I look at Jon, shake my head, and answer, “Do you have another plan, because sneaking into the church is the only thing I have right now.”
“Let’s get back home and come up with a legit plan,” says Phil.
Shaun puts the trash bag of red clothes in the trunk of his red car. Phil and I get into Phil’s red car and Phil drives out of the Haven parking lot.
“What should we do?” I ask Phil.
Shaun follows behind Phil’s red car.
“I think sneaking in is the best way to do this. Just get some intel and get out,” answers Phil.
“What if they find us, and we get caught?” I ask.
“We’ll have two people go inside and two people stay by the vehicles,” answers Phil.
I look into an open field and see two zombies slowly walking towards a neighborhood.
“What if we get the Ghosts or the Haven to provide a distraction or something to draw some of their people out from the church?” I ask.
“We could, but I’m not sure William wants to help us with this,” answers Phil.
“Yeah, something seemed off with William today,” I say.
Phil and Shaun’s vehicles arrive at the newly repaired front entrance of Citrus Oaks.
“The new gate looks good and much more secure,” I say as Phil enters Citrus Oaks after Phil is stopped by our guards and he explains to our guards why we are driving the red cars.
Phil and Shaun park their red cars in front of Sam and Kiersten’s house inside Citrus Oaks.
“What’s with the red cars?” asks Brody as the guys and I exit from the red cars.
“It’s for something we are working on,” I answer Brody.
“Do you need my help?” asks Brody.
“Maybe, we’ll let you know,” I answer Brody.
I say goodbye to the guys and walk down the street and approach Bobby G’s house and then enter my house.
“How should we wash this shit?” asks Shaun as he looks at the trash bag of red clothes in his trunk.
“I think in a bucket with detergent,” answers Jon.
“I know we have some stuff that should be able to clean whatever you got,” says Sam as she walks over to Shaun’s red car.
Shaun tosses the trash bag of red clothes towards Sam and says, “It’s all yours, but there are some blood stains on some of it.”
“What’s this for?” asks Sam.
“We are going to the church, and we’ll need these clothes to get in,” answers Phil.
“When do you need these clothes by?” asks Sam.
“Tonight if possible,” answers Phil.
“I’ll get right on it,” replies Sam.
“Thank you,” says Jon to Sam as Sam walks back towards her house with the trash bag of red clothes.
“Do you think Kat is still alive?” asks Shaun to Phil and Jon.
Phil starts walking down the sidewalk, Jon and Shaun follow Phil, and Phil answers Shaun, “I don’t know, but I hope so.”
“Should we even be going there?” asks Shaun.
“We have to try, but I think we’ll need help,” answers Phil.
“What do you have in mind?” asks Jon to Phil.
“I’m going to check in with the Ghosts and see what they can do for us,” answers Phil.
“Good thinking, I’m going to get something to eat. See you guys later,” says Shaun to Phil and Jon and then Shaun enters his house while Phil and Jon keep walking down the sidewalk.
Phil and Jon approach Matt’s house, and Matt exits his house through his front door.
“Guys I saw the guy that is with Whitney in the orange house,” says Matt.
“How?” asks Jon.
“With the drone, I went there after you guys when to see William,” answers Matt.
“What did you find?” asks Phil as Phil and Jon talk with Matt on the sidewalk in front of Matt’s house.
“I think there is a problem with one of their solar panel connections or panels. I think we go over there and try to help them,” says Matt.
“We are trying to save Kat from the church though,” says Phil.
“What if I went over with a couple people?” asks Matt.
Phil is taken back by Matt’s question and answers, “You sure about that?”
Matt quickly answers, “Yeah, I could take a couple people and I could help them with their panels. Make a couple new friends.”
“If you are up for it, but we all know you hate leaving this place,” replies Phil.
“Why so much interest in the orange house?” asks Jon to Matt.
“I don’t know really, but I just feel drawn to it, and I want to see what they’re doing there,” answers Matt.
“Well if you go, make sure you are geared up and take some good people with you,” says Phil.
Matt gets a big smile on his face and runs back into his house.
Phil and Jon keep walking down the sidewalk and Jon says, “He’s so weird. Matt is either all for something or all against it.”
“I just hope it works out for him and Whitney doesn’t shoot him,” jokes Phil.
Jon and Phil keep walking down the sidewalk and approach Phil’s house. Phil says to Jon, “I’m going to call Bakari and see if they can help us.”
“Sounds good, let me know what the plan is,” replies Jon.
Phil enters his house and Jon walks down the sidewalk and approaches the cul-de-sac where he, Deb, and Jaws Junior reside.
Jon sees Deb talking with another person that he hasn’t seen before.
“Hey Jon,” says Deb.
Jon waves to Deb.
Deb shouts to Jon, “This is Jordan!”
Jon shouts, “Nice to meet you!”
“How did things go today?” shouts Deb.
Jon walks towards Deb and Jordan, who are talking in Deb’s driveway, and answers, “It went okay, we got two red cars, some red outfits, and we captured four of the people dressed in red.”
“No shit?” says Jordan.
“Are the four people here?” asks Deb.
“No, we brought them to the Haven,” answers Jon.
“What’s the next step?” asks Deb.
“We are coming up with that now, but we are definitely working as fast as we can to get to Kat,” answers Jon.
“Thank you, I’m just worried about Kat is all,” replies Deb.
“We all are,” replies Jon.
“Do you need any more people?” asks Jordan.
Jon hesitates to answer as he doesn’t know Jordan and if we can trust him.
“I have skills and can help,” replies Jordan.
“We’ll let you know,” says Jon and then Jon excuses himself from the conversation with Deb and Jordan and then Jon goes into his house.
About three hours go by.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Phil knocks on my front door, and I let Phil inside my house.
“I got a hold of Bakari,” says Phil.
“What did he say?” I ask Phil.
“He’s got a lead on the electric company, and he’s going to be busy working on that,” answers Phil.
“What’s the lead?” I ask.
“He’s going after a person that might have the key to that device that’s blocking the electricity,” answers Phil.
“Nice, I’m glad they can look into that as we have the whole Kat thing now,” I say.
“The red clothes are clean. Sam did a good job getting the blood out of them,” says Phil.
“When do you think we should go there?” I ask Phil.
“Tomorrow, as we can have Matt with the drone looking out for us,” answers Phil.
“Where’s Matt now?” I ask Phil.
“He went to the orange house?” answers Phil.
“On his own?” I ask Phil.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Matt knocks on the white front door of the orange house.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” says Matt to Brody and the two armed Haven Warriors.
No one answer
s the front door of the orange house.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Matt knocks again on the white front door to the orange house, but harder this time.
Matt listens for movement in the house and he thinks he hears movement near the front door.
“Whitney! It’s me Matt from Citrus Oaks!” shouts Matt.
“And me Brody!” shouts Brody.
No one answers the front door to the orange house.
“We are here to help!” shouts Matt.
“I don’t think they want us here,” says one of the armed Haven Warriors.
“I think we should go Matt,” says Brody.
Matt looks at the closed white front door and doesn’t want to leave.
Brody starts to walk away from the orange house with the two armed Haven Warriors but Matt stays. Matt thinks and tries to come up with something to make Whitney open the front door.
“I have the converter and cables for the solar panels you have on your roof!” shouts Matt.
Matt hears more movement in the house and almost like someone is trying to keep someone else from getting to the front door.
“I know you are having a problem with your solar panels!” shouts Matt.
Matt doesn’t know what else to do, and he starts to walk away from the front door to the orange house. Matt takes two steps away from the house and someone inside the orange house shouts, “Do you have the S44 cables or the S22 cables?”
Matt turns towards the orange house with a smile on his face and shouts, “We have both!”
The white front door to the orange house opens and a heavy set white man with unkempt brown curly hair who is wearing a faded t-shirt and sweatpants says to Matt, “We need the S44 cables.”
Brody and the two armed Haven Warriors walk back over to Matt and they see the heavy set white man standing in the doorway.
“Is Whitney in there?” asks Brody.
“I’m here,” answers Whitney as she steps closer to the open front door.
“What do you want for the cables?” asks Whitney to Matt.
“We’ll work something out, but may we come in?” answers Matt.
“Only you and Brandon there,” answers Whitney to Matt.
“It’s Brody, but that’s fine,” replies Brody.
Matt and Brody enter the orange house while the two Haven Warriors stand guard outside of the orange house.
“What’s your name?” asks Matt to the heavy set white man.
“Mike,” answers the heavy set white man.
Matt and Brody look around the house and they see tons of electronics, radios, computers, modems, and various devices around the living room of the house.
“I’m Matt and this is Brody,” says Matt as he looks at the various electronics that are sitting on a table against a wall in the living room.
“What do you want for the cables and whatever else Mike needs?” asks Whitney.
“Let’s see what he needs first and then we’ll decide on what we’ll need in return,” answers Matt.
“How are you doing Whitney?” asks Brody.
“I’m good,” answers Whitney with a quick curt response.
“Are you two together?” asks Brody to Whitney.
“No, he’s a friend of mine,” answers Whitney.
Matt sees some of Mike’s equipment isn’t running and he asks Mike, “Not enough power to run all this stuff?”
Mike walks over to his computer and answers Matt, “No, we only have half the panels working right now.”
“How many cables do you need?” asks Matt.
“I think four,” answers Mike.
“What do you need all this computer stuff for?” asks Brody.
“Let’s just say that I can see what the government and military are doing around here and parts of the East Coast,” answers Mike.
“How?” asks Brody.
“I have skills,” brags Mike.
“Yeah, those have yet to be seen,” says Whitney with a sarcastic tone.
“I heard that. If I had full power in this house, then I could see what’s going on around the entire country,” says Mike.
“Really?” asks Brody.
“Yeah, but that’s probably not going to happen again,” answers Mike.
“Let’s get you those cables and see what you can do,” says Matt.
Matt and Brody get the cables for the solar panels and give them to Mike.
“Do you need help installing them?” asks Brody to Mike.
“Yes, actually. That would be great. This one over here doesn’t help me with stuff like that,” says Mike as he gestures towards Whitney.
“I’m too busy killing zombies and bringing food in for us,” replies Whitney.
Brody and Mike go into the backyard of the orange house and start to get onto the roof and work on the solar panels.
“How do you know each other?” asks Matt to Whitney.
“He’s my friend from Oklahoma. He was in town for some geek convention when this zombie crap started around here. I’ve known him since high school,” answers Whitney.
“How long has he been in the friend zone?” jokes Matt.
Whitney laughs at Matt’s joke.
“There ya go. You can laugh a little bit. We are here to help,” says Matt.
“I know, people always said I was too serious, but most people are idiots that care about dumb things like followers and likes on their phones,” replies Whitney.
“Are you alone here? Besides Mike?” asks Matt.
“Yeah, my family is probably gone by now, but they were back in Oklahoma. I moved away a couple years ago,” answers Whitney.
“You plan on going back there?” asks Matt.
“Hopefully Mike can contact some people back there first. I don’t want to blindly attempt to find my family,” answers Whitney.
The box of cables falls off the roof and onto the overgrown backyard grass. Matt sees the box fall and says to Whitney, “I think I need to help them up there.”
Whitney nods her head and smiles at Matt as Matt walks away from her and he goes outside to go help Mike and Brody.
About an hour goes by and Mike, Brody, and Matt come back inside the orange house. “I think we got it,” says Mike.
Mike hits the power button on his desktop computer, and it turns on. As the computer turns on, Mike says, “That’s a very good sign.”
Mike turns on other electronics and says, “I think we are good to go now.”
“With those new bigger cables, you should be able to push more power from the panels in here,” says Matt.
“Can you reach your people now?” asks Whitney to Mike as Mike sits in his large gaming chair at an oversized desk in front of his desktop computer monitor and electronics.
“Let’s see,” answers Mike, and Mike opens several programs on his desktop computer and types in different passwords into different screens on his computer.
“We have a weak WIFI connection, but it’s something right now,” says Mike.
“How?” asks Brody.
Mike smiles at Brody and answers, “I got skills.”
“Can you hack into cameras inside buildings?” asks Matt to Mike.
“Yeah, among other things,” answers Mike.
“Good, we may need your services to see a couple places around here,” says Matt.
“That shouldn’t be a problem, as long as they have power,” replies Mike.
“See if you can get into a church,” says Matt.
“A church? What’s wrong with you?” asks Whitney.
“Nothing is wrong with me, the people at the church aren’t good people. They have kidnapped and attacked people around Tampa Bay,” answers Matt.
Mike asks, “Where’s the church?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s probably the only one that would have power around here,” answers Matt.
Mike searches a couple sites on his computer and finds a nearby church and says, “This has to be it then.”
Matt looks at
Mike’s oversized computer monitor and sees people dressed in red and white and other groups of people walking around inside the church.
“Yeah, that’s it. Man you are good,” says Matt.
“I can hopefully access most places that have power around here still,” replies Mike.
“What is this?” shouts Brody from another room inside the orange house.
Matt and Whitney enter the room that Brody is in and they see what Brody is looking at.
“They found your dumb robot thing!” shouts Whitney to Mike.
“Don’t touch it, it’s a work in progress still!” shouts Mike from the living room.
Matt looks at the robot, that is partially covered by a sheet, and Matt removes the sheet.
“I heard about these robots, but I never saw one,” says Matt.
“It doesn’t work, and it’s heavy as hell,” says Whitney.
“It looks like one of those human looking robots from Space Wars,” says Brody.
“Mike thinks he’ll be able to get it running and be able to control it from his computer,” says Whitney to Matt.
“That would be pretty sweet,” replies Matt.
“I’m inside a place called World of Trade,” says Mike.
Matt exits from the room and walks over to Mike. Matt looks at the computer monitor and sees the stores inside Level 2 of World of Trade.
“That has to be Level 2,” says Matt.
“What’s Level 2?” asks Mike.
“It’s a trade market, and it looks like it’s a functioning mall,” answers Matt.
“I didn’t know there were any of them left after online shopping made them obsolete,” says Mike.
Matt looks outside and he sees that it’s getting pretty dark out now, and he wants to get back home to Citrus Oaks.
“I’m glad we got this up and running for you,” says Matt to Mike.
“Thank you, this is a gamechanger,” replies Mike.
“What do we owe you?” asks Whitney with somewhat of a flirtatious tone.
Brody doesn’t like the way Whitney is looking at Matt and he gets jealous and angrily says to Matt, “I think we should get back home now.”
“Yeah, good idea,” replies Matt to Brody.
“Just keep us connected and keep giving us information about what’s going on around here,” answers Matt to Whitney.
“Will do. I’m going to be up for a while and try to see if I can hack into every place that has power around here,” says Mike.
Fight 4 Us (Book 11): Access Page 13
