Our Sanctuary: The Valley book 1

Our Sanctuary

The Valley

By Alex Isaacs

PROLOGUE

We had not been back to school that long when the University got the students together to tell us that all the classes have stopped, and we should go home until further notice; we would get a call when they would start up again. We looked at the news; there were just partial broadcasts of a bad virus going around. I took out my computer and went to the army website; it still had it on regular status.

I got everyone together, asking, "what should we do; there is no sense panicking for nothing right yet."

Beth and Scott said, "we haven't heard from anyone on the committee yet." I know they do have their inside people. We decided to keep running the business here and running loads to the valley. I needed to get this last trip in and make sure this special cargo was safe in case something did happen.

We headed out to the valley with four trucks filled with fruits, vegetables, other canned foods, and water. We left a little behind in the yard; it saved us a lot in paying out grocery bills. Jake knew what to do if anything was to happen. We drove up to the valley, stopping just for fuel, taking the food we bought with us. We got to the valley in two days, just as we always did, and unloaded the trailers. I talked with my parents about what was going on. I also let the rest of the people that were here in the valley the same information. I let them know what was going on and hoping it would all get back to normal.

My dad came to get me to look at the news; it was not looking very good now. The news people were still not showing everything, but that was usual with them. We went online and saw some of the mayhem that was going on. I was glad I had made the correct decision, and now I saw how the others in our group were willing to do anything with me. As we got ready, I started to go through my mind a list of things we needed to do.

My dad said, "he and the others had everything under control here," my dad also said, "I had to do what I had to do. They will harvest the fields, and have the food and grain brought in, he will see to the other fields later." I could see my brother David and Rocky, heading out with two girls to help them. My dad came up to me and said, "he would have the first batch of homemade wine ready for us to sample when we had time."

I looked at my mom and gave her a big hug; she enjoyed all the work she was doing; she liked being in charge of things. My mother kept everyone in line, she set out rules, and everyone did not mind following them. I got the others ready to go on this trip back to the yard. It sits outside the University that some of us were attending. It should only take us two days to get back unless we ran into a bad storm or any accidents.

Before getting into my truck with Beth as my third driver, I took another look over our sanctuary that we have built over the last three years. I said my goodbyes to my family and friends that were staying here, waiting for our return.

My name is Alex, and I should tell you how we got to this point in time. It all started as I was finishing my last year of high school.

Our Sanctuary

The Valley

Chapter 1: The Beginning Part 1

It all began as I was about to graduate high school, and I was looking to go to some university for the computer programming course that I was interested in doing. At a party at my friend's house, I was playing a game on my phone when an app came up for finding out what your IQ was. I would give it a try, and after finishing it after a couple of minutes, it asked if I wanted to know my IQ. I pushed the yes button, and it asked me for my email, and after putting it in, it asked for my credit card information to pay to see the results. I laughed and switched it off; it looked like another one of those scams. I went back to playing my game and then decided to party some more with my friends.

As I got ready for my final exams, I received an email from this woman named Janet; she said she was recruiting for this University in California, and asked if I was interested in receiving a scholarship. I could email her back with my phone number and state what course I was interested in taking, and they would pay my way there and back home to see the University and talk with them. At first, I thought it was kind of funny that they would contact me. I had not applied to any universities in California; it was on the west coast. If I wanted to get into a university in the States, I would apply closer to my home in Ontario. I thought it didn't cost me anything to see if I could get a scholarship and see part of California. This scholarship might be better than the ones that I was looking at now. I sent Janet my home phone number and that I was interested in taking a computer programming course. It did not take long for me to get a reply, I could get a full scholarship, and they wished to talk with my parents and me on the phone if that was alright and what time could they call. I emailed Janet back and said yes, they could call us on the phone right now, and everyone was at home.

As I went to tell my parents about it, the phone rang. Janet introduced herself to my mother and then asked to speak to me. Janet asked me, "did I want to come out to see the university; they would pay for my round-trip and my accommodations for the week," as she had stated earlier.

I asked Janet, "Please hold on," I told my parents what was going on.

My mom was hesitant, but my dad said, "yes, go and see the university, they are paying for everything, it will give you a nice graduation present for yourself." My mother shook her head in agreement.

I got back on the phone with Janet and told her, "yes, I would like to come and see the university."

Janet asked, "do I had the proper identification. I needed to show it to them when I arrived." Janet then asked me, "what date I would be available to come to California."

I looked at the calendar and said, "I was done my exams on the last Monday in June."

Janet asked if I did not mind if she put me on hold, and when I said yes, she was gone. After a couple of minutes, Janet came back on the line and told me that they had booked me on a flight on a Tuesday, the day after my exams. Janet then said, "she was sending me a copy of my ticket in another email, and if I had any other questions, to email her back."

I said okay, and she said goodbye.

As I got off the phone, I checked my email and saw that she had just sent me my ticket. I had to print them off, and I was ready to go on the flight. I quickly printed them off and showed my parents the tickets, they were first-class tickets, and I could check in ahead of time and have my seat selected for me. I was now excited to see the University and the courses; my mother told me to settle down; I still had my final exams to do first, and I had better keep my grades high, or they may reject me. I handed the tickets to my mom to hold on for me; that way, I would not lose the tickets, and I could concentrate on my school work. I tried my best to study, but my mind was on going to University now. I was lucky my first exam was in mathematics. I did not have to study for it; it was my top class in school, which I excelled in as a student. As I began to settle down after my first exam, I knew I had to put the trip out of my mind; geography and history were my next big tests, and I was only in the high eighties for those classes. I do not know why I worried; my teacher told me that if I missed the exams, I had already passed the courses, the exams made up only ten more percent of my final mark in each class. My last exam was in the computer class, and the teacher loved to throw fake questions in on the tests; he did not like giving out high marks to anyone.

As I finished the computer classes exam, I walked out and felt pretty good about myself. I ran into a couple of my friends at the store outside the school; they were buying a lottery ticket that had a prize that was over fifty million dollars. I would buy one just like them today, and they saw me buying the ticket and asked me if I wanted to come to a party tonight. I said, "I had better check to see what time I was leaving in the morning," and I told them, "I am going on a flight to see a university in California, I could be getting a full scholarship."

They just looked at me and said, "I did not want to party with them."

I told them, "I would call them when I got home, I need to find the time first."

When I got home, my mom was waiting at the door as I came up the driveway. She did not even have to ask how I did on my exam; she could see that I felt good about it. She went and got the tickets out for me and told me she had put a suitcase out in my bedroom, along with some clothes for me to take. I looked at the clothes and brought out some shorts and t-shirts. I was not going to walk around in my suit and dress clothes all week. I came back into the kitchen and asked my mom, "could I go out with the guys for some fun; my plane did not leave until ten in the morning."

My mom said, "We still have to drive to the airport, which is a couple of hours away." Then my mom said, "I could stay out until ten-thirty, and I needed to get my sleep. We needed to be there a couple of hours before the flight to check-in, so we had to leave just after five in the morning." I looked at the ticket and saw how long the flight was; if I was tired, I could sleep on the flight. I called the guys and said I would be at the party with them for a couple of hours.

I handed my mom the lottery ticket, she told me, "I better sign it," and when I handed it back to her, she put it onto the fridge.

My dad drove me in, saying, "I know you might have a couple of drinks with the guys, being the last day of high school." He gave me some money, telling me, "have some fun and don't tell your mother, and you are not to get drunk."

At ten, my mom called me on my cell phone and asked, "where are you; my dad was coming in to pick me up."

I told my mom we were at Billy's house, and I would come out when he got there. I had another beer and sat near the front window. I kept looking out the window for him. I was getting excited about going to University. My dad finally showed up, and I told my friends, "I would see them in a week when I got back." I left the party, and we headed home.

Our Sanctuary

The Valley

Chapter 1: The Beginning Part 2

In the morning, I woke up early and had a shower, and went down for breakfast. I said goodbye to my mother and my two younger brothers, and I left for the airport with my dad. It was busy when we got there, my dad gave me some more money and told me to behave myself and have some fun. My dad told me, "that if it did not work out, they would help me to look at another college or university."

I grabbed my bag and ticket and headed off into the terminal to find my flight. It was the first time I was in an airport, and I did not know where I was going. I stopped by a security guard and showed him my ticket and asked where I was to go. He pointed towards the gate, telling me it was over there, and he said I was early; I could have a seat where the other people were sitting until they called my flight for boarding. I got there and kept checking my ticket to make sure I knew what the flight number was, so when they called it out, and I knew to get up and go to check-in.

Finally, they announced my flight number, I got up and looked to make sure of it, and I went up to the desk. The lady looked at my ticket and took my bag and pointed to where I was to go through and said to have a good flight. I walked fast as I headed into the back towards the gate. I showed the next lady my ticket, and I was escorted right onto the plane ahead of the others; I guess this was because my seat was in the first-class section. It was a nice plane, the first one I had been on, and as I sat and waited for the others to get on it, I got bored. I brought out my phone and put in my earplugs to play some music, but I was stopped and told not to use my phone until we were in the air; the stewardess handed me a magazine to read until we were ready to take off. I decided to try and get some sleep instead, but the stewardess woke me up as we pulled out to the terminal. They went through some safety things and where the exits were and some other stuff; I got bored and looked out the window to watch us take off.

The stewardess asked me, "would you like a drink and some breakfast."

I politely said no, I had already eaten at home; they then asked me if I wanted anything else; I did not know what else I could have, so I said no, thank you, I was fine. I was left alone until we were approaching our destination. They asked me to put my seat up and my seatbelt on; we were about to land. As we landed, the stewardesses informed us all to make sure we had all our belongings, and to get ready to exit the plane, the section I was in would be the first to leave the plane. As the plane finally stopped, I waited and watched the stewardess to motion for us to get up and leave. When she did, I got up and followed the people in front of me, keeping right with them as I did not know where to go. I was lucky, the people I was following moved very fast, but when we got to where our luggage was to come out, we had to wait a few minutes for it to come out. I stood a few feet behind them and watched them as they retrieved their luggage, and I was glad I stayed close; the people began to shove to get in front of the others to get their bags and leave. I saw my bag coming, and as I tried to reach for it, I got pushed to the side, and it went by me. I moved down the line and was able to grab it as there were fewer people here. I looked up, and I started to follow the line of people going to exit the terminal.

I had to show my papers and answer a couple of questions before I was allowed to leave, and as I got out, I saw some people holding up signs with names on them. I looked around and saw this guy holding up a sign with my name on it; beside him was a young woman, who I hoped was Janet. As I approached them, she put out her hand, introducing herself; it was Janet; she asked, "Are you, Alex?"

I said, "yes." She was very nice looking, and as I stared at her, she turned and said that this was Scott, he is the guy I would be staying with at the University. Janet said, "we had to wait around for one more person; his name was Greg; he was on the next flight, which was due in ten minutes."

We went to have a coffee, and while Janet went to the bathroom, Scott asked me, "what do you think about these survival shows that were on the television."

I told Scott, "I had seen a couple of them, but I thought they could do a lot better if they prepared ahead of time."

Scott said, "that is what he thought." We started to talk about these other shows that he liked; I knew we would get along. Janet came back and said that Greg's flight had landed, and he should be out shortly, but we had to wait a while for him; he was about the last person to come out, he was small, was dressed like a computer geek with glasses and a bow tie.

We were driven back to the building that we would stay in a while on the campus; Greg asked, "what are you here for?" When I told him about the computer programming course, he just looked at me. He then asked, "where are you from, and what do you do?"