Ray opens the door and says, "Here we go guys. The weapons locker is to the right. Let's go there first."
We all go into the weapons locker. We find the weapons locker half stocked with handguns, shotguns, rifles, body armor, ammo, and various tactile supplies.
"Now, that's what I'm talking about. We are set for a while," says Phil.
Phil and I start to load up a couple bags of weapons and other supplies. As we are loading up the guns, Ray clutches his chest and falls to the ground. Stephanie goes to Ray who is lying face down on the weapons locker floor now. As she is checking Ray out and pleading with Ray to get up, Ray wakes up but has turned into a zombie now. Ray bites Stephanie on the neck. She screams and pushes Ray away from her. Blood is gushing all over the place. Phil grabs two handguns and takes both Ray and Stephanie out with two head shots. Lauren tries to take cover and starts to cry as she sees Ray and Stephanie lying on the floor.
I comfort Lauren and say, "Ok guys, lets load up the SUV and get back to the house. Ray and Stephanie were good people and let’s be thankful for this opportunity. We have to get setup with a plan going forward and these weapons and supplies will definitely help out."
I take one last look at Ray and Stephanie. I reach down and take Ray's ID badge and keys off his belt as we will need them to get out of the station.
Lauren, Phil, and I exit the police station and load up the SUV. We all get in the SUV and hear a transmission coming through the police radio.
It says, "Calling all cars, we need immediate assistance at Tampa Hospital. I repeat, we need all available units to Tampa Hospital immediately."
I look at the radio as it is saying there is a problem at Tampa Hospital. That is where I work and I feel a sense of worry for the employees of the hospital. I feel close with my medical staff and the employees of the hospital. I have been working at Tampa Hospital for 10 years and have formed some great bonds and connections with the hospital employees.
I turn to Lauren and say, "I have to get to the hospital to check things out, but let's run home first and get some supplies before we head to the hospital. I have to check on my staff and make sure everyone is ok."
I drive through the back gate of the police station and head back home. On the way, back home, the streets are starting to fill with more abandoned cars, zombies, people, and chaos.
"It's amazing how fast people will turn on each other and how fast things fell apart around here," says Lauren.
"I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse. We need to take care of each other and protect our lives and supplies. No matter what comes along our safety, security, and lives matter over others. We can't hesitate if our safety is in question. It’s easy to say this in this car right now, but I know future events may cause tough decisions to be made. If we stick to our safety-first mind set, then we should be ok. Any problems with that?"
"No problems with that," says Phil.
"We have to think of ourselves first, now, and that might sound selfish, but it will keep us alive. We fight for us," says Lauren.
I pull up to my house and park the police SUV in the driveway. As I park the police SUV in the driveway I see the two men that we duct taped in our driveway. They are both awake and yelling for help. Phil runs over to the men and punches them both in the face. They both stop yelling and are scared now.
"You can't leave us like this!" shouts one of the guys.
I walk over to Phil and see that the guys are awake now. They are still tied up with duct tape around their ankles and wrists.
Phil looks at me and asks, “What do we do with these two?"
Lauren gets out of the car now and says to me, “I’ll be inside the house. If you need my help just let me know.”
The roll of duct tape that Phil used to tie them up is lying next to them.
I look down at the tape and say to Phil," I have an idea, keep an eye on these two. I will be right back."
I run into the house, go to the garage and get some black paint, a big piece of cardboard and a paintbrush. I come back outside, open the trunk to the SUV and put the supplies I just gathered from the garage into the SUV.
I look at Phil and say, “Let’s put them in here and take them for a little ride.”
Phil and I grab one of the men and place him in the back of the SUV.
The man says, “What are you doing? Where are you taking us?”
We grab the other man and throw him right next to the other man in the trunk of the SUV. I close the SUV trunk. Phil and I get into the SUV. I decide to make a display of these two thieves. I drive down the street to one of the busier roads.
Phil asks, “Why don't we just kill them Ryan? We don't have to worry about them if they are dead.”
I stop the SUV and say, “Because killing won't solve this problem.”
I feel that I want to kill these two men, but part of me still feels wrong to kill people. Weirdly enough, I have no problem with killing zombies as they don’t seem alive to me. I drive a good 25 miles out from my house and stop on a major road that usually has a lot of traffic on it. There is a street sign in the middle of the road. It reads:
131st Street
At the next light
I open the trunk. Phil and I throw each man out of the SUV onto the grass.
The men plead and say, “Look man, just let us go. We are sorry about what we did.”
Phil and I place each man against a pole of the sign. We start to wrap more duct tape around the men’s ankles and wrists. We then wrap duct tape around the men to hold them against the poles of the sign. I go back to the SUV to get the cardboard, paint, and brush. I tape the cardboard to the bottom of the street sign. I make sure it is secure and start to write on the cardboard with the paint.
Phil thinks we should kill the men, but I just can’t accept killing people yet. It still feels like murder to me. I feel like keeping them alive and giving them a second chance is the right thing to do. I want to broadcast to any remaining survivors that these men are terrible and either someone can help them or not. I take my time when painting the message on the cardboard as to avoid any misspelling errors.
The sign reads:
These 2 Men Are Assholes. They Tried To Steal From Me. You Decide If They Live or Die
The men start to cry and say, “You can't do this to us.”
I look at the men and say, “I’m giving you a chance to live and turn it around. We could have just killed you. Turn your life around and help others or keep doing the wrong thing. Karma is a bitch.”
Phil and I get back into the SUV and decide to drive home. We can hear the men shouting, "Help. Someone please help us."
I give one last look at the men and start the drive back home. During the drive home, I can see Phil didn’t agree with my decision.
I turn to Phil and ask, “Is something bothering you about what I did with those two men?”
Phil replies, “Yeah. I don’t think they should have lived for what they did. They could have killed Lauren.”
I reply, “Point taken. I just couldn’t kill them.”
Part of me agrees with Phil, but part of me feels like I did the right thing by keeping them alive. People do deserve second chances. I usually go with my gut instinct and that is what I did here by letting these two men live. I can’t help but to think if my decision was the right one or not, but at this moment, I feel it’s the correct decision. Only time will tell I guess.
We get back to my house and I park the SUV in the driveway again.
I turn to Phil and say, "Let's get inside and take the rest of the night to get some sleep, something to eat, and get ready for tomorrow. I'm sure it will be another big day."
We unload the weapons, supplies, and ammo we got from the police station into the house. Phil is wearing a black body armor helmet now, while he is carrying the rest of the armor that goes on his body.
I smack the helmet on Phil's head and say, "Thanks for being here man. I don’t know how far I would have gotten w
ithout you here."
Phil flips up the front protector shield and says, "You got it bro, I've known you since 4th grade. You are family, really you are some of my only family left. I won't let anyone or anything happen to my family."
Phil and I enter the house and secure the doors and windows. Lauren sounds like she is in the master bedroom. As Phil and I are checking the windows and doors, I say, "The windows and front door are hurricane proof, so I'm sure they can stop any zombies or people trying to enter the house."
My house is the traditional Florida rancher built in 1974. Brick home with a solid structure and frame. Lauren and I have owned this house for about six years now, and we made sure to upgrade the windows and doors for hurricanes, but I guess the house improvements will be protecting us from zombies now.
Phil goes into a bedroom and lies down on the bed. He reaches into his pocket and takes out his wallet. He finds an old picture of himself and a brunette woman.
He whisperers to himself, "I hope you are ok, and I'm going to make sure that you are safe."
I go into the master bedroom and find Lauren sitting on the edge of our bed. Lauren is noticeably shaken from what happened with Ray and Stephanie.
I sit next to Lauren on the bed and ask, "Are you ok Lauren?"
"I'm not ok with how things are and the state of the world right now. What are we going to do? What is the end game for this? How can we be safe in this new world?" asks Lauren.
I pull Lauren close, hug her, and say, "We will figure something out. I don’t know exactly how it will go down, but we have to fight and continue on. The world has gone to shit, but we have to make sure we are safe, and our loved ones are safe. Then we go from there."
I believe wholeheartedly in what I just told Lauren, but have doubts about making it in this new world.
I kiss Lauren and say, "I'm going to take a shower and then go to bed. I'm beat and need to rest."
"I'm going to check on Phil and see if he needs anything," says Lauren.
Knock. Knock.
Lauren knocks on Phil’s closed bedroom door. Phil gets up from the bed and opens the door.
"You got everything you need?" asks Lauren.
"Yeah, I think I'm good. I going to jump in the shower and then get some sleep. It's been a rough day," replies Phil.
Lauren looks down on the ground and sees the picture that Phil dropped. Lauren picks up the picture and asks, "Who is this?"
Phil answers, “That’s the one that got away. We dated for a little bit, but she moved away and I haven't seen her in a couple years.”
Lauren hands Phil back the picture and says, “Well, I hope you find her someday.”
"Me too," says Phil.
Lauren walks into the bathroom, turns on the light, and says, "You should have everything in the bathroom you need, soap, towels, and I just changed the sheets on the bed. If you need anything, just let us know."
"I will, thank you Lauren. Everything looks great though," replies Phil.
"Goodnight and thank you for bringing Ryan back to me. He is everything to me," says Lauren.
"You are welcome, goodnight," replies Phil.
Lauren leaves the room and closes the door. As Lauren leaves the room, she thinks about the picture Phil had.
"I know that woman, but I can't remember how I know her," says Lauren.
I awake to the sound of Phil trying to open one of my spare bedroom doors. It’s just Lauren and I in the 4-bedroom house. I had the luxury to make one of my spare bedrooms into my man cave.
"Dude, why is this door locked?" shouts Phil.
I awake from my bed and walk across the house to where Phil is. I am half asleep and the sun looks to just rose.
"What time is it?" I ask Phil.
Phil responds, "I don't know, I usually get up around 5AM for work so my body is always ready."
I go to the door and unlock it. Phil goes into the room first and says, "Look at all this crap you got in your man cave Ryan."
Phil is grabbing everything like a kid in a candy shop. My man cave is my spot in the house. It’s a bedroom that I made into my personal room. It was a variety of things in it. Ranging from sports memorabilia, weapons, comics, and personal items that mean a lot to me.
"Throwing knives, nunchaku, and a freaking Samurai sword," says Phil.
Phil picks up the sword from its holder.
As I see Phil picking up the samurai sword, I say to him, "Careful with that. That's the real thing. Lauren bought me that sword a while ago for my birthday. I had it for about 4 years and actually took classes on how to properly use it."
Phil walks over to a picture of me in my martial arts gi and black belt on the wall.
I ask, "You know I did martial arts for like 10 years Phil?"
"I remember you doing martial arts for a long time but didn't know you had all this stuff," replies Phil.
I have done martial arts since I was in high school and have really got back into classes and training over the past 4 years. I haven’t had to use my martial arts training in real life but I’m glad that I have it as the world has gone to crap.
Phil brings all the weapons out from the man cave and puts them on the floor in the living room. Lauren wakes up and walks out into the living room.
"Guess this is the time to use all that stuff," says Lauren.
Lauren walks into the kitchen and starts to make breakfast.
"What do you guys want for breakfast?” she asks.
I reply, "Eggs, fruit, and some toast."
"You got it," says Lauren.
Phil picks up a pair of wooden nunchaku and starts twirling them around. He clearly doesn't know what he is doing with them. As I watch Phil messing around with them, I can't help but laugh.
Phil says, "Watch this."
He twirls the nunchaku around with his right hand and tries to swing it under his left arm pit but instead he hits himself right in the nuts. I watch the entire thing and start laughing.
I joke, "A real nunchaku master over here."
Phil dramatically falls to the ground, and we have a good laugh which makes us feel slightly better about the current state of the world and what we have already been through.
Phil gets up off the ground and walks over to the window. He looks out the window and sees a nice clear calm day. No zombies in sight. The neighborhood is quiet, almost too quiet. Phil walks away from the window and turns on the TV but no signal is coming through.
"Anyone got any cell phone service," asks Phil.
We check our phones, but no one's cell phone is working.
"What's the plan today?" asks Phil.
I look at my white doctor coat on the chair and say, "I need to get over to Tampa Hospital today and make sure my staff are safe and maybe even get some antibiotics for us.”
"Good idea. I like the idea of getting meds for us," says Phil.
I reply, "It's about a 20-minute drive to the hospital from here, we need to get in and check things out. I figure the hospital is going to be a mad house, but hopefully someone is at the hospital for us to talk to."
Lauren finishes making breakfast for us. The house has that great smell of breakfast foods and it immediately makes me hungry. We get to enjoy a nice meal together, before we must deal with the world again.
In the house, with Phil and Lauren, I feel safe and secure. Out in the world is a different feeling. I sit and enjoy my breakfast, but can't help to feel like it could be my last breakfast.
We finish our breakfast and clean ourselves up before going to the hospital. We all gear up for the trip to the hospital and mentally prepare for what we might see. As I am walking to the bedroom I see my samurai sword and throwing knives in the living room and pick them up.
As I'm holding them, Lauren says, “Be careful with those things.”
I glance at the red protective cover and black handle grips of the sword.
I put the sword over my right shoulder and say, “I definitely will, but remember I have had training wit
h it. I hope I don't have to use it, but it's better to bring it with me and not use it than to need it and not have it."
Lauren finishes getting dressed and we exit the bedroom.
Lauren and I meet Phil in the living room. We are all ready to go to the hospital. I can see Lauren is nervous about the trip, but Phil is ready for action.
I ask Phil, "Can you go check the vehicles and make sure it's all clear outside?"
Phil turns to me and says, "No problem. I will go check it out now."
As Phil leaves through the front door, I pull Lauren aside.
I look Lauren in the eyes and say, “I know the world is a crazy freaking place right now. You and I can handle it. Safety first and always. We have to be cautious, but not worried. You can handle it sweetie. Don't be worried.”
Lauren is looking at me in the eyes, and I can see my pep talk only got somewhat through to her.
Lauren replies, "You and I can do it. Let’s just be safe today and always. I can't lose you."
I kiss Lauren on the forehead and say, “I can't lose you either, and I won't lose you if we take things safely and we communicate.”
Lauren nods in agreement and jokingly says, “Okay samurai Ry.”
The joke cuts the nervous tension. Lauren always has a great way of doing that after a fight or during a tense situation. We both laugh as we exit the house. Phil is waiting for us on the front porch. I lock the front door to the house and we all enter the police SUV.
CHAPTER 4
HOSPITAL CHAOS
The streets around Tampa Hospital are congested with debris and abandoned vehicles. We can still get around the main streets, but it takes some maneuvering around the wreckage. We are passing more and more abandoned cars and zombies that are filling the streets. The zombies are filing into herds as they walk down the streets. As I drive Phil and Lauren to the hospital, I become more and more nervous over the decision I made to have Lauren come along with Phil and myself. Lauren is a very smart person but I do not know how she will handle things around zombies and dangerous situations.
Fight 4 Us (Book 1): The Beginning Page 5