Dystopia: The Long Road Read Online Free Page B

was there when he got there, which was much earlier than his usual time to be home.
    When he asked why, Mark just shook his head and said, “The world has gone mad, there is no work for me today.  Everyone is in a panic over the banks and wants to hold off on their projects.” 
    John said, “I’m not surprised, you should have seen the mob at the bank.  You would think people could go at least a weekend before needing to get things.” 
    Renee was making them brunch and asked John, “Do you think there is anything to this banking issue?  I’m glad you made us take the money out on Friday, but when I went to the store this morning gas jumped up another seventy-five cents since yesterday.” 
    John shook his head saying, “And so now it begins.” 
    Renee looked at him quizzically and asked, “What begins?” 
    John said, “Don’t you worry there Mama, you’re going to be ok.”
    Gaining a more serious tone John looked to Mark and said, “I need you guys to be prepared to leave here if you have to.  Did you keep the tanks full like I asked you to?” They both nodded and John said, “Good, here is what I need you to do; first I need each of you to pack a bag of clothes. Be sensible, nothing like a vacation, more like what you would take for camping.  Don’t forget extra socks, gloves, hats and scarves also add your tennis shoes to it.  Then I need you to put out an outfit like you might wear for hiking, everything down to the socks and boots.  Have this in a spot in your room so you could quickly change if you needed to.” 
    Renee began to get upset, asking him, “Why do we need to do this.”
    John said, “Don’t worry about anything there girlie, it is all just in case.” 
    Once John felt confident they had their bags together, he began helping Mark look at tools and such that might be helpful.  Renee was working on what John had instructed her to do with other things inside the house, she had all their important papers inside her purse along with a freezer bag of only the most precious of family pictures. 
    The goal was to organize things so they could easily and quickly pack up the vehicles and go to John’s house.  John and Mark made a mini cache for them in a small graveyard down the road, in case all they could take was their bags.
    John waved as he pulled out of the driveway saying, “I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.  If you hear from Matt tell him I said Sierra Echo Tango.  He will know what that means.”
    John and Matt already had a few phrases that meant different things, this meant all is SET to bug out. Thinking about Matt he knew he had to go check on Matty.  This would likely be an unpleasant encounter, but he decided today was a good day to see. 
    When he got to Rita’s apartment, her usual rude attitude was blatantly obvious.   She was a heavier girl, but not in a proportionate way, she insisted on wearing tight clothes that would accentuate the worst areas of her body and fail to cover others.  She stood at the door, glaring at him, her hair a strange shade of orange and her lips pursed in annoyance. 
    John said, “Hey Rita, with all the trouble at the banks I just wanted to stop by and see if you and Matty needed anything.” 
    She instantly became accusatory saying, “What? Did Matt want you to come spy on me?”
    John replied, “No, he just wanted me to make sure Matty was ok if any trouble happened.” 
    She sneered, “I’m not incompetent you know.” 
    John sighed, “No one said you were, but with the banks failing to reopen I just wanted you to know if you needed anything to stop over, you are BOTH welcome and I can loan you some money if you can’t get any from the bank today.” 
    She said, “Fine, but I’m sure we will be ok.” 
    John nodded and said, “One last thing, if any trouble starts because of this, you and Matty come over.” 
    She glared at him sneering saying, “I said we can take care of ourselves.” 
    John sneered