Agreement

by Brian Grenda

  I look at Brad and ask, “If you don’t live here, where do you live?”

  Suddenly a loud crash is heard.

  One of the Brad’s men shouts, “Shit! The glass finally broke in that house! Here come the zombies!”

  A huge herd of zombies, breaks free from inside one of the homes on Davis Island.

  Two screams are heard, as the zombies latch onto two of Brad’s men.

  “Fall back!” shouts Phil.

  BOOM!

  BANG!

  SLICE!

  Zombies are quickly approaching my group, myself, and Brad’s group.

  Phil, Eric, Lauren, Jon, and several of Brad’s men kill some of the approaching zombies.

  A zombie is shot in the head.

  BANG!

  There must be forty zombies coming towards us still.

  I see Lauren run to safety near the front entrance barricades.

  Eric uses his riot shield that Shaun lent him to knock several zombies down.

  Jon slices into two zombies, and then smacks another zombie in the head with his shield.

  A zombie comes at me, but I dodge out of the way, and I stab another zombie in the head.

  SHICK!

  “There are too many of them!” shouts another one of Brad’s men as he is swarmed by five zombies.

  Elizabeth runs next to Lauren.

  SVAASH

  I cut two zombies’ heads off with my katana.

  SCHWAFF!

  SCHWAFF!

  Lauren fires two arrows and kills three zombies. One arrow went into a skull of a zombie.

  The other arrow went through a zombies’ skull, exited through the back of that zombies’ soft skull, and into another zombies’ brain.

  Julia makes it back to the barricades and stands next to Elizabeth.

  Eric hits a zombie with his metal baseball bat, and then retreats to the barricades with Brad.

  Brad fires an arrow at the remaining zombies.

  Jon, Phil, and I regroup at the front yard of a house.

  I try to catch my breath.

  “I count ten. Ten zombies left,” says Jon.

  A lone zombie staggers away from the herd and is coming for us.

  Phil pushes the zombie up against an exterior wall of the house and kills the zombie with his knife.

  Phil pulls out his knife from the zombies’ head and says, “Nine.”

  Jon and I run away from the zombie herd.

  Phil follows behind us.

  “Let’s come around these houses and finish the last nine zombies off!”

  Phil, Jon, and I make it around the homes near the water and see the remaining zombies.

  Three of the zombies are eating one of Brad’s men that is lying in the road, and the other six are making their way slowly towards the front entrance barricades.

  Jon and I run towards the three zombies that are busy eating the body of Brad’s deceased man in the street.

  The zombie bites into the man’s stomach, looks up, and then is decapitated by Jon’s Silencer.

  Blood goes flying into the air.

  I stab the two remaining zombies in the head, and they fall limp onto the deceased man.

  Jon stabs the forehead of the deceased man, so he doesn’t come back as a zombie.

  SHICK!

  Phil runs towards the remaining six zombies.

  Jon and I follow behind Phil.

  An arrow flies into a zombies’ skull.

  “Careful guys! We are here now!”

  Lauren shouts, “Sorry! I’ll hold my fire!”

  Phil and I kill the remaining zombies with hacks, slashes, and stabs.

  Jon runs over to me and says, “That’s all of them. The island is clear now. I took care of Brad’s guys also. Don’t want them coming back to life on us.”

  “Good job, Jon. Good work, Phil.”

  Phil shouts, “It’s all clear now!

  Lauren, Eric, and Julia come over to us.

  Brad looks at Elizabeth and asks, “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? What does Jacob know?”

  Elizabeth says, “I’m okay. I have some bruises, and cuts, but I’ll live. I didn’t tell them anything. They came after us, but we got away. Well I did. I don’t know about Chuck, Austin, or Bella.”

  Two of Brad’s men come out from one of the homes they were hiding in. They look terrified.

  One of the men says, “I’m glad that’s over now.”

  Phil and I look at the men as they exit the back-patio sliding glass door of the home.

  “Guess this group doesn’t know how to fight zombies,” says Phil.

  I look at Phil and joke, “We all can’t be as badass as Phil, now can we?”

  Brad and Elizabeth come over to Eric.

  “What was that all about?” asks Eric.

  Brad replies, “That house was full of people who didn’t want to evacuate the island. Guess they died and turned.”

  Phil overhears Brad’s statement and asks, “Where are you living Brad? Do you belong to a large group, or is this it?”

  Brad replies, “We live across the water in a very secure, big community, with a lot of people.”

  Eric asks, “Why did Jacob take the girl?”

  Elizabeth replies, “They took Bella? That’s not good. That’s the fifth person they took this week.”

  Brad asks, “You sure they took her?”

  I look at Brad and say, “Yeah. They killed the two men she was with, and they took her. Right over there by the convention center.”

  Brad looks at Elizabeth and says, “That’s not good. They must be trying to get information from them about our group, community, and the Captain.”

  “We can help you Brad.”

  Brad looks at Eric with a concerned look on his face.

  Eric says, “Ryan is good people. His people are trustworthy. Ryan defeated Joseph and can help you with Jacob.”

  Brad looks at me and says, “It’s not that simple. I’m not the leader of Channelside. I’m a lieutenant. One of many that we have.”

  Phil says, “We don’t need to help you. We have our own problems to worry about.”

  Lauren, Phil, and Jon walk over to me.

  Brad looks at Eric and Julia.

  “Come on guys. Let’s check out these million-dollar homes for anything we can use. I saw a couple of electric vehicles that we should take.”

  Phil, Lauren, Jon, and I start walking towards a huge million-dollar home right on the water.

  Brad shouts, “Wait!”

  I turn towards Brad.

  “I think we can use your help. You clearly are capable fighters. We don’t have many fighters in our community. We are mainly fisherman,” says Brad.

  I hear what Brad says, and I don’t really feel the need to try to convince him of anything.

  Something about this situation, location, and experience has made me feel like I don’t care to help these people.

  I look at Elizabeth and see how she is dressed.

  She is barefoot, but wearing a designer long sleeved shirt, pair of skinny jeans, and diamond earrings.

  I look at Brad and ask, “Who is living at Channelside? Rich and famous people?”

  Elizabeth interrupts and says, “We are wealthy. Yes.”

  Elizabeth’s tone is one of arrogance and pretentiousness.

  I become annoyed by her attitude and how she just interrupted Brad from speaking.

  Brad walks over to me and says, “Let me talk to you for a second. Privately.”

  Brad walks with me down the street, away from the group and Elizabeth.

  I look Brad in the eyes, and I see that he wants to say something to me.

  “The people of Channelside are, most of them anyway, good people. But some, yes, some of them are snobbish, privileged people who come from money. I don’t like those people, but they are alive, and we need people alive,” says Brad.

  I see Brad’s facial expression, and it’s one of truth and honesty.

  “I understand. You ca
n’t help who your neighbors are right? You sound like a nice guy Brad, but I don’t do well with pretentious, disrespectful, rude, and inconsiderate people. Never liked them before the world fell apart and definitely have zero tolerance for them now.”

  “Look man, I feel ya on that. I’m all about respect and courtesy. Our leader is a good person. I think we can mutually help each other. You don’t have to stay with us, but we can help you with food, water, supplies, access to the bay, boats, fishing, the aquarium, even the cruise ships,” say Brad.

  I like the idea of having access to Channelside, and everything Brad is offering.

  I put out my right hand, and Brad shakes my right hand.

  “You had me at cruise ships.”

  Brad laughs, and we walk back to the group.

  “What’s up Ry?” asks Phil.

  “We will be working together. Channelside and our Brotherhood.”

  Eric smiles and nods his head in agreement that we will be helping Channelside.

  Elizabeth says, “Great. Can we please get back home now? My husband is probably worried sick.”

  I look at Elizabeth and ask, “What happened with your group and Jacob? Why did they attack you?”

  Brad says, “We can talk about that on the way back home. Let’s get on the boat.”

  “Boat? What about our vehicles?” asks Phil.

  I look at Brad and ask, “Will the trip take long? Will our vehicles be safe where they are?”

  “If they are parked at the entrance of Davis Island, they will be fine. There isn’t much life around here anymore. If they are further away, I would move them to the entrance by the barricades,” says Brad.

  Eric says, “They are right at the entrance. Next to the barricades.”

  “Good, just make sure they are locked,” says Brad.

  Phil and Eric run to their vehicles and make sure they are locked.

  BEEP!

  BEEP!

  Phil and Eric hit the lock button on their car keys, and the vehicles are locked.

  We all get on the boat that Brad arrived in and set sail for Channelside.

  I sit next to Elizabeth, as I want to know more about what happened with Jacob and anything else that she knows.

  “So, Liz, what happened before with Jacob? Why did they start attacking you?”

  Elizabeth replies, “It’s Elizabeth.”

  “Sorry, Elizabeth. Why did Jacob attack you and your group?”

  “I don’t know. We were just walking back after checking out some local buildings. Bella really wanted some coffee, and there is a coffee shop right outside of our borders.”

  Elizabeth’s response makes me wonder what kind of people I’m going to meet at Channelside.

  “Suddenly, a truck came out of nowhere. It was Jacob and his group. They got out of the truck and came at us. We ran to the convention center for safety. I jumped into the bay, to get away. I knew I could swim to safety, as I have been diving for many years. We go to Aruba every winter,” says Elizabeth.

  Brad shouts, “Home sweet home!”

  I stand up and look out the front of the boat.

  Channelside is right along the bay, next to a hockey arena, aquarium, and Port Tampa.

  As Brad pulls up with his boat, I see that Channelside has shipping container border walls, and the main way to get in, and out is by boat, or other water transportation.

  “They have a cruise ship in port here, and they are right by the aquarium,” says Lauren.

  I have been to Channelside many times, seen hockey games at the arena downtown, and been on a cruise out of Port Tampa.

  Those were different times, and the area looks much different than the last time I was here.

  Brad docks the boat, and two fellow Channelside members help everyone off the boat.

  Elizabeth runs off the boat and towards the community.

  “They are with me guys. They are safe. You don’t need to check them,” says Brad to the two men at the dock.

  We exit the boat.

  One of the men looks at Jon and says, “Nice shield, is it heavy?”

  Jon says, “Thanks. It’s decent weight.”

  Phil is the last one off the boat, and he is not sure what to make of Channelside.

  I see that Phil has an unsure look on his face.

  “What’s up Phil?”

  Phil asks, “You sure about this place Ry?”

  “I think these rich ass people will need us. Not sure how they survived this long.”

  Brad walks us into the center of Channelside.

  Channelside is a water based community that is situated right along Tampa Bay near downtown Tampa.

  The center of Channelside is a two-story plaza. It has shops, restaurants, a bowling alley, and a night club.

  I see the walls are made of large steel shipping containers. Two containers stacked on top of each other, make up the walls. The walls must be about 18 feet high.

  Brad says, “The walls stretch all around the Channel District, Channelside Drive, from Port Tampa on McKay Street all the way down to South Franklin Street. We have control of Channelside Towers, and a waterfront hotel right on the bay.”

  Eric sees someone in the distance sitting at a table outside in the shade.

  “DJ!” shouts Eric.

  The man looks at Eric and says, “Hey Eric. When did you get here?”

  Julia and Eric walk over to DJ at the table.

  Eric shakes DJ’s hand.

  “How are ya?” asks Eric.

  “Good. Heather and I are doing well. We made it out in time. This place is great. You are going to love it here,” says DJ.

  Julia asks, “Where is your wife Heather?”

  “She’s back home sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up this morning,” says DJ.

  “Where do you live now? We saw your house on Davis Island. It’s abandoned,” says Eric.

  DJ replies, “Yeah. We had to leave it. I go back from time to time, but it’s not safe there. Zombies and this group called the Conquerors are a problem there.”

  Phil walks over to Eric, Julia, and DJ.

  Phil is shocked to see who DJ is. Phil is a big baseball fan, and is star struck at the sight of the famous baseball player, DJ.

  Eric says, “DJ, this is Phil. He’s a badass.”

  DJ shakes Phil’s hand and says, “With body armor like that, I can tell. Nice to meet you Phil.”

  Phil says, “I’m a big fan. What you did in the series in ‘04, was amazing.”

  DJ says, “Thank you Phil. Always nice to meet a fan. Guess that doesn’t matter anymore. No more sports, just the memories. I have my bats though. Had to use a couple items of my baseball memorabilia on some zombies at the start of it all.”

  A group of men come walking behind us, as I’m talking with Brad and Jon. The men are carrying coolers and fishing gear.

  Brad says, “We have a big supply of fish and seafood here. I fish and hunt myself. I have a compound bow and love to use it on the dead.”

  Lauren gags at the fish smell.

  A man walks by Brad and asks, “Everything okay Brad? Where is Adam, Kevin, and Frank? I saw Craig and Scott come back with you.”

  “They didn’t make it. The group of zombies from the Hall home finally got out. The zombies killed Adam, Kevin, and Frank,” says Brad.

  The man says, “I’m sorry to hear that. They were good men. The Captain would like to see you, when you are done with these people.”

  Brad says, “Okay, thank you Sebastian. I will be there in a couple of minutes.”

  The man walks away, and I look at Brad.

  “Who is your leader? When do I get to meet him?”

  Brad replies, “Let me talk to our Captain first, and then I will see what to do. Do you have anything to offer him?”

  “What do you mean offer him? We offer our services and our skills.”

  “Okay, I will see if that will work for him. You wait here, and I’ll be right back. The Captain can be a bit testy and moo
dy,” says Brad.

  Brad leaves Lauren, Jon, and I standing in the center of Channelside Plaza.

  Phil walks over to me and asks, “Did you see who DJ is? Can’t believe it’s the famous baseball player.”

  “Yeah I saw. That’s pretty cool.”

  Lauren, Phil, Jon, and I walk around the plaza and shops.

  We make it to the street and see that the shipping container walls are making a great secure border. The walls stretch all the way down Channelside Drive, around Channelside Towers, and all the way down to Port Tampa.

  “This place is a shit show,” says Phil.

  I look up at the huge pair of Channelside Towers. Channelside Towers is made up of two massive condo buildings that have 30 floors in each building. There is Channelside Tower East and Channelside Tower West.

  I look up at the East building of Channelside Towers and see several people drinking and partying on balconies. They have music blasting and seem to have no problem that the world is falling apart.

  I look at Lauren and Phil and ask, “These people know the world is ending right?”

  Lauren replies, “I guess it’s not ending for them.”

  Half an hour goes by.

  Lauren, Phil, Jon, and I meet up with Eric and Julia at the center of Channelside Plaza.

  Eric looks at me and says, “I think we are going to stay here. We’ll go back home with you guys today, but we most likely will be coming to live here. DJ can get us a unit in Channelside Tower West.”

  Before I can respond, Brad comes over to us.

  “Little problem with our Captain,” says Brad.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “The Captain is in a bad mood right now. He said he doesn’t want to see you unless you have an offering for him,” says Brad.

  “You serious?”

  Brad replies, “Unfortunately, I’m serious. The Captain won’t see you unless you have some material possessions, or items to offer.”

  I immediately get pissed at the fact that their leader needs for me to offer something to him before I can see him.

  I look right into Brad’s eyes and shout, “That’s fine! I’m sure you are a good guy Brad, but fuck this place and your Captain! He doesn’t want our help! Good riddance! Good luck! Goodbye!”

  Everyone in the plaza and around the surrounding area hears me shout, and they get quiet.

  I look at Eric and say, “Have fun staying with these people. Hope you don’t turn into a douche.”