“What’s going on?” asks Janet.
“They are about to bomb the balconies,” answers TJ.
“Ready sir,” says Evans over the radio.
Colonel Meyers looks at TJ, grabs his radio, and says, “Only kill half of the targets.”
“Yes sir,” replies McConnell and Evans over the radio.
Sievers watches the hotel balconies on his military scout drone remote control video display.
“Bye, bye” says Sievers as he looks at the video display on his military scout drone remote control.
Six missiles come flying towards the hotel balconies near the central courtyard of the casino.
BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
A large cloud of smoke fills Sievers’ military scout drone remote control video display.
TJ runs towards the exit of the casino building he is in and tries to see what was blown up.
Two large pieces of the casino hotel exterior walls fall onto the ground of the central courtyard.
BOOM!
BOOM!
“What’s happening out there Sievers!” shouts Colonel Meyers into his radio.
“Give me a second, the smoke is clearing,” replies Sievers through his radio.
TJ hears the screams from the casino residents that are in the casino hotel and the central courtyard near the casino hotel.
“Sir, a man has a bullhorn and is shouting something. He’s on a balcony. He looks to be a person of power here. He is ordering people back into the hotel. He is telling his men to stand down,” says Sievers over the radio to Colonel Meyers.
TJ hears the conversation between Sievers and Colonel Meyers.
Janet walks over to TJ.
“What’s the plan?” asks TJ to Colonel Meyers.
“We send someone out to talk with them,” answers Colonel Meyers.
“Who is crazy enough to go out there?” asks Janet.
“I’ll go talk with them,” says TJ.
Janet looks at TJ and says, “You aren’t going alone. I’ll go with you.”
Hunt and Wylie walk over to Janet and say, “We’ll go also.”
“Good luck. Don’t be stupid out there,” says Colonel Meyers to Hunt, Wylie, Janet, and TJ.
TJ starts to walk towards the door that will lead him out of the building he is in and towards the central courtyard of the casino.
Janet, Hunt, and Wylie follow behind TJ.
“Stay sharp, have your weapons ready,” says Wylie.
Janet, Hunt, TJ, and Wylie slowly exit the building. They have their rifles ready to fire as they walk down an outdoor sidewalk towards the central courtyard.
The overwhelming smell of dust, concrete, burnt hair, smoke, gun powder, and blood fills the air.
Janet sees a trail of blood along the concrete sidewalk.
TJ sees a tall thick bush and hides behind it.
“We surrender! You have won! We don’t want anymore violence today!” shouts a man, through a bullhorn, who is standing on a balcony of the casino hotel.
TJ looks back at Wylie, Janet, and Hunt and says, “I’m going onto the grass to talk. Cover me.”
Janet looks at TJ and says, “Don’t say anything stupid. Get back here if the conversation goes wrong.”
“Thanks for the support,” jokes TJ.
Janet kisses TJ.
TJ shouts, “Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you!” shouts the Native American with the bullhorn.
TJ shouts, “I’m coming out alone! I will not fire on you! Please don’t shoot me!”
TJ puts his rifle around his back and takes a deep breath.
The Native American with the bullhorn shouts, “We will not shoot you! We want you to leave!”
TJ slowly walks around the tall thick bush with his hands above his head.
“I’m looking for my sister! I believe she is here!” shouts TJ as he looks up at the casino hotel balcony that the Native American man is standing on.
“How do you know she is here?” asks the Native American man.
“I’m TJ! My sister’s name is Alice!” shouts TJ.
A young Native American man recognizes TJ from when TJ was at the casino before. The young Native American man grabs his handgun and points it at TJ.
“Please! I only want my sister!” shouts TJ.
Janet, who is hiding behind a big oak tree now, sees the young Native American man pointing his handgun at TJ and shouts, “TJ! Get back here!”
TJ looks back towards Janet’s direction.
The Native American man, with the bullhorn, sees the member of his group pointing his handgun at TJ.
TJ takes a step backwards.
Janet sees that the Native American man with the bullhorn is talking to the young Native American man who still has his handgun pointed at TJ.
“Put the gun down kid, I don’t want to have to kill you,” says Janet to herself as she looks at the young Native American man through her rifle scope.
Janet puts her finger on her rifle trigger and adjusts her aim onto the young Native American male’s forehead.
TJ takes another step back and shouts, “Alice! If you are in there, please come out! I don’t want the rest of these people to die today!”
A red laser from a rifle laser sight appears on the head of the young Native American man that has his handgun pointed at TJ.
Another red laser from a rifle laser sight appears on the forehead of another male Native American.
“Enough of this bullshit! You have five seconds to give up Alice!” shouts Colonel Meyers as he steps from behind Janet.
TJ looks at the casino hotel building for a response.
“Five!” shouts Colonel Meyers.
“TJ get back here!” shouts Janet.
“Four!” shouts Colonel Meyers.
TJ takes a couple steps backwards but keeps his eyes on the casino hotel balconies.
“Three!” shouts Colonel Meyers.
TJ shouts, “He’ll blow the whole building up!”
“Two!” shouts Colonel Meyers.
TJ stands next to Janet.
Before Colonel Meyers can shout one, a female voice yells out, “Wait!”
TJ looks at the casino hotel building.
A young skinny white woman steps next to the young Native American man that has his handgun pointed at TJ.
“I’m here! Please don’t kill anymore people!” shouts the young woman.
TJ looks up at the young woman and sees that it’s his sister Alice.
“Alice! Get down here! We aren’t leaving without you!” shouts TJ.
“I’ll be right down!” shouts Alice.
Alice looks at the young Native American man who had his handgun pointed at TJ. Alice and the young Native American man both exit their hotel balcony and walk into their hotel room.
“Keep your eyes peeled and weapons ready!” shouts Colonel Meyers to his soldiers.
Alice walks through the casino hotel automatic doorway and towards the central courtyard.
Alice is walking with the young Native American man that had his handgun pointed at TJ.
“You better not have a gun!” shouts Janet as she walks next to TJ with her handgun aimed at the young Native American man that is walking with Alice.
“I don’t. I left the gun in the room,” replies the young Native American man.
TJ goes to hug Alice, but Alice pushes TJ away.
“Altsoba! You get back here!” shouts a large Native American man who is wearing a colorful headdress.
The young Native American man turns towards the large Native American man and shouts, “No father! I’m making sure Alice is okay and our people stay safe!”
The large Native American man walks towards Alice and Altsoba. Several Native Americans follow behind the large Native American man who is wearing the colorful headdress.
Colonel Meyers shouts, “Let’s get your sister already!”
TJ grabs Alice’s arm and pul
ls her away from Altsoba.
Altsoba doesn’t like how TJ is being with Alice, and he pushes TJ.
Janet points her handgun at Altsoba’s forehead and shouts, “Stop! Don’t try to be a hero!”
Alice looks at Altsoba and says, “It’s okay Al. He’s my brother.”
“Altsoba! That’s enough!” shouts the large Native American man, who is wearing the colorful headdress, as he walks towards Al.
TJ and Janet look at each other.
“Please! Don’t kill my boy! He means well! I am Chief Powell!” shouts the large Native American man who is wearing the colorful headdress.
Al looks at Janet and isn’t afraid of her.
Chief Powell and his group of Native Americans walk next to Al.
Alice shouts, “I love you Al! I’ll be back!”
TJ brings Alice into a safe casino building away from the casino hotel and central courtyard.
“What the fuck Alice? We could have killed all these people! Why did it take you so long to come out?” shouts TJ.
“This is my family. Al and his family are great,” replies Alice.
“Your family? I’m your family! Al is just your boyfriend!” shouts TJ.
Alice steps away from TJ.
“Mom is dead,” says TJ.
Alice is shocked to hear that her mom is dead.
“Is dad alive?” asks Alice as she looks at TJ.
“Yes, he’s alive. We are going to see him after this is done,” answers TJ.
“What happened to your face?” asks Alice.
“Your family here did this to me! Your boyfriend! I came looking for you and they attacked me. I asked about you, and they just attacked me,” answers TJ.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea,” says Alice.
Janet walks over to TJ and says, “I think we got a problem.”
TJ looks at Alice and says, “You stay here.”
TJ walks with Janet and asks, “What’s up? What’s happening out there?”
“It’s getting pretty ugly out there. The chief’s son Al is being a pain,” replies Janet.
TJ and Janet walk back out to the central courtyard of the casino. TJ sees Colonel Meyers standing in front of his men and addressing Chief Powell and his son Al.
TJ and Janet stop walking and watch the interaction between Colonel Meyers, Chief Powell, and Al.
Colonel Meyers’ men, Hunt, and Wylie have their guns pointed at Chief Powell, Al, and the rest of the Native Americans that are with Chief Powell.
Chief Powell steps in front of Al and says, “Please, you got Alice. We can’t handle any more bloodshed.”
Colonel Meyers says, “You almost killed one of my men. You need to make it right.”
Chief Powell says, “I’m sorry about that, but my men can be a bit quick to turn aggressive.”
TJ shouts, “It’s okay colonel! We are all set! My sister is safe and that’s all I care about right now!”
Colonel Meyers shouts, “We are all set?”
“Why are you still here? You got Alice, what else do you want?” shouts Al to Colonel Meyers.
Colonel Meyers takes a step towards Al, smirks, and shouts, “We want it all!”
BANG!
Colonel Meyers shoots Chief Powell in the chest.
DAKKA!
BANG!
Colonel Meyers’ men fire their weapons at Chief Powell and the rest of the Native Americans that are standing next to Chief Powell.
Blood flies all over the casino courtyard sidewalk, grass, and trees.
Chief Powell and his group are shot several times and fall into a pile onto the courtyard grass.
Several casino residents fire their guns at Colonel Meyers and his men.
Colonel Meyers and his men evacuate the courtyard and run back into the building that Alice is in.
“What the fuck just happened?” shouts Alice as TJ and Janet run over to her.
“We need to leave!” shouts TJ.
TJ grabs Alice’s arm, and they start running towards the casino lobby.
Janet catches up with TJ and Alice.
TJ, Alice, and Janet make it to Bertha.
TJ helps Janet and Alice get into the back of Bertha.
Colonel Meyers does a head count and sees that everyone is alive and accounted for.
Colonel Meyers closes the back hatch of Bertha and bangs on the thick metal tailgate twice.
Diesel starts up Bertha and drives away from the main entrance of the casino.
Diesel passes the Marine Humvee as he drives by the casino main entrance road guard station.
Two trucks come speeding down the casino main entrance road towards the Marine Humvee.
A gunman in the Marine Humvee aims the .50 caliber machine gun, that is attached to the roof of the Marine Humvee, at the approaching trucks.
DAKKA!
DAKKA!
The Marine Humvee gunman mows down the approaching trucks as the Marine Humvee drives away.
Alice starts to cry.
Janet sees Alice crying and elbows TJ in his side.
TJ looks at Janet and then Alice.
“Are you okay Alice?” asks TJ.
Alice replies, “No, I hope Al somehow survived. Did you see him get away?”
“No, I didn’t see him get away,” answers TJ.
Alice shakes her head, wipes away a tear from her eye, and looks down.
“I’m sorry Alice, I didn’t want all this killing,” says TJ.
“Well, your friends certainly did,” says Alice.
Diesel drives Bertha away from the casino and towards MacDill.
Several buildings of the Indian casino are destroyed.
Women and children are crying as they see the dead bodies of their loved ones lying on the grass of the casino central courtyard.
Dead bodies, pools of blood, and debris are all over the central courtyard of the casino.
A male casino resident runs over to a pile of dead bodies and sees Chief Powell’s dead body.
The pile of dead bodies moves slightly.
The casino resident points his handgun at the pile of dead bodies as a dead body slides onto the sidewalk.
A female casino resident runs over and points her handgun at the pile of dead bodies.
Suddenly a hand comes out from underneath the pile of dead bodies, followed by an upper arm, and then a face.
“Don’t shoot!” shouts Al as he makes eye contact with the male casino resident.
CHAPTER 9
LET’S SEE WHAT WE GOT
“Jerri-Lynn, Kiersten, and Sam should be bringing the last of the books and supplies from the bookstore today,” says Kelly to me as I look at a shelf of books in our library house.
“Great. How many books do we have here?”
“About two thousand, plus whatever we have in those boxes and what they bring back today,” answers Kelly from inside the kitchen of the library house.
Kelly has turned an abandoned house in the back of Citrus Oaks into a library for us. Books are everywhere in the house. Kelly has made great use of the shelves that are throughout the house in the many built-ins that the previous owner designed throughout the home.
“I like what you did with the shelving in here.”
“Thank you. If you take anything out, please fill out the check out sheet on the table there,” says Kelly.
“I didn’t know the owners of this house before the world fell apart. I’m glad you removed the family portraits and anything like that in here.”
Kelly walks into the room that I’m standing in and says, “There really weren’t a lot of pictures in the house. I’m not really sure who lived here before.”
BEEP!
BEEP!
A truck horn beeps from the driveway of the library house.
I walk out of the library house and see Jerri-Lynn and Kiersten.
“How did you guys make out?”
Jerri-Lynn replies, “Great. That bookstore is cleaned out now. There isn’t even a pack of gum lef
t in that store.”
Kiersten says, “We got some more good stuff that we didn’t see before. I’m excited to read that knew wizard series.”
“Very cool. I’m glad you guys made out well and are safe. What about the nearby public library?”
“We haven’t been back there yet, but we’ll eventually get back there. I doubt anyone is really considering a library for supplies right now,” answers Jerri-Lynn.
I help Kiersten and Jerri-Lynn bring the boxes of books and supplies inside the library house.
“Where are Sam and Andre?”
Jerri-Lynn puts the box down that she was carrying in the library house and answers, “Either home or checking out a couple homes around the neighborhood.”
Kiersten brings in a small box and says, “I think they are securing our house today. I know Andre wanted to secure the home and front yard this afternoon.”
I walk outside to get the last box out of Jerri-Lynn’s truck with Kiersten and Jerri-Lynn.
“Everything okay with the house?”
Jerri-Lynn looks at me and replies, “Everything is okay, but we have been hearing noises at night that we aren’t sure about.”
“What kind of noises? From the dead?”
“I don’t think so, we haven’t had many dead ones around the neighborhood,” answers Jerri-Lynn.
Kiersten says, “I think it’s people and so does Sam.”
I look at Jerri-Lynn and ask, “You want us to take a look around the neighborhood and your house?”
Jerri-Lynn hands me the last box from the back of her truck and replies, “You have enough to worry about. We can handle it.”
Jerri-Lynn, Kiersten, and I take the last boxes inside the library house.
I look at the boxes that we just brought in and see that we have a bunch more stuff to go through.
“I feel like we are becoming hoarders with all this stuff.”
Jerri-Lynn laughs and says, “We are going to start checking out the pools and trouble areas soon. We started with the homes around our neighborhood, but we are going to start branching out more and more.”
“You be safe out there. You know where to find us. If you need our help, we are right across the street. You are our family now. We need you and Kiersten sticking around.”
Kiersten smiles.
“I’ll see what we come up with, and I’ll let you know. If we need some help, I’ll make sure we come by and get some,” says Jerri-Lynn.
Fight 4 Us: Legacy Page 9
