Fight 4 Us (Book 7): Weaponize

by Grenda, Brian

  “Dude, why did you take the dog food?”

  Shaun parks in the blue driveway of the blue house behind Jon’s car.

  “I had to man, those Conquerors were assholes. I had to take something from them,” says Shaun.

  “I just hope it doesn’t come back around and bite us in the ass.”

  “One bag of dog food and a dog squeaky toy shouldn’t mean much to them,” says Shaun.

  “I’ll pay it back to them if they really are worried about it,” says Shaun.

  Shaun exits from the electric truck and a loud squeaky noise is heard as he stands up.

  I smile at the sound and shake my head.

  Shaun laughs and says, “That’s the toy, it’s in my back pocket.”

  I exit the electric truck and see a zombie body lying in the grass of the front yard.

  I walk over to the zombie body that is lying in the front yard and see that the zombie is dead.

  Phil, Shaun, Matt and Jon are standing at the front door of the blue house.

  “What’s so important about this house?” asks Matt.

  “It’s a freaking all blue house. I have seen this house a couple times and feel like something good is in here. I have to see what is in here,” says Shaun.

  “Hopefully, this house is loaded with supplies. Like one of those prepper people,” says Phil.

  “My neighbor back home was one of those guys. He was set for the next fifty years,” says Shaun.

  “Ryan come check this out,” says Jon as he stands near the front door of the blue house.

  I walk over to Jon and see some dirty boot prints and some blood on the blue painted front porch concrete.

  “We might have company inside. Stay sharp. We need to clear the house.”

  The guys and I check our gear and weapons.

  I walk over to the blue garage door and try to open it. The blue painted garage door is locked and won’t open from the outside.

  Phil pushes open the blue front door.

  “Hello! Is anyone in here!” shouts Phil as he looks into the blue house through the front entrance doorway.

  A faint sound comes from the back of the house.

  “I think someone is inside,” says Phil as he looks back at Shaun and Jon.

  “You sure we should be doing this?” asks Matt.

  “I want to know what’s inside this house,” says Shaun.

  “You know what curiosity did to the cat?” asks Matt.

  “Stay outside and guard the front door then,” says Shaun to Matt.

  Phil and Jon enter the blue house, followed by Shaun.

  I walk over to Matt.

  “You stand watch out here. Let us know if you run into trouble out here.”

  Matt nods his head yes.

  I enter the blue house.

  “Hello!” shouts Phil.

  “In here, I’m in here,” says an old man that is struggling to talk.

  Jon clears a bedroom.

  Shaun clears the kitchen.

  Phil sees an old man sitting in a blue chair in the living room at the far end of the house.

  “Are you okay sir?” shouts Phil.

  The old man looks at Phil and struggles to breathe.

  Jon goes into the garage.

  Shaun walks towards a closed bedroom door.

  I walk into the living room and find Phil talking with the old man.

  “What happened sir?” asks Phil.

  The older gentleman is very tan and wearing blue shorts, an old white t-shirt, and some old army boots.

  “I was bit. I let my dog out to go to the bathroom and I was bit on my left arm,” says the old man.

  “What’s your name sir?” asks Phil.

  “I’m Giuseppe,” answers the old man.

  “Nice to meet you Giuseppe. Is anyone else in the house?” I ask Giuseppe as I kneel towards him.

  “Yeah, this little guy,” says Shaun as he walks into the living room carrying something.

  “I see you met my boy Chewie,” says Giuseppe.

  Shaun is carrying a small white and brown Jack Russell Terrier in his arms.

  Chewie has the dog toy Shaun got from the pet store in his mouth. Chewie is a little guy but loves the big squeaky toy Shaun gave him.

  “Let me see my boy one last time,” says Giuseppe.

  Shaun hands Chewie to Giuseppe.

  “How old is he?” asks Shaun.

  “He’s about ten months old now. My daughter got him for me,” says Giuseppe.

  Phil looks at me with a concerned look.

  I know what Phil is saying with his look.

  Giuseppe starts to cough.

  “Here, take him. I’m going to miss that little guy. He was all I had here,” says Giuseppe.

  Phil takes Chewie from Giuseppe’s lap.

  Jon walks into the living room and says, “The house and garage are all clear.”

  Jon sees us talking to Giuseppe in the living room and feels a sense of sadness.

  Giuseppe looks at me and says, “I don’t want to turn into one of those horrible creatures. Don’t let me turn into one of them.”

  I am sad at the thought of killing Giuseppe, but I feel it’s the humane thing to do.

  I look at Giuseppe and say, “I won’t. I won’t let you turn.”

  Giuseppe struggles to take a breath, gasps for air, and then stops breathing.

  I check his carotid pulse and feel for any breathes coming from his nose or mouth.

  Giuseppe just died.

  Phil takes his knife and stabs Giuseppe in the back of his head.

  We all take a moment of silence for Giuseppe.

  I stand up and walk outside.

  “Everything okay Ry?” asks Matt.

  “Yeah, the house is all clear.”

  The guys walk out of the blue house.

  Shaun is holding Chewie.

  I grab the shovel out of the back of the electric truck and walk into Giuseppe’s backyard through his blue painted wooden fence.

  A zombie is aimlessly walking around Giuseppe’s backyard and sees me enter through the blue fence.

  The zombie steps towards me, and I smack the zombie in the face with the shovel.

  I drive the shovel into the zombies’ face and skull several times.

  As I drive the shovel into the zombies’ face, I feel a sense of release.

  I remove the shovel from the zombies’ crushed face and start digging a grave for Giuseppe.

  Phil and Shaun walk into the backyard and see me digging a grave for Giuseppe.

  Phil walks over to a shed that is in Giuseppe’s backyard and finds another shovel.

  Phil and I dig a grave for Giuseppe.

  Jon, Matt, and Shaun cover Giuseppe’s body with a blue sheet and place him in the grave.

  We cover Giuseppe’s body with dirt.

  Chewie barks and walks over to Giuseppe’s grave.

  Chewie lies in the grass next to Giuseppe’s grave.

  We all don’t know what to say.

  We didn’t know Giuseppe, but I feel like he was a good person just trying to survive in this new world.

  I look at Giuseppe’s grave and say, “Old man blue, I’ll never forget you. Even if I barely knew ya.”

  I exit the backyard and get into the electric truck.

  The guys exit the backyard and get into their vehicles.

  Shaun hands me Chewie as I sit in the passenger seat of the electric truck.

  Chewie licks my face.

  “He likes you,” says Shaun as he starts up the electric truck.

  I look down at Chewie and smile.

  “I knew something good was in that house,” says Shaun as he drives away from Giuseppe’s blue house.

  CHAPTER 9

  I CAN’T

  “What’s going on TJ? Did you find your sister?”

  “That’s why I am here. I know where my sister is, but I will need some help getting to her,” says TJ to me as I stand with TJ in my living room.

  KNOCK! K
NOCK!

  I open my front door.

  “You ready or what?” asks Shaun.

  Shaun walks into my house.

  “What’s up TJ?” asks Shaun.

  TJ greets Shaun.

  “I’m almost ready. I’ll be ready to go after I talk with TJ.”

  “I need to go to the Seminole Casino off the highway. My sister is most likely there with her boyfriend,” says TJ.

  “How do you know she is there?”

  “I don’t know exactly, but that’s the best lead I have right now. I plan on going there in the next couple of days,” says TJ.

  “I can’t TJ. I have so much to do over the next three days. I’m going to Bo’s ranch today, going to St. Pete tomorrow, and then meeting with Jacob. I can go after my meeting with Jacob, if all goes well.”

  “I can’t wait that long. Can anyone come with me from here?” asks TJ.

  “I wish I could spare some people, but unfortunately I can’t.”

  “What about William and his Warriors?” asks Shaun.

  “I am going there next. I came here first,” says TJ.

  “They might be able to go with you, but I know I’m going into St. Pete with a couple of their men tomorrow.”

  “I don’t want to wait on this. My sister is my only sibling, and I need to make sure she is safe,” says TJ.

  “I understand, but I’m sorry I can’t go with you until after I meet with Jacob.”

  TJ shakes my hand and says, “Thank you, Ryan. I hope your meeting with Jacob goes well. I will see you later.”

  I shake TJ’s hand and say, “I’ll walk you out.”

  “How is Bo doing?” asks TJ as we walk to TJ’s jeep.

  “Good, I guess. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

  Odin barks at Chewie as the two dogs play in Shaun’s front yard.

  “How was your trip to Tallahassee?” asks Shaun.

  TJ replies, “It was interesting. We saw some crazy stuff. I’m just lucky we aren’t dealing with the military like we saw in Tallahassee.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The military is taking over places. We saw them talking control of some buildings, apartments, and streets around Tallahassee and North Florida,” says TJ.

  “I heard reports of the military being around Tampa Bay now, and I saw some explosions and gunfire around St. Pete.”

  “Yeah, I saw my dad at MacDill and the military is definitely here. Not a full army or anything, but enough to be seen and felt around here. Make sure you have your badges on when you leave your homes now,” says TJ.

  “Where’s Janet?” asks Shaun.

  “She is back home. She is taking care of her cats,” answers TJ.

  Bobby G exits his house and walks over to us.

  “You ready to go or what? I want to see this ranch,” says Bobby G.

  “We will leave shortly, put your stuff in the truck.”

  I look at TJ and ask, “Can you give William this radio and tell him that the meeting with Jacob is in two days at the Clearwater Sand Beach Resort at two p.m.?”

  “Sure, no problem. Anything else you want me to tell him?” asks TJ.

  “Tell him to contact me with that radio on channel two. This radio is awesome. It has super long range and should reach to The Haven from here.”

  “Okay, I will. I’ll have him contact you later today,” says TJ.

  “Thank you, delivering him this radio and message will save us a trip there.”

  TJ shouts, “Odin! Come here boy!”

  Odin gets up from the grass and runs over to TJ.

  Shaun says, “Hold on TJ, I got you something.”

  Shaun runs across the street to his house.

  Matt and Phil walk towards me and TJ.

  Phil comes over to me and asks, “You ready to go or what?”

  “Yeah, the truck is all loaded up. We will leave once Shaun comes back from his house.”

  Phil puts his bag, his shotgun, and a cooler in the back of the electric truck.

  Shaun walks back over to TJ’s jeep carrying the bag of dog food he took from the Conquerors pet store.

  “I hope he likes this flavor,” says Shaun.

  “Yeah, he will. He likes pretty much anything,” says TJ.

  “Shaun does too,” jokes Phil.

  Shaun puts the bag of dog food in the back of TJ’s jeep.

  TJ says, “I’ll be in touch. Good luck with Jacob and in St. Pete.”

  “You be safe and good luck finding your sister. We will help you down the road, if you should still need it.”

  TJ says goodbye to everyone and gets into his jeep.

  Odin gets in the passenger side seat of TJ’s jeep.

  TJ honks his jeep horn as he drives away from my house.

  “Okay everyone. Now we can go.”

  Bobby G, Phil, Shaun, Matt, and I get into the electric truck.

  Shaun drives out of Citrus Oaks.

  “Are you ever going to open the West entrance again?” asks Phil.

  “I want to but then we have to worry about protecting that entrance after we open it.”

  “I say we keep it secured like it is and worry about it later,” says Bobby G.

  Shaun sees something in the road up ahead.

  “We might have a problem fellas,” says Shaun.

  Shaun stops the electric truck.

  We all look ahead and see two trucks blocking the road up ahead.

  Phil looks through his binoculars and says, “Shit! It’s Chris and three guys!”

  One of the men standing next to Chris honks the truck horn.

  HONK! HONK!

  Phil looks through his binoculars again and sees that Chris is gesturing for us to meet with them.

  “They want us to drive up to them,” says Phil.

  “Can we get around?”

  “Bo’s ranch is right down this road, we need to stay on this road,” says Shaun.

  I look at Chris’ roadblock and say, “I guess we are doing this.”

  Shaun slowly drives the electric truck towards Chris and parks the truck a safe distance away.

  I look at the guys and say, “Stay in the truck. I’ll go talk with him. Keep an eye out, but don’t engage unless I need help.”

  I get out of the electric truck and walk towards Chris.

  “What’s up Chris?”

  Chris laughs and asks, “Did you break the agreement? Your agreement?”

  “I wanted to relay a message to Jacob and had to go into your area to do that.”

  “That’s against the rules,” says Chris as he looks down at the knife he is holding in his right hand.

  Chris looks back at his men and nods his head.

  Chris puts his knife away and grabs his handgun out of his gun holster.

  Shaun, Bobby G, Matt, and Phil immediately exit our electric truck as Chris grabs his handgun.

  “Put the gun away Chris!” shouts Bobby G.

  “Shut up old man!” shouts Chris.

  I get instantly angry as Chris shouts at my father, but I try to remain calm and de-escalate the situation.

  I look around the area, and I see several large trees and a heavily wooded area next to the road.

  “What do you want Chris? We need to get by you.”

  “I bet you do,” says Chris.

  Chris steps closer to me and points his gun at me.

  I reach for my katana that is on my back.

  “Didn’t anyone tell you not to bring a knife to a gun fight?” asks Chris as he points his gun at my face from about three feet away.

  Phil, Shaun, Matt, and Bobby G point their guns at Chris and his three men.

  “We have an agreement Chris.”

  Chris replies, “Yes we did, but you broke it.”

  Shaun feels anxious about what Chris might do and takes aim at Chris through the precision scope of his rifle.

  Phil whispers to Shaun, “You shouldn’t have taken that damn dog food.”

  Bobby G walks over to me and Chr
is.

  “Stay back old man, before I kill you and your asshole son!” shouts Chris.

  Bobby G puts his gun away and says, “Calm down Chris. I put my gun away. You do the same, and we can talk about this.”

  Chris walks over to Bobby G and gets right in Bobby G’s face.

  I hear Phil, Shaun, and Chris’ men move and get ready to fire.

  “Wait, everyone! Just wait! This is dumb! We need to move on from this! I am meeting with Jacob in two days! I will make this right!”

  Chris turns towards me and says, “I will make it right.”

  WHAPP!

  Chris smacks Bobby G in the stomach with his gun.

  Bobby G falls onto the street.

  I watch Bobby G fall backwards onto the street.

  Everything happens in slow motion.

  Shaun, Matt, and Phil fire at Chris’ men.

  BANG!

  PKOW!

  Two of Chris’ men are shot and wounded.

  Chris goes to shoot Bobby G with his handgun.

  I kick Chris’ hand, but Chris gets a shot off.

  BANG!

  The bullet misses Bobby G and hits the street.

  Chris drops his handgun onto the street.

  I reach for my katana and pull it out of the red scabbard behind my back.

  I swing my katana at Chris as he runs away.

  SLICE!

  I cut into Chris’ shirt and slightly into his back.

  Chris takes cover and gets into one of the trucks that are blocking the road.

  RATATAT!

  A barrage of automatic weapon gunfire hits the parked truck that Chris is not in.

  I jump back from the gunfire and run to where Bobby G is lying on the street.

  The gunfire came from the woods and wasn’t from us.

  Chris and two of his men drive away in a truck.

  The last wounded Conqueror tries to get into his truck. The wounded man stands up and tries to open the driver side door.

  SCHHHWAFF!

  An all-black arrow flies right into the back of the wounded man’s head.

  The wounded man falls to the ground and blood starts pouring out of his head wound.

  “Damn, that was awesome!” shouts Phil.

  I help Bobby G up to his feet, and we walk to our electric truck.

  “Are you okay?”

  Bobby G replies, “Yeah, I’m okay. Chris hits likes a bitch. Just got the wind knocked out of me.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” says Bobby G.