Rise of the Prepper: A Story of the Coming Collapse (7 page)

              “Shh. It’s okay now. You’re okay now.” Amelia said, rubbing the girl’s back soothingly. The girl continued to cry and Amelia let her. She could only imagine how scared and stressed out the young girl was—what she’d been through.

              Sometime later, the girl relaxed and eventually her tears had stopped. “Are you feeling better now?” Amelia asked.

The girl nodded. “I’m sorry for calling you crazy a while ago. Thanks for saving me.”

Amelia grinned. “Don’t mention it.” A loud sound interrupted their moment. The girl raised an eyebrow at Amelia who shrugged. “What? I haven’t eaten for two days.”

The two women went inside the abandoned Church’s Chicken restaurant. The girl sat down in one of the empty tables near the counter. “Wow, I’ve always wondered how it would feel like to be in an empty restaurant and just be able to eat whatever I wanted.”

“Now you have.” Amelia said from behind the counter where she was looking for ingredients.

“And now I have.” The girl said quietly. “Look to the bright side, I guess.”

Amelia started making buffalo wings. It was a good thing that the chickens were well-preserved and so were the other stuff in the kitchen. While she was frying huge pieces of chicken wings, Amelia started a conversation with the young girl.

“So, what’s your name?”

“My name is Elizabeth. You can call me Liz. And you?”

“My name is Amelia.”

“I don’t mean to be rude but are you an... escaped prisoner? You’re wearing an orange jumpsuit so…”

              “That I am. I got out of prison today.” Amelia said. Liz nodded. “Why? Are you scared of me now?”

              Liz shook her head. “I’m not scared of you. You don’t seem like a bad person.”

              “Aww, thanks.” Amelia said making Liz giggle. “What happened to you? That was your helicopter up there, right?”

              “Yeah. That helicopter belonged to my family. I was with Scott, my bodyguard. We were on our way to Virginia to meet my mother when suddenly the pilot lost control of the helicopter and we crashed to this fast food place. I was the only one who survived.”

              Amelia glanced at Liz. The young girl displayed a composed facade that only someone broken and hopeless could show.

              “Food’s ready.” Amelia said carrying over to the table two platefuls of spicy buffalo wings.

Liz’s eyes widened. “That’s way too much.”

“Let me tell you girl, if you weren’t here, I could have eaten all these on my own so be grateful and eat or I’ll eat your share for you.”

“Uh, thank you for the food.”

The two ladies ate their meal in relative silence broken occasionally by Amelia’s enthusiastic exclamations over her food. If Liz were to be asked to describe Amelia it would probably go something like this: “She loves spicy buffalo wings.”

They were halfway through their meal when Amelia picked up on sounds coming nearer from the north. She looked out the window and saw a group of men riding motorcycles headed for the store.

Finishing a piece of chicken wing, Amelia ushered Liz under the counter. Liz kept asking what was wrong but Amelia ignored and practically shoved her down under the counters. Liz resisted her and slapped away the older woman’s hand on her head.

              “Seriously, what’s wrong, Amelia?”

              “There are people headed this way and they don’t look friendly so I suggest you keep quiet and stay out of sight.”

              Liz had gone white at the prospect of an encounter. “T—Then I need to find something to defend myself with.” Liz said and got out of her hiding place.

“Liz!” Amelia snapped.

Liz looked around the kitchen for a weapon. She went around opening drawers and cabinets. Unable to find a suitable weapon, she went to the backroom in hopes of finding something.

“Where are you going? Elizabeth!” Amelia called out, running out of patience. The loud sound of the motorcycles’ engines had gotten a lot closer. She could make out the faces of the oncoming riders and cursed. The day was so not going well.

Just then, Liz returned to the kitchen. “I found something.” She said and held up a large revolver in both hands. Amelia whistled at the sight of it. “I’m going to use it.” Liz said.

“Wait, what? Do you even know how to shoot a gun?” Amelia asked incredulously.

“No.”

              “Give it to me. You’re going to hurt yourself trying to shoot that thing.”

              “No way. How am I supposed to protect myself?” Liz said moving the gun out of Amelia’s reach.

              “I can protect you and I will. Now, please give me the gun and hide because the bad guys are about to come in.”

              Liz looked behind Amelia and sure enough, a group of dangerous looking men had already parked before the restaurant and were starting to get off their motorcycles. Starting to panic, she gave up the gun to Amelia and hid again under the counter. Amelia took the gun from her and hid it in a drawer.

The door to the restaurant opened while Amelia was washing her hands. A group of four men entered the building, looking around. One of the men sniffed the air. “Oh, is that fried chicken?”

Amelia stayed silent and watched them like a hawk, waiting for them to notice her though she hoped they wouldn’t but with her luck, she knew that was impossible. The man standing before the others exuding a strong aura was unmistakably the leader. He was also the worst person Amelia had ever known and wished to never cross paths with. The guy was a known pervert. He was a serial rapist and a sexual predator. He didn’t care who he was raping—grown women or young children—he didn’t discriminate. As long as the target was female and vulnerable, he’d be sure to go after her. He didn’t get caught until he accidentally killed a teenager after raping her repeatedly for days. The teenager just happened to be the daughter of a prominent family. The family used everything they had to have him incarcerated. The said man swung his head towards her direction and recognition lit up his eyes.

“If it isn’t Amelia Dale.” He said. “I didn’t expect to see you here. How did you get out?”

“Adam.” Amelia nodded at him by way of greeting. “A friend helped me.”

“Hm. Well, congratulations on getting out.” Adam smiled at her. That was the thing about Adam. The man could be very charming when he wanted to. The way he looked and acted were disarming. Charm and cunning, a very dangerous combination in a man like him.

“Thanks.”

“We were out looking for supplies and we passed by this store. Do you mind if we look around a bit? We won’t take much, I promise.”

Amelia thought it over.
If I say no, they’ll surely make a commotion. As much as possible, I don’t want trouble.
“Sure.” She said and flashed him a sharp look. “But make it quick.”

Adam chuckled and directed the three men with him to look for anything useful in the store. The men dispersed to various directions. One of the men sniffed the air and wandered over to the counter. “Ooh!” He exclaimed. “So, this was what I’d been smelling.” He reached for the plate with his dirty hands. Amelia stabbed a knife on the counter in front of the plate, nearly stabbing the guy’s hand. He jumped back in surprise.

“I practically have a relationship with spicy buffalo wings so if you don’t want to get hurt, get your grimy hands off my food.” Amelia shot a menacing glare at the guy.

He looked at the plate and back at Amelia. “Not even one?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.” Amelia said in a low voice.

The guy was clearly in a state of dilemma. He debated whether it was worth pursuing the issue or if it would be safer for him to go away based on the murderous look in Amelia’s eyes. Shooting one last longing glance at the plate, the guy decided on the latter.

“Fine.” He said. He made a move to enter the kitchen but Amelia blocked his way. “What is it this time?”

“There’s nothing here so go away.” Amelia said.

“Look, Amelia. Adam told us we need to look for supplies and where else can food be found?” The guy tried to pass by Amelia but still she blocked his way. He sighed in irritation.

“Look, buddy. I don’t like repeating myself. Move away from my food and from my kitchen.” Amelia moved toward the guy, invading his space. “
Now.
”

The guy has had enough and snapped. Whipping out a gun, he pointed it at Amelia’s head. “No, how about you get the
fuck
out of my way.”

Tension rose between the two locked in a standoff. The intensity of the rising animosity between them caught the attention of the other men.

“What’s going on here?” Adam asked as he walked over to them.

Alarm rose in Amelia’s chest. She sneaked a glance down at Liz who looked back at her with fear in her eyes. Using her body as a shield, Amelia remained steadfast in barricading the small entrance to the kitchen.

The guy turned to Adam. “This bitch here wouldn’t let me go into the kitchen.”

Adam turned his attention on Amelia. “Amelia, I thought you said we can look around here.”

“Yes, I did but I told you to do it quickly. You’ve been here way too long for my liking and I’m getting really antsy.”

“So impatient. I suppose that is one proof that you are indeed a woman.” Adam said as he let his gaze travel down Amelia’s body. “From what I’ve heard at the prison, I thought you were a monster.” He looked back into Amelia’s eyes. Amelia felt bile rise in her throat.
Fucking pervert.

“Let my guy here look into the kitchen for a bit, will you? We’ll just get some food or is it that…” Adam glanced down towards Liz’s direction. “You’re hiding something?” He strolled towards the other end of the counter. Amelia’s eyes kept glued on Adam’s movements. “Ah, that’s right. We saw a chopper on the roof. I wonder if there were any survivors? Have you seen any, Amelia?”

Amelia gripped the knife harder in her hand. Her eyes hardened and the corner of Adam’s lips lifted.

The guy before her gripped her shoulder and started to roughly push her aside but Amelia raised the knife she was gripping and stabbed him in the chest. He staggered back, clutching at his chest, eyes wide in confusion unable to process what just happened. Adam’s two other goons got alerted and opened fire at her. She ducked and grabbed the revolver from the drawer.

“Stay here and keep quiet while I deal with them.” She said to Liz hiding under the counter. Liz, though scared and shaken, nodded and huddled deeper inside her hiding place.

The men stopped shooting. One of them approached the counter to check if they got her. Amelia stayed crouched down and when the man’s head appeared over the counter, she shot him right in the middle of his head. His body fell hard on the floor and before his body even touched the ground, Amelia rolled out from under the counters and quickly moved forward towards the other man who prepared to shoot another round. Before he could shoot his gun, however, Amelia slashed at his hand holding the gun causing him to let go of it and proceeded to shoot him in the eye. His skull exploded and blood splattered all over the window walls.

“Three down, one more to go.” Amelia breathed heavily.

A scream came from behind. Amelia turned around and saw that Adam had Liz. His muscled arm was wrapped around the young girl’s shoulders holding her tightly against him. No matter how much Liz struggled, she couldn’t make his hold on her budge even just by a little. He had a gun trained on Liz.

“Look what I found.” He smiled, his usual charm replaced with malice. “Mmm.” He moaned as he breathed in Liz’s scent. “It’s been so long since I had a woman.”

“Don’t.” Amelia said.

“So long since I made a woman vulnerable and see her cry in fear.” Adam finished and licked Liz’s cheek. Liz screamed in terror and she looked visibly shaken which Adam greatly enjoyed.

“Get away from her, you freak.” Amelia hissed.

“Oh, Amelia, I get so turned on when you look at me with so much hatred and disgust.” The sleazebag practically moaned and gyrated his hips against Liz’s back which caused the girl to cry out in desperate revulsion.

Amelia couldn’t bear seeing the sleazebag defile and traumatize Liz anymore. She could no longer take his perversion. “Fuck this shit.” She said and pointed her revolver at Adam’s head and fired off the gun.

Adam never saw the bullet coming. The shot was successful and his lifeless body hit the ground. Liz got sprayed with her assailant’s blood but she didn’t care at the moment. She rushed into Amelia’s arms.

“You’re fine now. The pervert’s dead.” She said by way of comforting Liz.

*****

  After what happened, Amelia truly felt sorry for Liz. The poor girl had been through two traumatizing events in one day. She sighed. Well, the girl seemed fine now. Liz was currently munching on a piece of chicken wing as they sat by the sidewalk outside Church’s Chicken.

“I think we should head east, towards Virginia.” Amelia told Liz. “We’ll find your mom.”

Liz looked like she wanted to say something but instead she just smiled. “Thank you, Amelia.”

Amelia returned her smile. “Well,” She stood up, planting her hands on her hips. “If we’re headed that way, we will need to gather some stuff first—food, water, medicine—” She paused and looked at her orange prison jumpsuit and at Liz’s blood-splattered dress. “—and clothes, too. We definitely need clothes.”

After their short break, Amelia and Liz prepared to head out to gather necessary supplies for their journey to Virginia.

Chapter Ten: A Hidden Agenda

A meeting was being held behind the securely locked doors of the office currently assigned to the Vice President. The participants of the meeting were two men. One of them was sitting on a velvet chair; tension evident on the ramrod straight line of his back and his white knuckles clenching the arm rests tightly. He looked to be nearing his fifties; his hair was dark but peppered with gray. His skin showed a bit of wrinkles but for the most part remained smooth for someone of his age. He would have looked charming and even handsome if he wasn’t so troubled. The other man of the party was standing near the wall, looking out the window. On the surface, he looked calm—relaxed even—but there was no mistaking the anxious tension radiating from him. He was about the same age as the other man except that he had strong features accentuated only by the fierce lines on his face produced by years of dealing with risky situations. He was a strong man and it was evident from his firm posture and hard body. This man was used to commanding armies and seeing to it that his commands were followed to a tee.