Without hesitation, Shaun says, “We can go in the donut shop and you and Phil can take the bank.”
“Don’t eat all the stale donuts,” jokes Jon.
Shaun pats his stomach and replies, “Iron gut baby, I can take it.”
“Stay sharp, keep your radios on, Matt should let us know if he sees anything,” I say to Shaun and Jon.
Jon and Shaun walk towards the donut shop entrance. Two zombies are inside the donut shop. Jon and Shaun pry open the locked front entrance door, kill the zombies, and Shaun smiles as he enters the donut shop.
“I really hope there is something to eat in here,” says Shaun.
“I bet you do fat boy,” jokes Jon.
Phil and I enter the bank and we find it empty. Phil opens the blinds so we can see the bait car, and I explore the bank.
“I hated going to the bank, there was always a line and it took forever,” I say.
“Yeah, me too. I did everything online and rarely went to stores,” replies Phil.
I think about being in a bank and being able to take whatever I want. Even with my police officer friend Phil in here with me, I feel like taking whatever you want is the way of the world now.
“Think they have money in here still? Should we check out the safety deposit boxes?” asks Phil.
I laugh and answer, “Maybe another time.”
“We’ve got movement,” says Matt over the radio.
“Where and how many?” asks Phil into his radio.
“Two cars, two red cars. They’re coming to your roadblock now,” answers Matt over the radio.
“You guys ready over there?” I ask Shaun and Jon into my radio.
“Yeah, Shaun’s feeding his face, but we’re ready,” answers Jon over the radio.
“They’re coming in your direction now,” says Matt over the radio.
“Let’s try to keep the clothes somewhat clean if possible,” I say to Phil.
“They’re slowing up towards your car,” says Matt over the radio.
I peek through the bank window at our bait car, and I see two people get out of one of the red cars and two people get out of the other red car.
“Looks like four,” I say.
Phil sees another person get out of the rear red car and says, “Five, one more just got out.”
“Should we make a move?” asks Shaun over the radio.
“Let’s see if they take the bait first,” answers Phil into his radio.
A zombie approaches the five people dressed in all red.
BANG!
One of the people dressed in red shoots the approaching zombie in the chest.
“You idiot, how many times did I say headshots,” replies the other person that’s dressed in red that is standing behind the person who just shot the zombie in the chest.
BANG!
The zombie goes down from a headshot from the person that complained about the other person who shot the zombie in the chest.
A different man in red sees the dummy positioned under the hood of the car and says, “You’re coming with us buddy.”
The man in red grabs the dummy and pulls him away from the car. Suddenly the car alarm and horn starts to sound and the people in red don’t know what to do.
“Freeze!” shouts Phil to the people in red and Shaun, Jon, and I point our guns at the five people.
The man in red who pulled the dummy away from the car, looks at the dummy that had a wire around his head and was setup to set off the car alarm when pulled away from the car.
“What do you want?” asks a blonde haired woman that’s dressed in red.
A small group of zombies is approaching the people in red as they stand around our bait car.
“Lower your guns!” shouts Phil to the people dressed in red.
“We can’t do that,” says a young man in red as he sees the small group of zombies coming towards him.
“We’ll give you whatever you want! Just kill the zombies and shut off the damn car alarm!” shouts another young man in red with a panicking scared tone.
Phil clicks off the car alarm and shouts, “Lower your weapons now!”
The approaching zombies are about six feet away from the people in red and the people in red don’t know what to do.
“Dan! What do we do!” shouts the blonde haired woman in red.
BANG! BANG!
Dan shoots two of the approaching zombies.
BANG!
Shaun fires out of reflex at the sound of Dan shooting the zombie and hits a person in red in their leg.
AHHHH!
The person in red that Shaun shot falls to the ground.
Three of the people dressed in red drop their guns onto the street and raise their hands above their heads.
Phil sees the woman didn’t drop her gun, but she has it pointed at the approaching zombies and not us.
BANG!
Dan kills the last zombie with his rifle. I shout to Dan, “Now drop your weapon!”
Dan while looking at the zombies he just killed, replies, “I don’t think I will.”
I aim my rifle at Dan’s chest and reply, “Don’t be stupid man. We don’t want to hurt any of you.”
Dan turns towards me and says, “Too late for that, your guy shot my guy.”
“What do you want with us?” shouts the woman to Phil.
“We want information,” answers Phil.
“I don’t think you have the balls to shoot me,” says Dan to me as he stares at me with his rifle pointed at the ground.
“You really want to test how big my balls are?” I ask Dan.
“Don’t be stupid Dan!” shouts the woman to Dan.
“Quiet, Karen! I got this!” shouts Dan.
Dan takes a small step towards me and I feel like he’s testing to see what I’ll do.
“That’s far enough, one more step and that’ll be the last step you ever take,” I say to Dan.
Dan smirks and gestures like he’s going to step, but doesn’t.
“I’m going to put my gun down,” says Karen.
Phil watches as Karen slowly puts her gun onto the street.
Shaun and Jon have their guns aimed at two of the people dressed in red and Shaun notices that the people are young men and they are scared.
“Go pick up their guns Jon,” says Shaun.
Jon keeps his gun pointed at one of the young men dressed in red and he grabs the handgun that’s in the street.
“Please don’t hurt us,” pleads the young man to Jon as Jon walks by the young man after picking up his gun.
“I knew I should have come out with my team today instead of these newbies,” says Dan.
“This is the last time I’m going to tell you to drop your gun!” I shout to Dan.
“Kick your gun over to me Karen,” says Phil.
Karen replies to Phil, “If you want my gun then pick it up yourself.”
I don’t want to kill Dan or Karen or anyone here, but I also don’t want my people to get hurt either.
“Please help me, the bullet is still in my shin,” pleads the young man, that Shaun shot, to Jon as Jon picks up the young man’s gun.
“I can save your man there. I’m a doctor,” I say to Dan.
“You think we need your help. We have our own people back home,” replies Dan.
“You won’t see those people, if you keep this up,” says Phil to Dan.
Dan glares at Phil. Karen shouts, “What information do you want?”
“Your people took a friend of ours recently, and we want her back,” I say.
“Who was it?” asks Karen.
“All this for a friend of yours?” asks Dan with a sarcastic tone.
Jon asks, “Should I tie them up?”
“Yeah! Check them first though!” shouts Phil.
I feel like we need to end this conversation and get what we want from these people. “Tie them up! They are coming with us!” I shout.
“We aren’t going anywhere with you!” shouts Dan and then D
an points his rifle at me.
BANG! BANG!
Phil shoots at Dan, about a millisecond before I fire a shot at Dan too.
Phil’s bullet hits Dan in his head and my bullet hits Dan in his leg.
“No!” shouts Karen and then Karen reaches down for her gun that she previously put down in the street.
Phil points his rifle at Karen and shouts, “Don’t be stupid!”
Karen pulls her hand away from her gun and Phil kicks her gun away from her while keeping his rifle pointed at Karen.
I look at Dan’s body and see that his red clothes are soaked from blood from his leg and head as he lays lifeless on the street.
Phil ties up Karen’s arms and asks Karen, “Who has the keys to your cars?”
“Dan and I do,” answers Karen.
I reach into Dan’s pocket and grab the car keys.
“Are you bringing all of them back with us?” asks Shaun.
“Yeah, I’ll try to save the kid you shot,” I answer Shaun.
Shaun and Jon load the three young men who are dressed in red into one of the red cars.
I give Shaun the car keys to Dan’s car and then sit with Karen in the backseat of her car while Phil drives Karen’s red car.
“Are we really bringing them home?” asks Phil.
“Don’t go home. Let’s bring them to see William,” I answer Phil.
“You sure?” asks Phil as Phil drives Karen’s red car down the street.
I pick up my radio, change the channel on my radio, and call for William over my radio.
I get in touch with someone from the Haven and they say it’s okay to bring them to the Haven.
“We can’t just bring them there. We have to blindfold them,” says Phil.
“We won’t tell anyone what happened here. You can trust us,” says Karen.
“Stop the car,” I say to Phil.
Phil stops the car at the side of a road and Shaun stops his car behind Phil’s.
“Pop the trunk,” I tell Phil.
Phil pops the trunk and I look for something in the trunk of Karen’s red car.
“What’s up Ry?” asks Jon as he opens his passenger side door of Shaun’s car.
“Looking for something to blindfold these people before we take them to the Haven,” I answer Jon.
“Smart,” says Jon.
Shaun pops the trunk of Dan’s red car and Jon looks for something in the trunk.
I find some red fabric in the back of the trunk, and I say, “I think I found something that’ll work.”
Jon comes over to me and we cut the fabric into strips that we can use as blindfolds.
I place the red fabric over my eyes and make sure that I can’t see anything.
“Can you see through it?” asks Jon.
“Nope,” I answer Jon.
Jon and Shaun place the red fabric over the eyes of the three young men inside their car and I enter the backseat with Karen.
“Why are you doing this?” asks Karen with tears in her eyes.
“We want answers, and we want to find our friend,” I answer Karen.
I place the piece of red fabric over Karen’s eyes and make sure it covers her eyes so she can’t see at all.
“I think we’re good now,” I say to Phil.
“We can’t have these people coming back after this,” says Phil.
I think about Phil’s statement as Phil drives down the road. Are we really going to kill these people? How can we let these people live though?
Phil arrives at the Haven entrance and the Haven guards take Karen and the three young men.
“Take the injured one to the medical room,” I say to the Haven guards.
“Yes sir,” replies one of the Haven guards.
Shaun and Phil park the red vehicles in the Haven parking lot.
Shaun and Jon exit from their red car, but I stay in the red car with Phil.
“You okay with what just happened?” asks Phil.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I quickly answer, but that answer is out of reflex and I’m not sure that I’m actually good with what just happened.
“Now what do we do?” asks Shaun to Phil and me as he looks at Phil as he stands outside of Phil’s red car.
Phil and I exit from our red car and Jon says, “Good thinking not bringing them back to CO.”
“Yeah, it was a good idea,” I say.
“What’s up with the red cars?” asks Jeremy as he walks with Emily on the grass on the other side of the parking lot fence.
“Where’s your dad?” asks Phil to Jeremy.
“Not sure, but let’s go find him,” answers Jeremy.
Phil, Jon, Shaun, and I walk down the indoor hallway of the Haven and Shaun says, “I told Matt to bring the drone back home.”
“Good, thank you,” I reply to Shaun.
I see the medical room, and I say to the guys, “Go find William and I’ll catch up with you.”
I enter the medical room and see Dr. Vargas attending to the young man that Shaun shot.
“Is he okay?” I ask Dr. Vargas.
“He looks to just have a flesh wound and he’ll be okay. Lucky the bullet missed an artery,” answers Dr. Vargas.
“What’s your name?” I ask the young man that Shaun shot that still has his red blindfold on.
“Robbie,” answers the young man.
“I need some information from you,” I say to Robbie.
“Let’s finish up his stitches first, then you can interrogate him,” says Dr. Vargas.
I help Dr. Vargas stitch up Robbie’s gunshot wound, and Dr. Vargas asks Robbie, “What happened out there and why are you dressed in all red?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” answers Robbie.
“Try me, I might surprise you,” replies Dr. Vargas.
Robbie hesitates to reply, and I say to Robbie, “We saved your life, now answer our questions.”
“You shot me though, I almost died because of you,” replies Robbie.
“If your leader Dan wasn’t an asshole, then you wouldn’t have been shot and he’d still be alive,” I angrily reply to Robbie.
Robbie sarcastically clears his throat. I squeeze Robbie’s gunshot wound and Robbie screams in pain.
AHHHH!
“What the hell Ryan!” shouts Dr. Vargas as she can’t believe that I’m hurting this young man Robbie.
“Answer my questions, and I’ll stop torturing you and I’ll give you something for the pain,” I say to Robbie.
“Okay, okay, just please stop squeezing my leg!” shouts Robbie.
I release my grip from Robbie’s leg and Robbie stops screaming, but is breathing heavily now.
“Why do you dress in all red or white?” I ask Robbie.
“It’s what the pastor wants. We are to cleanse and purify the world and the colors represent the blood of Christ and the purity of what we are doing,” answers Robbie.
“Why are you kidnapping people? Are you killing them?” I ask Robbie.
“I don’t know, this was my first trip out and we were only doing what we were told by Dan and Karen,” answers Robbie.
“Who told them what to do?” I ask Robbie.
“Our pastor. Pastor Cower,” answers Robbie.
“How can we get into your church?” I ask Robbie.
Robbie looks at me with his blindfold on and asks, “Why do you want to go there?”
“A group of your people took a friend of mine,” I answer Robbie.
“Who?” asks Robbie.
“Her name is Kat; where do they keep the people they kidnapped?” I answer Robbie.
“I don’t know, I was just promoted to patrolling the streets yesterday and this was my first trip out,” answers Robbie.
“What’s going on Ryan?” asks Dr. Vargas.
“The church where Robbie here came from is kidnapping people,” I answer Dr. Vargas.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Phil, while standing in the open doorway of the medical room, knocks on the door and says,
“We found William and he wants to speak with all of us.”
“I’ll be right there,” I reply to Phil.
“You keep an eye on him, don’t let your guard down. He’s from a bad place,” I say to Dr. Vargas.
Dr. Vargas nods her head at me. I exit the medical room and walk down the interior hallway with Phil.
“Did you talk with William yet?” I ask Phil.
“Just the basics, but he doesn’t seem his normal happy self today,” answers Phil.
Phil and I enter the room and we find William, Bruce, Jeremy, Shaun, and Jon along with the two young men and Karen. Karen and the young men are on their knees in front of William, Bruce, and Jeremy.
“Why did you bring these people here Ryan?” asks William.
“We didn’t know what else to do with them, and we thought you could help,” I answer William.
“Why not just kill them?” asks William.
“They are from the church that has been kidnapping people,” I answer William.
William nods his head. Jeremy says, “Some of my friends went to that church, and they never came back.”
“We are saving people. Building a better world. Helping people see the world for what it is,” says Karen.
I look at Karen and see that she and the two young men still have their blindfolds on. Karen is the only one that is talking, and she doesn’t seem scared.
“That’s what you call it? Saving and helping people?” asks Phil.
I look at William and say, “I’m sorry for bringing them here, but we didn’t know what else to do and they could provide information for us.”
“We’ll make the best of this situation, but we’ll see how valuable these people are to us,” replies William.
“We’ll need their red clothes for what we plan to do next, so please don’t mess up their clothes,” I say.
“What do you plan on doing?” asks Karen as she looks my direction with her blindfold on.
“Cleanse and purify your church,” I answer Karen.
CHAPTER 12
FRIEND ZONE
“Let’s get back home and wash these red clothes and then we can decide what to do,” I say to Shaun, Phil, and Jon as we stand near our red cars in the Haven parking lot after talking with William.
“You think it’s a good idea to go into the church Ryan?” asks Jon.
Fight 4 Us (Book 11): Access Page 12