Trish looks at Eric with a sad look on her face.
“What did I do wrong?” asks Trish.
“Nothing. It’s just not right for us to be together. It was a one-time thing. I love my wife,” answers Eric.
Eric walks away from Trish.
Trish stares at Eric as he walks away from her and says to herself, “We will see about that.”
A Channelside dock worker asks Brad, “Where is the Captain?”
Brad answers, “Get Sebastian. I need to talk with him.”
Sal and Carmine walk over to Brad.
“You got this,” says Carmine to Brad.
Brad takes a deep breath and gathers his thoughts.
The Channelside dock worker, that Brad talked with, brings Sebastian over to talk with Brad.
“Where is the Captain?” asks Sebastian to Brad.
Brad looks down at the ground.
Sebastian looks at Carmine and Sal.
“He didn’t make it. He was on the boat with us and we were attacked by the Conquerors. He was shot protecting us,” answers Sal to Sebastian.
“Oh dear. That’s terrible. They just attacked you?” asks Sebastian.
“They chased us, and they were firing at us. They said something about a deal that the Captain wasn’t honoring,” answers Sal.
Brad doesn’t say a word as Sal talks with Sebastian.
Sal looks at Sebastian and says, “They said something about wanting people and supplies from here. They specifically said that they wanted you Sebastian.”
Sebastian gets a look of terror on his face.
“Me? What would they want with me?” asks Sebastian to Sal.
Sal is about to answer Sebastian, but Brad steps in front of Sal and says to Sebastian, “I don’t know. The Captain said that he didn’t want you harmed, and he sacrificed himself to protect Channelside.”
“Who will lead us now?” asks the dock worker to Brad.
“I think we should have a vote. We need to elect the next leader. An election is the only fair way,” answers Brad as he looks at Sebastian.
Sebastian nods his head in agreement with Brad’s idea and says, “That’s a good idea. We will have a community meeting tonight about it.”
“We will be there,” says Brad to Sebastian.
“I would like to address the community at the meeting,” says Sal to Sebastian.
Sebastian replies, “That would be fine.”
“What time will the meeting be?” asks Brad.
“Let’s say around seven in the main hall,” answers Sebastian.
Brad, Carmine, and Sal walk away from Sebastian.
As Brad, Carmine, and Sal are walking away, DJ watches them.
DJ overheard the whole conversation between Brad, Sal, and Sebastian.
CHAPTER 9
RIDE OR DIE
“I’m going to see Kiersten. Do you want me to deliver any message to Jerri-Lynn?” asks Brody to me as I’m talking to Hector and Brody in the shade from the oak tree that is in Bobby G’s front yard.
“No thank you. How are Jerri-Lynn and Sam doing over there though?” I answer Brody.
“Pretty good. I think they were planning to talk with the people that live across the street from them,” answers Brody.
“The snipers?” I ask Brody.
“Yeah, I know Sam planned on going over there to talk with them today,” answers Brody.
“Let me know how that goes. I’m very interested in who those people are,” I reply to Brody.
“I will sir,” replies Brody.
Brody says goodbye to me and Hector and then walks towards the main entrance of Citrus Oaks.
“Yes sir,” jokes Hector.
I smirk at Hector’s joke.
“I told him that he didn’t have to call me sir, but he keeps doing it,” I say to Hector.
“He is a good kid, I just like messing with him,” replies Hector.
“So, what else can you tell me about The Grove?” I ask Hector.
“Well, the first day was pretty quiet around The Grove, but some streets around downtown St. Pete are still crazy. We heard gunshots and explosions from a large group that we think were military,” answers Hector.
I say, “I wonder if TJ knows anything about the military being around St. Pete again.”
“The group didn’t mess with us, but I would like to know who is blowing up St. Pete,” says Hector.
I shout to Phil and Shaun, who are in Shaun’s garage, “Can you see if TJ can come by?”
“What about radio silence?” shouts Shaun.
“I think we can ask TJ to come by today!” I shout to Shaun and Phil.
“You got it boss!” shouts Shaun.
“Did you see anyone leave The Grove?” I ask Hector.
Hector answers, “No, but we did see several vehicles enter The Grove last night. They talked with some of the guards and the guards just let them in.”
“Is anyone in your group still in St. Pete?” I ask Hector.
“Yeah, Enrique and a small group are at one of our safe houses somewhere in St. Pete,” answers Hector.
“Thank you, Hector, I will call you over the radio tomorrow. I plan to go to World of Trade tomorrow to get my guns and then I want to see The Grove,” I reply to Hector.
“You got it man. I’ll remember to keep it quiet over the radio. I’m going back to the Haven for some sleep. I might be waking up when you are ready to check out The Grove,” says Hector.
I say goodbye to Hector and walk over to Shaun’s garage.
Hector exits Citrus Oaks and drives to the Haven.
“TJ will be over in a couple hours,” says Phil as I walk into Shaun’s garage.
“Awesome, I want to ask him about the military in St. Pete and anything going on at MacDill,” I reply to Phil.
The loud engine of a truck is heard driving down the street towards Shaun’s house.
“Damn, that truck is loud,” says Shaun to me from inside his garage.
I turn around and see Bo’s truck driving towards Shaun’s house.
Bo parks his truck in front of Shaun’s house and exits from his truck.
“Howdy fellas!” shouts Bo as he exits from his truck.
“How you doing Bo?” I ask Bo.
“Pretty good, I got some venison for y’all,” answers Bo.
Shaun gets excited and runs over to Bo’s truck.
Bo unlatches the back tailgate on his truck.
Shaun and I see a cooler and a couple boxes of vegetables and eggs.
“Help me with this,” says Bo to Shaun as Bo jumps into the back of his truck.
Shaun helps Bo with the large cooler, and I grab some of the boxes from the back of Bo’s truck.
Phil walks over to the back of Bo’s truck and grabs the last two boxes that Bo brought us.
“Thanks Bo, but you didn’t have to give us more stuff. You gave us plenty the last time we saw you,” I say to Bo.
“Barrett insisted. Well, Darby actually. She wanted me to thank you for stitching her up,” replies Bo.
“It was my pleasure. I’m just glad I could help. I am very curious about her community though,” I reply to Bo.
Shaun opens the cooler and starts putting the vacuum sealed bags of venison in the refrigerator inside his house.
Shaun is very excited about all the bags of venison that Bo gave us.
“They don’t like me talking about their community, but it’s pretty nice. They have a large wall around it and the zoo is in there,” says Bo to me.
“Do they have a doctor there?” I ask Bo.
“Yeah, a good one, but I don’t think she is a surgeon though. They could really use your help there,” answers Bo.
“I would like to help Darby and her community. It’s the least I could do for all this food,” I say to Bo.
“Great, well I’ll talk with them and set something up. I’ll be in touch,” says Bo to me.
“Thank you, Bo,” I reply to Bo.
“Thank you, and y’all be sa
fe now,” replies Bo.
Bo hops back into his truck and speeds away from Shaun’s house.
Bobby G walks over to Shaun’s garage.
“Do you have an Allen wrench set?” asks Bobby G.
“I don’t know what Shaun has in here, but he might,” answers Phil as he looks at Bobby G.
“Shaun!” shouts Phil.
“What?” shouts Shaun from inside his kitchen.
“Come here! We need something!” shouts Phil.
Shaun puts the last piece of venison in his fridge and walks back out into his garage.
“What?” asks Shaun.
“Do you have an Allen wrench set?” asks Bobby G.
Shaun walks over to a tall tool chest inside his garage and answers Bobby G, “Yeah, I think I do.”
Shaun opens one of the tool chest drawers and looks around the drawer.
Shaun closes the drawer and opens a cabinet.
“Bingo, there you are,” says Shaun as he grabs his set of Allen wrenches from inside the cabinet.
I look at Bobby G and ask, “What do you need the wrench set for?”
“My SUV. I’m taking apart the piece that keeps breaking down. I think I can fix it,” answers Bobby G.
I see Bobby G take the Allen wrench set from Shaun and realize the he has passion for fixing his old SUV.
“Good luck, I hope you finally figure it out,” I say to Bobby G.
Bobby G smiles and replies, “Me too.”
Bobby G walks back across the street and into his garage.
“He loves working on that SUV,” I say.
“I thought it was brand new?” asks Shaun.
“He’s working on his old SUV. It means a lot to him. It was the first thing he got when he retired,” I answer Shaun.
“Oh, I gotcha, I was gonna say. That brand-new SUV should be running good,” replies Shaun.
“It’s crazy to think that all the years you spent at your job and the money you saved mean nothing now. The world doesn’t care about money and pension plans right now,” says Phil.
“Yeah, it’s kind of sad when you think about it. All that hard work means shit now,” says Shaun.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about my student loans anymore. I was going to be in debt from my medical school until I was 70,” I say to Shaun and Phil.
“I heard that. I would be paying my mortgage off until I retired. We had to refinance the house to pay some medical bills a couple years ago,” says Shaun.
“Everything okay man?” I ask Shaun.
“Yeah, I just was in the hospital for a couple weeks and I didn’t have good insurance, and Lisa was between jobs at the time,” answers Shaun.
“Damn, man I didn’t know that,” I reply to Shaun.
“It was a tough year, but we made it, and it made me trust and fall even more in love with Lisa,” says Shaun.
“Why?” asks Phil.
“The tough times showed me that she was truly my ride or die. In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad… The bad times really showed me that she would stick by me,” answers Shaun.
“I heard that. That’s the truth. It’s easy for people to hang around when life is good and smooth sailing, but when shit hits the fan… You see who really has your back,” I reply to Shaun.
I look at Phil and Shaun and feel thankful that they are here with me and that they have been my friends for so long.
“Speaking of ride or die!” shouts Phil as he sees Jon and Kelly walking up Shaun’s driveway towards us.
The main entrance gate opens and TJ’s jeep drives towards Shaun’s house.
“What’s up guys?” asks Jon.
“Nothing much, just getting our stuff together for tomorrow. How about you?” I ask Jon.
“Just coming by to talk with you guys,” answers Jon.
Kelly says hello to everyone, and asks Shaun, “Is Lisa inside?”
“Yeah, she is. Kylie and Ann are here as well,” answers Shaun.
“Nice, girls meeting,” jokes Kelly as she opens and walks through the door inside Shaun’s garage that leads in to Shaun’s house.
TJ parks his jeep in front of Shaun’s house.
Janet, TJ, Odin, and Alice get out of TJ’s jeep.
“What’s up TJ?” I ask.
“Just living the dream,” jokes TJ.
Odin runs over to me, and I pet Odin on his head.
“What’s going on fellas?” asks TJ.
“Just getting our plans together. Big things might be happening over the next couple days,” answers Phil.
“Who lives across the street from here?” asks Janet.
“Our friend Jerri-Lynn and her family. Why?” I answer Janet.
“Just curious. I saw some people with some serious weapons out there a couple times, and I was hoping that you knew them,” answers Janet.
“We know Jerri-Lynn and her family, but I haven’t met the other family that lives over there yet,” I say to Janet.
“You might want to check them out. They look like someone you may want on your side,” replies TJ.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Sam knocks on the front door of a house that is across the street from Jerri-Lynn’s house.
Sam, Jerri-Lynn, Brody, Kiersten, and Andre are standing at the front porch of a house with a front door that is painted the color cranberry.
“Who is it?” shouts a young woman from inside the house with the cranberry colored front door that Sam just knocked on.
“It’s Sam and the people that live across the street from you!” shouts Sam.
“You mean the people we saved!” shouts a teenage boy from inside the house.
“Yeah, thank you for that!” shouts Jerri-Lynn.
“What do you want?” shouts a man from inside the house.
“We brought you something for saving us! A gesture of gratitude!” shouts Jerri-Lynn.
No one inside the house replies to Jerri-Lynn.
Jerri-Lynn and everyone outside the house can hear some commotion coming from inside the house.
“Alright!” shouts the young woman from inside the house.
The cranberry colored front door opens slightly, and the young woman is standing behind the front door.
“What do you got there?” asks the young woman.
“It’s a box of things. We weren’t sure what you like, so we brought a bunch of different things for you to have,” answers Sam.
The cranberry colored front door opens fully now. Jerri-Lynn, Sam, and everyone standing on the front porch see a middle-aged white man, an African American teenage boy, and a white young woman standing in the entryway of the house.
“We mean no harm. We just wanted to say thank you for helping us the other day,” says Jerri-Lynn.
The African American teenage boy grabs the box that Andre is holding in his hands.
“Nice, you got peanut butter cups and cookies,” says the African American teenage boy as he goes through the box that he just took from Andre.
“What do you want?” asks the middle-aged man to Jerri-Lynn.
“Nothing. We just wanted to say thank you,” answers Jerri-Lynn.
The young woman and Sam make eye contact.
“I’m Sam,” says Sam to the young woman.
“I’m Chelsea, my dad Charles, and my brother Chase,” replies the young woman.
“Your brother?” asks Brody.
“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” replies Chelsea to Brody.
Brody gets nervous as he sees Chelsea move her right hand on to her handgun that is in her right hip holster.
“No problem. Just didn’t think you were related,” says Brody to Chelsea.
“Nice to meet you Chelsea,” says Sam.
“I’m Sam, this is my sister Jerri-Lynn, this is Kiersten who is Jerri-Lynn’s daughter, this is our friend Andre, and that guy is Kiersten’s boyfriend Brody,” says Sam to Chelsea.
Charles looks at Sam and Jerri-Lynn and everyone else who is standing on his
front porch.
“What do you think about this group Chelsea?” asks Charles as he looks at Chelsea.
Chelsea looks at Sam with a flirtatious look and says, “I think we should get to know them.”
“Okay, come on in everyone. If Chelsea trusts you, then I trust you,” says Charles.
Sam, Andre, Jerri-Lynn, Kiersten, and Brody enter Charles’ home.
“Sorry for the mess, we don’t get many visitors,” says Chelsea as she clears out some trash and debris from the living room as Sam, Brody, Kiersten, and Andre walk into the living room.
“Is this your house?” asks Jerri-Lynn.
“It is now,” answers Chase as he chews a piece of a peanut butter bar that was inside the box that he took from Andre.
“Do you want anything?” asks Chelsea to Sam.
“No thank you. I am good,” answers Sam.
Chelsea sits down in a loveseat that is positioned underneath the living room windows.
Sam sits down on the sofa that is next to the loveseat and faces the TV in the living room.
Jerri-Lynn notices the flirtatious looks that Chelsea keeps giving Sam.
Kiersten sits next to Sam on the living room sofa.
Andre and Brody notice all the different supplies, weapons, and things around the house.
Kiersten notices the boarded-up windows and covers around the living room windows.
Charles sits down in a dining room chair that he has positioned to face the living room sofa.
“Who were those people that were trying to break into your house?” asks Charles.
“A random group of people that we had a run-in with at a store. We didn’t know them,” answers Jerri-Lynn.
“We took care of them for you,” says Chase as he stands next to Charles.
“We appreciate that,” replies Andre.
“Who put up the lights and speakers?” asks Charles.
“I did,” answers Andre.
“I helped you,” says Sam as she looks at Andre.
Andre smiles and looks at Sam.
“That was a good idea,” says Charles.
“Gotta be ready for anything and securing your home is pretty important,” says Chase.
“Is it just you three living here?” asks Jerri-Lynn to Charles.
“Yeah, my wife died at the start of all this zombie apocalypse shit. We lost our house, but we found these homes vacated,” answers Charles.
“I’m sorry to hear that about your wife,” says Brody.
Fight 4 Us (Book 9): Settlement Page 10