by Brian Grenda
TJ, Shaun, Phil, Carlos, and Bobby G escort Diane, Jamie, and the four other Marchetti family members out of the store and to their two vehicles in the parking lot.
I escort Chris out of the store and cut the rope off his wrists.
“Your family chose to be with you. I wish you the best in this new world, but do not cross me and my family ever again. If I do happen to see you again, I will kill you. I won’t hesitate. I’m giving you this chance to survive and stay alive. You only get this one chance from me.”
Chris looks me right in my eyes and says, “I know what this means Ryan. If I see you again, I won’t hesitate either. Have a good one.”
The tone of Chris’ voice and the words that he said to me, pissed me off. I have to fight the urge to shoot him in the head in the Big Club parking lot.
“Get the hell out of my face, before I go back on my decision and kill you right here, right now.”
Chris walks over to his car, turns around and gives me a glaring stare.
Diane shouts, “Get in the damn car Chris. You messed this up for us. You are lucky that you aren’t dead.”
Diane drives away from the Big Club and the other car follows. They make a right hand turn out of the parking lot and are gone out of sight.
TJ, Shaun, Phil, Carlos, and Bobby G walk over to me.
“You should have killed him,” says Phil.
I look at Phil and say, “If it comes to that I will, but I’m giving him a second chance in life. Everyone deserves one of them. Even Chris.”
Shaun says, “If we see him again. I’m sure we will settle it.”
I look at Carlos and ask, “Can you run this place?”
Carlos responds, “We have it under control now, but I don’t want to do it alone.”
Bobby G says, “I will help him.”
I look at Bobby G and ask, “You sure Bob?”
“Yeah. I can help Carlos for the day to day care of this place, and when Matt and The Warriors return, I can help them with the solar and everything else.”
“Okay then. We are good then. I will come around here often to check on things, and we have the long-range radios to stay in contact with each other.”
TJ says, “I hate to leave you like this Ryan, but I think you will be okay.”
Shaun asks, “Where you going TJ?”
“Back to MacDill and to see my father,” says TJ.
I look at TJ and say, “We will be okay. Don’t worry about us. You get to MacDill and see your dad. Just bring us back something useful.”
TJ smiles and says, “I will. I’ll be back, and I will bring back something useful for us.”
We all say goodbye to TJ and Odin.
TJ and Odin get into TJ’s jeep. TJ starts up his jeep and rolls down his window.
“You guys be safe here, and I’ll see you again real soon,” says TJ.
We wave bye to TJ as he drives away from the store and makes a left hand turn out of the parking lot.
“Now what do we do?” asks Phil.
“We keep doing what we are doing. This doesn’t change anything. We protect this place, and keep checking out local buildings and business for supplies and The Conquerors.”
Shaun says, “Phil and I can keep clearing buildings around here. We cleared a lot of the buildings to the East and South of here.”
“We don’t need to do anything crazy, or out of the ordinary. Keep doing what we are doing and being safe. Being alive, that’s what matters most right now.”
Shaun, Phil, Carlos, Bobby G, and I walk back into the Big Club.
Carlos shuts the thick metal entrance door and locks it.
Carlos gives Bobby G, Shaun, and myself keys to the front entrance of the store. Phil and Carlos already have keys.
“We have the only keys to this place. This place is ours. We have all the say in this place. Not me, but we. I value everyone in front of me. We don’t have the quantity, but we have the quality.”
Shaun says, “Quality over quantity.”
Carlos shows Bobby G where he will be staying and around the Big Club.
Bobby G walks into his new bedroom and says, “This will definitely do. A little small, but the bed is nice, and the pillows are great. Guess it pays to be sleeping in a big warehouse store that has tons of beds and pillows in it.”
I walk through the store and see several items that I want to bring back home with me. I grab a shopping cart and start loading it up with a variety of objects and products.
Shaun and Phil find a football and have a game of catch in the center aisle of the store.
Phil says, “I think we need to check out a couple of the buildings just north of here.”
“Okay. We can do that. What do you have in mind?” asks Shaun.
“There are a couple of smaller buildings that you and I can clear on our own, but we will need more people to check out the bigger buildings and shopping centers,” says Phil.
“I think we need a couple of those Warrior guys. Justin, Bruce, and Jeremy would be all we need for those bigger building,” says Shaun.
Phil says, “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking also. Bruce was pretty awesome with that whip. Wonder what other weapon skills he knows?”
Shaun says, “He’s like a little Asian Indiana Jones with that thing. Bruce is probably some sort of Kung Fu master badass assassin.”
Phil and Shaun both start laughing.
“I wish he put the whip around Chris’ throat though. Chris was a douche from the day Ryan and I met him. He tried to tackle Ryan and that chick Jamie tried to stab me with a knife,” says Phil.
Shaun, “They sound like real winners.”
“We have to watch out for them though, I feel that we haven’t seen the last of them. Diane lives close to the neighborhood. I’m sure they are going back to her house,” says Phil.
Carlos and Bobby G walk over to me as I push my full shopping cart to the front entrance.
Carlos asks, “Ryan. Do you have a second? I want to go over something with you and your dad.”
“Sure Carlos. What’s up?”
“We are pretty set here, but people have been coming to the store looking for help, food, supplies, and whatever they can find. Chris killed a lot of people who were looking for help, most of them were harmless and in pretty rough shape,” says Carlos.
I look at my father and say, “I knew Chris couldn’t handle this responsibility, but he volunteered for the job.”
Bobby G says, “Carlos and I want to make up boxes or packages that we can easily give out to people, if they come here. We want to put up a half wall or screened in area, for us to be able to get outside, but also be safe from zombies and be away from the front door.”
“I like both of the ideas. Let’s get making those care packages now. Anything you have in mind?”
Carlos says, “I think water, canned food, aspirin, hand sanitizer bottles, soap, and anything else small like toothpaste.”
I shout, “Phil and Shaun! Can you come here for a second?”
A football comes flying towards me.
I catch it, as it comes flying towards my face.
“Touchdown!” shouts Shaun.
“What’s up Ry?” asks Phil.
“I need you to help my dad and Carlos round up a lot of boxes and anything else they need. We are going to start making pre-packaged boxes for people. We don’t want people coming inside the store unless they are with us, and we trust them.”
Phil says, “I saw a bunch of folded up boxes in the offices. I’ll be right back.”
I look at Carlos and ask, “What can we do with all these shopping carts and flatbed carts? Can we use them to block anything from getting in close to the front door?”
Carlos says, “Let’s go check it out and start blocking off the parking lot and front of the store with the shopping carts.”
Carlos and I go out through the front door. There are a couple of zombies aimlessly walking around the parking lot, but at the far end of it.
I grab a row of shopping carts and push them out into the parking lot.
We have tons of shopping carts and when they are locked into each other, they are pretty strong and will provide a good obstruction.
Carlos and I block the left side of the main entrance with several rows of interlocking shopping carts. The carts will keep the zombies from coming towards the front of the store from the left side of the main entrance.
We also position more carts to block off the West and North portions of the parking lot near the main entrance of the store.
I don’t care about the far end of the parking lot near the road, but I want to keep zombies and people from getting too close to the store entrance.
I position our last shopping cart near the store entrance, and I ask Carlos about the rear entrance to the store.
“Is the rear entrance to the store secure and blocked off Carlos?”
Carlos replies, “Yes. It’s blocked by dumpsters, debris, and pallets.”
“Please show me Carlos.”
Carlos and I walk around the building and to the back of the store.
As we turn the corner of the store, we are met by three zombies.
Carlos takes out his machete, and I take out my katana.
One of the zombies’ lunges towards me, but I easily dodge out of the way.
Carlos tries to hit the zombie in the head with the machete, but hits the zombies in the neck.
I slash into the last zombie’s head and turn to help Carlos fight off the attacking zombie.
Carlos falls to the ground. The zombie reaches for Carlos’ neck, but Carlos pushes the zombie away.
The zombie is pushed onto the street. I jab my katana into the zombie’s head and pull out my katana.
The last zombie tries to get up after he lunged forward at me, but is struggling to get back to his feet.
Carlos swings down with his machete and stabs it into the top of the zombie’s skull. The machete gets stuck into the zombie’s skull and Carlos has to kick the zombie away with his foot to detach the machete from the zombie’s skull.
“You okay Carlos?”
Carlos checks his neck and says, “Yeah. I’m okay. It was close, but he didn’t get me.”
“What am I going to do with you Carlos?” I joke as check Carlos’ neck for any bites or scratches.
I check to see if there are any more zombies around, and the coast is clear.
“Where are you putting the dead bodies Carlos?”
Carlos points to the grassy area that is behind the store and away from the rear store entrance.
There is a big pile of zombies over there, and I can’t help to wonder why there are so many zombies in that pile.
Carlos and I move the bodies of the zombies we just killed into the pile and I ask Carlos, “Do you think we have a lot of zombies coming towards the store every day?”
Carlos says, “I never really thought about it, as zombies are the way of the world now. I would say we have anywhere from ten to twenty zombies a day coming by the store.”
I walk to the rear entrance of the store and see that the back door is blocked off by pallets, a dumpster and other debris.
I can’t help but to hear the loud noise of the generators at the back of the store. The generators need to be kept outside due to the fumes from the gasoline and for safety, but the loud noise and vibration from the generators seems to be attracting zombies.
I look at the generators and ask Carlos, “Where are most of the zombies coming from? Back here or the front?”
Carlos replies, “Most of the zombies come from back here and then come around to the front.”
“I bet the loud noise of the generators is attracting the zombies. We can’t do anything about that until we get the store hooked up with solar power, but need to block off the rear street here and away from the rear entrance. Let’s use the tires, especially the old ones, from the automotive repair, service, and section of the store.”
Carlos and I go back inside the store through the rear entrance after we clear out the pallets, dumpster and objects blocking the door.
I tell Phil and Shaun to close the front door and lock it, and meet Carlos and myself in the automotive repair and service section of the store.
“We need to block the rear entrance of the store and street better. We need to be able to get in and out from the rear entrance, but I want it blocked off by tires. I want to make a big square barricade about 30 feet away from the back door. We are going to need a lot of tires. Let’s try to use old unusable tires first and then tires that won’t fit most cars.”
Shaun, Phil, Carlos, and I take all of the tires that we can outside to the rear entrance of the store. We place a long row of empty wooden pallets alongside of the building and then make a 30 foot by 30-foot square barricade of car and truck tires around the rear entrance of the store.
Phil puts the last tire on the barricade and we secure the rear entrance.
“Looks good guys. We did a good job securing both entrances now. Let’s go get a drink inside. I’m buying. I think we got a couple bottles of tequila left.”
CHAPTER 11
DOWNTOWN TAMPA
TJ is driving down the road towards downtown Tampa.
He makes a left turn onto Bayshore Boulevard.
The bay is on his left side and million-dollar homes and condos are on his right.
“What the?” says TJ as he sees something blocking the road that leads directly towards MacDill Air Force Base.
TJ stops the jeep and looks to see if he can get around the blockage. The street is blocked by cars, trucks, and emergency vehicles.
As TJ looks at the blockade, he feels like someone put the vehicles in that arrangement on purpose.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire fills the air.
BANG! BANG!
BANG!
TJ speeds towards the debris, does a quick U-turn and heads down a side street.
TJ gets away from the gunfire.
As TJ stops at a stop sign, he hears something very loud coming behind him.
The loud exhaust of a pickup truck is heard.
Gunfire and loud yells are heard by TJ and Odin.
TJ looks back out of his rear jeep window and sees two pickup trucks speeding down the road right at him.
“Hold on Odin!” shouts TJ as he pushes down the gas pedal and makes a sharp right-hand turn onto Kennedy Boulevard.
TJ dodges several piles of abandoned traffic.
One of the pickup trucks tries to drive through a pile of debris and gets stuck.
TJ sees the truck get stuck and says, “One left.”
The blue truck speeds up and starts getting closer to TJ’s jeep.
One of the men stands up from the truck bed and starts to fire at TJ’s jeep.
The gunman fires several shots from his AK-47 but doesn’t hit TJ’s jeep. He can’t aim effectively as the truck driver is driving erratically to avoid cars and particles blocking the road.
TJ sees an opening in an upcoming street and makes a sharp left-hand turn.
TJ makes the turn and then continues speeding down the street.
The truck tries to make the turn, but the driver needs to slam on his breaks to stop and turn down the street to go after TJ.
TJ goes straight down North Boulevard and finds himself on the campus of The University of Tampa.
TJ makes another turn and parks in a crowded university parking lot.
The blue truck that was chasing TJ speeds down North Boulevard. TJ hears the truck coming down the street and ducks down inside his jeep.
The truck passes by the parking lot that TJ is hiding in and continues down North Boulevard.
Odin hears something on the University of Tampa campus.
TJ sees that Odin is interested in something and asks, “What is it boy?”
Odin barks and claws at the jeep
passengers side door handle.
“Down boy!” shouts TJ.
Odin looks back at TJ and whimpers.
TJ looks out his passenger side jeep window and doesn’t see anything, but some abandoned cars and an open soccer field with overgrown grass.
TJ looks further in the distance and sees something run by.
“Help!” shouts a man.
TJ barely hears the man’s yell, but faintly makes it out.
Odin barks towards the man’s direction.
TJ looks at Odin and says, “We need to get to MacDill O. We can’t be saving everyone that we meet.”
Odin looks at TJ and barks.
TJ takes the bark as a sign from Odin that they should go help the man.
TJ is about to open his driver side door, but is stopped by the sound of gunfire and then a scream.
The gunfire and scream came from the direction that the man was running.
Odin barks again.
TJ says, “Let’s go boy.”
TJ opens his driver side door and exits his jeep. Odin exits behind TJ and runs into the parking lot street.
TJ shouts, “Wait Odin!”
Odin sits but shows signs that he is anxious to get moving.
TJ closes his driver side door and walks over to his rear hatch jeep door. TJ opens the rear hatch of his jeep and grabs some of his gear. He puts on a bulletproof vest, grabs a Smith and Wesson handgun, a knife, and his assault rifle.
TJ slams his rear hatch door, puts his handgun in his thigh holster, puts a shotgun around his right shoulder, and holds his rifle in his left hand.
TJ starts to run towards the East part of The University of Tampa campus. Odin follows alongside of TJ as they run down a concrete pathway.
Another gunshot goes off at the Northeast section of the campus near the Hillsborough River.
TJ hears the sound and runs towards it.
Odin and TJ come to a building and hear a group of zombies banging on the door.
The zombies are stuck inside the building.
TJ runs to an open field and into a main building of the campus.
As TJ enters the building, he notices the floor is scattered with dead and decaying bodies.
Most of the bodies are ripped apart and dead, but some of them are moving.
TJ and Odin walk through the bodies and TJ can’t help but to get upset at the site of dead college students, professors, and faculty.