Fight 4 Us: Legacy

by Grenda, Brian

  “I’m glad the trip back to the car dealership went well,” says Lauren as she gets into bed next to me.

  “Me too. Jaws Junior and Darlene seem like good people. Darlene was happy with the stuff we brought them.”

  “Is that his real name? Jaws Junior?” asks Lauren.

  “I’m sure it’s like Chris or something, but he wants to be called Jaws Junior.”

  “I guess in this new world, people can be called whatever they want,” says Lauren.

  I move in bed and feel some muscle soreness in my left thigh.

  Lauren sees me grimace and asks, “What’s wrong? Is it your leg?”

  “It’s just sore. I’m going to take an anti-inflammatory to help flush out the inflammation.”

  I get out of bed and walk into my master bathroom.

  I open my medicine cabinet and grab the giant bottle of anti-inflammatory pills.

  I swallow the pill and exit my bathroom.

  “You know, I was thinking,” says Lauren.

  I interrupt Lauren and joke, “Oh geez, this can’t be good.”

  Lauren says, “Seriously, I was thinking about the neighborhood and what we can do around here.”

  I get back into bed.

  “Like what sweetie?”

  “I don’t know. I think we should knock down the destroyed homes that serve no purpose now and remind us of prior problems,” answers Lauren.

  “I like that idea. What else you got?”

  Lauren answers, “I’ll have to make a list.”

  “Jon would love that,” I joke.

  Lauren says, “It’s so hot in here.”

  Lauren gets up from our bed and turns our ceiling fan on high.

  “Callie doesn’t like the fan on high,” I say to Lauren.

  Lauren looks at Callie, who is sitting at the foot of our bed, and asks, “Yaya, aren’t you hot?”

  Callie meows, stretches out, and falls onto her side.

  “You should be happy that we have fans and air conditioning. Jaws Junior didn’t have any AC or fans on when I talked with him and Darlene.”

  “I would die,” says Lauren as she gets back into bed.

  “How’s your mom doing?”

  “She is okay. I’m trying to keep her busy. I took her with me when I went over to Jerri-Lynn’s today,” answers Lauren.

  “How was it over there?”

  “Jerri-Lynn’s house is really nice, but it’s kind of wide open and the neighborhood could use some security. Anyone could get to the house,” answers Lauren.

  “I thought Andre and Sam were securing it? That’s what Jerri-Lynn and Kiersten told me.”

  “I think they started putting up security measures, but they could use some help,” replies Lauren.

  “I’ll go check it out tomorrow morning. I’ll take Matt and whoever else wants to come with.”

  “Sounds good honey. I’ll go back with you,” says Lauren.

  I look at Lauren’s alarm clock, that sits on the corner of our dresser across from the foot of our bed, and it reads, “11:11 PM.”

  Lauren kisses me goodnight.

  I say goodnight to Lauren, Callie, and Milo and then fall asleep for the night.

  “When was the last time I saw you?” asks Brody to Enrique as they sit in chairs on the lookout platform of the South entrance.

  Enrique replies, “I’m not sure. I have been so busy with St. Pete and other runs around Tampa Bay.”

  It’s the middle of the night and Brody is relieving a sick Warrior guard from his guard duty tonight.

  “Sorry we couldn’t catch up and just relax, but I had to take over for Lucas tonight. He must have got a stomach bug or something,” says Brody to Enrique.

  “It’s all good man. We’ll still have a good time,” says Enrique as he hands Brody a cold beer from a cooler.

  “I shouldn’t start drinking. I’m still a little hungover from last night,” says Brody.

  “Last night? What did you do last night?” asks Enrique.

  “I had some drinks with Ryan and his friends. They are good people. I like being here,” answers Brody.

  “That’s cool. I’m glad you are liking it here. When do you plan on coming back home to the Haven?” asks Enrique.

  Brody looks down the street and at the surrounding homes along the border of the South entrance of Citrus Oaks.

  Brody sees a small group of zombies approaching the South entrance gate from the street outside the South entrance.

  Brody shines a bright beam of light from his handheld LED spotlight.

  “Take them out quietly. Use your arrows,” says Brody to the group of Warriors that are standing on the other lookout platform at the South entrance.

  Enrique watches as the two Warriors easily kill the approaching zombies with their arrows and bolts.

  “You really have changed Brody. You are more assertive and stronger now. It’s good to see you being more confident,” says Enrique.

  “Leave the arrows in the zombies. We will get them later,” says Brody to the Warrior guards.

  The two Warrior guards look at the dead zombies they just killed with their precise bow skills.

  “I’m not sure when I’ll leave here. I like being here. I have a nice house here,” says Brody to Enrique.

  “Any chicks around here?” asks Enrique.

  Brody laughs and answers, “You are always worried about chicks.”

  “Well, a guy has needs you know? I just don’t want you to die a virgin,” replies Enrique.

  “How do you know I’m a virgin?” asks Brody.

  “I just figured is all. How old are you?” replies Enrique.

  “I’m eighteen. I’m not worried about any women right now. That will happen when it happens. I’m just trying to stay alive,” replies Brody.

  “Good thinking. Plus, chicks are crazy,” jokes Enrique.

  A sedan drives down the street across from the South entrance of Citrus Oaks.

  “Kill the light,” says Enrique to Brody.

  Brody turns off his LED spotlight.

  Brody and Enrique watch the sedan drive down the street and turn onto the street that Jerri-Lynn’s house is on.

  “We need to watch that car. It might be trouble for some of our people that live over there,” says Brody to Enrique.

  “Let’s take a group and get a closer look,” replies Enrique.

  Brody is nervous at the possibility of having an altercation with the people in the sedan that he just saw turn down Jerri-Lynn’s street.

  “I know Kiersten and her family set up some traps around their house. Let’s see if anything gets set off,” replies Brody.

  “Who is Kiersten?” asks Enrique.

  “She’s my friend. She lives across the street with her family,” answers Brody.

  Enrique feels Brody’s body language and tone of voice change as he talks about Kiersten. Enrique sees that Brody is showing signs that he likes Kiersten.

  The sedan stops in front of a house.

  The sedan doors open, and four men get out of the sedan.

  “This is the house. That little bitch lives here. Tonight, we get even with her,” says the driver of the sedan.

  The driver of the sedan and two men approach the house, while the last member of the group stays back by the sedan.

  The driver turns towards the man that stayed back by the sedan and asks, “Mark, what are you doing?”

  Mark replies, “I don’t think we should do this Randy. We have plenty of supplies back home.”

  Randy walks over to Mark and says, “Don’t be a pussy. We are taking what they stole from us at the store. Those supplies were ours.”

  Another man walks over to Mark and says, “Either you are with us or against us.”

  Mark feels the pressure from Randy and the other men. He looks down at the knife Randy is holding and then at Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  “I’m with you,” says Mark.

  “Good, then let’s go. Enough of this bullshit,” says
Randy.

  Randy leads Mark and the other two men as they approach Jerri-Lynn’s front yard.

  Mark looks around and sees the South entrance of Citrus Oaks in the distance.

  Randy tells one of his men to go into Jerri-Lynn’s backyard.

  The man, who Randy just spoke to, walks through the high grass of Jerri-Lynn’s front yard.

  Randy looks back at Mark and says, “I’m going to open the front door. You lead the way in.”

  Mark replies, “I’ll keep watch out here. You and Danny should do it. You two are better at it then me.”

  Danny looks at Mark and says, “I don’t know why we keep you around. You are useless.”

  Danny steps towards Jerri-Lynn’s house while looking at Mark with a disgusted look on his face.

  Danny doesn’t see the tripwire at the bottom of the front porch step and kicks the tripwire with his left boot.

  SHRIEK!

  SHRIEK!

  Two loud sirens go off, followed by two very bright floodlights. The floodlights turn on and illuminate Jerri-Lynn’s front yard and driveway.

  “Let’s get over there!” shouts Brody.

  Brody and Enrique run down the lookout platform steps.

  A Warrior guard opens the South entrance.

  Brody, Enrique, and another Warrior guard run across the street towards Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  BANG!

  BANG!

  BANG!

  Three gunshots are heard.

  Three bodies hit the ground.

  “Please don’t shoot me!” shouts Mark as he drops his knife.

  “Get the fuck out of here kid!” shouts a man from a rooftop a couple houses away from Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  Mark freezes in fear.

  “What the fuck?” shouts Sam.

  “Language!” shouts Jerri-Lynn to Sam as Sam, Jerri-Lynn, Andre, and Kiersten exit Jerri-Lynn’s front door.

  “Sorry,” replies Sam.

  Brody, Enrique, and the other Warrior guard see Mark standing with his hands above his head.

  Enrique runs over and checks Mark.

  “He’s clean,” says Enrique as he picks up Mark’s knife from the street.

  Jerri-Lynn recognizes Mark from their food run a couple days ago.

  Sam and Kiersten look at the dead bodies of the three men that are lying in their front yard.

  “Mom, these are the men that attacked us at the store the other day,” says Kiersten.

  Andre looks at the floodlights and then at Sam.

  Sam smiles and says, “Good work Dre. Your booby traps worked well.”

  Andre smiles and replies, “Yeah, I’m glad we set these up. I knew someone was coming around the house the past couple nights.”

  Andre turns off the sirens but leaves the floodlights on.

  Jerri-Lynn walks over to Mark and asks, “Why are you here?”

  Mark stares at the large hunting knife that Jerri-Lynn has in her right hand.

  Mark doesn’t know what to say and just stands there with his hands over his head.

  A group of zombies start walking towards Jerri-Lynn’s house from the street that separates Citrus Oaks and Jerri-Lynn’s neighborhood.

  Enrique and Brody see the approaching zombies.

  Sam examines the dead bodies of the three men that are lying in their front yard and asks, “I wonder who did this?”

  BANG!

  BANG!

  BANG!

  Three precise gunshots fly into the foreheads of the approaching zombies.

  Brody, Enrique, and the other Warrior guard take cover.

  Sam and Jerri-Lynn look at where the shots came from.

  BANG!

  One more shot comes from the rooftop of a house that is four houses away from Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  “That’s all of them!” shouts a man from the rooftop.

  “Thank you!” shouts Sam.

  “You’re welcome!” shouts a girl from the rooftop.

  Brody looks at the rooftop and asks, “How many people are on that roof?”

  Enrique looks at the four dead zombies and replies, “I don’t know, but they are good shots.”

  Kiersten sees Brody and walks over to him.

  “Are you okay?” asks Brody to Kiersten.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. How are you?” asks Kiersten.

  Before Brody can answer, Kiersten hugs Brody.

  Enrique smiles at the sight of Kiersten hugging Brody.

  “What do you want to do with this guy?” asks Enrique to Jerri-Lynn as he walks over to Jerri-Lynn.

  “He seems like a decent guy! He didn’t want any part of breaking into your house!” shouts the man from the rooftop.

  Jerri-Lynn looks towards the sound of the man’s voice but can’t see anyone.

  “Thank you!” shouts Jerri-Lynn to the man on the rooftop.

  Mark gathers himself and says, “I didn’t. I didn’t want to do this. Please. I don’t want to die.”

  Jerri-Lynn puts her large hunting knife against Mark’s throat and asks, “Why should I believe you?”

  Mark closes his eyes in fear.

  Kiersten and Brody watch as Jerri-Lynn holds her knife against Mark’s throat.

  “Where do you live? How many people do you have?” asks Jerri-Lynn to Mark.

  Mark is too worried about Jerri-Lynn’s knife to answer Jerri-Lynn’s questions.

  “Can you please lower your knife?” asks Mark.

  Jerri-Lynn keeps her knife at Mark’s throat.

  Kiersten sees that Jerri-Lynn isn’t lowering her knife and says, “Mom, lower the knife. He’s one guy.”

  Jerri-Lynn keeps her knife at Mark’s throat, looks at Kiersten, and says, “We have to be sure. One person can be very dangerous. He might be part of a large group.”

  “I’m not. I only have one other person in my group now. She’s back home. It’s my younger sister,” pleads Mark to Jerri-Lynn.

  Jerri-Lynn doesn’t know what to make of Mark’s story.

  “Please, I won’t come back here ever again. My sister needs me,” pleads Mark to Jerri-Lynn.

  Everyone is watching Jerri-Lynn and Mark.

  Jerri-Lynn doesn’t know whether to trust Mark’s story or not.

  “Where do you live?” asks Jerri-Lynn.

  “Off 93rd Ave,” answers Mark.

  “What house number?” asks Jerri-Lynn.

  “225 I think,” answers Mark.

  “You don’t know? How do you not know where you live?” asks Jerri-Lynn.

  Jerri-Lynn slides her large hunting knife down Mark’s blue shirt and stops at Mark’s chest.

  “What’s your sisters name?” asks Jerri-Lynn.

  “Brittany,” answers Mark.

  “Okay Mark, who lives at 225 93rd Ave with a sister named Brittany. If you are lying to me and I see you again. I will kill you. Don’t ever come back around here, or near my family. If we see you again, you better run away from us. We want nothing to do with you,” says Jerri-Lynn.

  “Yes ma’am. I understand. You won’t see me again,” replies Mark.

  Enrique looks at the license plate on the sedan that Mark arrived in.

  Jerri-Lynn holsters her knife and stares at Mark.

  “Go. Get out of here,” says Jerri-Lynn.

  Mark gets into the sedan that Randy drove there.

  Mark looks for the keys and can’t find them.

  Mark looks at Jerri-Lynn from inside the sedan and asks, “Can you get the keys from the guy that has the sleeveless black shirt on?”

  Sam reaches into Randy’s pocket and finds the sedan keys.

  Sam throws the keys to Jerri-Lynn.

  Jerri-Lynn walks the keys over to Mark and hands them to him.

  “Get out of here!” shouts Jerri-Lynn.

  Mark starts up the sedan and speeds away from Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  Everyone watches Mark drive away from Jerri-Lynn’s house until the sedan is out of sight.

  “The car has a Georgia license plate on it,�
� says Enrique to Jerri-Lynn.

  “Thank you,” replies Jerri-Lynn.

  Jerri-Lynn introduces herself to Enrique.

  “You should have killed him!” shouts a boy from the rooftop.

  “How many of you are up there?” shouts Sam.

  “Enough to save your ass!” shouts the boy.

  “Well, thank you! Hopefully we will get to meet you someday!” shouts Sam.

  The girl on the rooftop shouts, “I hope so!”

  “Alright everyone, that’s way too much excitement for tonight. Let’s get back to bed,” says Jerri-Lynn.

  Kiersten looks at Brody.

  “Can I see you later?” asks Kiersten to Brody.

  Brody smiles and replies, “Yeah. I would like that.”

  “Great, I’ll come by later,” says Kiersten.

  Jerri-Lynn sees Kiersten talking with Brody.

  “Come on Kiersten, you can see Brody later,” says Jerri-Lynn.

  Kiersten walks away from Brody.

  Jerri-Lynn, Kiersten, and Andre walk back into Jerri-Lynn’s house.

  “Goodnight! Thank you again!” shouts Sam to the people on the rooftop.

  Enrique walks over to Brody and has a big smile on his face.

  “All this time I was thinking you were some punk kid with no game. How long have you been seeing Kiersten?” asks Enrique.

  “Relax Enrique. We are just friends, but I do like her,” answers Brody.

  Enrique, Brody, and the other Warrior guard start walking back towards the South entrance of Citrus Oaks.

  “She is cute though, how old is she?” asks Enrique.

  “Kiersten is very cute and very funny. She just turned eighteen,” answers Brody.

  “Then you are all good man,” says Enrique.

  Brody smiles as he walks back home to Citrus Oaks.

  A Warrior guard opens the South entrance of Citrus Oaks.

  The Warrior guard that is walking with Enrique and Brody grabs the arrows and bolts out of the zombies that they killed earlier.

  “That’s why you don’t want to go back home. The Haven is too far away from your girl,” says Enrique.

  “Yup,” says a Warrior guard as he closes the South entrance gate.

  “Shut up Kevin!” shouts Brody.

  “It’s all good man. You talk about Kiersten a lot. We all know you like her. Just admit it,” says Kevin.

  “I do like her and things are going well. I want to keep it that way,” says Brody.

  “Relax man. We are just messing with you. We aren’t going to mess anything up,” says Kevin.