The threat becomes real.

I am scared now.  I live in northern Saint Louis county, so it's not exactly the safest place around here.  We have moved into my Grandpa's house, which is more like a fort since he got robbed.  The alarm automatically calls two relatives if it goes off, the backdoor has like a 3 inch thick lock, cowbells, and a cane.  The window on the door is a half circle split into sections which can barely fit an arm in, assuming you can get your arm that high.  The front door has one window which is now camoflagued to look like more door.  And we've got our two dogs here, who bark anytime the screen door opens.  Just today, my aunt and uncle moved in, along with their daughter.  He has a dog too.  He was the one who installed the original security, and he is now putting steel bars on all the windows.  I got to knock a huge hole in the wall so we could get to the garage easy.  Wish I could find my camera, it is really insane here.

Can't go to school anymore.  Everybody was glad about that.  They have a crude system going online to still participate in classes, but nobody is going to use it. My mom now has a company escort, and practically lives at work.  She is an accountant for the Department of Defense.  I don't know what she is doing now, but at least we are getting paid.

They were giving out MREs at the community center.  It's like a shelter now, people are going in and out of it all day.  They're growing some kind of garden on the grounds behind it, they say its about 6 acres in total.

This place is turning into a war zone.  I saw this sotry on the news, apparently some guy with a towing company chain got angry at the gas prices.  A bridge on 270 was blocked with  cars.  So now the huge tower apartments have been turned into the police headquarters.  There are cops all around it.  They've been getting gas deliveries every week, and cars from Moline, Riverview, Spanish Lake, and Blackjack are patrolling everywhere.  The mayor assures us we are all safe. 

I've started going to Church again for the first time in 2 years.  It's a nice place to be right now.  I'm just hoping life can get back to normal sometime.