Chapter 1: The Book Store

Sunlight began to trickle through the painted window of an odd brick building, nestled amongst the rotting, collapsed buildings of a small town's former Main Street. It stood proudly, a "Now Open" banner hanging above the door alerting the citizens to the new store. Book shelves lined the floors, with a cute pair of chairs under one of the front windows. A woman soon unlocked the pretty painted door that lead inside. She took a moment to walk up to an old tree trunk that spread from the floor to the ceiling, where branches and leaves were painted spreading out. Faux branches hung randomly from these painted branches, with lights strung amongst them to give the store an enchanting glow. Even the odd shaped piece of bark didn't seem out of place, except to those curious enough to touch it.

The woman smiled, walking over to a painted counter with a register on it. She yawned, reaching under to grab an apron when the bell on the door rang.

"New shipment's here Miss baker! Where ya want it?"

The woman yawned again, finally putting on a pot of coffee. "The empty table at the front… Hey Lance, would you mind unpacking them?"

"Yes ma'am." the young man put the boxes down, pulling out a knife to open them. He began to stack them neatly on the table, chuckling as he glanced at the tired woman who was struggling to tie her apron as she stared at the coffee pot.

"These are the new release from Matt Williams." he held up a copy as her wide-eyed gaze shot to him. "Aren't you a fan of his?"

She stalked over, snatching the book from his hand. Much to his amusement, the woman walked over to the cash register, ringing up the book to pay for. She sat behind the counter to read, leaving her assistant to finish setting up the books for display. He simply chuckled at her, doing what needed to do to open up.

"Are you a prepper Miss Baker?"

"Hm?"

"A prepper? I mean, all of Matt's books are about survival right? You know, in the woods and stuff?"

"No, no. While I will say it certainly helps to be prepared, I read his books because each one is written from his own personal experiences."

"You mean all that stuff he writes-"

"Is stuff he has actually tested himself."

"Wow." the boy looked at the books in awe. "Maybe I should read them."

"You should." she set the book down to fix herself a cup of coffee. "Take the boxes out back, then grab the paint and touch up the windows."

"Yes ma'am." and he was gone. The woman shook her head, glancing at the book again before she straightened up to great a suit-clad man that entered.

"Welcome to Baker's Books!"

"Well, well Charlie! This place looks nice!"

"Thank you Mayor Brisbane. Coffee?"

"Oh yes, please. Hm, it won't cost me extra will it?"

"No sir, only the books cost." Charlie smiled, setting her coffee aside to make him a cup as he wandered around. He finally settled in one of the chairs at the front, chuckling when she joined him. The Mayor took his cup from her and looked around once more.

"You know, when you first came to the courthouse with the papers to buy this old place from the county, I laughed and told my secretary I'd sign 'em because I didn't think you'd be able to fix this place! But then when you came in with the business papers and I saw this address on there, I was plum shocked! I'm glad to see you actually did something with this old eyesore Charlie."

She laughed. "Oh so what if the roof and second floor were caved in and there was a forest sprouting in the middle?"

The man eyed the old tree in the center. "Oh yes… You did an amazing thing with that tree."

"Oh please."

"No really, you even used most of the wood from it in the store!"

"It was just something I thought about when I saw the place."

"Oh?"

"Yes sir. That tree is the reason I wanted this building."

Lance chuckled as he passed by with the two paint buckets. "Morning Mr. Mayor. Miss Baker, the windows are done."

"Good, get your apron on and flip the sign."

"yes ma'am."

"Well Charlie I guess I better be going. Thanks for the coffee."

"Of course." she watched the mayor leave before sending a smirk Lance's way. "Pssh, Charlie? Really?"

"Isn't your name Charlotte?"

"Yeah, I just meant how he assumed he can call me that."

"Ah."