I pour the last drop of water from the water bottle into the bowl, and the small black and brown cat starts to drink the water.
As the cat is drinking water I notice that she has a name tag on her collar as well. I look closer at the name tag on the red collar and see that it says Callie.
We got a Milo and Callie.
Phil and I watch the cats drinking water and are glad that the cats are okay. It’s not known how long the cats were all alone in this bedroom for.
The cats seem to be okay, so Phil and I search the rest of the house and property. Phil and I search the garage, laundry room, backyard, master bedroom, and master bathroom. The house and property are empty and all clear of any danger.
We will have to come back and search the rooms closer for any useful supplies or items, but I’m happy just knowing that the property is zombie free.
The house is clear, but needs some work if people will be living here. The house doesn’t have power currently, so running appliances and ceiling fans isn’t possible right now.
We will have to come up with a plan for solar power or using a generator on this house.
I walk out the front door and over to my dad’s SUV. Shaun and my dad did a good job of moving the zombies into the center of the cul-de-sac near Ray’s house.
Shaun comes walking over to me and asks, “Everything okay in there?”
“Yeah. Phil and I cleared the house, but we found two new family members.”
“Family members?” asks Shaun.
Phil comes out the front door holding Milo.
“Yeah. We got two new furry family members. A Milo and Callie.”
CHAPTER 3
ALL CLEAR
Bobby G comes around the corner of my front patio and walks towards Phil, Shaun, and I. He sees that Phil is holding a cat and gets excited.
“Who do you got there Phil?” asks Bobby G.
Phil replies, “Milo.”
Bobby G removes his right-hand glove, pets Milo, and asks, “Is the house all clear?”
“Yeah. Besides the two cats living inside. The house is clear of anything alive. The house doesn’t have power so we will have to figure something out about that, but the house is safe.”
Matt finally is awake and walks out of the front door of my house. He walks over to us and greets us with a hello. He notices Phil holding a cat and takes several steps back.
“I’m allergic. Very allergic, actually,” shouts Matt.
Phil replies, “Okay, okay. Relax bro. I’ll put him back inside.”
Phil goes back inside the house and puts Milo in the living room. Milo jumps up onto his cat condo and sits down.
Phil leaves the living room and says, “See ya Milo.”
Phil exits the house through the front door, walks back over to spot in the U-shaped driveway that we are standing.
Shaun places the last zombie from Martha’s front yard in the pile that they made in the street and shouts, “That’s the last one from the yard. We need to start to burn them now.”
“Okay, let me get some gas from my shed.”
I walk to my backyard to get my gas can from my shed.
Phil can’t help but to look at Matt and laugh.
Phil looks at Matt and asks, “Do have a weapon on you?”
Matt replies, “Do I need one?”
“Yeah man. You never know what we are going to find,” says Phil.
Shaun walks over to Matt and hands him a pair of gloves, a dust mask, and a knife.
Matt and Shaun walk down the street and start moving the remaining zombie bodies into the pile to be burnt.
I make my way over to the zombie pile that Shaun and my dad made and start to pour gasoline onto the zombie bodies. After thoroughly soaking the zombie bodies in gasoline I reach into my pockets for match or lighter. I realize that I don’t have anything to light the zombies on fire with.
I’m about to walk to my house when I see Carlos walking over to me.
Carlos shouts, “How are you Ryan?”
“Pretty good, my family and I are clearing out the streets and homes. How are you?”
Carlos takes a puff from his cigar and says, “Doing very well now, thanks to you and your family.”
I see that Carlos is smoking a cigar and I wonder if he has a lighter or match I can use.
Carlos, “Do you have a lighter or matches I can use to light these zombies on fire?”
Carlos replies, “Yeah.”
Then throws the cigar he was smoking on the pile.
The zombie pile immediately goes up in flames. The fire is impressive and very large.
Carlos asks, “What’s next Ryan? What is our next plan?”
I reply, “We block off the neighborhood entrances and restrict what comes in here.”
Carlos responds, “Okay. I will get some people together, and we will start securing the South entrance.”
“Thank you, Carlos, my family and I will help you after we clear the zombie bodies out of the streets and secure the last couple of homes.”
Phil walks over to me and asks, “Do you want to check out the last of the houses now?”
“Yeah, let’s check out Ray’s and Kyle’s homes next.”
My dad drags a zombie body over to the burning pile of zombies and walks over to me.
I look at my dad and I say, “Phil and I will secure these last two homes. Keep clearing out the streets and be safe.”
My dad replies, “Safety first, but when is lunch time? I’m tired.”
I laugh and say, “Not yet, old man. It’s not lunch time yet for you.”
Phil and I walk over to Ray’s house and enter the garage. We notice that the door from inside the garage that leads into the house is open.
We walk to the open door and stop. We listen for any movement and hear some rustling inside the house.
Phil shouts, “Anyone alive in there?”
No one responds, but we still hear the rustling noise from inside the house.
Phil looks inside the house, but doesn’t see anything. Phil enters the house and I follow behind him.
We know Ray and Stephanie are gone, so we aren’t sure who is in here.
Phil gets to the living room and stops.
A loud bang comes from inside the master bedroom.
Phil and I both turn towards the bedroom and pause. I take out my katana and start to walk towards the master bedroom that is at the rear of the house.
I stop in the hallway and see that the master bedroom door is half open.
Another loud bang is heard. It sounded like someone tripped over something.
Phil says, “Let me go in first and you follow in behind me.”
Before I can say anything, Phil is walking towards the bedroom door.
Phil kicks opens the door and fires his shotgun.
I follow behind him, enter the bedroom, and see that he killed two zombies with that one shot.
A lone zombie is on the ground and reaches for Phil. I walk over to the zombie and stab her in the head. The zombies must have entered the house randomly when they stormed the neighborhood.
Ray’s bedroom is a mess, clothes were all over the floor, dresser drawers were lying on the ground as well, and a broken night table lamp was next to the bed.
Phil and I check the house and backyard. The house is now clear of all zombies or danger.
Before I leave the house, I see a picture on the refrigerator of Ray and another cop.
The picture is of Ray, his partner, and their K-9 cop dog. Ray and his partner are standing in front of their police SUV at the police station as his partner holds the leash to an all-black Germain Shephard.
I look at the picture and think of Ray and Stephanie dying at the police station.
Phil walks over to me and asks, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, just looking at this picture of Ray and his partner.”
“Partner? Who was Ray’s partner?” asks Phil.
“I only met him once but I think
his name was Tom. Tom Jackson.”
I see the fire coming from outside in the cul-de-sac through the living room windows of Ray’s house and want to see how the guys are doing with clearing out the streets.
Phil and I exit the house through the garage and see the guys sitting on Ray’s lawn taking a break.
“Everything okay out here?”
Bobby G replies, “Yeah. We only have the other entrance to clear out next and then we will be all done.”
Lauren, Lisa, and Kylie come walking across the street and hand the guys bottles of water.
Shaun, Matt, and Bobby G are drenched in sweat and very grateful to have the water.
Lauren asks, “How is everything going guys?”
Shaun replies, “Pretty good.”
Lisa asks, “Can we start unpacking the vehicles now?”
Shaun says, “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
Kylie walks over to Matt and asks him for the keys to the car.
Matt says, “They are in the bedroom on the dresser.”
Kylie replies, “Thanks. I will start to unpack the car.”
The girls walk over to the vehicles and start to unpack them, as Kylie goes back inside the house to get the keys to Matt’s car.
The zombie pile fire is burning strong and is very hot now.
I can’t stand being anywhere near the fire as it omits too much heat and smoke.
I look at Shaun and Matt and say, “You guys are doing great. Phil and I are going to clear out this last house and then we can start helping Carlos secure the entrances.”
A loud boom is heard as a tall palm tree is cut down by Carlos.
Shaun says, “Sounds like he is doing a good job.”
Phil and I start to walk down the street and over to Kyle’s house.
The neighborhood is becoming all clear again, and I can’t wait to feel that it’s all safe from any zombies or people.
I walk up to Kyle’s front door and stop in the front walkway. Blood from when Kyle was killed by Kim and her husband remains on the walkway, front door, and patio.
Kyle didn’t deserve to die, but, unfortunately, that’s not how life works. Live isn’t always fair, and people don’t always get what they deserve, whether it’s good or bad.
Kyle’s front door is open. Phil walks over to the opened door and bangs on it with his right hand.
Three zombies come rushing towards us from inside the house.
Phil aims his shotgun at the zombies, but before he can take a shot I shout, “Conserve your ammo. Use your knife.”
I take out my katana and chop off the top half of a zombies’ skull.
Phil takes out his knife and stabs the charging zombie in the side of the head. The last zombie trips over the front door doorway and falls to the ground.
I stab him in the back of the head with my katana and the remove the blade from his skull.
I shout into the house, “Anyone alive in there?”
No one responds, but I hear some noise coming from inside the kitchen.
I walk into the living room and bang on the wall. A zombie comes walking down the hallway and towards the front door.
As the zombie walks towards the front door, I come from behind and stab the zombie through the back of the skull and through his mouth.
I pull the sword out from his skull and the zombie falls to the ground.
The house is silent now.
Phil enter the house and pulls the zombie by his shoulders through the front door and out to the front yard. A line of blood is made as Phil drags the lifeless zombies’ body from inside the house to the front yard.
I look at the blood and think that we will have to do some serious cleaning of these homes if we are going to have people living in them.
I walk into the kitchen, remaining bedrooms, bathrooms, and garage. Phil checks the backyard, and we see that the house is all clear now.
Being in these people’s homes without them there is weird, but a necessary part of surviving now, I guess.
I never really knew a lot about my neighbor’s when they were alive, but I feel like I’m getting to know them a whole lot better now, in a weird way, as we search through their homes.
I see family photos on walls, knickknacks on tables, all their material possessions they owned in the world, and I feel that all those things can say a lot about what kind of people they might have been.
Phil and I have cleared out the main houses that we wanted to check out today.
I call Matt and Shaun over to help us remove the zombies that we just killed.
The homes and streets of the neighborhood are all clear right now. We might have a couple remaining zombies in the neighborhood, but we will take care of them when we find them.
My focus is securing the entrances to prevent further problems.
I walk down the sidewalk and am about to cross the street when I hear a car coming down the street.
I turn around and am shocked to see a car coming down my street let alone who is in the car.
The car pulls along side of me and stops.
The driver shouts, “What’s up Ry? How are ya? You get those solar panels up and running yet?”
It’s my friend Jon and his dad Frank.
I am very happy to see Jon.
I reply, “We have them all hooked up, but I’m not sure if it’s ready to go yet. The converter has a blinking light on it now.”
Jon replies, “Interesting. Sounds like it’s getting power, but something might be off. Let me look at it.”
Jon parks his car in the street in front of my house.
Bobby G walks over and sees Jon and his dad Frank. He walks over to Frank and shakes his hand.
Bobby G says, “Hey Jon. Hey Frank. How are ya?”
Frank replies, “As good as can be expected, I guess.”
I walk Frank and Jon into the garage, and they start to look at the solar panel setup.
I manually open the garage door and try to let some of the heat out.
As Jon and his dad are looking at the solar panel setup, Matt, Shaun, and Phil come into the garage.
Shaun says, “We got all of the zombies from the homes, streets, and lawns burning. The girls got all the supplies from the vehicles into your house, and so I think we are set to start working on the entrances now.”
“Awesome. Good job guys. Let’s take a little break, and then we can go see how Carlos is coming along with the entrances.”
“Carlos? Who is Carlos?” asks Matt.
Phil replies, “He is a neighbor that lives down the street. He has a construction background.”
Jon asks, “Ryan, can I see your setup on the roof?”
“Sure. Let’s go check it out.”
I grab the ladder, and we go to the backyard.
Jon opens the backyard fence door, and I walk through and setup the ladder to get onto the roof.
We walk up the ladder and start to examine the solar panel connections.
Jon looks at the electrical connections, and I take in the view of the neighborhood from the rooftop.
I see Carlos has a couple people working with him to secure the South entrance. They have dug a small trench in the lawns near the road, and have cut down several palm trees to make barriers and help redirect any zombies towards the trenches.
Carlos is doing a good job at securing the South entrance.
Jon looks at one of the panels and says, “I think I got it. I think I know why the power wasn’t running properly. One of the wires was frayed. It was still connected, but not the best wire for the job. Do you have any more wires?”
“Yeah. We have several boxes of them in the garage. I’ll go get a new one.”
I walk down the ladder and make my way back into the garage.
When I get to the garage, I see all the guy relaxing and trying to cool off after working in the Florida heat. Bobby G has a wet towel draped over his head and Matt has a plugin box fan blowing on him.
I can’t help but to laugh
at the site of Matt with that fan blowing on him. The way he has it positioned, it looks like it’s blowing directly onto his crotch.
I grab a new wire from the box and a screwdriver and take it back to Jon.
Jon unscrews the old wire and installs the new wire.
Jon says, “Okay. You should be good now. If the power is working the light on the converter box would be green. Let’s go check it out.”
I walk down the ladder and Jon follows. I fold up the ladder and start to walk back to the garage.
As we make our way back into the garage, I put away the ladder and Jon checks the converter.
Jon says, “It’s green. Green means go.”
“Awesome. Looks like it’s working good now. Can I turn off the generator now?”
Jon says, “Sure. The house should be running on the solar panels. You don’t need the generator for this house.”
Phil walks over to the generator and turns it off.
I pause for a second but notice the fan that Matt was using is still working.
We now have solar power for the house.
I shake Jon’s hand and say, “Thank you, Jon. You are awesome. This solar power is a game changer. How is your setup going?”
Jon replies, “You are welcome. Glad to help. Especially after you and Phil helped us at the condo. Our setup is good. The panels are working good and the gates are holding strong.”
“How are Kelly and your mom holding up?”
“They are doing well, but we are having trouble with getting supplies and food into the building as the gates need to be closed for safety most of the time.”
Shaun says, “You’ll have to setup a system for runs. Have people ready to close the gate when people leave and be ready for when people are coming back.”
“Yeah, we will have to develop a system going forward, but our condo building is mostly elderly rich entitled people who want everything to be done for them and aren’t willing to help,” says Frank.
“Then they die. Everyone needs to pull their own weight. At least that’s my vote and my way of thinking. We can’t have people freeloading and not helping. That use to drive me crazy at my job, and I won’t stand for it now.”
Bobby G says, “That’s harsh, but I think that is a good way of thinking though. Standards and expectations need to be set. No Exceptions.”
Fight 4 Us: (Book 3): Refuge Page 3