Fight 4 Us (Book 4): Conquered

by Brian Grenda

  I hand Shaun the radio and say, “Ask for Phil or TJ to come help you. I’m going to take care of Joseph.”

  Shaun replies, “You got this. Go get him.”

  I run into the middle end of the store and shout, “Joseph I’m here! I’m right here! Let’s end this like real men!”

  Joseph grabs his battle axe and looks to the middle of the store as he hears me calling for him.

  As I step backwards, and I almost trip over the dead body of a Conqueror.

  I look down at the body and see who it is.

  It’s Pete.

  Shaun’s initial shot was meant for Joseph, but it killed Pete.

  I reach down and pick up a handgun that Pete had in his right hand.

  I hear Joseph running down the middle of the store right for me.

  I point the handgun right at Joseph and pull the trigger.

  BANG!

  Joseph tries to dodge out of the way, but I manage to hit him in the chest with the shot.

  Joseph drops the battle axe and grabs his chest.

  I keep my gun pointed at Joseph and see that he is still standing.

  Joseph takes two more steps at me, and I put three more bullets into his chest.

  BANG!

  BANG!

  BANG!

  Joseph falls backwards, and I’m met by TJ and Phil.

  “Can someone please help me get up,” says Shaun over the radio.

  I look at Carlos and he runs to help Shaun.

  I shout, “He’s in Aisle 25 Carlos!”

  Carlos runs past Joseph’s body, towards aisle 25 and shouts, “Thank you.”

  I see that Phil has a swollen face and I ask, “You alright their champ?”

  Phil replies, “Yeah, it was a sucker punch. I am okay.”

  TJ and Phil start to examine the store and walk around. Carlos brings Shaun back to the front of the store and Shaun leans against Phil’s SUV.

  I look down at Joseph’s body and start to walk towards him.

  I walk over to Joseph’s body and stand next to him.

  I say, “It didn’t have to be this way. You made us do this. You made us kill you. We could have worked together. We could have shared this world.”

  I go to reach behind my back for my katana and hear something coming from Joseph.

  It sounds like breathing.

  I look at Joseph’s chest and find it odd that I don’t see any blood on his clothes or chest.

  I reach down with both hands and pull apart the buttons of Joseph’s blue button-down shirt.

  I am shocked at what I see.

  I immediately reach for my katana and try to pull it out of its red scabbard.

  Joseph grabs my left leg and knocks my feet out from under me.

  I drop my katana as I hit the floor.

  Joseph stands up and says, “I guess you aren’t the only one who wears a bulletproof vest.”

  Joseph looks for his battle axe and finds it on the floor of the Big Club behind him.

  As Joseph picks up his battle axe from the floor, I make it to my feet and pick up my katana. I swing my katana at Joseph’s face.

  Joseph blocks my katana with his battle axe blade.

  Neither of us have a gun on us, so our fight turns into a sword and axe fight.

  Joseph is clumsy with his axe as he aggressively swings it at me.

  I dodge his axe swing and try to stab him in the chest with the katana, but his bulletproof vest is stopping my sword from penetrating his body.

  Phil, TJ, Carlos, and Shaun watch as Joseph and I fight.

  The guys aren’t sure they could get a clean shot at Joseph and want to avoid hitting me in the process, so they do not fire their guns that they are holding in their hands.

  Zombies start to move into the store as they must have been attracted by the fire, explosions, and noise.

  Several zombies start to devour the fallen Conquerors as their bodies lay lifeless near the front entrance.

  Phil, TJ, and Carlos take out several zombies as they enter the building.

  I dodge a battle axe swing from Joseph, but slip on something near the front entrance of the store.

  Joseph kicks me to the ground.

  He takes back the battle axe over his head, glares down on me with an intense grin and is about drive the battle axe into my chest.

  I put up my katana to try and block the battle axe.

  When suddenly Odin jumps in and bites Joseph on his right thigh.

  Odin latches down on Joseph’s giant thigh muscles.

  Joseph drops his battle axe behind him and screams in pain.

  Joseph swings down with his right hand and knocks Odin off his leg.

  Odin is wounded from the punch by Joseph.

  I stand up and kick Joseph in the chest with a front kick.

  Joseph falls to the ground and grabs his right thigh where Odin bit him.

  Joseph is bleeding profusely from the bite.

  I stand over top of Joseph and say, “Now it’s your time to die.”

  I have my katana in my right hand.

  I lean back with my right arm and trunk.

  I’m ready to drive my katana into Joseph’s skull.

  I drive forward with my right arm and body.

  BANG!

  Suddenly I’m pushed backward by this powerful force into my chest.

  “Enough of this crap! One more move towards Joseph and I’ll kill these two!” shouts a man.

  TJ, Phil, Carlos, Shaun, and Matt are helpless as they see a man and a woman holding Lauren and Bobby G at gunpoint.

  “Get up Joseph!” shouts the man.

  I can only hear bits and pieces of what the man is saying as my chest is killing me from the gunshot into my body armor.

  Joseph tries to stand up, but he struggles to stand.

  “Who are you?” asks Phil.

  “It doesn’t matter who I am, my brother and I are getting out of here! You can keep the store, but we are leaving here alive!” shouts the man.

  Joseph limps over to the man and says, “Thank you Jacob. I owe you one.”

  “We’ll worry about that later. Get going out the back of the store. We are leaving with your car,” says Jacob.

  Phil tries to walk over to me, but is yelled at by Jacob.

  “Don’t move, or they die!” shouts Jacob.

  Phil stops in his track and says, “Okay. You got it.”

  Jacob and the woman with him start to back pedal towards the back of the store while holding Lauren and Bobby G at gunpoint.

  “Don’t move or they both die,” shouts Jacob as he is about to exit the store.

  The woman pushes Lauren into the store as she exits through the back and gets into the red Hummer.

  Jacob pushes Bobby G back into the store and says, “No hard feelings about this, but I had to save my brother.”

  Bobby G gives the man a look of understanding.

  Lauren runs back towards the front of the store.

  As Lauren is running away from Jacob and Bobby G, a gunshot is heard.

  BANG!

  Lauren ducks down at the sound of the gunshot.

  A loud tire screech is heard as the red Hummer speeds away.

  TJ, Phil, and Carlos run over to Lauren.

  Lauren is fine, but wants to know if I’m okay.

  Phil runs over to Bobby G and shouts, “We need to move now guys! He’s losing a lot blood! Stay with me Bob!”

  TJ, and Carlos help Phil with Bobby G. They go out the back of the store and carry Bobby G into my SUV.

  Lauren runs over to me and gives me a big hug.

  It hurts my chest when she hugs me, but I’m glad that the bullet didn’t make it through the body armor.

  I look at Lauren ask, “Who was shot?”

  Lauren replies, “Your dad. We need to get going.”

  As soon as I hear that my dad was shot, I feel a sense of urgency to see how serious it is and if he’s going to be okay.

  Lauren and I make it out of the back o
f the store and to my SUV.

  “Where is he hit?”

  TJ says, “I don’t know exactly, because of all the blood.”

  “We need to get back home now. Keep pressure on the wound to help prevent some blood loss.”

  I start up my SUV and speed out of the Big Club parking lot and head home to Citrus Oaks.

  Lauren is in the front seat and TJ is in the back seat providing some pressure to Bobby G’s gunshot wound.

  As I speed down the road, I shout, “You doing okay dad?”

  He doesn’t answer.

  “Dad, are you okay? Stay with us. I’m almost home.”

  I get to the South entrance of the neighborhood. I frantically beep the horn for someone to open the gate.

  Diane opens the gate, and I drive through the entrance.

  I drive through the neighborhood and stop at the house that we turned into a makeshift hospital room near the West entrance of the neighborhood.

  Lauren opens the front door.

  TJ and I carry Bobby G into the house and lay him on the sofa.

  I wash my hands and put on some gloves as TJ and Lauren keep an eye on Bobby G.

  I cut off Bobby G’s shirt and see that he has been shot in his left shoulder close to his chest. He is losing a lot of blood and we need to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet.

  Lauren checks for a pulse and Bobby G has a pulse, but it’s faint.

  I look down at my father and can’t help but to get emotional as he may be dying.

  I shout, “Stay with me dad! You are going to make it! You can’t die! Not like this. Not like this.”

  .

  CHAPTER 4

  WE CAN’T STOP

  After several stressful and worrisome hours, I emerge from the medical house and sit down in a chair on the front porch.

  I look down at my hands and see that they still have some blood on them.

  As I look down at my bloody hands, I can’t help but to start crying. I can’t believe the world has turned into this chaotic mess of killing, stealing, looting, and fighting.

  I grew up in a household of tough love by my father. My parents divorced when I was two years old, and I lived with my father up until the age of 18.

  Bobby G wasn’t the greatest father in the world, but he did a good job raising me and caring for me.

  He instilled the idea of treating others how you would want to be treated, and a hardworking mindset.

  I can’t help but to think of the good times and memorable things I had with my father as I sit in a chair at the front porch.

  Life is precious and can be over in an instant.

  After working in a hospital over the years, I have noticed how people view life and death.

  I have noticed that most people don’t truly value a person’s life until the person is lying on their death bed. People don’t value things until it’s taken from them.

  Lauren walks out the front door and over to me.

  She hands me a wet wash cloth to help clean off my hands with.

  I grab the wash cloth and say, “Thank you Lauren. Were you able to get some of the blood off the sofa and floor?”

  Lauren replies, “Yeah. I think I got most of it up.”

  I wipe the last spot of blood of my left hand and then look up at Lauren who is standing next to me.

  “Thank you for helping me in there and during the attack on The Conquerors.”

  “No problem. I couldn’t let you do it alone. Plus, I love Bobby G. He’s the only family I got left,” says Lauren.

  TJ walks over to Lauren and me and says, “Ryan, come here.”

  Lauren and I walk into the house.

  “What is it TJ?”

  TJ points to Bobby G and says, “He just woke up.”

  I run over to Bobby G and ask, “How are you feeling dad?”

  “Terrible. My left arm, shoulder, and chest are killing me,” says Bobby G.

  I can’t help but to smile and say, “Yeah. Getting shot sucks.”

  Lauren says, “I’m glad that you are okay Bob.”

  “Yeah. I’ll live. I’m sorry about getting caught Ryan. That guy and girl just came out of nowhere,” says Bobby G.

  I look at Bobby G and ask, “What happened?”

  Bobby G says, “Lauren and I were guarding the door. We were outside for a long time. It was quiet after you went inside the rear entrance to the store. No one came around the door or around the building.”

  “It got really quiet after you and Shaun went inside the building and when The Conquerors retreated back inside through the front entrance,” says Lauren.

  “Lauren and I were concentrating so much on the back door of the store that we must have not heard anyone sneaking up behind us,” says Bobby G.

  Bobby G continues, “The explosions went off at the front entrance and the next thing I knew Lauren and I had guns at our backs, and we were being told to drop our weapons and move inside the store.”

  I look at Bobby G and ask, “Who were they? I didn’t get a good look at who shot me.”

  TJ replies, “The man is Joseph’s brother Jacob. I don’t know who the woman was, but Joseph definitely called the man his brother, Jacob.”

  “So, we have brothers now, Joseph and Jacob, to deal with still. I figured Joseph needed help with organizing things. There isn’t any way that he could do all this by himself.”

  Lauren asks, “What’s next? What do we do now?”

  “We keep going after The Conqueror buildings, businesses, and whatever else has the symbol of theirs on it. We can’t stop now.”

  Bobby G says, “Let me just get my shirt and another gun, and I’m coming with you.”

  I can’t help but to laugh and say, “Yeah right Bob. You need to rest. You will be out of commission for a while.”

  Bobby G tries to get up from the bed, but needs to sit back down due to the pain in his left shoulder and arm.

  “You are right, I’ll rest here for a while and hold things down in this house,” says Bobby G.

  “Rest, Dad. You need to heal up and then you can go back out.”

  I look at TJ and say, “Let’s make sure everything is okay here and then get a couple groups together to go back out after The Conquerors and secure the Big Club store.”

  TJ says, “No problem. I’m not sure who is back here yet, but I will go check to see who made it back home.”

  Lauren comes over to me and says, “You need to rest sweetie. You have been up all night and haven’t been to sleep yet. I’ll watch over your dad here. You need to rest also.”

  I must have been working on saving my dad’s life for several hours last night after our attack on the Big Club. I am running on pure adrenaline still, but do feel my body is starting to get tired.

  I look at Lauren and say, “I will sweetie. I just want to organize what we do next and see how everyone is doing. I will get some rest first, before I go back out again.”

  I give Lauren a kiss and then walk back over to Bobby G.

  “I’m glad you are okay dad. I was worried that I lost you, but I’m glad it wasn’t your time.”

  “I can’t go out that way Ry. That would be terrible. I have to go out fighting or in an epic way,” says Bobby G.

  “I hope you die of old age. Well, older age. Not being killed by some idiot Conqueror.”

  “Watch it now. I’ll still kick your butt. I’m only 68. I should have another 10 years at least in me,” says Bobby G.

  I give my dad a hug and say, “I hope so dad. I really hope so.”

  TJ makes his way over to Shaun’s house and is met by Odin who jogs over to him.

  “He looks to be hurting from when Joseph punched him, but Odin is doing okay,” says Phil.

  Phil and Shaun walk over to TJ who is standing at the end of Shaun’s driveway.

  Lisa walks over to Phil and gives him a new ice bag for his eye.

  “Man, that’s cold,” says Phil as he puts the new ice back on his left eye.

  “Suck it
up buttercup,” says Shaun.

  Phil punches Shaun in his left arm and Shaun grimaces from the pain.

  TJ looks at Shaun and Phil and asks, “Where is everyone else? Where is Carlos, Matt, and Chris?”

  “They stayed to secure the Big Club entrance. We blocked the main entrance with cars so nothing can get in as they try to figure out a way to repair the massive explosion you made,” says Phil.

  “Hey, we needed a way in and I made one,” says TJ.

  Shaun asks, “How is Bobby G?”

  “He’s good. He’s alive, but in pain from his bullet wound,” says TJ.

  “Man, that was scary. I only heard the shot, plus Ryan was shot again. Ryan keeps getting shot. Glad he has that body armor now,” says Shaun.

  I see TJ, Shaun, Lisa, Phil, and Odin talking in Shaun’s driveway.

  I walk towards them and ask, “Everyone alright?”

  Shaun replies, “Yeah, I think so. How’s your dad?”

  “Bobby G is okay. He lost a lot of blood, but I got the bullet out of his shoulder, stopped the bleeding, and stitched him up.”

  Phil says, “I’m glad to hear that. I’d miss that guy.”

  “He ain’t dead yet, and neither are we. Where is Matt, Carlos, and Chris?”

  “They are at the Big Club and securing the entrance or trying to at least,” says Shaun.

  “Good. We need to secure that building and keep some people there to protect it. I’m sure The Conquerors will be back and people might also start trying to loot it, once word spreads that we have it now.”

  Phil says, “Good idea. We need to secure it and control what happens to the store, the food, and everything in the store. There was a lot of good stuff left in the store.”

  “I didn’t even get a chance to look at it. I was too amped up for the attack and plus this guy was hiding between two pallets of food trying to snipe out all The Conquerors by himself.”

  Shaun replies, “I guess I missed my shot by the way. I got Pete instead of Joseph.”

  Lisa shouts, “You did what? You were trying to be the hero again, weren’t you?”

  Shaun replies, “I had a job honey. I was safe and made it back to you.”

  Lisa smacks Shaun’s left arm and says, “Yeah. Just barely. You need to be more careful.”

  I interrupt, “He was safe Lisa until that maniac Joseph went berserk.”