Fight 4 Us: Legacy

by Grenda, Brian

  FIGHT 4 US

  LEGACY

  Copyright © 2018 by Brian Grenda

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion of this book or the FIGHT 4 US book series may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author and publisher.

  First Printing, 2018

  FIGHT 4 US

  LEGACY

  CHAPTER 1 - LOOKS GOOD

  CHAPTER 2 - NO MATTER WHAT

  CHAPTER 3 - I’M IN

  CHAPTER 4 - WHICH ONE

  CHAPTER 5 - YOU WANT

  CHAPTER 6 - HERE

  CHAPTER 7 - WE ARE IN POSITION

  CHAPTER 8 - WE WANT IT ALL

  CHAPTER 9 - LET’S SEE WHAT WE GOT

  CHAPTER 10 - NO BIG DEAL

  CHAPTER 11 - I WAS THINKING

  CHAPTER 12 - I DIDN’T ASK YOU

  CHAPTER 13 - SEE YOU LATER

  CHAPTER 14 - BACK HERE

  CHAPTER 15 - TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY

  CHAPTER 16 - YOU LOVE THAT PLACE

  CHAPTER 17 - WE GOT A PROBLEM

  CHAPTER 1

  LOOKS GOOD

  “Your leg looks good,” says Kat to me as I sit on our medical table in our medical house in Citrus Oaks.

  “Thank you, I removed the stitches yesterday and I put some antibiotic cream on it.”

  The front door of the medical house opens.

  Two people walk into the medical house’s living room.

  “She’s doing okay now. Her boyfriend is very thankful to you guys,” says Brad to Phil as they walk over to me.

  “How’s he looking Kat? Is he ready to go?” asks Phil.

  “His leg looks good, but he needs to take it easy for another week or two. We don’t want that wound breaking open again,” says Kat to Phil.

  I get up from the medical table and adjust my shorts.

  “How is everything Brad?”

  Brad replies, “Good. Everything is good. I was just telling Phil that Bella and Crystal are happy to be home now.”

  “Crystal?”

  “Crystal was the first woman the Conquerors took from Channelside,” answers Brad.

  “Oh, I’m glad your people made it back home after being taken by Jacob and his group.”

  Kat walks into the kitchen of the medical house.

  I look at Phil and ask, “What’s up Phil? Anything to report?”

  Phil replies, “Everything is good. It’s been quiet around here. The past week has been uneventful, besides a couple groups of dead ones near the West entrance gate.”

  “Anything to worry about?”

  Phil answers, “No, we took them out easily. There’s just been more of them lately.”

  Kat looks at her watch and says, “Shit, I gotta get back home.”

  Kat grabs her car keys and says, “Thank you for these supplies Ryan. The Grove needs them. We just got a big group of new people at The Grove recently.”

  I walk with Kat, Phil, and Brad out to Kat’s car.

  Phil and Brad are carrying two large boxes full of supplies that Kat is taking with her.

  Brad and Phil put the boxes in Kat’s car.

  Kat says, “Thank you guys, I’ll see you later.”

  Kat gets into her car and drives towards the South entrance.

  Brad looks at me and asks, “Ryan, do you have any more suture removal kits?”

  “Yeah, we have a whole box of them.”

  “You mind if I take one over to Andre? I want to remove the sutures from his wound,” says Brad.

  “Go ahead. Take a kit and anything else you may need. Just don’t take anything we are low on.”

  Brad and Phil walk back into the medical house.

  I look down the street towards our graveyard and see several people standing by a grave.

  I walk towards our graveyard and see that Lauren, Fran, Bobby G, and Ann are standing at Keith’s grave.

  “I’m sorry for your loss Fran. I didn’t know Keith that well, but I know how hard it is losing your husband. I lost mine on the way down here,” says Ann.

  “Michael and Keith were great guys. I’m glad I got to know them,” says Bobby G as he looks down at Keith’s grave.

  I walk on the grass of our graveyard and see the graves of Keith and Tony.

  “Hey honey,” says Lauren to me.

  “Hey everyone.”

  I walk over to Lauren and give her a hug.

  I put my hand on Fran’s shoulder.

  Fran looks down at Keith’s grave and thinks about Keith and their forty years of marriage together.

  The sound of a drone is heard.

  I look up into the sky and see one of our drones flying over the street near our South entrance gate. The drone flies over the graveyard and lands at Jon’s house.

  Fran looks at Lauren, Ann, Bobby G, and me.

  Fran says, “Thank you all for your help. I just couldn’t bring myself to see Keith’s grave alone.”

  “We love you mom,” says Lauren.

  Fran puts some flowers next to the wooden headstone that Lauren and I put on Keith’s grave.

  “We have some food at our house if you would like to join us,” says Lauren to Ann, Bobby G, and Fran.

  “That would be nice,” says Fran.

  Ann and Fran start to walk away from our graveyard.

  “I’m going to go back with my mom and Ann,” says Lauren to me.

  “Okay, sweetie. I’ll be home in a little bit.”

  Lauren says goodbye to me and Bobby G and then catches up with Fran and Ann.

  “What’s up dad?”

  Bobby G asks, “How’s your leg?”

  “Good, everything is good. I’ll be good to go in a week or two.”

  “Good, I’m glad. Do you think you will be up for checking out some dealerships soon?” asks Bobby G.

  “I should be ready to go in a day or two.”

  Bobby G says, “Great. I found a couple spots to check out. Let me know when you want to go.”

  “I will. Go get some food. I’m going to check on Jon and his drone.”

  Bobby G walks away from our graveyard, and I walk towards Jon’s house.

  “This thing is awesome,” says Jon to Shaun.

  “What’s up guys?”

  “What’s up Ry? We just got some good footage on my drone,” replies Jon.

  “You doing okay?” asks Shaun to me.

  “Yeah, I’m good. My leg is healing nicely.”

  Shaun puts his arm around me and says, “Good, I’m glad to hear that. Things just haven’t been the same without you being involved.”

  Jon, Shaun, and I walk into Jon’s house.

  Jon walks over to his DVD player and puts in the memory stick from his drone into the media card slot on the DVD player.

  “Where did you go with the drone?”

  “We went all over. Jon’s drone is awesome. It can go for miles without losing connection to the remote,” says Shaun.

  Jon puts his paper map on his oversized coffee table.

  Jon’s map has tons of markings and writing on it.

  I look at Jon’s map and say, “You guys have been busy around here. Your map is definitely way more updated.”

  “We started to check out some nearby spots hoping to find Jacob, Chris, and DK,” says Shaun.

  Jon presses the play button on his DVD player and says, “Still no luck with finding Jacob, Chris, or DK, but we have checked a lot of neighborhoods with my drone.”

  Jon, Shaun, and I watch the drone video.

  About twenty-five minutes go by, and the drone video is done.

  Jon writes on his map and shows me that we still need to check out a lot of Tampa Bay.

  “We have only explored a small sec
tion of Tampa Bay. We still need to check out so many spots. Brad offered to take us around on a boat to check out the bay, inlets, small islands off the coast, and around the Gulf of Mexico,” says Jon.

  “Sounds good guys. I’ll be ready to go in a couple days for a trip somewhere. I want to see Jacob’s house and neighborhood.”

  “We can check it out again anytime you want. It was clear the last time we went there though. Well, besides the two chicks that they had as prisoners and that weird group of Chinese people,” says Shaun.

  “Group of Chinese people?”

  “In two homes, they had a large group of Chinese people. Most of them didn’t speak English,” says Shaun.

  “That’s weird. I wonder what Jacob wanted with them?”

  “I don’t know, but William took most of them in and has them at the Haven now,” says Jon.

  “I have to check out a car dealership with my dad, but I definitely want to check out Jacob’s neighborhood.”

  “Sounds good Ry. I’m down with that,” says Shaun.

  I look at Jon and say, “If you can Jon, make me two maps like yours. Up to date and with the most recently checked areas.”

  “Two?” asks Jon.

  “Yeah. I want one with me and the other for my garage. I want to keep a better record of things now.”

  I say goodbye to Jon and Shaun and exit Jon’s house.

  I walk down the street and approach Phil and Nicole’s house.

  I see Nicole and say hello to Nicole.

  Nicole is sitting on her front porch in a rocking chair and holding Mia.

  “Hey, Ryan. How are ya?” asks Nicole.

  “I’m doing good. Mia looks great. She’s getting so big now.”

  I walk over to Nicole and sit down in the empty rocking chair next to her.

  Nicole and Mia look at me.

  Mia smiles at me and mumbles something cute.

  “How’s the leg?” asks Nicole.

  “Good, it’s healing up nicely. I’ll be back to normal in a couple days.”

  I look at Mia and smile.

  “Where is Mason?”

  “He’s lying down, it’s his nap time,” replies Nicole.

  I look down at the baby monitor that is sitting on a table next to Nicole.

  “Can you do me a favor? I want to go check on Mason actually. Can you hold Mia for a second?” asks Nicole.

  “Sure, I’d love to.”

  Nicole stands up from her rocking chair and hands me Mia.

  I carefully hold Mia with my hands away from my body.

  Nicole says, “I’ll be right back.”

  I look at Mia and joke, “What a chubbers.”

  Nicole says, “Hey now. She isn’t fat.”

  “I know, I’m joking. She’s very cute.”

  Nicole goes into her house.

  I look at Mia and see her short brown hair, her brown eyes, and pale white skin.

  I gently place Mia on my right thigh.

  I playfully bounce Mia up and down on my right thigh.

  I whisper to Mia, “You are very cute, but you are a little chubby. We got to work some of this baby weight off.”

  Mia sticks her tongue out at me.

  I stick my tongue out at Mia.

  Mia laughs at me.

  Nicole sees Mia and me as she walks back out to her front porch.

  “I see you two are getting along,” jokes Nicole.

  “Yup. Uncle Ryan is having a great time with this little cutie. Mason okay?”

  “Everything is good with Mason. He is gassy though. Not sure if it’s the food we have been giving him or what,” says Nicole.

  I play with Mia and talk with Nicole a little longer.

  “You plan on having kids Ryan?” asks Nicole.

  “Hey now, don’t rush it.”

  Nicole laughs.

  I look down at Mia and say, “To be honest. I don’t know. Kids are a handful, even if they are healthy. They were a lot to handle before the world fell apart. I’m not sure I could handle any problems with my kids.”

  “You definitely could. You are a problem solver Ryan. You would be a great father,” says Nicole.

  “I would like to think I would be a great father, but I would be so nervous for my kids. It’s different treating kids that aren’t yours.”

  “I can understand that. The world needs kids though. We might have to repopulate the world,” says Nicole.

  I think about what Nicole just said about repopulating the world, and I’m not sure what to make of it.

  “That’s pretty scary to think about. The world is drastically different now in so many ways. It’s frightening to think about how many people are gone.”

  I hand Mia back to Nicole.

  “It’s best not to think about it. It will only bring you down,” says Nicole.

  “That’s the truth. We gotta stay positive now more than ever.”

  I say goodbye to Mia and Nicole.

  “Nice talking with ya Nicole. You too Mia. Don’t be a stranger now ladies.”

  “You either. You tell Lauren that I want to have a girl’s night here soon,” says Nicole.

  I start to walk away from Nicole and Phil’s house and say, “I’ll tell her. Sounds good Nicole. Stay safe.”

  Nicole looks at Mia and says, “Chubbers, I should kick his ass for saying that about my baby girl.”

  I make it back to my front door and enter my house.

  I hear people talking in my kitchen.

  I enter my kitchen and see Ann, Kylie, Matt, Bobby G, Fran, and Lauren.

  “Hey everyone.”

  Everyone in my kitchen is having a good time with each other. They are sharing stories about Lauren’s father Keith and Matt’s father Michael.

  “Remember the time my dad played beer pong with us?” asks Matt to me.

  “Yeah, that was a good night. He was so bad at beer pong, but he had fun.”

  I smile at the thought of Michael drinking so many beers that night.

  Lauren looks at Fran and asks, “Remember that time dad fell off the roof and landed on the car?”

  Fran smiles and answers, “Yeah, I’ll never forget it. I’m just glad he didn’t crack his head open.”

  “I’m just glad he only strained his shoulder,” I say to Lauren.

  I make eye contact with Bobby G and say, “Don’t be going up on any ladders Bob.”

  “Yo, I can handle it,” replies Bobby G.

  “You don’t need to risk it. We don’t need you falling off and hurting yourself.”

  Matt looks at me and asks, “How’s the leg?”

  “Good, it’s getting there. It’s healing up nicely.”

  Kylie says, “Good, we can’t afford to lose you around here.”

  “I don’t want to be lost, that’s for sure.”

  Lauren smiles at me.

  I look at Matt and say, “I was thinking about teaching a couple medical things to everyone in the neighborhood. Nothing too big, just some things that could really help out around here. In case I’m not here and something happens again.”

  Lauren says, “That’s a good idea. I would like to learn how to stitch someone up.”

  “Yeah, I’ll definitely cover that and anything else people want to learn.”

  “That’s a good idea. The books Jerri-Lynn and Kelly got are great, but they can’t replace being taught by an actual doctor,” says Ann.

  “We have some great books in our library now. I’m going to start reading again. Especially the educational books. I think they will really help us around here,” says Lauren.

  Matt says, “Yeah, I was checking out the farming and agriculture books.”

  “I’ll have to see what we got in our library now.”

  My doorbell rings.

  DING! DONG!

  I walk out of my kitchen and open my front door.

  I’m startled by what I see.

  “You okay?”

  Janet and TJ enter my house.

  “He’s okay,
but we need your help Ryan,” says Janet.

  I look at TJ and see that he is badly beaten up. His face is very bruised and swollen.

  “Lauren, can you get me an ice pack?”

  Lauren opens our freezer and grabs a large ice pack.

  “What happened TJ?”

  Lauren walks into our foyer and sees Janet and TJ.

  Lauren hands me the ice pack.

  “Oh, my goodness, are you okay TJ?” asks Lauren.

  I take TJ and Janet into my living room and we sit down on my sofa.

  I hand TJ the ice pack.

  TJ puts the ice pack on his left eye.

  “What happened? Who did this?”

  Janet answers, “It was the Indians at the casino. We went there to get TJ’s sister Alice.”

  “Why did they beat you up?”

  TJ tries to respond, but it’s hard for TJ to talk.

  Janet says, “The Indians at the casino didn’t like that we were there. They wouldn’t even talk with us. They just started attacking TJ when he mentioned Alice.”

  “Where’s Odin?” asks Lauren.

  “He’s back home,” replies Janet.

  “Did you get your sister?”

  TJ responds, “No, I didn’t even get the chance to see her or talk with her.”

  “But, you know she is safe?”

  “We have no idea actually. We didn’t get that much information from our trip,” answers Janet.

  TJ takes the ice pack off his face and says, “I need your help Ryan. I am going back there and getting my sister.”

  “Anything you need TJ. I will help you.”

  I look at Lauren and say, “We will help you.”

  Lauren nods her head as she sits next to me.

  “TJ has been resting and recovering for the past week. His face actually looks much better. I don’t think anything is broken, but I wanted you to check him out,” says Janet.

  I examine TJ and see that TJ might have a fractured left cheekbone.

  “You should avoid any trauma to your left cheekbone. I think it’s broken. Probably a small fracture that will heal on its own.”

  “Good to know, thank you Ryan,” says TJ.

  “When do you plan on going back to the casino?”

  “As soon as possible,” answers TJ.

  “Well, I’d give it a couple days. Your vision has to be impaired by the swelling around your left eye.”

  “I gave it a week already. I want to go back to the casino as quickly as I can,” says TJ.