Denise says, "I really need to use the bathroom, I will be right out."
As she enters the bathroom, I continue to walk around the house. I enter the kitchen and see a calendar on the side of the refrigerator. I walk over to the calendar, and I see something written on it. In red ink, it says Park Day with DL, and it's circled with a heart. I hear the bathroom door open and try to act natural in the kitchen. I look out the kitchen window and see that the sun is setting.
Denise comes out of the bathroom and asks, “Do you want anything?”
I respond, "No thanks, I have to get back to Nicole's house. You seem to be pretty set here. Keep the doors and windows locked. If you need anything, you know where to find us."
Denise replies, “I will, thank you for everything Ryan.”
Denise gives me a hug.
I respond, "You are welcome. I'm sure we will see you again."
I exit the house through the front door and make my way back to the SUV. I walk back to the SUV and feel a sense of confusion and distrust. I get in the SUV and head back to Nicole's house.
I pull up to Nicole's house. Nicole’s street seems to have less zombies on it now. I see Phil sitting outside by the front door with his shotgun by his side. The house is clear of zombies, so I get out of the SUV and walk to the front door.
I ask Phil, "Why are you outside man? What is going on?"
Phil replies, “I’d rather be outside with the zombies than inside with that asshole Derrick.”
I tell Phil, "I just took Denise home and saw her calendar marked with Derrick's initials on it for a theme park trip. That definitely proves to me that they were at the park for a date."
Phil gets more agitated and grabs his shotgun.
I say, "We can't do anything just yet. I want to talk with Derrick, before we do anything about it. Maybe it just looks bad."
Phil replies, “If we find out that he was cheating on Nicole, then we might have to do something about Derrick.”
I reply, "We will Phil."
Phil and I go inside the house, Phil closes the front door and locks it. I see Lauren is visibly nervous and upset as she is sitting on the sofa in the living room. Phil walks into his bedroom and closes the door.
I walk over to Lauren and ask her, “What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Why were the zombies all around the house when we pulled up?”
Lauren stands up and pulls me into the bedroom. She closes the door, starts crying and says, "I was so scared about you not coming back. I don't know what I would do without you. I just got nervous the longer you guys took to get back here. I kept looking outside the windows, heard some weird noises and decided to check out the noises that were coming from outside."
I say, "I told you to stay inside Lauren!"
Lauren replies, "I know I just got nervous and thought it was ok to go outside for a second. The neighborhood seemed safe and I haven’t seen any zombies outside since we have been here. I went outside and walked to the end of the driveway. I saw something moving in the distance and heard moaning and groaning. It was a bunch of zombies walking down the street in a huge herd. The moment I saw them I ran back inside and locked the door. I know it was dumb but my nerves got the best of me. The zombies were banging so hard on the door and windows. I thought they were going to get inside, but luckily they didn't."
I hug Lauren and kiss her forehead.
I look her in the eyes and say, “I won't leave you again. Where I go, you go. I promise.”
Lauren and I kiss and go to bed.
Phil is pacing back and forth in his bedroom. He has nervous energy and needs to work it off.
Knock Knock.
Phil hears a knock on his bedroom door. He stops pacing and looks at the door. He takes a second as he isn’t sure who is knocking on his door. He thinks it could be Nicole, so he opens his bedroom door.
"Hey man, you mind if I come in for a second," says Derrick.
Phil has a puzzled look on his face but says, "Yeah, sure come in."
Derrick walks in the room. Phil is surprised to see Derrick and feels uneasy about him being in his room. As Derrick enter the bedroom and walks past Phil, Phil looks at his knife that he has on the dresser. He is tempted to grab it and stab Derrick in the chest but controls his urge to hurt Derrick.
Derrick looks at Phil and says, "I want to say thank you for saving me today. I appreciate you and Ryan. It means a lot to me that you are looking out for me and Nicole."
Phil replies, “No problem. Nicole is like family.”
Derrick grabs the gun that was tucked in the back of his pants and says, “Here is your gun back Phil.”
Phil says, “Keep it, I have another one. You never know when you may need a gun now a days.”
Derrick nods his head said and says, "Thank you. Yeah, you can never be too careful is this crazy new world now."
Phil is getting angrier just being in the presence of Derrick. He decides it's a good idea to be away from Derrick for a while.
Phil asks Derrick, "Hey man, do you mind giving me some alone time? I'm beat and super tired from today. I need to rest up."
Derrick replies, “No problem Phil, just wanted to say thank you for today.”
“You are welcome,” says Phil.
Derrick leaves the room. Phil closes the door behind him and shakes his head in anger. He sits on the edge of the bed, puts his palms on his head and whispers to himself, “Everything happens for a reason, and I am pretty sure I know that reason now.”
Derrick walks into his bedroom, he sees Nicole lying in the bed.
Nicole sees Derrick walk in the room and says, “Come here Derrick. I'm glad you are ok? What happened out there?”
Derrick replies, “I was at the theme park and everything started to break down. Sirens were going off, and they told us to please leave the park. We were just about to go on the new ride in the Space Wars attraction. They said one last ride and then we are shutting down. The ride finished, we got off the ride and started walking to the exits of the ride.”
Derrick continues, “It was weird. As we walked down the long hallway towards the exit, we could hear people but no one was around. We heard screams, and when we got outside, I was shocked at what I saw. People were running around crazy. People were eating and biting other people. One tried to bite me, I ran into the nearest store. The people inside started to lock the doors and make a barricade around the front windows. We became trapped in the store as more and more zombies kept coming towards the store. We were afraid to leave.”
Nicole sits up in the bed, reaches for Derrick and gives him a hug. Nicole is not sure what to make of his story. She feels a little uneasy about it.
Nicole says, "I'm glad you are safe and back with me now. Soon we are going to be a family when this baby comes. I love you Derrick."
"I love you too, and I can't wait for the baby to be born," says Derrick.
Derrick kisses Denise on the forehead and says, "Get some rest sweetie. I'm going to clean up in the bathroom and then go to bed."
Derrick walks into the bathroom and closes the door. Derrick is stressed and has a worried look on his face as he looks in the mirror. He runs his hands through his hair in frustration. He turns the sink facet on and puts some water into his cupped hands. He splashes the water onto his face and takes a deep breath.
Derrick looks in the mirror and whispers, “Well Derrick, you really made a mess of this now. Tomorrow you have to end it.”
CHAPTER 9
SHIT HITS THE FAN
I awake to find Lauren asleep in the bed. I wake up and take a piss. I try to be quiet as not to wake Lauren. I walk into the kitchen, grab a protein bar and a banana for breakfast. I sit at the kitchen table and look out the window. The sun is up, and it already looks to be another hot day. I'm met by Nicole who comes out from her bedroom to get something to eat.
"Good morning."
Nicole is dressed in her bathrobe, comfortable red pajama pants, and a pair of bunny slippers.
&n
bsp; I joke, "Nice slippers."
"You like those?" asks Nicole.
Nicole sits down at the table, and we enjoy a nice breakfast together.
I ask, "So how many weeks along are you Nicole?"
Nicole replies, “I think I just hit 36 weeks a couple days ago. I was supposed to see my doctor soon, but I'm guessing the way the world is now, that hospitals aren't really open anymore.”
I ask, "Yeah, I guess not, but what is the plan now for having the baby?"
Nicole replies, "I'm not really sure, but I know that the baby is coming, and I really hope it goes smoothly."
Derrick comes out of the bedroom and walks over to Nicole. He kisses her on the forehead and says, “What are you two talking about?”
Nicole replies, “Nothing much, Ryan was just asking about the baby.”
Derrick looks at me with a somewhat frustrated look and says, “We will figure it out. We always do.”
I respond, "I'm sure you will Derrick."
I become annoyed by Derrick, so I excuse myself from the table and look out the front windows of the house. I see that the streets of the neighborhood have an increased number of zombies that are roaming up and down Nicole's street now. We need to clear the streets and secure the front entrance to the neighborhood.
Phil comes out of the bedroom passes Derrick and Nicole in the kitchen, says, "Good morning" and walks over to me as I’m looking out the front windows.
He asks, “What is the plan now Ry? We came, saw, saved, and now what?”
I respond, "I'm trying to figure it out now, but I just want to make sure Nicole is ok. She is 36 weeks and could possibly have the baby at any point now. We need to secure the front gate as more and more zombies will keep coming in, until we block them out."
Phil turns, looks at Derrick and asks, “What about numb nuts over there? What do we do about Derrick?”
I reply, "I think we have to find out for sure what is going on with him and Denise before we do anything."
I look at the police SUV that has the plow on the front.
I tell Phil, “I have an idea. Go change and meet me at the front door.”
Phil walks back to his room to change. I walk up to Derrick and ask him, “Can you help Phil and I today Derrick?”
Derrick replies, "Yeah, whatever you need."
"Great, go change into something that you can sweat in and meet Phil and I at the front door."
I walk into the bedroom to change my clothes and find Lauren awake and in the bathroom. Lauren comes out of the bathroom and sees me changing my clothes.
"What are you doing now?" asks Lauren with a concerned face.
"We need to secure the entrance gate. It's broken, and its allowing anything and anyone into the neighborhood. Also, I want to take out as many zombies as we can, so this neighborhood is safe for Nicole."
Lauren smiles and says, “That is a good idea, just be careful sweetie.”
I reply, “I will my love.”
I change my clothes and show Lauren that I put my bulletproof vest on under my sweatshirt. I pick up my katana, put it around my shoulder and walk out of the bedroom. I walk to the front door and see Phil is waiting for me. He has a machete in his right hand and some of his riot gear on. Derrick finally walks to the front door and is holding a handgun in his right hand.
I turn toward Derrick and say, “We have to clear out some of the zombies quietly. Try not to use your gun if you can, as the noise may attract more zombies.”
I pick up the baseball bat that is next to the front door and hand it to Derrick.
I say, “Use the bat if you can.”
Derrick nervously nods in agreement to using the bat.
I look at Phil and Derrick and say, “Let’s clear the zombies out around the SUVs and house first, before we go to the front gate.”
Phil replies, “You got it.”
Nicole walks over to Derrick before we leave the house and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Derrick almost seems annoyed by Nicole’s kiss.
Nicole says, “Be careful you guys.”
Derrick replies, “We will.”
Derrick goes out the front door, followed by Phil and myself. Nicole closes the front door and locks it behind us. As we are making our way to the street, zombies are coming at us from all directions. Phil takes down a couple zombies with his machete. I take out two zombies with my katana. Derrick seems to be frozen in fear. I see Derrick is about to be swarmed by two zombies. I grab Derrick and push him out of the way. Derrick drops his baseball bat. I kill the two zombies with my katana.
Derrick lays on the ground scared. I walk over to Derrick to find him staring at the zombies I just killed. He won’t stop looking at the two zombies. Phil and I clear out the last couple of zombies that were close to the house and vehicles.
I turn to Derrick and say, “Are you okay Derrick?”
Derrick doesn’t respond.
Derrick walks over to the two zombies. He seems to have known these two women prior to the zombie apocalypse.
Derrick starts to cry as he is staring at the two women.
Phil and I look at each other in disbelief.
Derrick says, “I knew these two women. They lived down the street. They were Kelly and Carly, a mother and daughter.”
I console Derrick and say, “I’m sorry man. It’s definitely tough when you see friends and neighbors in this condition now.”
I walk over to Phil and say, "We have to keep an eye out for Derrick. I’m not sure he’ll help us. Let’s try to clear out these zombies and repair the gate. Do we have a chain or some rope, or anything that will help hold the gate closed?"
Phil replies," I don't know, let me check."
Phil checks both SUVs for anything that might help keep the gate closed. Derrick comes out of the house (he had gone back briefly to try and pull himself together) and walks over to us.
I ask Derrick, "Are you okay to keep helping us?”
Derrick replies, “Yeah. Sorry about that. It was just tough to see them like that. I can help you guys. What do you need?”
I reply, “Derrick do you have any chain or anything that we can use to close the front gate?”
Derrick replies, “I don't think so, but Denise might.”
I reply, “That is okay, we can worry about that later. Let's clear these zombies around the streets of the neighborhood first.”
Derrick picks up the baseball bat from the ground and gathers himself. We all get into the SUV and plan to take out the zombies around the neighborhood on the way to the front gate. The neighborhood is gated and only has one way in and one way out. We need to block the main entrance to prevent any further problems getting in, as well as clearing out the zombies that are currently in the streets.
I start up the SUV and drive to the front gate. I beep my horn to attract attention and make the zombies gather together. I want to get them together, so that I can run them over with the police SUV plow. More and more zombies are coming into the streets and coming towards the SUV. Derrick sees more of his neighbors as zombies, and is shocked to see them in such a terrible condition. I stop the car in the middle of the road, and give a couple more beeps. Zombies are filling the streets now. I put the car in reverse to get some speed, as I plan to run the zombies over with the SUV. A good number of zombies are lined up perfectly in the center of the road now. I hit the gas and take out about 15-20 zombies with the SUV plow. I drive right through them and keep going to the front gate. We get to the front gate and see that the gate needs to be secured with chains, ropes, and a lock.
I'd rather lock it, so nothing can get in or out for now. We can always unlock it when we have to leave, but I just want it secured as not to allow anything to get in. I also see that the entrance road to the neighborhood has a couple dozen zombies on it now, most of which are starting to line up in front of the gate. I realize that if we get this gate closed somehow, we can stop anymore zombies from getting in for now. I decide to pass through the gate onto the main stre
et with the SUV to take some of the zombies out that remain outside the complex. I beep the horn again and get the attention of a lot more zombies. I hit the gas and run over about eight zombies. I back up, and do it one more time. The zombies are being ripped in half and don't stand a chance against the SUV plow. Only a few remain outside the gate now. I drive back into the neighborhood, and park the SUV by the front entrance to provide a partial road block.
Phil, Derrick, and I get out of SUV. The front gate and parking lot near the clubhouse are clear from zombies now. Phil decides to run over to the gate and pull it towards the SUV. By doing this, he makes the space even more narrow for anything to come in now. Derrick is walking around the streets and looks around in disbelieve. He walks into the clubhouse through one of the big broken glass windows. I see him go in, so I follow him to make sure he is safe. The clubhouse is filled with balloons and party decorations. We see a cake sitting on the table. It's a big sheet cake that reads:
Happy Birthday Lola. 92 Years Young
We hear something knocking at the door in one of the closed rooms in the clubhouse.
"It has to be a zombie," says Derrick.
Derrick goes to open the door, but I tell him, “Wait. You open the door and move out of the way."
I take out my handgun and aim it at the door. Derrick opens the door, and it reveals an elderly woman who is now a zombie. She reaches towards the door, but falls forward. I put the gun away and take out my knife. The zombie reaches for me, but I stab her in the head. Seeing the elderly woman makes me think about my parents and wonder if they are still alive.
My parents are in their 60s now, and had been doing well before the zombie apocalypse. I can only imagine what they are doing and what they are going through right now. It makes me pray that they are still safe. I try to stay positive with everything and think about a phone conversation I had with my dad several years ago.
“Hello. Hey Ry how are ya?”
Fight 4 Us (Book 1): The Beginning Page 13