy. I said my ‘hellos’ to a few members of the group, and properly introduced myself to the newcomers before making my exit.

While in the car, I observed my wife, who was patted on the shoulder numerous times during her conversation with Cindy. Word had spread fast that she was expecting and though we’d initially wanted to keep it a secret- due to good luck, bad luck or some other superstition- we decided that knowledge was key. If our group knew that Marge was expecting, then they’d ensure that they were adequately looking out for her. We were all a team. Every man, woman, and child who was a member of our group would be taken care of to the best of the group’s ability. Supplies didn’t belong to a single person, they were meant to be shared. Knowledge was freely given and skills would be used to defend whoever was in need. ‘Together we will Survive’ was our motto and it was one that each person who called Prepper Central their team, believed in.

‘And?’ I said to Marge who had just entered the car, teeth chattering like a beaver having the time of his life on a delicious tree.

‘Woo. It’s terribly cold out there. I should have opted for a jacket instead. Don’t you think?’

‘Eh. It’s not so bad but I guess you were standing out there a lot longer than I was, so you’ll feel it more.’

‘You have a point. So, about Cindy. She said ‘yes’.’ Marge rejoiced in a way that would prompt someone to believe Cindy had said ‘yes’ to a ring rather than to a new patient.

‘That’s great news. We’ll be keeping it in the family.’

‘Absolutely, and now I don’t have to worry about having to drown myself in chaos if shit really does hit the fan. This is such a relief Jimmy, you can’t even understand. I’m just so happy about this.’

‘I didn’t think for a minute that Cindy would say ‘no’. She loves you and you know she’d do anything to help us and any member of our group for that matter.’

‘I know that, but you know how it is with doctors. They’ve got so many patients each and every day of the week and they treasure their free time.’

‘Yeah, but money’s money.’ I replied.

‘Oh, I won’t be paying her.’

This came to me as a surprise. ‘You won’t be paying her,’ I repeated Marge’s words.

‘No. I asked her how much it would cost and if we should run it through my insurance or if she had another route she’d like to be paid through. You know what she said?’

I shook my head. ‘What did she say?’

‘She said my money’s no good to her and that I should focus on buying enough supplies for the baby.’

‘Wow.’

‘Yeah. Just wow. I mean I told her that I couldn’t accept that. I told her that I wouldn’t feel comfortable but she insisted that she was the one who wouldn’t feel comfortable. She said we’re a family and this is what families do.’

‘That’s absolutely great,’ I exclaimed.

With doctor’s fees being so high and the economy heading to the dogs, we could definitely do with saving all the cash possible. Our group didn’t consist of any other pregnant women or any women with newborns and so, this was something that no one had prepped for. Saving money meant that we’d be able to sufficiently get all the things that we needed and possibly even more than we needed- ensuring that we were well prepared for anything we face and that we could comfortably take care of the baby once the time came.

Six months later

‘Mom,’ I whispered into the phone, confused as to why she would be calling at this hour. I propped myself up on the bed and wiped the sleep away from my eyes.

‘Jimmy. Can you hear me Jimmy?’ Came my mother’s fear filled voice.

It was only then that it struck me. Something had happened and that something was bound to leave me with a sleepless night.

‘Yes mom, I can hear you.’ I carefully removed one foot from underneath the blanket, and then another. My intentions weren’t to wake Marge and so I needed to make my way out of the bedroom as quietly as possible. ‘Just give me one second. Just one second.’ I slithered my way off the bed and closed the bedroom door before I flopped down on the cold leather of the couch in the living room. ‘Okay. I’m here,’ I said to mom, slightly louder this time.

‘I’m so sorry that I’m calling you this late Jimmy. It’s just that I had to wait until your dad was asleep or he’d wring my neck for telling you. You know how he gets, thinking he can do everything by himself. Well, let me tell you something Jimmy, he surely can’t.’

A million and one things flooded through my mind. However, the more I thought about her reason for calling, the more I realized I had no idea.

‘What did he do this time, mom.’ I forced a giggle, trying to lighten the intensity that she was trying to build into the conversation.

‘It’s not what
he
did. It’s more of a thing that happened. You see…’ She paused, catching what sounded like the deepest of breaths. ‘We’d gone out to the market on Sunday, just to get a few fresh vegetables for dinner. But the entire day, I just knew that something wasn’t right. There was this strange car parked across the street and it looked like someone was sleeping in there.’

‘Well mom. A lot of people have lost their houses recently, so it’s not so strange that there’d be someone sleeping in a car.’

‘That’s what I thought at first, until I realized
who
it was. Three houses close to us have been foreclosed. One of them belonged to that Jacob fellow. He’d chained himself to the house and spat at the guys who came to remove him. He’s a vicious dude. Just absolutely vicious, spitting at people and all.’

No, mom didn’t know what being vicious really meant because saliva was the least of many people’s concerns.

‘Yeah. Okay, so Jacob spat at the cops who came to take him away.’ I reiterated her words just to ensure she didn’t repeat them. She often did this when she thought I hadn’t heard a fact that she believed to be highly important.

‘Exactly. Exactly. So, I’d been watching the car all day long just to see if it would move but it didn’t. I must have peeked through the curtains fifty times that day, but couldn’t see who was in there. The person was wearing this baseball cap pulled all the way down. Of course, I talked to Chuck about it and he said that car has been parked there forever and that it belonged to Penny, the lady across the street.’

‘And did it?’

‘Of course it didn’t. I look out that window twenty hours a day, I think I’d know if the car had been parked there for some time. Your dad just wanted to get rid of me. Said I was embarrassing him by acting like some kinda peeping Tom.’

‘Okay.’

‘So. On the way out, when we were headed to the market, I made sure to stare right into that car when we drove past. You know who was in there?’

‘Penny?’

‘No boy. Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying? It wasn’t Penny’s car. I would have known if it was Penny’s car. Jacob.’

‘The spitting guy.’

‘Exactly. So I ask your dad what Jacob would be doing in Penny’s car. Of course, he brushed it off and started talking about going fishing with the guys from church.’

There was a long pause and I knew she expected me to say something. However, I wasn’t quite sure how it mattered that Jacob was sitting in his car. Maybe she thought that he’d spit on her or something.

‘You don’t get it, do you?’ She asked, with panic brimming in her voice.

‘Sorry mom. Not really.’

‘Ask yourself. Why would Jacob be sitting across from our house in his car? If you’re pissed off about losing your home, you go park in front of your home, not some other random place in the neighborhood.’

‘You’ve got a point. So what was he doing there?’

‘Well, when I’d seen him he was sleeping. Anyways. All the way to the store I had this feeling in my gut that something was off. Can’t talk to your dad of course because he didn’t want to hear it. So, we get back home and the car’s gone. You’re dad’s gloating the whole time about how I was getting riled up about nothing. Nothing. Nothing is what he said I was getting riled up about. But guess what?’

Though I would never wish for anything bad to happen to anyone, I was hoping mom didn’t really wake me up at three in the morning to tell me that someone parked in front of her house. ‘I haven’t got any guesses,’ I answered.

‘His car was gone and our front door was wide open.’

‘Who left it open?’

‘The guy broke in, you dummy.’

Now, my body had gone from lounged out on the sofa to army position. ‘He what? You’re kidding. Did you call the cops?’

‘Well, your dad was blaming
me
for leaving it open. Saying that I was too focused on the car to remember to shut the door. But we get inside and the place looks mostly normal. But you know my memory’s good, and you know I’m not a messy person.’

‘Yes mom. You’re a very tidy person.’ I agreed with this but not with the memory. Sometimes she really did seem like she was losing it in the head department.

‘So do you think I’d toss all our clothes out of the drawer and just leave them there, drawers open and all. You think I’d leave my house without making my bed?’

Come to think of it, when I was living with my parents, I’d never been allowed to leave the house without making the bed. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘That Jacob. He came in here looking for something.’

My mind shot back to dad and his habit of storing money under the mattress. ‘Oh gosh. He didn’t steal all the money from under the mattress, did he?’

‘Nope. Even worse,’ she replied in a tone that told me she wanted to play the guessing game.

‘So, he left the money under the mattress but stole something else?’ If this was the case, I’m convinced mom really did ransack her own room.

‘I moved the money. I started watching the news like you said and decided under the mattress was a terrible hiding spot.’

‘So what did he take?’

‘The gun’ she exclaimed.

‘The gun,’ I repeated, certain that the increased volume in my voice had woken Marge.

‘Yep.’

‘And you’re calling me now,’ I yelled. ‘This happened on Sunday and you’re calling me in the freaking middle of the week to tell me that dad’s gun was stolen.’

‘What you expect me to do Jimmy. Your dad said no. He said he’d handle it on his own.’

‘And you agreed?’ No matter how hard I tried to tame my voice, I just couldn’t. ‘What if this man tried to rob your house with your own gun? What if he killed you or dad or the both of you, with your own gun?’

‘To be fair, Jimmy, it wasn’t my gun and I don’t like touching those things. I asked your dad to move it, and I thought he did but…’

‘That’s not the point, mom. You should have called me. The minute you saw that damn car parked outside your house, you should have called me. The minute you got home and realized that your door was left open, you should have called me. And for Christ sake, when you realize that the gun was missing you should have called me and then the police. This isn’t a joke. This isn’t a laughing matter. You don’t know what intention this guy has.’

‘I’m sorry Jimmy.’

The sniffling told me that mom was in tears and I immediately felt terrible for the way I had yelled at her. But what was I to do? Sure, my parents may be a handful, but there isn’t an inch of my heart that doesn’t love them.

‘No.
I’m
sorry mom. I shouldn’t have yelled like that.’

‘It’s okay Jimmy. But you know, under different circumstances, I would redden your butt with one of dad’s belts.’ Between her sniffling she let out a laugh.

‘I’m coming to get you guys tomorrow before anymore craziness happens so you might want to talk to dad about it in the morning.’

‘We’ll see how that goes over. Be sure to bring some chains and muscles because we might have to drag him out of this house.’

‘Eh,’ I chuckled. ‘I think I can handle him with the few muscles that I have. Goodnight mom. Try to get some rest.’

‘Night son.’

***

Morning rolled around faster than imaginable. I woke up feeling as though I hadn’t managed to shut my eyes for a good ten minutes. Thankfully, being a school teacher meant that when the students were on break, I was on break. 

‘Toast for breakfast,’ Marge asked, her voice filled with joy.

‘Yeah. Sounds great,’ I rubbed my eyes before pulling the blanket over my head and letting out a groan. Exhausted, that’s what I was.

Normally, I’d be able to rejoice in the holiday, snuggle up under my blanket and put off getting up. However there was business to be handled.

‘Marge,’ I called out to my wife who I could hear fiddling with the dishes in the kitchen.

‘I’m not coming in there,’ she yelled back, ‘you’re either gonna have to yell what you want or come out here.’

On my feet I got and strode into the kitchen in true zombie style.

‘You look like you didn’t bat your eyes last night,’ Marge noticed.

‘Got a call from mom saying that someone broke in. She was pretty torn up about it and it didn’t sit well with me at all.’

‘Oh my gosh. Are they okay?’

‘Yeah, they’re just fine. It happened on Sunday when they were out at the market so I’m a bit bummed that she waited this long to tell me. She thinks it’s some guy who lived in the neighborhood and lost his house not too long ago.’

‘What did they take?’

‘Says they stole dad’s gun.’

Marge’s hands shot to her mouth. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

‘Nope.’

‘That’s pretty serious Jimmy. What if he…’

‘I’m planning on picking them up today. Can’t have them staying there when crazy shit like that’s going on. You never know if this guy will come back. He’s been living in his car, mom said and I’m guessing that he doesn’t stray too far from their neighborhood.’

‘Best get them out of there before he goes back looking for money or something and someone ends up getting hurt.’ Dread floated around in Marge’s voice. I truly admired the concern she had for my parents.

‘Yup. Just don’t know how dad’s gonna put up with it.’

‘You mean you don’t know how you’re gonna put up with your dad when he’s here.’ Marge pressed her lips together, trying hard to hold in a laugh that still managed to escape her.

‘He’ll surely drive me nuts, there’s no doubt about that. I don’t understand that man though. Can you imagine, mom called me at three in the morning because she was hiding from dad.’

‘It’s not just your dad. It’s people in general. The crisis is hard for many people to accept and when it comes to leaving one’s home behind that’s even harder to come to terms with.’

‘You’d think that with all the news of everything and especially after having their home broken into, they’d realize that this isn’t a joking matter.’

‘Yeah. But you’d still have your reservations about leaving your home and everything behind. It’s only normal. Good thing is, they’ve got someone like you looking out for them. You’ve got so many sons and daughters who leave their parents to fend for themselves.’

‘I could never do that. Especially not with them being so old. I’ve got to look out for them.’

I walked over to Marge, placed a kiss on her cheek and lifted her shirt to get a good look at her bump.

‘Soon enough we’ll have this little one looking out for us.’

I laughed. ‘Soon enough.’

***

After breakfast, it was time to head to my parent’s house. I’d told Marge that there was no reason for her to accompany me, but she insisted on coming. Though we didn’t see my parents often, regardless of them living less than an hour away, Marge really got along with them. Dad’s humor and his lack of a filter were things that she’d gotten used to quite fast; much faster than girls I’d dated in the past. However, she didn’t truly know what she was in for. Living with dad and visiting him were two completely different things. Mom, on the other hand, was easier to deal with, though still on the stubborn side. She fell in love with Marge the moment that she met her and treated her like the daughter she never had. Watching them together never ceased to warm my heart. In fact, it made me wonder how much of a better childhood I would have had if I’d been female. My television time surely would have been longer as we would have shared a mutual interest in soap operas and I probably wouldn’t have had my behind reddened by dad’s belt half as much as I did. According to dad, some kids were disasters in disguise but I was an open disaster. Seeing as I can’t remember any of the chaos I kept up as a child, it was hard to fathom just how much trouble they claimed I got myself into. Their claims ranged from breaking bones in three month increments to shoveling dirt into the exhaust of dad’s car. Seeing as I turned out to be a pretty fine dude, I’m not sure how inclined I am to believe them. I find that parents tend to make up the most absurd stories and especially when taking old folk-like mine- into consideration, their stories always come with a hint of over-exaggeration.