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moment feeling satisfied in a way that he hadn't felt in years. He knew it was the right thing to do. But now it was time to leave. Jeremy stood up and bowed his head.
    “So long, Hank, you picked the right time to go. Travel well.”  He couldn't think of anymore to say. “Thanks for letting me stay in your trailer.” He left the unexpected memorial service moments later, his truck roaring out of the driveway. At this point, he didn't know if he was going to make it out of the city in time.
                 
     

Chapter 8: Alice’s Decision
     
    Alice was watching the news. It was how she spent most of her day, beyond tending to her garden, storing food, sanitation supplies, medical supplies, and anything else she could think of. She had been scouring the internet for property elsewhere. Many people she knew in her online group were looking into property in Central America. She wanted to move there and had brought it up to Randall countless times.  However, it was always a topic that would start an argument. Randall made it clear that he was not going to move to some “desert island” because of Alice's fears. There was nothing she could say to convince him. In her stubbornness, she had already made arrangements to leave the country with or without him. Just her and the children if need be.
     
    Perhaps she was being too hard on him. He saved her from financial ruin and continued to provide for them. But for how long? When the collapse came, what good would any income be? He needed to believe in her. Trust her. She wasn't crazy. Her only crime was foresight of the inevitable. These are the things she told herself as she packed her children's luggage, as well as their passports, birth certificates, and $500 in cash that she had been saving.
     
    The news on the television was the usual banter on politics and the continual “gridlock” in Washington. The government had all the answers, but no solutions. As she went back-and-forth chatting with her survival group friends, something of interest came over the news. The terror alert had been raised. This wasn't too out of the ordinary, as it seemed the terror alert was raised and lowered every week. Her online friend sent her a message:
     
    steve.g866
    Hey did you see they just raised the terror alert?
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    Yes. What do you think it means?
     
    steve.g866
    That there are terrorist out there.
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    Amazing deduction.
     
    steve.g866
    Lol.
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    This isn't funny.
     
    steve.g866
    I know. You know what I heard today?
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    What?
     
    steve.g866
    That the major banks are freezing their assets.
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    Are you serious?
     
    steve.g866
    Yeah, I just read it. There've been reports of ATMs not working.
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    Where?
     
    steve.g866
    All over the place.
     
    aliceinwonderland631
    I don't see anything about that on the news.
     
    steve.g866
    You're not going to.
     
    It was almost noon time on Wednesday.  Alice had been on the computer long enough. She needed to work on her lists for the day. This involved mapping out the first few days of their survival plan, making sure they had the necessities and resources, as well as where they could go if things got out of hand. Ideally, she would prefer to stay in their home, but would they be safe? She knew it was a bad idea to live in Pittsburgh, but they were far enough outside the city that the nearby wilderness could be a refuge if need be. That would mean that she had to pack plenty of cold weather gear for everyone. Along with tent and camping supplies. The news about the ATMs troubled her. But there were no reports of it on the news. Her next task was to check the expiration dates on all the food she had been stocking. She had built quite a collection of dehydrated food, pickled food, and “canned” items, all stored in the basement.
     
    Unexpectedly, Randall pulled into the driveway. From