Fight 4 Us (Book 11): Access

by Grenda, Brian

  DeMarcus sees us standing there and greets us.

  “Finally gonna make it inside today huh?” asks DeMarcus.

  “Yes sir,” answers Shaun.

  “We are actually meeting someone in there today,” I say to DeMarcus.

  “Who are you meeting with?” asks DeMarcus.

  “Some bald weirdo,” answers Shaun.

  “Where are you meeting him?” asks DeMarcus.

  “The food court,” I answer DeMarcus.

  Shaun hands DeMarcus his Level 2 badge and DeMarcus scans it.

  “Why isn’t the door opening?” asks Shaun.

  “I’ll release the lock, when I scan all your badges,” answers DeMarcus as he scans Phil’s badge.

  DeMarcus scans my badge and then Jon’s and then he taps something on his scanner and the Level 2 door opens.

  As the Level 2 door opens, the aroma of delightful smells hits our noses.

  “Enjoy fellas, don’t get too crazy in there,” says DeMarcus.

  Jon, Phil, Shaun, and I enter Level 2 and the large heavy steel bulletproof door closes behind us.

  As I stand with Jon, Phil, and Shaun inside Level 2 I’m taken back by the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of the building.

  “Is this a working mall still?” asks Jon.

  Shaun walks forward, and Phil follows Shaun.

  Jon and I look around and we see a sneaker store and a clothing store to our left, an interior hallway straight ahead, and a working mall food court to our right.

  I start to walk with Jon, and I see two large white gentlemen talking with Shaun and Phil. The two large white gentlemen tower over Shaun and Phil and they must be around 6’5” or 6’6”.

  Jon and I walk over to Shaun and Phil and I ask, “What’s going on?”

  “These two are with DK and they say we have to talk with DK now,” answers Phil.

  “Okay, where is he?” I ask.

  One of the large white gentlemen who is wearing military gear looks at me and smiles, “You must be Ryan. I can tell by the dumb ass sword you have on your back.”

  The other large white gentleman looks at Jon, Phil, and Shaun and says, “Come with us and there won’t be a problem.”

  I look at the food court, that is to my right, and see several people inside the food court, but I don’t see DK.

  “Where is DK?” I ask.

  “We’ll take you to him,” answers the large white gentleman and then he grabs my shirt around my left chest and shoulder sleeve that is exposed from underneath my body armor chest piece.

  I look at the large white gentleman and say, “Let go of my shirt.”

  “Or what? What is your little ass gonna do about it?” asks the large white gentleman as he grabs my shirt with more force.

  I smirk at the large white gentleman, quickly tap his hand that is grabbing my shirt with my right hand, strike him in his throat with my right hand, kick him in his left shin, and the gentleman falls onto the tile floor.

  Three armed World of Trade guards run towards me. I see the armed guards and put my hands in the air to show that I’m not a threat.

  The other large gentleman gets mad and is about to attack Shaun, Phil, and Jon, but suddenly someone inside the food court shouts, “That’s enough!”

  I look at the food court and I see DK and two more large white gentlemen walking towards Jon, Phil, Shaun, and myself.

  “Stand down Kerry,” says DK to the large white gentleman that is standing near Shaun, Phil, and Jon.

  One of the three armed World of Trade guards looks at DK and DK says to him, “Sorry about that. We didn’t mean to cause any problems.”

  The large white gentleman that I knocked to the tile struggles to catch his breath from my strike to his throat.

  “You okay Chet?” asks DK to the large white gentleman who is on the tile.

  “Don’t let it happen again DK,” says the armed World of Trade guard.

  “I apologize, I assure you it won’t,” replies DK.

  “This isn’t a good start to the meeting,” I say to DK.

  DK laughs and replies, “Well not good for Chet, but you seem to be okay.” Two of DK’s men help Chet up from the clean white tile.

  “Let’s talk Ryan,” says DK.

  “You say you are all about trust and then you send your giants here to get us,” I say to DK.

  “I meant no harm, and I guess the guys were a little direct and aggressive. I do apologize for that,” replies DK.

  I just look at DK and don’t know what to do next. Should I leave or actually meet with this lunatic?

  “What do you want to do guys?” I ask Shaun, Phil, and Jon.

  Shaun looks at the food court and answers, “I say we get something to eat.”

  “You would say that,” says Phil.

  “I’ll get you and your men something to eat and then we can talk,” says DK.

  “No more bullshit. Let’s talk and get this over with,” I say to DK.

  “I like that. Let’s get right to the point,” says DK and then DK and his four large white gentlemen enter the food court.

  Phil, Jon, and I hesitate to enter the food court, but Shaun walks around the food court and sees all the different food options.

  “Look at this guy. He’s in heaven right now,” jokes Phil as we look at Shaun looking at the different food options.

  “I didn’t see any guns on DK or his men, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any on them,” says Phil.

  “I’ll keep my distance,” I say.

  DK gets some food for us and we join him and his men at a secluded section of the food court.

  “Thank you for meeting with me Ryan. I think we can form an arrangement that will benefit both of us,” says DK.

  “What’s the arrangement?” I ask.

  “We can work on the details later, but I’m glad that we are working on things,” answers DK.

  “Where is Jacob?” asks Phil.

  DK just looks at Phil and doesn’t answer him.

  I see the dangerous look that DK is giving Phil and I ask, “Where are you staying DK?”

  DK slowly looks away from Phil and answers me, “We have several places that we stay at, but we are not far from here.”

  “How do you have a military drone?” asks Shaun.

  DK gives the same dangerous look to Shaun that he previously gave Phil.

  I see the dangerous look that DK is giving Shaun, and I try to get his attention back to me and ask, “Do you have connections with the military?”

  “I have many connections to a lot of different people,” answers DK.

  “And you want to make a new connection with us?” I ask.

  DK gives me a creepy smile and answers, “Yes, Ryan. The world is all about connections and people.”

  “It’s not what you know, it’s who ya know,” I say.

  DK smiles and replies, “I like that.”

  I notice DK’s men keep staring and eyeing up Jon, Phil, Shaun, and myself.

  “Is there still a problem here though?” I ask as I look at DK’s man Chet.

  Chet looks at me and answers, “Yeah, I don’t like you and your little punk friends.”

  DK gets annoyed by Chet’s answer and feels that he’s being disrespectful.

  Before I can respond to Chet, DK pulls a large hunting knife from its sheath and puts it to Chet’s neck.

  Chet immediately gets scared and says, “Sorry boss.”

  “Don’t say sorry to me, say sorry to Ryan and his group,” replies DK.

  Chet hesitates to respond, and DK puts his large hunting knife closer to Chet’s neck muscles and carotid artery.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t have a problem with you guys,” says Chet.

  A small line of blood starts to come down Chet’s neck and DK says, “We might be teaming up with Ryan and you might have to work together some day, so it may be a good idea to be friendly with them.”

  “Yes sir,” says Chet.

  I can’t believe w
hat I’m seeing with DK and Chet, but I’m also impressed by DK’s ability to control Chet.

  “I think we are good now DK. I think Chet calmed down. Thank you for handling things,” I say to DK to try to have him remove his large hunting knife from Chet’s throat.

  DK removes his large hunting knife from Chet’s throat and returns it back into its sheath. Chet grabs two napkins and puts pressure on the small cut that DK put into his neck.

  “What’s next for us?” I ask DK.

  DK smiles and answers, “I’ll be in touch. This was a good starting point for us.”

  DK looks at his men and says, “Let’s get out of here boys.”

  I stand up from the food court table and so does Shaun, Phil, and Jon.

  DK walks over to me and extends his right hand. I shake his right hand and DK says, “I hope this is a good partnership for a long time Ryan.”

  “Me too,” I reply to DK.

  DK and his men leave the food court and I watch them exit Level 2.

  “What the fuck was that?” asks Jon.

  “I don’t know, but he’s definitely got a couple screws loose in that big bald head of his,” replies Phil.

  Shaun finishes his soda and the sound of air leaving the straw and plastic cup is heard.

  “Have a good lunch Shaun?” I joke.

  “Yeah, I haven’t had one of those chicken sandwiches in forever,” answers Shaun.

  “What do we do now?” asks Jon.

  “Let’s go check out this place,” answers Shaun.

  Shaun and Jon walk away from Phil and me.

  I look at Phil and ask, “What do you think of DK and what he said?”

  Phil and I start walking out of the food court and Phil answers, “I don’t know, but DK seems like he has something up his sleeve.”

  “He definitely does, and I don’t want to work with him, but how can we not now?” I ask.

  “He seems dangerous and unstable, we might have to keep him happy,” answers Phil.

  Phil and I walk around Level 2 and we see a variety of stores like before the world fell apart. Shoe stores, clothing stores, video game stores, but they also have stores for the world of today. They have guns and ammunition stores and outdoor survival stores.

  I see a group of people standing in several different lines around three different stores and it sparks my interest.

  “Wonder what this is all about?” I ask Phil.

  “I think these are medical facilities,” answers Phil.

  Phil and I stop walking, and we see three different stores and they each are something medical related. One is a dentist, another is a pharmacy, and the other is a fully functioning medical office.

  Shaun and Jon come running over to Phil and me and Jon asks, “Did you see they have a hotel in here?”

  “We didn’t see that, what else do they got in here?” answers Phil.

  As Phil, Shaun, and Jon talk, I notice that the people in line and walking around inside Level 2 are not dirty, smelly, unkempt, or really anything like the people outside in Level 1 or that we have seen outside World of Trade. Everyone that I’ve seen inside Level 2 seems healthy and like they are living a normal everyday life.

  CHAPTER 6

  DON’T SHOOT ANYMORE

  I exit Level 2 with Shaun, Phil, and Jon and we approach DeMarcus.

  “So what did you think guys?” asks DeMarcus.

  “It was pretty nice in there, but let me ask you something,” I answer DeMarcus.

  DeMarcus looks at me with a questioning expression and I ask, “Do people live in here?”

  “Yes, lots of people live in here. I actually have a room, and so does my brother,” answers DeMarcus.

  “How do you pay to stay here?” asks Phil.

  “I work here, and I get to stay for free, but people work it out with Amir on how they’ll pay to live here,” answers DeMarcus.

  “Who is Amir?” asks Jon.

  “I’ve already said too much, but he’s with Abdul,” answers DeMarcus.

  I can see that DeMarcus seems worried about saying anything else and I say to DeMarcus, “Thank you for your help. We’ll be back soon.”

  “How did the meeting go?” asks DeMarcus.

  “It went okay, but DK seems crazy,” answers Phil.

  “You met with DK?” asks DeMarcus.

  “Yeah, you know him?” asks Shaun.

  “I know of him, but I heard he’s a loose cannon and not someone you want to mess with,” answers DeMarcus.

  “What have you heard?” asks Phil.

  “I can’t say, but he’s got some strong connections around here and access to some pretty powerful weapons,” answers DeMarcus.

  We say goodbye to DeMarcus, and we make our way back to the parking lot.

  As I walk to Shaun’s electric truck, I’m stopped by a masked individual. “We got a tracker on his car,” says the masked individual as he hands me an electronic device.

  “Thank you,” I say to the masked individual.

  “Saba or B will be in touch,” replies the masked individual and then they walk away from me.

  I get into Shaun’s electric truck and see the flashing light on the electronic device I was just given, and Shaun asks, “What’s that?”

  “It looks to be a tracker on DK’s car,” I answer.

  “Where is he?” asks Phil.

  “He’s not far from here, let’s follow him,” I answer.

  Shaun reverses out of the parking space and exits World of Trade.

  “Turn left,” I say as I look down at the flashing electronic device and then down the street.

  “Who gave you that?” asks Jon.

  “Keep going straight,” I say to Shaun and then I answer Jon, “A Ghost.”

  “Ghosts, Conquerors, Warriors, zombies, what the hell has the world come to?” jokes Phil.

  “He stopped,” I say as I look down at the electronic device that I’m holding in both of my hands.

  “Where?” asks Shaun.

  “Keep going straight. He’s on the right,” I answer Shaun.

  Shaun keeps driving down the street and the large oversized football stadium is seen on the right.

  “He’s in the football stadium,” I say.

  “Should I go in or drive by?” asks Shaun.

  “Let’s get back home, but we’ll definitely come back here,” I answer Shaun.

  About thirty minutes go by and Shaun parks his electric truck in his driveway.

  “So that was an interesting day,” says Jon as he exits from Shaun’s electric truck.

  “Did you see anyone paying for stuff inside Level 2?” I ask.

  Shaun closes his driver side door and answers, “Now that you mention it, I didn’t see anyone exchanging money or anything in there.”

  I look at Bobby G’s driveway and I see two cars parked in Bobby G’s driveway. One of the cars looks familiar to me, but I’m not sure about the other one and why they are parked in Bobby G’s driveway.

  Shaun sees me looking at the cars parked in Bobby G’s driveway and asks, “Is that Jaws Junior’s car?”

  Lauren exits from our house, and I see Jaws Junior exit with Deb and Kat.

  I walk towards Lauren and ask, “What’s up guys?”

  Lauren answers, “They were looking for a new place to stay, and they were wondering if they could stay here?”

  “Well, not here in my house, but yeah we have some empty houses for you,” I answer.

  “We’ll take whatever house you give us. It’s not safe around our house anymore,” says Jaws Junior.

  Darlene comes around the corner with Indy.

  I look at Jon and shout, “You got a couple houses for these two?”

  Jon walks over to me and answers, “Yeah, there are three empty houses near mine in the cul-de-sac in the back of the neighborhood.”

  “Great, go show Jaws Junior and Kat those homes please,” I say to Jon.

  Jon starts to walk down the street and Jaws Junior says, “I can drive us
.”

  “Sounds good,” says Jon and then he goes with Jaws Junior and Darlene and Indy.

  “Take my car, I’ll meet up with you,” says Kat to Deb.

  Deb gets into Kat’s car and drives behind Jaws Junior.

  “Ryan, do you have a second?” asks Kat.

  “I’ll see you later Ry!” shouts Shaun.

  I give Shaun a wave from my driveway and then Shaun enters his house.

  “What’s up? Is everything okay?” I ask Kat.

  “Not really. I have seen more and more of that group that wears red or white and I found out that they are from that crazy church that Deb and I went to,” answers Kat.

  “How do you know?” I ask Kat.

  “Deb and I went by the church and we saw some of their cars going in and out of the church,” answers Kat.

  “Do you know what they are doing?” asks Lauren.

  “I’m not really sure, but I have seen them taking people inside and that church just creeps me out,” answers Kat.

  “I’ll make sure to stay away from that place, that’s for sure,” I say to Kat.

  “You are safe now. We haven’t seen that group around our community,” says Lauren to Kat.

  “You want to take her back to Jon’s cul-de-sac?” I ask Lauren.

  “Yeah, I’ll take her back there and see what house Deb got for them,” answers Lauren.

  Lauren and Kat walk down the street and to the back of the neighborhood.

  I enter my house and I’m greeted by Milo.

  I pet Milo on his head and Milo starts to purr. Callie gives a small meow as she sees me petting Milo and I know that means that she’s hungry.

  I give Callie and Milo some food and I check on Fran.

  “I’m feeling much better Ryan,” says Fran as I check the reading on the oral thermometer I just took out of Fran’s mouth.

  “Your fever has come down, but I still want you to take it easy for a couple more days. We can’t have you relapsing,” I say to Fran.

  “I will, but I want to check on the gardens in the backyard today,” replies Fran.

  “If you feel up to it, but don’t stay out there for hours,” I say to Fran.

  “I won’t, but is anyone else sick?” asks Fran.

  “A couple people, but nothing like a widespread pandemic or anything. It’s probably just a cold or flu making the rounds,” I answer Fran.