They started with the bike Ishmael had ridden. It would be outfitted with the smaller cart as that would be easier for her to pull. They just flipped the table over, the legs would act as the side braces. Haru managed to get the wheels attached without any issues. She was able to fit two of the totes onto the cart with room for more stuff. The bag of hardware pieces she found was full of everything they could need. L-brackets, nuts, bolts and fence hardware. Haru took the other small table top and did the same thing. He was glad that the hardware bag even came with pvc glue. It was almost empty but would do the trick for what they needed.

{Ishmael's bike cart}

"There's more piping down there if we need it." Ishmael loved her new cart that they had made. Now she could put her packs on the sides and carry the guqin across the top of it. There was no way she was going to leave it behind.

"Oh yeah?! I'll go get it while you three work on the other carts!" Sean was out the door in seconds.

Ishmael sat the totes towards the back of the cart. She used one of the smaller lengths of pipe, brackets and wing nuts to put a removable bar across the back. Sean came running into the house about thirty minutes later with arms full of piping and kitty litter buckets.

"Guys! We can use these buckets as baskets on the side of the bikes!'

"Woooo! Give 'em here!" Ishmael took them while the guys continued to work on the carts. They still had water but she could tell they were losing pressure. Filling one up half way, she used that water to wash the litter buckets out. Buckets washed, she set them outside to dry. Looking at her bike, the litter buckets could hold more than the wire ones. She took the wire baskets off the back of her bike but left the brackets on. Taking one of the buckets, she held it against the bracket and marked the screw holes. Using the basket bolts, drilling the appropriate holes, she bolted one on as a test fit. It was fine but the bottom had no support. Removing the bucket, the bottom of the bracket had a small lip with a bolt in it. She took a small piece of the pvc that the guys weren't using and made a little support bar. She hooked the bucket back on and marked holes in the bottom and drilled through the bucket and the small pvc pipe. After thirty minutes she had her bike kitted out with new diy side panniers.

The guys had been so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn't pay her any attention.

"Hey look what I did!"

"WHAT!!"

"That's ingenious little sis!"

"Thanks Haru. Ge? Are there more of these?"

"There's a whole butt load of them! Some old lady just sat them out when I got there."

"Nice! So we need 12 more!"

"Nooo! You're not going by yourself!" Seo wasn't about to have her out there alone, not after seeing how that lady reacted to her.

"Oh please Joonie! You need to stay and help get the carts together. I will be fine!"

"She's right Seo. People are getting anxious and bold out there. If there's a possibility of all of use being able to leave tonight. We should take it." Sean knew Ishmael would be fine alone. If anyone would be, it would be her.

"I'll talk this pipe, no one will bother me."

"Come here." Seo had a stern look on his face. "You get what you need and you come right back here do you understand?"

Ishmael just gave him a kiss and hurried out the door. Seo shook his head.

"She'll be fine...Joonie!"

"Only Ishmael, my mom and Dae can call me that."

"Oooo! Touchy! She'll be fine man. Trust me, she's not a damsel in distress."

Seo didn't want to hear it. "Let's get this finished."

The guys got one of the carts for their bikes done. The base were the tops of the foldable tables they had found near the trash site. Haru screwed brackets to keep them from folding back up. They had been discarded just because of the spilled paint.

"You don't know how awesome it was for you two to find these wheels. And they're in good shape! We really scored!" Haru was drilling away on the next cart.

"I know! It's like we were meant to stay at your parents house Seo!"

"Yeah." He was still worried about Ishmael.

Sean could tell. "She'll be back shortly, the site isn't that far."

Halfway through the third cart. Ishmael returned. She went right over to Seo. "I'm back safe and sound hon."

"You better be. Brat!"

Ishmael made kissy lips at him as she got busy washing out the totes. As they air dried, she went through the pantry cabinet in the kitchen and began filling her buckets with packaged noodles, instant meals and beans. The buckets held a lot of the lighter food items. She stopped when she noticed her plants. She wasn't leaving those either. They were in no way shape or form necessary, but she was bringing them. Thankfully they were still small. Finding the plastic wrap, she took them out of their pots and wrapped their dirt balls in plastic. She also went upstairs to the larger plants and dug up the smaller pieces. All of them fit into one of the buckets. The pots had holes in them so she was able to string them together.

She pretty much had all of the packed goods in half the litter buckets. Looking at her watch it was almost 1pm. She decided to fix something to eat while the guys worked away. She cooked rice, chicken, sausages and the rest of the veggies that were in the cooler. They all took a break to eat.

"If I'd known we were going to go back to the house, we could have left everything there."

"Yeah but we didn't know we would leave sis."

"Plus we needed you guys here in order for all of this to happen." Haru was right.

Finished eating. The guys finished assembling the last cart while Ishmael worked on bringing all their supplies into the kitchen. She organized stuff into piles to make loading easier. She double checked the suitcases Sean and Haru had. They were completely filled. Most of what she brought into the kitchen was already in manageable totes.

"Hey sis, why don't you load your cart up with stuff from the kitchen."

"I already am."

Going to the pantry shelf, again she was glad that the dry goods were in containers. The totes on her cart were large enough that she was able to get two levels of containers in it. That cleared out the food pantry cabinet. She went through the cabinets and packed the rest of the food in the empty spaces in the totes. She packed the sun oven since it didn't take up that much space and the butane stove. All of the fuel canisters she bundled into a canvas tote and tied it to hold the cans together. Looking at their supplies and the size of the guys's carts, they would be able to carry everything else. She went back upstairs and packed her suitcase with all of her non dressy clothes, camp clothes and winter stuff. She took the fans and small jackery generator down stairs and set it with the other stuff. Ishmael almost forgot about the large containers of rice and flour. She pulled those out of the bottom cabinet. Looking at her cart, she could put it in front of the totes and moved the tote of butane fuel between them. She loaded up all the toilet paper they had on her cart. Lastly she placed the guqin on top.

Guys still busy with the carts, she cleared out the storage cabinets in the genkan. Ishmael was relieved that they didn't have to take any of the furniture but she did roll up the blankets. Those went on top of the rice/flour containers. She even sat the two hydroponic kits down there as well. Ishmael consolidated them by stacking them, rearranging the kit supplies into one of the totes.

The guys finished the carts around 3pm. Now they could begin loading them up. They too were relieved that things were in totes. While the guys were busy, Ishmael had returned to the donation drop site to get the rest of the empty medium sized storage totes. Each of the guys' carts could hold 5 of them. The heaviest things they had to take was the DC cooler and large Goal zero. The water they divided between all the carts; 2 each. Haru offered to carry the goal zero and cooler. The solar panels went onto Ishmael's cart; shoved between the totes. The smaller items went into the guys' litter buckets. One of Sean's buckets held all the tools they had. Ishmael remembered the drying racks and sat those on the sides of Seo's totes. She suggested they test pull the carts and they were all manageable.

"Should we still go out and see if we can get more supplies? It's almost 4?" They had been so concerned with getting the bikes ready that they forgot about getting more food. Ishmael didn't know if they should or not.

"Can't hurt to try. What do you want us to get little sis?"

"Rice, flour, canned meat and veggies, noodles, packaged foods and tp."

"If we're going, we better do it now. We still have room in some of the totes." Seo was right and wanted to rest before they had to bike back to the house. They emptied out two of the large backpacks of clothes, grabbed what empty tote bags remained and left on foot.

"We'll have to push the car back to get the bikes out."

"We can do it once it gets dark."

Walking to where the majority of stores were, Ishmael had fallen quiet. Seo was quick to take notice

"You okay babe?"

"Just nervous."

"I know, so am I."

"We'll be fine sis. If we weren't meant to go, things wouldn't have worked out as they did."

"Thanks ge."

"Stay close to me babe."

"I will Joonie."

They walked for about an hour until they found grocery stores that were open. They split up, each pair going into a different store. Luck was on their side again as the stores were on the same street. Large signs were posted that it was cash only and police were both outside and inside the stores that were open. Each group was to get (2) 5lb bags of rice and flour. Seo and Ishmael would get baking supplies, canned veggies and a thing of tp. Sean and Haru would get noodles, packaged goods, canned meats, and a thing of tp. The lines were long but doable. They had to wait about 25 minutes to get into the store where they found that there were limits on everything.

They split up and got their limits on the items that they wanted. The store Ishmael and Seo went to had imposed the following limits per person: (2) 5lb bags of rice, (5) cans of meat, (4) cans of veggies and (3) packages of noodles. There was no more water, produce or fresh meat. Gathering their limits, they each went through separate checkout lanes. Ishmael ran into issues with the clerk being an ass and trying to tie her to what Seo was getting. An older lady behind her yelled at the clerk to let her get her food limits. Ishmael thanked her as the manager took over for the clerk and checked Ishmael out. Ishmael secretly gave the manager $50 for the woman that had helped her. Luckily the older woman didn't speak english but the manager did and winked at Ishmael as he accepted the cash. Walking outside, Ishmael heard the woman now fussing with the manager over the surprise gift. Seo was waiting for her right outside the door. They could see the line getting longer and people getting more impatient.

"You okay babe?"

"I'm fine Joon."

Sean and Haru were quickly making their way over to them.

"Let's get home guys. Things are getting crazy!" Seo was over being around other people. They had given Ishmael irritated looks the entire time she was in the store.

They finally made it back just as the sun was starting to set. One of the neighbors stopped them to ask if stores were open. Haru told them they were, but that there was a line to get inside. The man quickly ran to get to the store before it closed. Back inside, everyone shoved the extras in any free space that the storage totes had, the rest could sit on top of them. Ishmael went to get some contractor garbage bags. She opened one up per cart and covered it just in case it rained. The guys strapped everything down.

Before settling down, they all walked through the house to make sure they had everything for the late night trip. They were able to pack most of their clothes. Only thing in the fridge was eggs, Ishmael sandwiched the egg crates between two pillows and sat them in the basket on the front of her bike. Now they needed to rest. Sean suggested they just all sleep in the living room and they agreed. Ishmael went to take a quick shower only to discover that there was no water.

"Guys, the water is off."

"Shit...okay, I figured it might be."

"Too bad we can't take the rain barrel." Ishmael looked out the window at it. They already had enough stuff to take, plus it was just too big and cumbersome. Before laying down, Ishmael carefully placed the guqin by her bike. None of the guys said anything as they knew it was pointless. "We should at least plug our devices in for a few hours."

All the usb ports on the large generator were taken up with either phones or gramins. The small jackery was powering the cooler.

The guys decided on a quick game of cards again by lantern while they sat around in the living room. Ishmael laid down by Seo. "I'm sorry we have to leave your grandma's house Haru."

"Ah! Don't worry about it little sis! The house will be fine. The only thing of value in it is the tv and the only way in is the front door."

Ishmael let it go and relaxed next to Seo as he rubbed her back to comfort her. Soon she was asleep. The guys decided to leave around midnight. Seo knew they had to go at a slower pace than him and Ishmael did. The sooner they got there the better he would feel. It was only 6 in the evening so they decided on another game. Cards dealt, Sean's phone was ringing. He rushed over to answer it as it could only be their folks.

"Hey pops."

"Thank God your phone still works! Sean put me on speaker."

"Yes sir....you're on speaker pops."

"Okay guys, have you decided on what to do?"

"Actually pops, you're not going to believe this. We went to some donation drop sites and found enough stuff for two more bikes and Ishmael and Seo found stuff to make bike carts out of. I also found a bunch of those kitty litter buckets that we're using as front and back panniers. We have everything loaded up to go. We'll leave around midnight and should get there by 6am."

"Holy shit...I'm impressed! How much of your emergency supplies and food are you able to take?"

"We're taking everything, we even managed one last trip to the store. We stocked up as best we could. All the stores had lines, it was cash only and there were limits."

"Thank god..." Mrs. T got on the phone.

"Sean dear where's Ishmael?"

"She's sleeping mom. I think this is kinda stressing her out big time, she just hasn't said anything."

"Oh I'm sure she'll hang in there."

"I know she will mom."

"Okay here, your dad's not done talking to you guys. I need to finish up canning."

"Sean, you guys need to get to that house. I managed to hear from one of my buddies from the base in Okinawa, it's locking down. No one on or off. All the military families have already been diverted to the empty barracks or makeshift shelters. The police are...well, there's not enough of them. Tomorrow announcements will be made in all the major cities here that things are to close and curfews will be imposed. Everything here in town has closed and already boarded up. There's no telling how soon the military will start to mobilize. Cell towers are expected to be down by the end of the week. Hopefully you were able to charge the satellite phones ?"

"The phones are plugged in now."

"Sir, my dad has an old satellite phone. He's charging it to see if it still works."

"Okay Seo, let me know if it does. We all need to stay in contact. All services are to end to conserve resources."

"All services?"

"They are shutting off the water and gas here son, if it isn't already off."

"They already have here dad. Our water stopped a little bit ago. We turned the gas off earlier just to be safe."

"Okay. Turn the water off to the toilet and flush it. If you have a small ball or something, plug it. If water does come back on, it might be under pressure and sewage might back up."

"Oh crap!" Haru left to take care of that as he knew where all the shut-offs were.

"You guys have any forms of protection?"

"No sir."

"I see...Sean have you and Ishmael brushed up on your martial arts?"

"We're good dad."

"Right. Are you guys taking the same path back to the house?"

"Yes sir. We found a back way to go so we can avoid the main part of the city all together. I'm just worried that others will be heading out of the city along the same path."

"I understand Joon. What all were you able to get at the store?"

"Rice, flour, some baking supplies, canned veggies/meats and more toilet paper."

"Good, good. Sean is kiddo sleeping?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay. Text me when you leave and leave those garmins on."

"Yes sir. How are things there?"

"Worse. Major cities have looting, riots and fires have started. With no communication or working vehicles....things are just burning to the ground. Emergency services can't do much. Hospitals are nothing but chaos and operating on generators only but they are starting to fail. The town nearest us has shut down. No one is allowed in. All roads are barricaded with armed locals."

"Whoa... are you guys really going to be okay dad?"

"We'll be fine. We got plenty of food and water on hand and a good stock of ammo. There's a water source nearby if we need it.."

"Okay, I'll let sis know you called. We should get to sleep."

"When are you leaving again?'

"Around midnight sir."

"Ohh boy... okay. Joon, make sure to let your folks know, I'm sure your dad will want to track you guys also. He messaged me earlier. He's worried about you guys just as we are."

"I understand sir. I will."

"Okay. Love you guys and be safe out there."

"We will dad. Love you guys too.'

Call ended, they all heaved a nervous sigh. They helped Haru go around and make sure things were shut off, and locked up. All patio doors were braced so they couldn't be opened. There was also a security gate on each patio entrance that Sean and Seo didn't know about. Haru needed both of their help to pull them out of the small slots located on the side of the doors. Closed, Haru pad locked them with heavy duty locks from the inside at the top and bottom. He gave Seo the spare keys and he kept the originals. Both patio entrances gated and closed, it wasn't worth all the work it would take to get through the gates to get into an empty house. The tv, he put in one of the upstairs closets. Now it was time for them to sleep as much as they could.