Fight 4 Us (Book 1): The Beginning

by Grenda, Brian

  He runs into the house and shouts, “Kylie! Are you here?”

  Shaun runs into the house. Matt is hysterically running around the house looking for Kylie. He runs into the kitchen, the living room, the basement, and upstairs. Shaun looks through the window into the backyard and sees something laying in the grass. It looks like a shirt is in the grass. It’s far away from the house and somewhat covered with leaves. Shaun can’t quite make out what it is. Shaun is curious about the shirt. He opens the back door and walks towards the shirt. Matt’s backyard is only partially fenced in, as the very back of his property is open to trees and woods.

  As Shaun walks towards the shirt, he is nervous that he might find Kylie. As he walks closer to the shirt, he can tell that it’s a red long sleeved shirt, that is covered by a lot of brown leaves that fell from the massive trees in the backyard. Shaun walks up to the shirt and is relieved to find that it’s only a shirt. A neighbor’s shirt might have blown over from a clothesline.

  He picks up the shirt, and sees that it does have blood on the sleeve and is torn. The buttons are torn and the shirt looks like it may have been ripped off a person. Shaun looks around the backyard for any more clues and sees a blood trail and shoe marks going into the woods.

  Matt sees Shaun in the backyard, opens the backdoor and yells, “What are you doing back there?”

  Shaun holds up the shirt. Matt comes running from inside the house to where Shaun is standing. Matt looks at the shirt and sees the blood. He starts to freak out. Shaun tries to calm Matt down.

  Shaun asks Matt, “Is this Kylie’s shirt?”

  Matt replies, “I don’t know. It could be, but I’m not sure.”

  The guys look around the backyard and woods for more clues, but don’t find anything else. After looking for a couple minutes, Shaun and Matt go back into the house. Kylie is nowhere to be found.

  Matt is still freaking out. He tries to call Kylie. It rings once and then disconnects. He tries to send her a text, but it won’t send. Shaun looks at Matt and knows that they need to leave Matt’s house, but doesn’t want to rush Matt.

  Shaun asks, “What do you want to do Matt?”

  “I want to find Kylie,” says Matt.

  Shaun replies, “Me too, but she clearly isn’t here. Did you find anything upstairs that might tell us what happened to her?”

  “I see that she packed a bag and took some of her

  stuff,” says Matt.

  Shaun grabs Matt’s left shoulder and says, “That’s great. She clearly left this house on her own and is most likely at her parent’s house.”

  Matt gets a big smile and replies, “Yeah, she is probably there and safe.”

  Shaun says, “Pack up anything you want from your house. Don’t plan on coming back here. As we need to get to my house, and the other houses to check on our family members.”

  Matt runs upstairs and starts packing a bag. Shaun opens the refrigerator and helps himself to a soda. He opens the cabinet and sees a couple items that he can bring with them. Matt finishes packing a couple things from upstairs and meets Shaun in the kitchen.

  Shaun asks Matt, “Do you have another bag or two that we can use to take these supplies and food?”

  Matt runs into the basement and brings up two big duffle bags. Matt and Shaun grab anything that they think will be useful and start packing the bags with supplies, food, and medicine. Shaun walks into the garage and sees a couple of weapons that might be useful to take with them. He grabs an aluminum baseball bat, some hockey pads, and a crowbar.

  Shaun walks back into the house and finds Matt ready to go. The guys go outside and start packing up Matt’s car. Matt lives in a cul-de-sac and the neighborhood looks totally empty. As Matt puts the last bag in the trunk, a zombie comes out of nowhere and tries to bite Matt’s left shoulder.

  Matt dodges the zombie and just barely escapes being scratched. Shaun comes around the other side of the car and smacks the zombie in the head with the baseball bat. The zombie falls and hit his head on the driveway. Shaun hits the zombie in the head a couple more times to make sure that he is indeed dead.

  Matt walks over to the zombie and sees that it was his neighbor from a couple houses down in the cul-de-sac. Matt closes the trunk of his car and walks to the front door of his house. He locks the front door and takes one last look at his neighborhood, as he thinks that this might be the very last time he ever sees this place. Matt walks over to Shaun who is now checking out the supplies in the trunk.

  Shaun turns to Matt and says, “Let’s get to my house and check things out first, before we move onto our parents’ house.

  Matt says, “Sure, but we leave as soon as possible to find Kylie.”

  Shaun replies, “We definitely will.”

  Matt gets into his car and starts the engine. Shaun gets in his jeep, starts the engine and backs out of the driveway. Matt backs over the zombie who is lying in his driveway. The body is crushed and starts to bleed all over the driveway. Matt sees it and starts to throw up. He puts the car in park, opens the driver side door and pukes onto the street. Shaun looks in his rearview mirror, and sees Matt throwing up. Shaun can’t help but laugh at the sight of Matt puking. Matt finishes puking and closes his driver side car door.

  Shaun beeps his horn and shouts, “You okay bro?”

  Matt replies, “Yeah. That zombie was gross.”

  Shaun drives down the street and exits Matt’s neighborhood. Matt follows behind him in his black sedan. Shaun and Matt are on their way to Shaun’s house.

  As Shaun pulls up to a stop sign, a fire truck comes speeding down the street. Sirens blasting. Horn blaring. Something big must have happened close by.

  Shaun and Matt pull down Shaun’s street. Shaun lives in the middle of nowhere and only has 4 neighbors around him. Shaun pulls up to his house and parks in the driveway. Matt parks his car in the street in front of Shaun’s house.

  Just as Shaun steps out of his Jeep, the front door swings open. Shaun’s wife Lisa comes running out to hug him. Matt looks over at Lisa and Shaun. He smiles and is happy to see that Lisa is alive and well. Lisa and Shaun enter the house with some of the supplies that Shaun had in his jeep, while Matt goes to his trunk and starts getting his supplies to bring into the house. He grabs a bag and puts it down in the street. Shaun’s front door opens again. Matt can hear a person walking towards him.

  He thinks it’s Shaun and asks, “Can you help me with these bags, bro?”

  “Sure thing big guy, but first I want a kiss.”

  Matt is shocked to hear that voice and statement. He closes the trunk and sees a skinny brunette woman standing in front of him. Matt’s face erupts in a huge smile, and he runs over to hug the woman.

  “Hey honey!”

  Matt looks at the woman and says, “Thank goodness you are okay.”

  Matt plants a huge kiss on his wife Kylie. She is safe and sound. Matt is so relieved that Kylie is safe. Shaun and Lisa watch Matt and Kylie’s reaction to knowing that each other is safe. The guys and their wives can rest for a second, before they decide what to do next.

  Matt tries to call Phil, but his phone won’t connect. He also tries to send a text message to Phil that reads: Made it back home to Raleigh. We are safe for now. Hope you guys are ok as well. Please don't forget to check on Nicole and Derrick.

  He hits send on the text, and it looks to have been sent through without any problems.

  Matt and Shaun bring the rest of the supplies and food into Shaun’s house, as Lisa and Kylie prepare some dinner for everyone. Shaun’s house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms with a basement. It will be a very nice home base for the group for as long as they stay there.

  As Lisa and Kylie are finishing up cooking dinner, Matt and Shaun get cleaned up and try to gather themselves from what they have been through in the last couple of days. Shaun finishes up in the bathroom and finds Lisa and Kylie in the kitchen. He grabs a beer from the fridge and looks around his house. Shaun wants to make sure that the area a
round his house is safe and clear of any danger.

  Shaun looks out the window and asks, “Hey Lisa. Has anything weird happened around here? Have you seen our neighbor Frank around?”

  Lisa shouts from the kitchen, “The house and our neighbors have been really quiet. I haven’t seen or heard from Frank recently.”

  Matt walks down the stairs and sees Shaun looking out the window.

  He walks over to Shaun and asks, “Everything okay man?”

  Shaun replies, “I don’t know yet. I want to make sure our neighbor Frank is okay.”

  “Is he the survivalist guy with all the supplies?” asks Matt.

  Shaun replies, “Yeah. The guy I was telling you guys about during our trip.”

  Lisa and Kylie put the last plate on the table and dinner is ready. Shaun and Matt sit down at the table followed by Lisa and Kylie. Lisa always makes good meals, and they always have that home cooked feeling to them.

  As the group eats their dinner, they feel a sense of happiness and relief that everyone is safe. The girls want to know about the guy’s trip, and the guys want to know about what has been going around Shaun’s house.

  Shaun says, “The guys trip was good until the craziness with the zombies at the golf course.”

  Lisa replies, “Craziness at the golf course? Zombies? You need to elaborate on that.”

  Shaun says, “We were playing our round of golf, when a guy was attacked by zombies. They started coming after us, but we took them down. Everyone except Matt.”

  Matt replies, “You guys had it under control.”

  Kylie says, “I’m sure they did sweetie.”

  Lisa interrupts and shouts, “What do you mean zombies? Like the things from the movies and TV shows?

  Shaun asks Lisa, “Has anything happened around here? You haven’t seen or heard anything about zombies in person or on the news?”

  Lisa replies, “Kylie and I have been hanging out around the house ever since you guys left. We haven’t left the house much and our small neighborhood has been quiet. We definitely have not seen or heard any zombies.”

  “Consider yourself lucky,” says Matt.

  Shaun says, “Zombies are here. People are turning into them and they are causing problems. Haven’t you seen the news or anything?”

  Shaun gets up from the table and turns on the TV. The TV channel is on an emergency alert broadcast that says, “This is not a test. Warning. Please be advised that we are having wide spread attacks of an unknown origin in parts of the United States. Please stay indoors and listen to local law enforcement and military. I repeat this is not a test. Public safety is our main priority.”

  Lisa and Kylie watch the emergency alert broadcast and are in disbelief.

  Kylie says, “Is this for real? We have been in this house for a couple days now. We haven’t turned the TV on and haven’t seen anything strange.”

  Matt replies, “This is for real. The world has changed. I’m just glad we are all safe and secure now.”

  Lisa goes back to her seat at the dining table and chugs her glass of wine. Kylie follows right behind Lisa and chugs her glass of wine.

  “What are we going to do now?” shouts Lisa.

  Shaun says, “First, we are going to calm down and get a plan together for what we are going to do next.”

  Kylie says, “I have to check on my parents and what about your parents Matt?”

  Matt says, “Let’s all sit down and take a second. Shaun and I have a plan for what we need to do.”

  Everyone comes back to the dining table and sits down. Lisa and Kylie are clearly nervous about the news they have just received. Shaun and Matt need to get them under control as to avoid them panicking and doing something dangerous for the group and themselves.

  Matt says, “The plan right now is to check out the parents that are local to the area. Which would be my family, Kylie’s family, Shaun’s family, and Ryan’s family.”

  Kylie asks, “When are we going to do that?”

  Shaun says, “Tomorrow morning we start. It is getting darker, and I don’t want to drive around at night if we don’t have to.”

  Matt looks at Kylie and says, “We will check on your parents tomorrow as early as we can. I promise.”

  Kylie doesn’t like that answer as she wants to know if her parents are alive now.

  Kylie responds, “I would rather go now, because not knowing if they are alright is going to bother me, until I find out.”

  Matt says, “We need to be smart about it though. I will always fight for us, but we need to be smart about what we do now.”

  There is a lot of nervous tension felt at the dining table between Kylie and the group. Kylie is usually anxious about big plans and events. The main concern of Kylie is the status of her parents. Lisa seems to be in shock that she didn’t know the world was falling apart. The guys both feel that they need to calm Lisa and Kylie down. The group finishes their dinner and decide to relax. Shaun and Lisa go to their master bedroom and Matt and Kylie go to a spare bedroom.

  Matt unpacks his bag, while Kylie freshens up in the bathroom. Matt grabs his phone and sees if he has any text messages or missed calls. His cell phone is working sporadically, but does not show any missed calls or messages.

  Kylie comes out of the bathroom and gives Matt a big hug. Matt and Kylie have been a great couple for as long as I have known them. Matt is an easy going and fun loving guy. Kylie is very smart, but tends to overthink things a lot of the time. Matt and Kylie have a good balanced relationship that works for them.

  Matt sits down next to Kylie on the bed and says, “I know you want to check on your parents like right now, but it’s dangerous to go at night. We will go tomorrow for sure. You and I will both go. Deal?”

  Kylie smiles and says, “Deal. First thing in the morning after breakfast.”

  Lisa is cleaning up the bedroom while Shaun is brushing his teeth in the bathroom. Shaun looks in the mirror and starts to break down a little bit. He wants everyone to be safe, especially his parents. They are older and haven’t had the best heath. He is worried how he might find them when he checks on them. Lisa walks into the bathroom and sees that Shaun is a little upset.

  Lisa asks, “Are you okay babe?”

  Shaun replies, “Yeah. I’ll be okay. It’s just been a lot over the past couple days and I’m worried about my parents.”

  Lisa responds, “I understand. You have been through so much. I’m just glad you are safe and back with me. We will see about your parents tomorrow, but I think they will be okay.”

  Shaun hugs and kisses Lisa. Lisa always knows the right things to say to cheer Shaun up. Shaun is an emotional guy and you can always know what he is feeling, since it will be written all over his face. Lisa is a great partner for him as she knows how to help Shaun and balance him out when he needs it.

  Lisa hops into bed. Shaun finishes up in the bathroom and turns off the bathroom light. He walks through the bathroom doorway and looks out his bedroom window. His view from his bedroom window is directly into a neighbor’s backyard.

  Shaun, while looking out the window says, “I’ll have to check on Frank tomorrow. I hope he is ok and I really hope his bomb shelter is fully stocked for this kind of situation.”

  Lisa responds, “I hope so too, but I haven’t heard anything from him over the past two days, which is odd for him.”

  Shaun climbs into bed and gives Lisa a kiss goodnight. They are both very happy to be in each other’s company again. Shaun gives Lisa another kiss goodnight and then turns off the bedroom lamp on his bedside table.

  CHAPTER 11

  CHECKING IN

  Shaun awakes to the sound of a screaming neighbor begging for help. Shaun hops out of bed and looks out his bedroom window. He finds his neighbor Frank yelling for help in his backyard by his bomb shelter. Shaun changes his clothes, puts on some sneakers, rushes down the steps and out the front door. He runs to his next-door neighbor’s house, opens the gate and finds his neighbor Frank unabl
e to get up from the ground in front of his bomb shelter.

  Shaun runs over to Frank and asks, “What happened Frank?”

  Frank responds, “I was carrying some supplies into the shelter this morning and my back went out on me.”

  Canned goods are scattered throughout the backyard. It looks like Frank was walking towards the shelter, dropped the box of canned goods, and has been stuck lying on his side in the grass. Shaun tries to help Frank get up, but Frank is in too much pain.

  Frank screams in pain when Shaun tries to move him.

  Shaun grabs a patio chair and puts it close to Frank. Shaun wants to help Frank get up and sit in the chair.

  Shaun asks, “Can you get up into this chair?”

  “Not without help,” replies Frank.

  Shaun replies, “I’m going to help you stand up and sit in this chair. It may hurt, but you have to fight through the pain and get up.”

  Shaun bends down and tries to help Frank get into a better position. Frank puts his arm around Shaun’s neck and shoulder and they both stand up. Frank screams in pain as Shaun puts him in the chair. Frank breaths heavily, but feels better sitting in the chair now.

  “Thank you for your help. I was stuck down there for a couple hours,” says Frank.

  Shaun replies, “What happened?”

  Frank replies, “I was loading up the bomb shelter for when it gets really bad around here. I was carrying one last box of canned goods to put in the shelter and my back when out. I already moved in a couple other boxes of stuff and some weapons, before my back gave out.”

  Shaun asks, “Is there anything I can do? Anything I can give you for your back?”

  Frank responds, “Yeah, I have some pain pills on the kitchen counter. They would help calm my back pain down a lot.”

  Shaun says, “I’ll get them for you. No problem.”

  Frank is a short, chubby, middle aged Italian guy. He has the dark olive skin, a full head of think black hair, and he always has a yellow gold necklace and matching bracelet on.