Chapter 2

When we reached the Wal-Mart, it was almost completely empty. I swear I could have seen a tumbleweed pop out of the store. But it didn't matter. The less the people, the less likely of me leaving my family to become a personal Guinea pig to Project L-137. But something wasn't right. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. A shiver escaped my body, not from the cold breeze but from the fear bubbling up in my body that it caused my stomach to twist around making me feel queasy.

"Amber you alright sweetheart?" my dad asked

I took a moment to think before saying and tried to steady my voice "Yeah Dad, I just have a bad feeling about this" I said. I was happy with how steady my voice was.

My dad put a firm hand on my shoulder saying "Amber...If I thought something was wrong then we wouldn't have come here. The last thing I want is for my daughter to end up as a science experiment or mistreated by a gang."

He let go of my shoulder which didn't make me feel better at all and got out of the car. It took me a moment to snap out of the haze of fear I was in and unbuckle my seatbelt. I opened the door and jumped to the ground. My dad's white truck was always too tall for me and now it's even too tall for me when I'm 5 '7". I slammed the door hard enough to make me jump a little. I walked around the truck to find my dad putting his gun in the waistband of his jeans. He pulled his blue shirt over the gun to hide it from the plain eye and turned to look at my dark brown eyes with a reassuring smile telling me everything is going to be ok.

As soon as we stepped into the store, nobody else was there. I should have known considering the parking lot. We could just steal the groceries but we would have to check the expiration date considering that this place has no power to keep things from spoiling. I looked at my dad and he gave me the same expression. We both gave a little nod and split ways. I already knew what I was going to do. I was in charge of toilet paper, pasta, water, or any type of drink, and snacks. He was in charge of all the essentials like matches and flashlights if needed.

As I was heading to the pasta, something caught my eye in the toy section. It was an action figure that Jared always wanted when he was 8. It always made me laugh when he came to Wal-Mart with us, he would always beg mom for this action figure. I can't remember what was so special about it. I think the figure had some type of power that could destroy any villain in the world. Jared always spoke so highly of this guy because he wanted to be just like him. I put the action figure in my bag. Along with some clothes that I needed like jeans and surprisingly a cute pair of ankle boots.

I was heading to the pasta when I saw the milk. And then the feeling was back. The queasy feeling in my stomach and I felt a shiver down my spine. I hugged my torso like I was trying to protect my body from being touched by a presence. I turned around, my dark eyes searching the empty store and I swore I saw a movement in the corner of my eye.

"Hello?" I shouted

My eyes narrowed, while my thoughts were screaming "RUN RUN it's not safe here" and I chose not to listen. I turned back around to face the milk again. I walked towards it slowly and then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around fast enough to make me feel a little light-headed. And I saw the black figure approaching. My eyes widened and I felt my heart pumping adrenaline into my veins. I felt the strength course through me and I turned around and ran. I felt my legs jump like a Gazelle running through the forest. And then I heard my name.

"Amber!" He said

I stopped in my tracks almost 5 feet away from the door and turned around to face him. The light outside made his face visible to me and I was worried for nothing.

"Dad!" I walked towards him with my brows drawn together

I punch him in the arm hard enough that I know it would hurt.

"What the hell was that for?" He said in a joking tone

"For scaring the shit out of me you idiot," I said in a serious tone

He looked at my face and understood me almost immediately. That's what I always hated about my dad. He could always read me so easily like I was an open book to him. To others I was so unreadable it was like trying to understand calculus.

He responded to my facial expressions with "The feeling is still there, isn't it?"

I nodded

He pulled his gun from his waistband and held it out to me, the barrel facing away from me. My eyes widened in shock and I knew exactly what he meant when he held it out to me. I could feel my jaw drop and my throat close up, not letting me say a single word in the process. Like my dad always did he already knew what I meant and spoke before I could even deny the gun.

"If you keep feeling like someone is in here and trying to hurt you then I want you to take this and shoot it but only if you feel it's necessary." He gave me a look saying please with his eyes and put the gun in my hand.

"Dad...I can't...I'm not that kind of person. I can fight but I can't kill anyone," I said.

"Amber, you literally just sprinted across the whole store to get away from me, who may I remind is not trying to capture or kill you. How do you think you're going to handle a police officer or gang member when they capture you," He said with a bit of a joking tone.

"Fine." I sighed.

I took the gun and shoved it into my waistband like my dad did earlier. I relaxed a little, having something I know I could use. Because in reality my dad was right. Just because I could run fast thanks to cross country training didn't mean that I could fend off an officer or gang member.

"I am going to go see if I can find some batteries and some more things. Are you sure you are ok?" He asked with concerned eyes

I said "Yeah dad, I'm ok."

He nodded and took me into his arms. I could feel the muscles he developed when he was in the marines and it felt nice to have something so secure. I hugged him tight and I heard him whisper something.

"I love you my beautiful daughter."

I felt him let go and I did the exact same thing while saying "I love you too dad."

I smiled and then nodded saying that I was fine to head back and get the stuff we still need. He nodded back and then we split up again, separating the store in 2 for use to gather the things we need.

When I found the milk again, I made sure to check my surroundings considering that I was going to be there like a sitting duck smelling milk to see if it was spoiled or not. I approached the refrigerators that held all kinds of milk. Almond milk, 2% milk, chocolate milk, and strawberry milk. I grabbed a carton of almond milk and sniffed it. Then I checked the black numbers on the bottom of the carton saying the best by date. November 2nd, 2020. November 2nd. Jared's birthday. I could feel a little smile showing up on my face as soon as I read the date.

I put that into the bag and grabbed a gallon of 2% milk checking the date. October 19th, 2020. My birthday. God it was coming up so soon. It was already August and I'm so close to being able to drive just by myself. I felt an even bigger smile creep up onto my face when I saw my birthday show up.

I heard a crash in the aisle behind me. My heart started pounding and I was ready to run from whatever was hiding in the dark.

"Dad?" I shouted

When I heard no response, I started taking a few steps towards the aisle to see what made the sound. As I got closer to where the sound came from I could feel my heart jumping out of my chest like it was trying to escape before I could. Trying to save itself before I could even get a step on the ground. Then I remembered that I have a gun. I was about to grab it out of my waistband when I heard another sound. It came from behind me and I turned around, almost swinging my ponytail in my face. I saw the shadow of the thing that was making the noise and I slowly approached. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears and every step I took, it got louder.

My eyes narrowed as I looked around and found the thing that made the noise. I started to lower the gun when I realized that it was just a family of raccoons. They were looking for some food for their newborns. I turned my head and picked up a frosted flakes box. I ripped it open to pour the cereal in the box. As I was pouring the cereal in the box, I heard something scurry behind me. I didn't turn around to look because it was probably another raccoon looking for their family. I took the gun I placed on the metal shelving and shoved it back into my waistband. I grabbed the box of cereal and started walking towards the raccoon.

It looked like it already knew what I was doing because he or she stopped and looked up at me. As I crouched down to put the box on the ground, another raccoon came running and so did the babies. There were 4 of them. They all started digging into the box of cereal and I couldn't help but smile. It reminded me so much of our family. Mom and Dad taking care of us, Jared and I always competing for food.

When I heard something behind me I turned, whipping my dark brown hair into my face. My eyes narrowed and I stood up as quickly as I could. I got the gun back out and called out again.

"Dad? Is that you?" I shouted

I had to walk slowly in order to actually hear any movement. My boots were making so much noise and on top of that the blood was pounding in my ears.

"Dad if this is you trying to scare me it's not funny. You know how I feel about these things" I shouted

I heard footsteps further in front of me but I was hesitant to go there since it was a dark corner and I had no idea what or who was making the noises I was hearing. I walked slowly towards the noise. I had the gun pointed but my finger off the trigger. Something that I learned when I was training with dad. My heart was starting to pound against my chest again but this was different. The queasiness from before was back, but more intense. Like something was definitely wrong right now. It caught me a little off guard but I knew how to put my walls back up.

As I stumbled over my feet, I could feel the fear forming in my chest. My legs were ready to run. But as soon as I got up

...I heard the safety of a gun click behind my head.