Agreement

by Brian Grenda

  “I’m going to try to get some gas from these cars,” says Shaun to Matt and Phil.

  Phil puts on his body armor, while Matt gets his supplies out of his car.

  Shaun finds a large SUV and starts to siphon gas from it.

  Phil looks at Matt and says, “I bet you can’t hotwire that car over there.”

  Matt asks, “Which one?”

  “The red one right there,” replies Phil.

  Matt walks over to the red car and looks at Phil.

  “This one?” asks Matt.

  Phil nods yes and smirks.

  Matt tries to open the door, but it’s locked.

  Phil gets a grin on his face and shakes his head side to side.

  Matt says, “I’ll get it open. Don’t worry Phil.”

  Matt walks back to his car, grabs a hammer, and his shotgun. Shaun fills up two gas containers, and Phil takes something out of his bag.

  Matt hits the car window driver side glass with the end of his hammer.

  The glass does not break.

  Matt hits the glass harder.

  Shaun walks over to Phil and loads the gas containers into the back of Bobby G’s SUV.

  “What’s going on here Phil?” asks Shaun.

  Matt hits the driver side window again and again with his hammer, but the glass won’t break.

  Phil walks over to the car now.

  Matt gets frustrated and points his shotgun at the car window.

  Matt is about to shoot the window out.

  “Wait! Don’t waste a bullet on a window, dummy!” shouts Phil.

  Phil hits the driver side window with a small tool in his hand, and the window cracks.

  Phil hits the window several more times with the tool in his hand, and the window breaks completely.

  Phil opens the car door and says, “There you go buddy.”

  Matt jumps into the car and thinks what to do next.

  Phil walks back over to Shaun next to Bobby G’s SUV and shows Shaun the window breaking tool.

  “Nice. That’s how you broke the window so easily,” says Shaun.

  Phil replies, “This little baby is a life saver. It can break windows, cut seatbelts off, and save your life if you are ever trapped in a car.”

  Matt breaks open the panel underneath the steering wheel and sees a lot of wires.

  “How do they do this in the movies?” asks Matt.

  Phil asks, “How you doing Matt?”

  Matt shouts, “Shut it Phil!”

  Shaun and Matt finish gearing up and getting their weapons together.

  Several minutes go by, and Matt is still lost with how to hotwire the car.

  “Okay, Matt. You had your chance. We can come back to this lesson another time,” says Phil.

  Matt exits the car and shouts, “This ain’t over! I’m hotwiring that car!”

  Matt walks over to his car and gets his weapons and gear together.

  Suddenly, a loud noise is heard in the distance.

  The guys duck down next to their vehicles.

  “You hear that?” asks Shaun.

  The guys look down the street and hear the sound getting louder and louder.

  “I think it’s music,” says Matt.

  The guys walk towards the end of the drugstore parking lot and look down the street.

  “It’s coming from that truck!” shouts Phil as he points down the street at a large old truck coming towards them.

  The truck is blasting music as it drives down the middle of the road.

  As the truck gets closer to the drugstore parking lot, the guys can see that the truck is driving slowly down the street, blasting music, and directing zombies behind it.

  Behind the truck is a huge group of zombies.

  The truck comes right up to where Matt, Shaun, and Phil are standing. The driver of the truck waves at the guys.

  “What’s up fellas? The name is Dre. I’m directing the dead away from here. Stay safe,” says Dre over the intercom that is connected to the truck speakers.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. That’s probably why we haven’t seen many zombies around here. People like Dre are taking them out of here,” says Matt.

  Some of the zombies leave the herd, and come at Matt, Shaun, and Phil, but most of the zombies slowly follow behind Dre in the truck with the music.

  The guys kill some of the zombies, but also retreat to the main entrance of the drugstore.

  The guys kill the zombies with bats and knives.

  Phil kills the last zombie with his aluminum baseball bat, and a loud crash is heard inside the drugstore.

  “Someone is inside,” says Shaun.

  The guys walk to the slightly open sliding front entrance door.

  Shaun pulls open the entrance door fully, as Matt and Phil stand guard.

  The front drugstore door is open, and the guys enter the dimly lit drugstore.

  It smells awful inside the store. Like a mix of trash, feces, rotten food, and urine.

  “Hello!” shouts Phil.

  The person in the pharmacy stops what they are doing and tries to be quiet.

  “Let’s split up. Make your way to the back of the store and be quiet,” whispers Phil.

  The guys split up and walk down separate aisles towards the back of the store.

  The person in the pharmacy grabs a couple more bottles of prescriptions and places them in a brown duffel bag.

  Phil sees the person in the pharmacy and points his shotgun at the person.

  Matt takes a step and kicks a can of beans that is lying on the ground.

  The can slides across the floor and makes a loud noise as it hits the wall.

  The hooded figure in the pharmacy turns towards the sound. As the person turns, Phil makes eye contact with the person.

  “Don’t move!” shouts Phil.

  The hooded person runs to the backroom of the drugstore.

  Shaun starts to run after the person.

  Phil and Shaun run to the backroom door.

  The person gets to a backdoor inside the backroom, tries to open it and shouts, “Damn it! Of course, it’s locked or blocked from the outside!”

  The backroom is dark.

  Shaun runs into the backroom first and trips over a box.

  Phil enters the backroom, and he sees Shaun lying on the ground.

  Phil starts laughing and asks, “What happened bro? Why you down there?”

  Matt finally gets to the backroom and turns on a flashlight lantern.

  The whole backroom is lit up now.

  Phil helps Shaun up from the ground.

  The hooded figure tries to open the backdoor again.

  Matt, Shaun, and Phil walk over to the hooded person.

  The person has their back to the guys.

  Shaun notices the black hooded jacket. The jacket has an owl patch on the back. The person also has a brown duffel bag over their right shoulder.

  Phil has his shotgun pointed at the person, Matt is holding the lantern, and Shaun is feeling that he recognizes this person as he stares at the black hooded jacket.

  “Freeze, don’t move!” shouts Phil.

  The person freezes and says, “I’m not a threat. I’m only one person.”

  Shaun notices the tone of the voice, and the owl patch on the jacket and bag.

  “Turn around! Keep your hands up!” shouts Phil.

  The person says, “I mean no harm. I’m not a threat. I just want to get these medications back to my sister.”

  Shaun says, “Please, just turn around. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

  Phil looks at Shaun with a concerned look.

  Shaun nods his head and motions to calm the situation down.

  “I’m going to turn around now. I mean no harm. I am scared that you will hurt me,” says the person.

  “We won’t hurt you. We just want to make sure you won’t hurt us,” says Phil in a calmer voice.

  The hooded figure turns around slowly towards the guys.

  Shaun gets a
shocked look on his face when the person turns around.

  The person puts down the black hood.

  Long brown hair is shown as the black hood is taken off the person’s head.

  “You are a woman?” asks Phil with a shocked expression on his face.

  “No shit Sherlock!” shouts the woman.

  The woman has her hands raised above her head, and Matt’s lantern light shining in her face.

  “Can you please get that light out of my face, and stop pointing the shotgun at me?” asks the woman.

  Matt moves the lantern light out of her face, but Phil keeps his gun pointed at her.

  “We saved your life,” says Shaun.

  The woman replies, “No, you scared me to death. All I want is to get these medications back to my sister, who is sick. Nothing has worked so far.”

  “Yes, yes we did. Our leader Ryan shot several zombies when you were looting the houses across the street. I should have recognized the big ass owl patch on your jacket,” says Shaun.

  “Well, thank you. I appreciate you helping me with those zombies. I thought those houses were empty, but I was wrong,” says the woman.

  “What’s your name?” asks Phil.

  The woman asks, “What’s your name?”

  Matt says, “I’m Matt, this is Shaun, and this is Phil.”

  “Well, Matt, Shaun, and Phil, I must be getting back. My sister needs these medications, and I wasted enough time here with you three,” says the woman.

  The woman tries to walk by Phil, but he won’t let her by.

  “We need more information first,” says Phil.

  “My name is Sam. I’m a member of a small group. We don’t cause or want any trouble. My sister Jerri-Lynn is sick. My friend Andre is around here somewhere redirecting the zombies, and I have to get back,” says Sam.

  Phil lowers his gun now.

  “I’m sorry about your sister. Maybe we can help you. Our leader is a doctor,” says Shaun.

  Phil allows Sam to walk by them now.

  Sam walks towards the front entrance of the drugstore.

  The guys follow her to see where she goes.

  Sam shouts, “Nice meeting you boys! I know where you guys live! If I need you, I will come by your place!”

  Sam runs away from the drugstore and is gone.

  Shaun looks at Phil and Matt and asks, “What’s up with that big ass owl patch?”

  CHAPTER 10

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The South entrance gate is slid open by one of the guards.

  The guards shout, “Ryan! William is here!”

  Bobby G and I walk towards the South entrance and see that William and Bo have arrived.

  Truck doors close shut. William and Bo exit their trucks. William greets everyone.

  “Hello Ryan and Robert,” says William as my dad and I walk over to William.

  My dad and I greet everyone, and I introduce Bo to Bobby G.

  Bobby G gives William, Bo, and the rest of the Warriors orange badges.

  “What’s dis orange card for?” asks Bo with his Texas accent.

  “It’s basically an ID badge if you run into government soldiers, or anyone connected to the government.”

  “Government! Who needs them? They don’t cause nothing but problems for us hard working citizens of the good ole US of A!” shouts Bo.

  “Just take the card and keep it on you when you are out and about. It might save your life one day.”

  Bo replies, “No, what will save my life is these guns, tons of ammunition for these guns, and people working together. We don’t need the government. We need people helping people. Not breaking people down and trying to kill one another.”

  I put an orange badge in Bo’s hand and shout, “Just take the damn card already!”

  William says, “I see that Jacob delivered on his word. I wasn’t sure he would, and I’m still wary on him.”

  “He came through with these badges, but that isn’t saying much. What happened downtown at the zoo and with that group of Conquerors?”

  “Downtown is a mess. My group and I accompanied Bo downtown to look for his brother. Bo thought he might be at the zoo, since his fiancé works there,” says William.

  “I also thought my girlfriend Nicky would be at the zoo as well, since she works there too. I haven’t see her since the world fell apart,” says Bo.

  Bobby G asks, “Did the group of Conquerors attack you? What was the explosion we heard over the radio?”

  Bruce walks over and says, “No, they were actually following the agreement. An abandoned car exploded when we were killing a group of zombies. Bo shot the gas tank, and the car exploded.”

  I’m glad to hear that the agreement is holding strong between the groups. It’s been a couple of days since we made the agreement, and it would be very telling if it was already broken.

  “I don’t know who built the huge wall around the zoo and parts of downtown Tampa, but someone did a good job at not letting anything in or out.” Says Bo.

  The South entrance gate opens again, and another vehicle enters.

  It’s TJ, Janet, and Odin.

  TJ parks his jeep in Shaun’s driveway.

  I look at Bo and William and ask, “What do you make of the wall downtown?”

  Before William can answer, TJ, Janet, and Odin come walking over to us.

  “Hey everyone,” says TJ.

  TJ and Janet greet and introduce themselves to everyone.

  “What’s going on?” asks TJ.

  I hold up the bag of orange badges and show TJ.

  TJ smiles and says, “I guess Jacob came through with the badges.”

  TJ grabs a badge for Janet and Odin.

  Janet says, “I heard about these orange badges when I was at MacDill. Rich told us that we need to have them on us at all times. They would be our identification to any government officials or soldiers that we ran into.”

  Bo shakes his head in disagreement with the mention of the government.

  William says, “Like I was saying. The wall downtown is massive. We can’t get through it. The zoo is blocked. I don’t know how we can get around it.”

  “You saw the wall downtown huh? I saw it myself, when I was running from a group of Conquerors in trucks some time ago,” says TJ.

  “We have to try to get into the zoo. I saw my brother’s truck outside of the wall. He got in somehow. We have to find a way in,” says Bo.

  Janet looks at TJ and says, “What if we took a helicopter? The zoo isn’t that far from MacDill. They could just drop us down somewhere inside, and then take off again.”

  TJ smiles, nods in agreement and says, “That could work. Just hope there isn’t too much craziness inside the zoo.”

  “Could you get access to a helicopter?”

  TJ says, “My dad could help us out with getting a helicopter.”

  Janet says, “I know a couple of the helicopter pilots. I’m sure one of them can help us out for the right price.”

  “Price? What kind of price do you mean?” asks Bobby G.

  “The pilots will want something in return for risking their lives, using gas, and the time to fly,” says Janet.

  I look at Janet and ask, “What type of payment will they want for the helicopter ride?”

  Janet replies, “Anything worth the price of admission. Most of them want cigarettes, alcohol, and stuff like that.”

  “Glad we have a huge warehouse store full of stuff like that. Janet, you and TJ, go to the Big Club and figure out what will work as payment to the helicopter pilot.”

  William says, “My group and I will come as well. I want to check on my people who are guarding your store.”

  “Okay great. Can you also hook up the solar panels that Matt and my group got on their last run?”

  Bruce says, “Yes, we will hook them up for you.”

  Everyone is eager to get going on the new plan.

  William and his men say goodbye to everyone and head to the Big Club.

&
nbsp; Bo says, “I need to get back to my ranch, but I’m going on the helicopter ride. When do you plan on doing that?”

  TJ says, “Give us 2-3 days. We will leave in 2-3 days from now. Will you be coming up on the ride, Ryan?”

  “I wish I could. Next time, but I have to make sure we are set here, and I’m going to the World of Trade in four days with Jacob.”

  Janet says, “Better bring some good stuff to trade with. The vendors can be sticklers on the value and condition of your items.”

  “Good to know. Can you bring some things back with you from the Big Club? Things that have high market value at the World of Trade. Bring anything back that will trade well for us, and we have plenty of.”

  Janet replies, “Yes sir. No problem Ryan. TJ and I will load up your SUV with good stuff.”

  I hand TJ my SUV keys and say, “Thanks TJ. Good to see you. I feel like I haven’t see you and Odin in a while.”

  I pet Odin on the head.

  Odin licks my hand, perks up his ears, and wags his black tail.

  Bo looks at TJ and asks, “How do you guys want to meet up for this helicopter ride?”

  “You can come to my house, or I can meet you at your house,” says TJ.

  “I’ll meet you at your house, where do you live?” asks Bo.

  TJ tells Bo where he lives.

  Janet, Bobby G, and I walk to my house.

  As I’m walking with Janet and Bobby G, I ask Janet, “How you feeling? You get some rest?”

  Janet says, “Yeah. I’m all settled in over at TJ’s now. I have been taking it easy, but my cats and Odin aren’t getting along.”

  Bobby G asks, “Odin picking on the cats?”

  “Actually, my one male cat keeps messing with Odin. Odin is the calm one,” says Janet.

  Bo and TJ finish up their conversation, and Bo exits Citrus Oaks through the South entrance.

  Bobby G goes into his house, while Janet and I talk by my SUV.

  “I’m not sure I ever got to thank you Ryan, but thank you for checking me out,” says Janet.

  “You are welcome. I’m still a doctor, even in this crazy world. I’m just glad to help. You are a strong woman, it will take more than some idiot Conquerors to take you out.”

  Janet replies, “You got that right.”

  TJ and Odin walk over to Janet and me.

  TJ asks Janet, “Ready to go?”

  “Yup, let’s get going,” says Janet.