As we rolled through the streets, we saw numerous people running here and there. Probably looting, or killing or both. This whole thing was a nightmare. We even took a couple of rounds to the side of the van as someone shot at us. Within a couple of minutes, we were parked outside my house. Immediately I panicked. The house was dark but one of my front windows was busted and my door looked kicked in. Quickly exiting the van, I pulled my hammer with my right hand and pulled my bush-craft knife with my left, holding the point down along my forearm. I then rushed into the house with Dog fast on my heels.

Upon entering the house, I could see someone had searched the place looking for whatever. However, I saw no signs of blood and was thankful I didn't see any bodies. I continued to clear the downstairs bedroom, bath and washroom and finally the garage. I then moved upstairs to check the rest of the house, relaxing a bit as I didn’t find anything up there either. I proceeded back down the stairs to check for any signs or messages left by my wife letting me know where they were. I had a pretty good idea they had fled to her father’s house but I needed to make sure. And sure enough, written in black sharpie, just to the right side of the door was the word “Chuck” in bold letters. With a sigh of relief, I sat down on the stairs to collect myself for a minute.

Frank noticed my reaction and asked, ”what does Chuck mean?”

“Chuck Connors," I replied. One of Denise’s dad’s favorite TV shows growing up was The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors. It’s the name he always uses when we're at a public fast food joint and they ask him his name for the order. Which is hilarious because he often forgets he used the name.

The fast food worker would then be stuck there yelling “Chuck Connors, order for Chuck Connors.” We always laugh and look at her dad and say, Hey Chuck, your food is ready. Then he gets up and has to go get the order.

“So what’s the plan?" Frank asked.

“I would like to look around here for a second and see if my gear is still in the safe," I said. If it is, I want to gear up and head to my father in law’s house. I also want to look at the notifications from that last battle. If we level up again, I’d like to put those points to use since we have to cross the city again. The more points the better if we get into another fight.”

I proceeded upstairs, instructing Dog to stay downstairs with Frank in case something happened. I stepped into my bedroom walk-in closet and looked for my safe. It was pitch black in the closet, so I grabbed one of my wife’s lighters she kept in a drawer for lighting candles. In the dim flame light, I could see tool marks on my gun safe. However, the gun locker looked intact and was still bolted to the wall. It appears people have difficulty breaking into gun lockers without power tools. I reached up to the door casing on the inside of the closet and recovered the key I kept there and opened the safe. “If only the looters knew about that key,” I laughed to myself.

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Upon opening the safe, I could see that it was mostly empty. The only items left in the safe were a shotgun and a box of ammo. I also had my old duty belt with my service pistol, and an HK USP 45 with three loaded clips. One in the weapon and two in the belt case. Interestingly, on the top shelf of the cabinet was a Motorola two-way radio. I knew this radio. My father in law, Chad, had several of them in a metal filing cabinet in his garage. Chad, who was a bigger doomsday prepper than myself, believed the biggest threat was an EMP blast. Oh how he was right. Except the threat came from God knows where, instead of China. In preparation for an EMP, Chad made a filing cabinet into a makeshift Faraday cage. Rubber was used to line the inside of the cabinet, and a grounding rod was installed directly in the cabinet.

Everything else I had in the safe had been taken out, presumably by Chad and Denise. I grabbed the radio, turned it on and clicked the talk button three times slowly. That was the signal we had always planned for if something like this ever came to pass. Whoever came in clicked the button three times. If no one answered they would wait. At the top of the hour, the person at home would turn the radio on and hit the button three times every minute for five minutes. If there was no response, they would shut the radio off to preserve the battery.

Getting no response, I left the radio on but grabbed my duty belt, shotgun and box of ammo. I then turned to my nightstand drawer, which had been flipped upside down on the floor. I found my radio earpiece and whisper quiet mic and attached it to the radio. No need to announce to the world you have a radio by it going off at an inopportune moment. I didn’t spare the time taking off my construction belt with the hammer thong and knives. Instead, I just put the duty belt on above it and turned to head down the stairs. I had to adjust the hammer thong so it was behind my firearm on the right. Otherwise, the two would interfere with each other if I had to pull either one. Just before I left the room, I looked at the far wall where my family crest used to hang from a hand and a half broadsword. Used to, because my sword was missing. I prayed to God Denise or Chad grabbed it, because the sword and the family crest meant the world to me.

Once back down the stairs, I handed the shotgun and ammo box to Frank. “Got a present for you," I said smiling. Think you can handle that?”

Frank smiled right back and said, “you know I can Brotha.” As Frank started to load the shotgun, I sat down and looked at my notifications.

-You have defeated, Human level 7 Bandit. moderate EXP gained

-You have defeated, Human level 5 Bandit. moderate EXP gained

-You have defeated, Human level 4. moderate EXP gained

- Hidden quest completed: Damsel in Distress

- You have rescued Samantha Harper. moderate EXP gained

-Optional hidden quest completed: Good Will Towards Woe-Man.

- Provide Samantha with supplies. moderate EXP gained

-You have reached levels 4, 5, and 6,

You have 9 unassigned attribute points.

You have 10 unassigned skill points

-You can now select a class, see class options YES/NO