EOW-Chapter one

CHAPTER ONE: How it all started.
It happened 8 months, 14  days ago. Today is may 4th, 2010. When it happened it took us all by surprise. The pointless reason it all started was what really surprised us all. It happened in Azusa, California, when a television station reported a grocery store chain was closing a warehouse food outlet, more closures were expected, and the future of food distribution was unknown..etc.etc. It was sensationalist reporting of course, but it opened a floodgate of panic that had far reaching consequences. The story was aired first on monday morning at 6:00. When the residents of the L.A. area heard the story, they paniced, and started a buying spree on grocery stores all over the area, and other news stations made the problem worse and by 5pm every grocery store from San Diego to Bakersfield was completely empty, and by the next morning the warehouses were empty as well. The highways in the L.A.  area were unable to handle the increase in tractor trailor traffic, and 24 hours following the original airing of the story, southern California was unable to support its own demand for food. The entire social structure broke down, and it was a war zone equal to anything America has seen on the evening news. Armed gangs broke down doors, and killed just for the food in a persons refrigerator. 
The increased demand in California sent waves of panic and the easy communication of the internet, cellular phones, and netbooks worked against us, and nothing could stop the flood of misinformation, and panic. Even when the nexus points were ordered blown, the damage was done.
The National Guard, already on alert, was nationalized at 7:40 am on the 23rd, and martial law was declared by noon. The best laid plans of FEMA and the other alphabet agencies went for naught, and America was the land of anarchy by the morning of September 25, 2010.
When the waves of panic crossed the country, we all knew the worse was coming. The family got together as we had always planned, and gathered our supplies and waited. Monday evening we decided we would go to run point #4. We planned 6 "run points", or places to go when the end times came, and just before sunrise on Tuesday morning, we left for Lincoln National Forest,  and Hondo Valley. We followed the highway to Lincoln, turning right at the crossroads and found the spots we had scouted on the banks of the Rio Hondo. Eight of us left our home that morning, my wife, two daughters and their husbands and children. Having plenty of time to gather our supplies, plan the move and make the best choices, we kept one person awake at all times, kept a careful watch on the vehicles and supplies, and loaded early what supplies remained, and left with the sun. just 4 hours later we were setting up camp, and making plans for a more permanant shelter.