A Simple Beginning

Up The Creek

Raymond Steele
When it rains it pours and now we are looking at flood waters and no life saver or boat to stay afloat in. The American dream is a nightmare right now. Carla and Anastasia have never complained and they work along side me cleaning up houses to get ready to either rent or sale to flippers. If I had the money I could try to flip one and get us out of the efficiency apartment we live in. Tonight was one of our worst nights and our landlord was on us about the rent and we had to grab everything and leave. I look at my family as they are sleeping in the tiny cab behind the front seats. The camper shell has my tools and our clothes a cooler and camp stove and water canteens. We have had to live off the grid for a while now and I have taught both Carla and Anastasia how to defend themselves in hand to hand combat and other self defense methods that I taught myself and was taught by my father. My shooting skills are well documented and I have been sought after by many factions to use those skills. I will not kill for the wrong reasons. So here we are running from people who want to use my loved ones to force me to do their bidding. I couldn't help falling in love and having Anastasia was a plus. We have self taught her and she has taken all the tests to pass through her courses. I have friends who make sure we get everything we need to advance her education. At 8 she has gotten her GED and now she has one college degree working on another three. We have been able to pick her degrees up at a hidden location after friends have them sent to a post office box. We also treat our own illnesses and only had two events that required us to be seen at the ER. We know where to get showered and wash clothing. I look at my beauties as I park in a deserted piece of land that is near an old cabin. Time for me to sleep as well.

Carla
This wasn't the life I signed up for, but it is the man I love and he deserves better than this life. Sadly bad people won't leave him alone and has threatened him with Anastasia and my deaths if he doesn't kill for them. So sadly he was fired by the company he worked for when these people stormed into the building looking for him. They sent Ray a clear message and the cops were trying to arrest Ray for their actions. It was because some of the cops were in their back pockets.

Anastasia
I am tired and need to use the restroom so we park at a rest stop and shower along with other things we eat and drink and mom and dad were busy while I went to wash our utensils and grab out clothing from the dryers at the mini laundry. I hear gun shots and screaming and I hide like my parents have instructed me to do. I am sure by the number of shots that they were killed. Cops have looked for any other victims and or witnesses. They found me hiding behind the dryer areas.
I watch as they pull my parent's bodies out of our vehicle. The EMT announced them dead at scene. I look around and see ten bodies lying around in fatigues and are bloody. At least they went down taking enemies with them, but there are still many more. A lady has been assigned to finding my parents and returning me to them. She suddenly realizes that I belong to the dead couple.

Caseworker Elena Lincoln
I am looking at a picture of the couple that were brutally killed.  They sure put up a good fight though. The others in the area were hiding once they realized what was about to happen. So the cops went in search of any and all victims or witnesses. I look at the orphan who has just lost everything in this world. It is not the first time this has happened and won't be the last time. We can't get her things from the vehicle until it has been gone over for any evidence. She's pretty small and is going to be hard to place.
I make a call and tell them I have a potential bride and I ask the child her age, she is 11 going on 12 years old and she is perfect. Carl Lincoln wants a child bride and she is perfect. This is the perfect opportunity and I call and get the guardianship started. He has someone ready to get the license done.

Anastasia
I don't trust this woman in the least and her phone call was a bit disturbing to me, I put my special earbuds in that allows me to hear the other end of her phone calls. I will definitely be escaping her clutches once I find a way to get my things from the evidence locker. Cops generally don't frisk minors. So they don't know how many weapons I have on me and potential weapons to boot. I grab the clothing and the eating utensils and beg to get my memory box from the vehicle. It looks like a bunch of family photos, but they don't think much of it when I am crying as I am looking at our family photos. I am not staying with this person because she just sold me down the river. A 12 year old bride is not something I aspire to and never will. I play dumb and grieving, but I might shed the tears but my mind is working on ways to escape from her clutches. We head towards the closest city. I am taken to see a doctor in a private home. He does an exam and talks to her privately about if I am a virgin or not and he confirms this with her and we leave. Dad tells me that with my size I can disappear into crowds and I do just that as soon as I can.