Fight 4 Us: Legacy

by Grenda, Brian

  Enrique asks Brody what time it is.

  Brody looks at his watch and says, “6:35 AM”

  “I’m going to bed guys. Good work tonight. I’ll see you later,” says Enrique.

  “I’m coming home in a little bit. The next guard shift should be coming up very soon,” says Brody to Enrique.

  Enrique walks to Brody’s house.

  Brody smiles as he looks across the street towards Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  Brody reaches under his body armor chest plate and into his shirt chest pocket.

  Brody pulls out something from his shirt chest pocket, looks at the object, and smiles.

  Brody is holding an owl patch that Kiersten gave him.

  CHAPTER 12

  I DIDN’T ASK YOU

  “Where are we going today?” asks Alice to TJ.

  TJ replies, “We are going to meet dad.”

  “Why couldn’t we just have met with him after you kidnapped me?” asks Alice to TJ.

  “Because it was like three in the morning, and I wanted to get away from Colonel Meyers and his men. Plus, I’m sure dad was sleeping,” answers TJ.

  TJ continues, “And I didn’t kidnap you. I rescued you.”

  Alice mumbles under her breath, “I didn’t ask you to rescue me.”

  “What was that?” asks TJ.

  Alice shouts, “I didn’t ask you to rescue me! I didn’t ask for your help!”

  Janet walks over to TJ as Alice and TJ are shouting at each other in TJ’s living room.

  Odin barks.

  “I’m sorry boy,” says Alice to Odin.

  “Let’s calm down. We are all safe and that’s very important right now,” says Janet.

  “How did you know where I was anyway?” asks Alice.

  “We went looking for you. We talked to your college neighbor,” answers Janet.

  “In Tallahassee? You drove to Tallahassee looking for me?” asks Alice.

  “Yes,” answers TJ.

  “Why?” asks Alice.

  “Are you serious? Because you are my sister and I had to make sure you were okay!” shouts TJ.

  Janet is taken back by Alice’s defiance, disrespect, and attitude.

  “Well, I’m alive and I hope Al is also,” says Alice.

  Janet looks at Alice and TJ.

  Janet walks over to Alice and says, “Look I know you are mad about your boyfriend, but your brother and father were worried about you. Your brother and I made quite an effort to find you.”

  Alice looks at Janet and says, “Thank you. I appreciate that, but all I can think about is Al and if he’s alive or not.”

  “I totally understand that, and we didn’t plan on killing him. Colonel Meyers and his men went around us on that. We never would have wanted to kill your boyfriend,” says Janet to Alice.

  “My big brother didn’t have command this time? What happened?” asks Alice with a sarcastic tone.

  “I came looking for you. Your boyfriend and a group of his men beat me up. They almost killed me,” replies TJ.

  Alice looks at Janet.

  “It’s true. They came after me also. We barely escaped,” says Janet.

  Alice starts to feel bad now and doesn’t know what to say.

  Janet sits down on TJ’s sofa next to TJ as Alice stands.

  Alice looks at a picture hanging on TJ’s wall.

  “How did mom die?” asks Alice as she looks at the family portrait of Alice, TJ, Rich, and her mom.

  “By zombies at the start of it. Dad and I buried her,” answers TJ.

  Alice gets sad as she looks at her mom in the family portrait hanging on TJ’s wall.

  “I never got to say goodbye,” says Alice.

  TJ looks at Alice and says, “Me either.”

  Alice starts to cry as she thinks about her mom, TJ, and Rich.

  “I’m sorry TJ. Thank you for finding me,” says Alice.

  TJ replies, “You are welcome. I needed to find you. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to find you.”

  Alice walks over to TJ and hugs TJ.

  Janet smiles as she watches TJ and Alice hug.

  “I’m sorry for being a brat. I’m just worried about everyone staying safe,” says Alice as she continues to hug TJ.

  TJ jokingly replies, “You were being a big brat.”

  Alice laughs and playfully slaps TJ’s left shoulder.

  “Are we going to dad’s house today?” asks Alice.

  “Yeah, you can see mom’s grave in the backyard and get a change of clothes,” replies TJ.

  “Good, I could also use a shower,” replies Alice.

  “Yeah you could,” jokes TJ.

  Janet looks at TJ and asks, “What’s the plan?”

  TJ stands up from his sofa and answers, “I want to take Alice to my father’s house. I’ll go talk with my dad on base. I will make him come back to his house to meet with us, and I’ll tell him what happened at the casino.”

  “That sounds good. I’ll stay with Alice at your dad’s house,” replies Janet.

  “I don’t want to see that asshole colonel or his men again,” says Alice.

  “You won’t, we will keep you away from them,” says Janet.

  “Let’s get going, I’m sure dad is eager to see you,” says TJ.

  Janet makes sure her cats have food and water.

  Alice washes her face in a guest bathroom.

  “I think your water might be turning bad! Has it always been yellow?” shouts Alice.

  TJ turns on his kitchen faucet and looks at the water.

  “That’s definitely new! I think we should cut down our water use for a while!” shouts TJ.

  Alice walks out of the guest bathroom and asks, “Can I still shower at dad’s house?”

  “Yeah, just don’t drink the water or shower for too long,” answers TJ.

  Alice, TJ, Janet, and Odin exit TJ’s house.

  “Your neighborhood is pretty quiet. Is it safe around here?” asks Alice as she gets into the backseat of TJ’s jeep.

  Odin sits next to Alice in the backseat.

  TJ and Janet enter TJ’s jeep.

  “It’s pretty safe. We have to constantly watch it and clear out the dead though,” answers Janet.

  Alice looks out her side back passenger window of TJ’s jeep.

  Janet looks at Alice and says, “I don’t think we were formally introduced. We might have been but I’m not sure. I’m Janet.”

  Alice replies, “Nice to meet you. I’m Alice.”

  TJ reverses out of his driveway.

  “Are you two together?” asks Alice.

  TJ smiles and looks at Janet.

  Janet looks at TJ and jokes, “Don’t look at me, I never put a label on us.”

  TJ says, “We never put a label on it, but I see us as together. I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

  “How romantic?” jokes Janet.

  “Plus, it’s slim pickens around here now,” jokes TJ.

  “I’ll slim pickens ya!” shouts Janet.

  Alice smiles and likes the playful banter between TJ and Janet.

  “I think it’s great. I never really saw my brother in a relationship before. It’s nice,” says Alice.

  TJ smiles and says, “Yeah, it is nice.”

  Janet grabs TJ’s right hand while TJ drives down the road.

  TJ drives down the road and makes a left-hand turn onto the street that will lead him towards MacDill and Rich’s house.

  Alice sees the large wall that surrounds the Pride’s community.

  “What the hell is that?” asks Alice as she looks at the large wall that surrounds the Pride’s community.

  “I guess you mean the wall?” asks TJ.

  “Yeah,” replies Alice.

  “That’s the zoo. Janet and I have been inside there. It’s pretty crazy around there,” says TJ.

  “I wonder how Darby and the Pride are doing?” asks Janet.

  TJ makes a right-hand turn and replies, “I hope they are doing well.
We’ll have to check in with Bo. I doubt Darby wants us to drop in again,” answers TJ.

  TJ arrives at Rich’s house and parks in Rich’s empty driveway.

  Alice looks out TJ’s jeep windows and says, “This is so weird. No one is here. It’s a ghost town.”

  “Let’s make sure it’s a ghost town, and we don’t have any zombies lurking around here. You stay here Alice,” says TJ.

  TJ and Janet exit TJ’s jeep.

  Odin barks.

  “Stay with Alice, O!” shouts TJ.

  Janet checks around the right side of Rich’s property and the area is clear.

  TJ goes to the left side of Rich’s front yard and hears several zombies eating something.

  “Janet! We got a group of dead ones here!” shouts TJ.

  TJ sees four zombies eating something that is lying in the grass.

  BANG!

  BANG!

  TJ shoots two zombies in the head with his handgun.

  The two remaining zombies move slightly towards TJ and then go back to eating the dead animal.

  Janet runs over to TJ.

  Janet stabs one of the zombies in the back of the head.

  SHICK!

  The last zombie slowly looks up at TJ.

  The zombie’s mouth and face are filled with blood.

  A bloody piece of animal flesh falls out of the zombie’s mouth and lands on the animal carcass.

  The zombie is bloated and full of animal meat, blood, and bones.

  “Why is he so fat?” asks Janet.

  “He looks to be stuffed from all the bone, meat, and blood he just ate,” answers TJ.

  “He can barely move,” says Janet.

  The bloated zombie tries to stand but he stumbles and falls into the grass.

  TJ and Janet step back as the bloated zombie falls face forward into Rich’s overgrown lawn.

  The bloated zombie is lying face first in the grass of Rich’s side yard.

  Janet stabs the bloated zombie in the back of the head with her knife.

  SHICK!

  TJ looks at the zombies and then the animal that the zombies were eating.

  Janet cleans off her knife and holsters her knife.

  “Why is a deer here? Why does it have those big gashes in its side?” asks TJ.

  Odin comes running over and smells the dead zombies.

  “Gross,” says Alice as she walks over to TJ and sees the dead zombies.

  “I told you to wait in my jeep,” says TJ to Alice.

  “It’s fine, the area is clear,” says Janet.

  Odin smells the dead deer.

  “Don’t eat anything boy,” says Alice to Odin.

  TJ shouts, “Odin! Here!”

  Odin runs over to TJ and stands next to TJ.

  “Aren’t you afraid of Odin eating a zombie and getting sick?” asks Alice.

  “Not really. He hasn’t gotten sick yet. Maybe some diarrhea, but nothing serious,” answers TJ.

  “Gross,” says Alice.

  Odin looks back at Alice.

  “Sorry boy, but diarrhea is gross. Keep it clean O,” says Alice to Odin.

  “It looks like another animal attacked the deer, but the deer got away. Zombies couldn’t make those claw marks and deep puncture wounds,” says Janet.

  “Let’s go inside the house,” says TJ.

  Alice, Odin, Janet, and TJ walk to Rich’s front porch.

  “I can’t remember the last time I was here,” says Alice as TJ opens Rich’s front door.

  Everyone enters Rich’s house.

  TJ closes Rich’s front door and locks it.

  “Let’s check the house really quick,” says TJ to Janet.

  Alice steps into Rich’s kitchen as TJ, Janet, and Odin search Rich’s house.

  Alice looks into Rich’s backyard through the kitchen window that sits above the kitchen sink.

  Janet shouts, “The first floor and garage are clear!”

  Alice sees her mother’s grave in Rich’s backyard.

  TJ walks down the second-floor stairs and says, “The second floor is clear. I think we are all good here.”

  “Why wouldn’t we be?” asks Alice.

  “Just gotta make sure,” replies TJ.

  Janet says, “We are all good here. You should go see your dad now. I’m sure it will take some time for him to get away from MacDill.”

  “You going to be okay here?” asks TJ to Alice.

  Alice turns around and looks at TJ.

  “I’ll be okay. I’m going to take a shower and try to relax,” answers Alice.

  “Make sure you turn on the generator first. That’s how you will have hot water and electricity. If you need gas, we should have some in the garage,” says TJ.

  “I’ll check it out and get the generator going,” says Janet.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Keep the door locked and don’t open the door for anyone,” says TJ.

  Janet kisses TJ and says, “We’ll be fine.”

  TJ kisses Janet.

  “I know you’ll be fine,” says TJ to Janet.

  TJ says goodbye to Janet and Alice and then exits Rich’s house with Odin.

  TJ and Odin get into TJ’s jeep.

  TJ reverses out of Rich’s driveway and drives towards MacDill.

  “You happy to see Alice?” asks TJ to Odin.

  Odin looks at TJ and barks.

  “She can be a real pain in the butt sometimes, but I’m glad she is alive,” says TJ to Odin.

  TJ looks down the road as he approaches the front entrance of MacDill Air Force Base.

  TJ sees a line of military vehicles and cars at the front entrance of MacDill.

  After waiting for thirty minutes, TJ finally gets to the front entrance gate of MacDill.

  “What’s up with all the vehicles?” asks TJ to the MacDill guard.

  “A lot of new people and personnel I guess. Everything good TJ?” replies the MacDill entrance guard.

  “Yeah, everything is good. Thank you for asking. I hope you are doing well,” replies TJ to the MacDill entrance guard.

  “Living the dream,” replies the guard as he opens the front entrance gate for TJ.

  TJ drives into MacDill and over to the office buildings.

  TJ parks his jeep next to Rich’s sedan.

  TJ exits his jeep with Odin.

  TJ walks into the office building and talks with Rebecca.

  Rebecca calls for Rich over her radio.

  “Tell TJ to meet me in auditorium one,” says Rich over the radio.

  “Thank you, Rebecca, I heard him,” says TJ as he exits the office building lobby.

  Odin and TJ walk towards the medical building.

  Odin sees another German Shepherd sitting with its owner in hanger one.

  Odin runs away from TJ and towards the German Shepherd.

  “Odin! Get back here!” shouts TJ.

  Odin doesn’t listen and sprints over to the German Shepherd.

  Odin smells and walks around the German Shepherd.

  TJ makes his way over to the owner of the German Shepherd that Odin is smelling and says, “Sorry about that, he won’t hurt your dog.”

  The black and brown German Shepherd looks at Odin but doesn’t bark.

  “It’s okay. Sadie doesn’t seem to mind. She seems to like Odin,” replies the female soldier that is standing next to the black and brown German Shepherd.

  “I’m TJ and this is Odin,” says TJ to the female soldier.

  “I’m Mara and this is Sadie,” replies the female soldier to TJ.

  “Are you new here?” asks TJ to Mara.

  “Yeah, we just got here a couple days ago. How about you?” asks Mara.

  “I live here. I have been here most of my life,” replies TJ to Mara.

  “Nice. I’m glad to meet you and Odin. I hope to see you around,” says Mara to TJ.

  TJ looks at Odin and calls for him.

  Odin smells Sadie one more time and then walks over to TJ.

  “Bye O
din, Bye TJ,” says Mara with a smile as she walks with Sadie over to another group of soldiers.

  TJ watches Mara and Sadie walk away.

  “Come on boy, before we get in trouble,” says TJ to Odin.

  TJ walks with Odin into the medical building.

  A person pushing a stretcher shouts at TJ to move out of the way.

  TJ and Odin step aside and let the stretcher pass.

  TJ notices that the body on the stretcher is covered with a sheet, and the sheet has two distinct bloody spots at the top and bottom.

  A male nurse opens the door to an operating room, looks at the man pushing the stretcher, and shouts, “Bring that patient here!”

  “Come on boy,” says TJ to Odin as TJ walks towards a long hallway.

  TJ finds auditorium one and enters the auditorium with Odin.

  Rich is talking with Commander Pine near the center of the auditorium.

  “We are starting phase two very soon. Are you okay with that Rich?” asks Commander Pine.

  “Sure, but I don’t really have a choice now do I?” answers Rich.

  TJ walks towards Rich and Commander Pine.

  “Hey son, glad you are okay,” says Rich to TJ.

  Commander Pine sees TJ and Odin walking towards her and Rich.

  “Hey TJ,” says Commander Pine.

  “I have Alice, we are at your house. She is excited to see you,” says TJ to Rich.

  Commander Pine takes her paperwork and excuses herself from the auditorium.

  “I’m glad she is safe. How are you?” asks Rich.

  “I’m good. Everything is good. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary. Can you come see Alice with me?” asks TJ.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” answers Rich.

  Rich starts to walk with TJ and Odin towards the auditorium exit.

  Suddenly the auditorium doors swing open and four men walk into the auditorium.

  Rich, TJ, and Odin stop walking.

  “Here you are, we have been looking all over for you Captain Bailey,” says Lieutenant General Swartz as he walks into the auditorium.

  Colonel Meyers makes eye contact with TJ.

  “Anything I can help you with sir?” asks Rich to Lieutenant General Swartz.

  “Actually, there is. We are going to be starting phase two of our latest project, and we wanted to borrow a helicopter or two,” replies Lieutenant General Swartz.

  “That should be fine, what’s the problem?” asks Rich.

  “We don’t seem to have any helicopter pilots here that are willing to help us. Your pilot Ramano refuses to help us,” answers Colonel Meyers.