Suddenly several large explosions are seen in two of the large high-rise buildings in downtown Tampa.
BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM!
“Damn! Something big is happening downtown!” says Shaun.
Jon grabs his air horn and presses the button.
The air horn goes off, and Jon looks in the direction of Channelside.
Several minutes go by.
A boat drives over to the Davis Island dock from Channelside.
“What’s up guys?” asks Carmine as he docks the boat at Davis Island.
Jon, Shaun, and Phil get on the boat and greet Carmine and the woman that is with him.
“Guys this is my sister, Trish. Trish this is Shaun, Phil, and Jon,” says Carmine.
The guys greet Trish, and Carmine drives back over to the Channelside docks.
“What’s going on? What was that explosion?” asks Phil.
Trish replies, “We don’t know, but it’s been happening more often lately. Some scouts said that they saw a large group of military vehicles around downtown and on Bayshore.”
“We saw some in St. Pete the other day too. I guess the military really is here now,” says Phil.
Carmine docks the boat at the Channelside dock.
Trish, Phil, Jon, Shaun, and Carmine exit the boat.
“Where is Brad? We need to talk with him,” says Jon.
“I will go get him,” says Carmine.
Trish and Carmine leave Jon, Shaun, and Phil at the dock of Channelside.
Phil sees a pair of jet skis and walks over to them.
“We need to take these bad boys out on the water. I want to check out Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico,” says Phil.
“Me too. We’ll have to see if we can take these out some day. They owe us big time after talking with Jacob again,” says Shaun.
Jon looks at the two huge condominium towers that Channelside has and the people living in them.
“They really don’t have anyone useful living here? Those towers must hold a couple hundred people,” says Jon as he looks up at the towers.
Shaun and Phil walk with Jon and sit in the shape in the center of the Channelside main complex.
Jon looks at Phil and Shaun and says, “I think we should go by my parent’s condo and get the solar panels my dad and I installed. They are just being wasted there now.”
Phil replies, “That’s a good idea. I know the panels at World of Trade are way too expensive. They want so much for one solar panel.”
Shaun says, “I’m down. Let’s do it, after we leave here.”
Brad walks over to Jon, Shaun, and Phil.
“Hey guys, how are ya?” asks Brad.
“We are doing well. We talked with Jacob. He shouldn’t be a problem for you anymore,” says Phil.
“Where is Ryan?” asks Brad.
“He is back home. He got injured during the meeting with Jacob,” says Shaun.
“Is he okay?” asks Brad.
Shaun answers, “Yeah, Ryan is tough. He got stabbed in the leg, but he’s all stitched up now. He plans to come around here in a couple days.”
“Okay good. I’m glad he’s okay,” says Brad.
“Where is Eric?” asks Jon.
Brad replies, “Eric should be back soon. He left with DJ and a couple of other people on a scavenge trip.”
“Okay, cool. How is everything going here?” asks Jon.
Brad replies, “Things are actually really good. The Captain is out with Eric, DJ, and the others. They went out on a boat to check out a couple places. Things are looking up for us here.”
“Good, well like I said before, we talked with Jacob and a group of his men. The meeting didn’t go well, but Jacob did say that he didn’t want to bother with you guys anymore,” says Phil.
“He said that?” asks Brad.
“Yeah, he said that. Not sure if it’s true, but he said that before the meeting turned into chaos,” answers Shaun.
“We have another plan, and we could use your help,” says Jon to Brad.
“Anything, what do you need?” asks Brad.
“We plan on attacking Jacob again. We will need your boats, your people, and anything else you got. We plan on attacking them by land and sea,” says Phil.
Brad replies, “I will help you. I will try to gather up some people and resources, but I will definitely help you.”
“Good, we will be in touch,” says Phil as he gives Brad a long-range radio.
“Nice, I like the idea of communicating through the radios,” says Brad.
“We use channel two, I have it set to that channel already,” says Phil.
“When do you plan on going after Jacob?” asks Brad.
A boat pulls up to the Channelside docks.
“Great trip guys!” shouts a man on the boat.
Brad looks at Phil and says, “That must be the Captain and Eric.”
Brad takes Phil, Jon, and Shaun over to the dock to see the Captain, Eric, and the rest of the group.
Eric gets off the boat and sees Jon.
“Hey Jon, how are ya?” asks Eric.
Jon replies, “Good, how are you?”
“Things are good, we are doing really well around here,” replies Eric.
Brad introduces Phil to the Captain.
“Captain, this is Phil. He is with Ryan and that group I was talking to you about. The one that could help us with Jacob,” says Brad.
The Captain gets off the boat and walks right by Phil.
Phil takes the Captain walking by him as an insult.
“Yo douche bag Captain!” shouts Phil to the Captain.
The Captain stops walking and turns slightly towards Phil.
Phil briskly walks right over to the Captain.
Brad watches as Phil goes right up to the Captain’s face.
“We talked with Jacob for you! Our leader almost died helping this place! Do you even care? Do you even appreciate our help?” shouts Phil directly into the Captain’s face.
The Captain steps back.
Three Channelside guards come next to the Captain.
Jon and Shaun go over to Phil.
Brad says, “Let’s all calm down a little bit here. We are all on the same side.”
Phil shouts, “Yeah, we are! It would just be nice to have some communication with your Captain and some freaking gratitude for what we have done so far!”
“You want gratitude?” shouts the Captain.
Phil stares at the Captain.
The Captain stares at Phil and says, “Thanks for your help, but we didn’t ask for it. We don’t need your help.”
The Captain walks away from Phil with the three guards.
Phil looks at Brad with a look of frustration.
“You serious? That’s who leads you?” shouts Phil.
“Fuck that guy!” shouts Shaun.
Jon looks at Eric.
Phil and Shaun walk towards the Channelside dock.
Jon walks over to Brad and says, “We are still going after Jacob. Keep your radio on channel two. We will be in touch.”
Phil and Shaun get on a boat that will take them back to Davis Island.
Jon says bye to Eric and Brad and then gets on the boat with Phil and Shaun.
Brad shouts, “We will be in touch! We will help you with or without our Captain!”
The boat takes Shaun, Phil, and Jon back to Davis Island.
Brad watches the boat take Shaun, Phil, and Jon to Davis Island.
Brad takes a deep breath and thinks about the Captain’s leadership and the future of Channelside under the Captain.
Phil is still pissed after his meeting with the Captain.
The Channelside boat docks at Davis Island.
Shaun and Phil exit the boat.
Jon thanks the boat driver.
“I’m not coming back here, unless it’s for something good. Like those jet skis or something. Fuck these people,” says Phil to Shaun.
Jon says, “Let’s go to my paren
t’s condo, it’s not that far from here.”
Jon, Shaun, and Phil get into the electric truck.
Jon drives out of Davis Island and onto a main road near downtown Tampa.
A small explosion goes off from inside a building a couple blocks away from Channelside.
BOOM!
Shaun sees the building explode as Jon turns down a street several blocks away from the explosion.
The streets of downtown Tampa are filled with trash, rubble, dead bodies, and destroyed vehicles.
Jon sees the destroyed police vehicles and decaying zombie bodies that are in the street near the main entrance to his parent’s condo building.
Jon pulls into the parking lot of the condo building and parks the electric truck near the lobby entrance of the condo.
Phil remembers the last time he was there and the craziness that Jon, him, and myself experienced.
The condo parking lot is much quieter now. There are no zombies or people in the parking lot or around the condo complex.
The guys look out the windows of the electric truck and see that the parking lot is clear.
Jon exits from the electric truck and grabs Silencer and his shield.
Phil looks up at the tall condo building and asks, “How many panels do you have up there?”
Jon says, “Four.”
Shaun asks, “Are they on the roof?”
“Yup,” replies Jon.
Shaun sarcastically says, “Of course they are. This is going to be fun.”
The guys enter the condo lobby.
Jon walks to the stairwell and opens the door.
“Hello!” shouts Jon.
Jon’s voice echoes in the stairwell, but it’s all clear.
Jon starts walking up the stairwell.
Phil and Shaun follow behind him.
“How many floors does this place have?” asks Shaun.
“Does it really matter?” asks Phil.
“Yeah, I want to know. I can feel the sweat dripping down my back,” says Shaun.
“Dude, it’s been like three floors,” says Jon.
“We get there, when we get there!” jokes Phil.
Jon says, “We can stop at my parent’s condo and rest. We will have to get some tools anyway to disconnect the panels.”
Jon leads Phil and Shaun to his parent’s condo on the 16th floor and they relax in the living room.
“Man, it’s hot in here,” says Shaun.
“No AC man,” says Phil.
Jon walks into his bedroom and looks around his bedroom. He sees old pictures of his parents and Kelly. He remembers the pictures and smiles.
Jon picks up a picture frame that is sitting on his desk and exits his room.
“You remember this?” asks Jon as he hands the picture frame to Shaun.
“Wow, that was so long ago,” says Shaun as he looks at the picture.
Phil looks at the picture and smiles.
“Matt was so sunburnt. When was that?” asks Phil.
“2013 I think,” says Jon.
Shaun hands Jon back the picture and says, “Good times at the beach with Matt, Ryan, and everyone.”
Jon takes the picture back into his room and starts looking for his dad’s toolbox.
Jon finds his dad’s toolbox and says, “Let’s go work on these solar panels.”
Jon hands Shaun the toolbox.
Jon, Phil, and Shaun exit the condo and start walking to the stairwell.
Phil, Shaun, and Jon make there way up to the roof and see the four solar panels still attached and hooked up.
“What a view! It’s pretty nice up here! Hot as hell but nice!” shouts Shaun.
Phil and Jon start working on detaching the solar panels from the roof.
BOOM!
A huge explosion goes off in the distance from the condo building, but yet it shakes the entire condo building.
“Someone just blew up that building!” shouts Shaun.
“Any sign of who did it?” asks Phil.
“They are too far away, but it sounds like military weapons,” says Shaun.
“Can you help us Shaun?” asks Jon.
Shaun runs over to Jon and Phil. They detach a solar panel from the roof connections.
“One down, three to go,” says Phil.
About an hour goes by, and the guys detach the last solar panel.
It starts to rain.
“Great, let’s get these panels inside to my parent’s condo,” says Jon.
Shaun picks up a solar panel and runs to the stairwell door.
Shaun puts a cinderblock in place to keep the stairwell door open.
Jon and Phil, who are each carrying a solar panel, carefully walk down the stairwell and into Jon’s parent’s condo.
Shaun walks into the condo with the solar panel he was carrying.
“I think we need to take the three panels with us and go. We don’t need to go back up for the last one,” says Shaun.
“No, I’m going to bring the last panel down here for us,” says Jon.
Jon exits his parent’s condo and goes to get the last solar panel from the roof.
It’s pouring rain now as Jon gets to the roof.
Jon slowly walks over to the last solar panel and picks it up.
Jon remembers when his dad and him installed the solar panels up here.
Jon smiles and says, “I hope you are in a better place, dad. You too mom. I hope I’m making you proud.”
Jon makes his way back down to his parent’s condo and places the last solar panel in the living room.
“Those freaking panels are heavy!” shouts Jon.
“Those explosions and the military we saw in St. Pete can’t be good for Tampa,” says Shaun.
Phil says, “We just need to stay out of the military’s way. We will be okay, but I don’t want to deal with some crazy soldiers.”
Jon says, “I agree. We need to keep to ourselves and keep a low profile.”
“What about Jacob?” asks Shaun.
“Well, after we take that asshole out, then we can keep a low profile,” says Jon.
A couple minutes go by and the guys make there way out of the condo, down the stairs, and to the electric truck.
The guys load up the solar panels into the back of the electric truck and get into the electric truck.
“Your parents had a nice place here,” says Shaun.
Jon says, “Yeah, they did. I miss this place. I actually miss my house back home in North Carolina too.”
“Me too bro. I know Lisa and I both miss our home in North Carolina,” says Shaun.
Jon starts up the electric truck and drives towards the exit of the condo parking lot.
“You ever think you’ll go back to North Carolina?” asks Phil.
Jon replies, “I’m not sure. I like Florida, but it’s anyone’s guess where we will end up. Maybe we’ll be on our own island.”
Shaun says, “I wouldn’t mind going back to North Carolina after the dust settles and the world bounces back.”
“That’s asking a whole lot bro,” says Phil.
Shaun replies, “I’m just hopeful, I guess. If we don’t see a future for us, then why do we keep living and fighting?”
Phil thinks about what Shaun just said as Jon drives back to Citrus Oaks.
“That’s a good point. I guess, I just thought we would always be fighting now. Whether it’s people, zombies, or just fighting to stay alive,” says Phil.
“Sounds like life before the zombie apocalypse. The majority of people had to fight for things before all this zombie stuff. So many people had a tough time just making ends meet. Life wasn’t easy for most people. We had the super-rich but also the super poor. People just have different problems to worry about now,” says Jon.
“Yeah, tell me about it. This guy is a major problem,” jokes Phil as he playfully grabs Shaun’s left shoulder.
Jon continues driving down the street away from downtown Tampa.
BOOM!
A large explosion goes off in a large high-rise building in downtown Tampa as Jon drives away from downtown Tampa and back home to Citrus Oaks.
CHAPTER 13
PHASE ONE
Four military vehicles come speeding through the entrance of MacDill Air Force Base.
“Those fuckers came out of nowhere!” shouts the driver of a Humvee to another soldier sitting in the passenger seat of the Humvee.
The Humvee parks near the medical building of MacDill Air Force Base.
Two other Humvee’s and a large military transport truck park next to the other Humvee.
A large group of soldiers get out of the vehicles.
“Go get Commander Pine,” says Colonel Meyers to one of his soldiers.
The soldier that was ordered by Colonel Meyers to get Commander Pine runs into the medical building.
“Let’s start to unload these dead fuckers!” shouts Colonel Meyers.
Several soldiers start to walk to the back of the large military transport truck.
A soldier opens the back hatch of the transport truck.
Zombie moans and groans are heard.
“Keep them in good shape!” shouts Commander Pine as she walks towards the transport truck.
Rich sees the transport truck and Commander Pine talking to the soldiers from his office window.
Rich takes a deep breath and shakes his head as he watches the soldiers and military transport truck.
Rich sees the soldiers drag several nets that are filled with groups of zombies.
“How many did we get?” asks Commander Pine to Colonel Meyers.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I don’t count how many we get. We got plenty. My men took some damage,” says Colonel Meyers.
Commander Pine replies, “I thought your men were the best?”
Colonel Meyers shouts, “I am, and we are!”
Colonel Meyers grabs Commander Pine’s left arm.
Commander Pine looks at Colonel Meyers and says, “Let go of me.”
Colonel Meyers squeezes Commander Pine’s left arm harder.
Commander Pine shouts, “Let go of me!”
Colonel Meyers’ men stop what they are doing and look at Commander Pine and Colonel Meyers.
“You look here Commander! You need to appreciate what we are doing here! What we are doing for you and the other lab rats you got working in there!” shouts Colonel Meyers.
Commander Pine looks at Colonel Meyers and shouts, “I do! But let go of my arm!”
Fight 4 Us (Book 7): Weaponize Page 13