Fight 4 Us (Book 11): Access

by Grenda, Brian

“Ghosts? How can we see ghosts?” asks the male Haven guard.

  “They are Bakari, Cyrus, Saba, or Ayo but their group is called Ghosts,” I answer the male Haven guard.

  “Oh okay. I’ll let Bruce know if anyone by those names comes here,” says the male Haven guard.

  Shaun enters the parking lot of the Haven and he parks his electric truck.

  We all exit from Shaun’s electric truck and grab our gear.

  Someone enters the parking lot from inside the Haven and I see who it is. I lock eyes with the person and it’s Hector.

  “What’s up Hector?” asks Phil.

  Hector doesn’t answer Phil and just stares at me.

  I stare back at Hector as he approaches Shaun’s electric truck.

  I can feel the tension between Hector and I as we lock eyes. Hector is looking for any reason to attack me as he’s still mad from what happened at The Grove.

  I step away from Hector and I hear Hector mumble something under his breath.

  I turn around and see that Hector is still looking at me. “What was that?” I aggressively ask Hector and then I walk directly over to him.

  “Shit,” says Jon as he sees me walk over to Hector.

  “I said you better walk away,” answers Hector.

  “What’s your problem?” I shout.

  “You, you are my problem!” shouts Hector.

  A small group of Warriors have made their way to the parking lot now. I feel everyone gathering around Hector and me and I don’t like where this is going.

  “We are here to talk with William and not this bullshit,” says Phil as he walks over to me and Hector as Hector and I are standing pretty close to each other.

  “Just keep walking Hector,” I say as I stare into Hector’s brown eyes.

  “Or what?” asks Hector.

  Suddenly the doors that Hector exited the Haven from swing open and a group of people come rushing into the parking lot.

  “What’s going on here?” asks Bruce as he enters the parking lot with Jeremy and Li.

  Hector looks at Bruce and answers, “Nothing. We were just talking.”

  “Everything okay here Ryan?” asks Bruce.

  “Yeah, we were just talking,” I answer Bruce while I keep my eyes on Hector.

  “I was sorry to hear about your father Ryan,” says Jeremy.

  I look at Jeremy and say, “Thank you.”

  Hector smiles and says, “Yeah, sorry for your loss.”

  I notice that Hector is smiling and glaring at me after his statement.

  As I look at Hector’s glare, something snaps in my head, and I lose self-control. Anger takes over me, I take a small sidestep towards Hector, and then press my size 11.5 sneaker into his chest with a powerful side kick.

  Hector flies backwards and lands on the parking lot asphalt. I look down at Hector clutching his chest and instantly feel a sense of remorse for kicking Hector, but I also feel a release of tension that was building up between Hector and me.

  Shaun, Phil, and Jon escort me towards the Haven entrance when suddenly an all-black SUV enters the Haven parking lot and stops next to the crowd of Warriors that were assembled in the parking lot.

  The guys and I stop walking, notice the all-black SUV, and see that it’s the Ghosts.

  The front passenger door window of the all-black SUV rolls down and it’s Bakari and he asks, “What is going on around here?”

  “Just got into a fight, nothing big,” I answer Bakari.

  “Hope you won. Where should we park?” replies Bakari.

  Bruce walks over to Bakari and directs the SUV to a parking spot.

  I see Hector get up from the asphalt. Hector pushes someone away that is trying to help him, and I see that Hector needs help to stand upright.

  I walk towards Hector and the guys try to stop me. I get away from Shaun, Jon, and Phil and make my way over to Hector.

  “Are you okay?” I ask Hector as he stands upright.

  Hector looks at me and throws a right hook. I easily dodge the right hook from Hector. My first impulse after dodging Hector’s right hand is to counter with a strike but I grab Hector’s right hand and place Hector in a standing rear naked chokehold.

  Everyone looks on as I have Hector in the chokehold. Bruce and Jeremy don’t know what to do and the guys see that I have the situation under control, so they stay out of it.

  “I’m not the enemy Hector. I know you’re pissed about what happened, but I didn’t kill your friends,” I say to Hector as I still have Hector in the chokehold.

  I feel Hector start to get weak and he stops fighting against my chokehold.

  “I’m going to let you go now, but only if you won’t attack me,” I say to Hector.

  I wait to get a response from Hector before letting go of my chokehold.

  “Nod if you agree,” I say to Hector.

  Hector nods and I slowly release my chokehold.

  Hector grabs his neck and gasps for air.

  I look at Hector and say, “I’m sorry about James and everyone you lost but the Conquerors did that. Not me.”

  Hector doesn’t know what to say and just runs back into the Haven.

  “Well, what an event to witness as we make our first visit to this place,” says Bakari as he walks over to me with Saba, Ayo, and Cyrus.

  Hector makes his way back into his room inside the Haven with his adrenaline running high, he tries to calm down, but he’s still pissed after what just happened in the parking lot.

  Bruce comes over to me and says, “I wouldn’t recommend for you to meet with William today. Let’s get this Hector thing settled before going forward.”

  “Okay, let us know when to come back, but we plan to meet DK in two days,” I reply to Bruce.

  “I’ll tell William and he’ll be in touch,” replies Bruce.

  “What should we do now then? We didn’t come all this way for nothing,” says Ayo.

  I look at Bakari for a suggestion.

  “Let’s go check out the electric company,” says Bakari.

  “How far away is it?” I ask.

  “Not far at all. It’s pretty close actually,” answers Saba.

  “Okay let’s do it,” I reply.

  CHAPTER 3

  BRING

  “This place is pretty close to the Haven,” says Shaun as we sit inside his electric truck outside of the main entrance building of the electric company.

  “Well hurry up. We just got to the electric company building,” says Phil into his radio.

  “What’s going on with Matt?” asks Shaun.

  Phil answers Shaun, “He’s taking his sweet ass time with his drone, but he should be sending it over here soon.”

  Bakari taps on my passenger door window glass and shouts, “You coming?”

  “We are waiting on our guy with our drone,” I answer Bakari as I lower my passenger side door window.

  “It’s all clear boss,” says Saba as he’s looking at a small electronic device in his hands.

  “Saba says it’s all clear,” says Bakari to me.

  “How do you know?” asks Shaun.

  “Saba just scanned the building, plus we were here recently, and we didn’t see anyone then,” answers Bakari.

  “Okay, we’ll be right out,” I say to Bakari.

  I roll up my passenger door window and ask the guys, “What should we do?”

  “Bakari didn’t seem concerned at all,” answers Jon.

  “We’ll be inside!” shouts Bakari to me as we sit in Shaun’s electric truck, and then Bakari, Saba, Ayo, and Cyrus enter the main building of the electric company.

  “You okay Ry?” asks Phil.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I answer Phil.

  “You sure, after all the craziness with Hector?” asks Jon.

  “Yeah, I kind of feel bad about kicking him, but I’m okay,” I answer.

  “What about the chokehold?” asks Shaun.

  I don’t answer Shaun and the guys laugh and joke with me.

 
; “I thought his head was gonna pop off. His eye almost flew out of the socket,” says Phil.

  “I do feel bad though, Hector is a friend, but he still blames me for what the Conquerors did,” I say.

  “It should all blow over, or maybe we’ll have to take Hector out,” says Shaun and then Shaun exits his electric truck.

  Phil and Jon exit from the electric truck, but I stay in my seat and think about what Shaun just said and ask myself, “Was he joking? Would it come to that?”

  The sound of Matt’s drone is heard. Phil, Jon, and Shaun see Matt’s drone in the sky and Phil talks with Matt over the radio.

  “Did you see anything on your way here?” asks Phil into his radio.

  I exit from Shaun’s electric truck, adjust my red scabbard, my body armor chest piece, and see Matt’s drone in the sky.

  “Yeah, we saw the water in the streets. Hopefully we’ll get the power back on and the pumps will start working again,” says Phil into his radio.

  “You and Jon stay out here. I’ll go inside with Shaun,” I say to Phil.

  Shaun and I enter the main building of the electric company, while Phil and Jon stay outside near Shaun’s electric truck.

  “That was a nice kick though, you’ll have to teach me that move,” says Shaun to me as we enter the dark and light absent electric building.

  Shaun and I both click on LED flashlights.

  “It’s pretty funny that the electric company doesn’t have any power,” says Shaun.

  I hear Bakari and his group working on something in a nearby room. Shaun and I enter that room, and we find ourselves in the main control room of the electric company.

  “I don’t know why this piece is on the control panel. It’s blocking us from being able to get the power back on,” says Saba to Bakari.

  I walk over to Saba and see the device that he is talking about. The device is a large round metal disc that’s blocking any access to the main controls of the electric company power grid.

  “There seems to be some power getting through to a couple areas though,” says Saba.

  “Where? Who’s getting power still?” asks Ayo.

  I look at what Saba is looking at and notice some lights on a panel. I look closer at the areas that are still getting power and answer, “The football stadium.”

  We all look at the electric panel and notice that a few places have power, but a lot of power is being directed to the outdoor football stadium, the large oversize practice facility, and several buildings around the football stadium.

  “We’ll have to check things out there,” says Shaun.

  I look at the device that is blocking the access to the electric company controls and notice an oddly shaped keyhole on it.

  “We got company coming this way guys,” says Phil over the radio.

  I pick up my radio and ask, “How many? What’s coming here?”

  “Three large vehicles, they look to be military,” answers Phil over the radio.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I say to everyone that is inside the control room of the electric company.

  Saba takes a couple pictures of the electric company control room, and we all exit the room.

  “They slowed down a little because of the water in the streets, but you need to get out of there now,” says Matt into his earpiece as he looks at the monitor on his drone remote control.

  Shaun and I exit the electric company main building, followed by Bakari, Cyrus, Ayo, and Saba.

  “We’ll meet up with you guys later. I want to get back home,” says Bakari and then Bakari, Cyrus, Saba, and Ayo get into their SUV and exit the electric company property.

  Shaun, Phil, Jon, and I enter Shaun’s electric truck and Shaun speeds out of the electric company parking lot and away from the electric company entrance.

  “I see you guys just left. The military trucks are right there. You guys just made it,” says Matt over the radio.

  “Keep your drone on the vehicles, but stay hidden,” says Phil into his radio.

  Matt keeps his drone on the parking lot of the electric company, and he sees several groups of troops checking out the parking lot and enter the main building.

  “They look to be patrolling the area and looking for you guys. Two of the troops are talking and they seem to be arguing,” says Matt into his radio earpiece as he tries to get a better view of the troops, military vehicles, and the two people that were arguing.

  BANG!

  “The one guy just shot the other guy in the head. I’m not sure what’s going on, but this can’t be good,” says Matt into his earpiece while he looks at the video screen on his drone remote and Shaun drives down the street.

  “A soldier shot another soldier?” asks Jon.

  “Who shot who?” asks Phil into his radio to Matt.

  “The leader of this group shot another soldier that was there with him. He shot him in the back of his head as the soldier was walking away from him,” answers Matt.

  “Can you see if they are Marines, Army, Navy, or what?” asks Phil into his radio.

  Matt tries to get a better view of the person that was just shot, but the man is lying face down on the asphalt. Matt is unable to get a good look at the branch of military that the troops are in as the troops load back into the military truck and the military vehicles drive away from the electric company.

  “Well this day isn’t going as planned,” says Shaun as he speeds down the open street.

  “Should I stay with the trucks and see where they go?” asks Matt over the radio.

  “Yeah, stay on them, but keep your distance and don’t get spotted,” answers Phil into his radio.

  Shaun passes the gun shop where we met Stacy and Vivian. I glance at the gun shop storefront and it looks the same as we left it.

  “We are going back home right?” asks Shaun.

  “Yeah, let’s get back home and talk with Matt,” I answer Shaun.

  Matt follows the military vehicles with his drone and sees that they are easily passing through the water that has made some streets submerged, and they are effortlessly running over groups of zombies that stagger in the path of their vehicles.

  “I’m coming to the edge of the range for the drone. I have to stop following them,” says Matt over the radio as Shaun enters Citrus Oaks.

  “Stop at the edge of the drone range, but zoom in with your camera on the trucks to see where they go,” replies Phil into his radio.

  Shaun drives his electric truck and parks in front of his house. We all see Matt in Shaun’s driveway.

  Phil gets out of the electric truck and runs over to Matt. “What do you got Matt?” asks Phil.

  Matt zooms in on the vehicles as they approach their final destination. “They are pulling into what looks like the football stadium,” answers Matt.

  Shaun, Jon, and I walk over to Matt and Phil and Phil says to me, “Those troops were from the stadium. Something big has to be going on there.”

  “We have to check it out right?” asks Shaun.

  “Bring back the drone Matt,” says Jon.

  “I think we have to check it out later, but we have to meet with William and DK first,” I answer Shaun.

  Lauren and Lisa exit from Shaun’s front door and walk over to us. Lisa is happy to see Shaun and Lauren asks me, “How did it go?”

  “Pretty terrible actually,” I answer Lauren.

  “What happened?” asks Lisa.

  “Ryan beat up Hector and we went to the electric company and almost got caught by some military group,” answers Shaun.

  “Is everyone okay?” asks Lauren.

  “Yeah, we are fine,” I answer Lauren.

  “When are we going to meet with William?” asks Jon.

  “Bruce said William will contact us about that,” I answer Jon.

  “What do we do until then?” asks Phil.

  “We wait,” I answer Phil and then I grab my things out of Shaun’s electric truck and enter my house.

  Lauren says goodbye to eve
ryone and enters our house.

  “What should we do now?” asks Lisa.

  Matt’s drone comes back over Citrus Oaks and lands on its docking station.

  “Help me with this?” asks Matt to Jon as Matt walks over to his drone.

  “What should we do?” asks Shaun to Phil.

  “I think we wait like Ry said. I’m going home to check on the babies,” answers Phil, and then Phil walks away from Shaun’s house and goes home.

  “You hungry?” asks Lisa to Shaun.

  “I could eat,” answers Shaun and Shaun and Lisa enter their house.

  “What did you see with the drone?” asks Jon to Matt.

  Matt removes the memory stick from the drone and answers Jon, “Let’s go see.”

  Jon and Matt enter Matt’s house and they watch the drone video that Matt just recorded.

  “They seem to be wearing different uniforms of different branches of military,” says Matt as Jon and him watch the drone video in Matt’s living room.

  “Yeah, I see what ya mean. I see mostly Army and Marine symbols and patches, but it’s kind of hard to tell as they are moving around so much,” replies Jon.

  “I wonder why that guy kills the other guy though,” says Matt as he watches the man get shot in the back of the head in the electric company parking lot.

  “I guess a power struggle or something, but there are a lot of troops that came to the electric company building,” says Jon.

  Matt asks, “Why did they come there though? Did you set off an alarm or something?”

  Jon thinks about the time at the electric company and answers, “I was outside with Phil, so I don’t know what Shaun, Ryan, and Bakari’s people did in there.”

  I enter my master bedroom and Lauren follows behind me. “What happened today?” asks Lauren.

  I take off my shoes and answer Lauren, “Hector pissed me off at the Haven, we never met with William, and we saw some device inside the electric company that might be blocking power around Tampa Bay.”

  “What do you mean blocking power?” asks Lauren.

  I enter my master bathroom, wash my face in the sink, and answer Lauren, “There was this big metal disc thing on the control panel of the electric company. Some electricity was going to select parts of Tampa Bay but most of the grid was off.”

  I walk into our master bedroom and Lauren asks, “What happened with Hector?”