Fight 4 Us: Legacy

by Grenda, Brian

  Lauren kisses me as she walks to her chair at the dining room table.

  “Morning honey. Thank you for making breakfast,” says Lauren.

  “You are welcome.”

  “What time are you leaving for the Big Club?” asks Lauren.

  “In about an hour. There’s no rush to get there or the resort.”

  “You sure you want to go back to the resort?” asks Lauren.

  “Yeah, I want to check the resort out. Check for any clues and take any supplies that might be there.”

  “Who is all going?” asks Lauren.

  I swallow my multivitamin and drink some orange juice.

  Lauren starts to eat her oatmeal.

  “I’m not sure. I think Matt, Phil, and Shaun.”

  “You want me to come?” asks Lauren.

  “If you would like. Do you have plans today?”

  “Nothing really planned, but I’m sure I could find something to do around here,” replies Lauren.

  “Let’s see who all is going today and then decide. I think we need to take at least two different vehicles today anyway.”

  Lauren and I finish up breakfast and then I get ready for my trip to the Big Club and the Clearwater Sand Beach Resort.

  I load up the electric truck that is parked in Bobby G’s driveway.

  Phil speeds down my street and parks the other electric truck in front of Bobby G’s driveway.

  “You ready?” asks Phil.

  “Getting there. Who is coming today?”

  Phil and Jon exit from the electric truck.

  “I think us three and Shaun and Matt,” replies Phil.

  “Okay, go check on Matt and Shaun and meet me back here.”

  Phil goes to check on Shaun and Jon goes to check on Matt.

  I walk back into my house and talk with Lauren.

  “I think we are full for the trip today. Is it okay if you don’t come with us?”

  “That’s okay honey. I’ll find something here to do. I’ll work on a couple things with my mom,” replies Lauren.

  I kiss Lauren goodbye and exit my house.

  Shaun, Phil, and Jon are standing near my electric truck.

  “Where is Matt?”

  “He’s taking a dump,” answers Jon.

  “Okay, well I’m going to get moving to the Big Club. You meet us there.”

  Shaun gets into my electric truck.

  Jon and Phil wait by Phil’s electric truck.

  I start up my electric truck and exit Citrus Oaks through the South entrance.

  “How did the drone work out yesterday?”

  “Good, we had to use mine. Jon’s is probably done for. His one propeller is ruined,” answers Shaun.

  “What did you see on the drone?”

  “We saw a lot of new trouble spots that were once clear,” answers Shaun.

  “How are the roads to the Big Club?”

  “Clear, but a couple side streets around our neighborhood had a bunch of zombies now,” replies Shaun.

  I pull onto the street that the Big Club is on.

  “Did you see the Conqueror shopping center?”

  “Yeah, my drone made it that far but could only stay for a little bit before the battery signal told the drone to fly back,” answers Shaun.

  “What did you see?”

  “Nothing, really. The shopping center looked empty. I think we saw a possible person near the pet store, but it was hard to tell,” answers Shaun.

  “You got nothing, so basically you got nothing,” I joke with Shaun.

  I arrive at the Big Club parking lot and the store looks good. The barriers, shopping carts, and storefront are in good shape.

  “The store looks good,” I say to Shaun as I park the electric truck at the front entrance of the store.

  Shaun and I exit the electric truck and walk towards the front entrance door of the Big Club.

  The metal fencing is closed near the front entrance, and I don’t see any guards at the front entrance of the Big Club.

  “How do we get in?” I ask Shaun as I step towards the metal fencing that is closed near the front entrance.

  Shaun looks around and sees a rock on the concrete.

  Shaun picks up the rock, reaches through the metal fencing and hits the thick metal front door of the Big Club.

  BANG!

  “That should do it,” says Shaun.

  The thick metal front door of the Big Club opens.

  Two-armed Warrior guards point their guns at Shaun.

  “Freeze! Put your hands up!” shouts the two-armed Warrior guards.

  “It’s us you idiots!” shouts Shaun.

  The two Warrior guards look at Shaun and then me.

  “Sorry sir,” says the Warrior guards as they lower their guns.

  The two Warrior guards open the metal fencing and let Shaun and I inside the Big Club.

  “Hey Ryan,” says Jakobe.

  I say hello to Jakobe.

  “Hey Donnie. Is Hailee here also?”

  Donnie replies, “No, she is back home at the Haven.”

  Donnie walks over to Shaun.

  Jakobe looks at me and whispers, “They broke up.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  Donnie glares at me as I’m talking with Jakobe.

  “Leave the metal fencing open but close the front door. Phil will be here shortly.”

  Jakobe closes the thick metal front door.

  I look at the fully lit Big Club warehouse floor and say to myself, “It’s nice to be back here.”

  I hand Shaun the list Lauren and I made, and Shaun and Donnie start to load items into shopping carts.

  “What’s going on Jakobe?”

  Jakobe answers, “Nothing really. It’s been pretty quiet around here lately.”

  “No problems?”

  “Nope, everything has been good. Bruce and Tran even got the freezers running again,” replies Jakobe.

  “Great. I’m going to look around and check the store out. Let Phil, Jon, and Matt in when they get here.”

  “I will sir,” replies Jakobe.

  I walk around the Big Club and remember our prior conflicts here. I remember fighting Joseph, Shaun shooting Pete, Bruce wrapping his whip around Chris’ neck, finding Bobby G alive, and making the agreement with Jacob.

  I still can’t believe this is real life now. I used to come here with Lauren to get rotisserie chickens and other products. Now it’s our warehouse and our supplies.

  I see a large pallet that is half filled with bags of cat food.

  I load two bags of cat food into a shopping cart.

  Phil, Jon, and Matt arrive at the Big Club.

  “What are we doing here?” asks Matt.

  “We are getting stuff together and making sure this place is still ours,” answers Phil.

  “Who would try to take this place?” asks Matt.

  “I’m sure a lot of people would kill to have this store,” I answer as I see Matt, Phil, and Jon walking down the center aisle of the Big Club.

  “Let’s start making an updated inventory of our items. Shaun has a list of items that I want to bring back with us and Phil wants to bring back a lot of the weapons from here,” I say to Phil, Matt, and Jon.

  Phil starts loading up the weapons, Matt finds Shaun, and Jon finds our old inventory list in the office.

  “I got the initial inventory list. I will go off this and update it,” says Jon to me.

  “Good thinking. Thank you.”

  A couple hours go by, and we complete the updated inventory, load up the electric trucks, and talk with Donnie, Jakobe, and the rest of the Warrior guards.

  “Where are we going next?” asks Matt.

  “The resort.”

  “Any word from Brad?”

  Phil answers, “Yeah. He’s right around Clearwater Beach. He told us to radio him when we get to the resort.”

  “Okay, let’s get going to the resort.”

  We say goodbye to the Warrior guards at th
e Big Club.

  Phil, Jon, and Matt get into Phil’s electric truck and Shaun gets into my electric truck.

  Phil makes a left turn out of the Big Club parking lot and speeds away from the Big Club.

  “Does he think it’s a race?”

  “Yup,” replies Shaun.

  I start up my electric truck and exit the Big Club parking lot.

  I make a right turn out of the Big Club parking lot.

  I turn down a side street, look at Shaun, and say, “We aren’t losing this race. Phil doesn’t know the short cut.”

  I speed away from the Big Club and make my way towards the beaches.

  “I’m glad you didn’t cave and give anymore stuff to Kat. Kat is nice and all, but her boss seems like a greedy bitch,” says Shaun.

  “Yeah, Kat was only following orders. She isn’t to blame but I’m done with giving out supplies for nothing in return.”

  I see the Clearwater Sand Beach Resort coming up on my left.

  “Any sign of Phil?”

  I drive onto the resort property and pull up to the main entrance of the Clearwater Sand Beach Resort.

  “Nope, I don’t see Phil anywhere,” answers Shaun.

  A screech of tires is heard in the distance.

  Shaun and I look at the street entrance to the resort and we see Phil’s electric truck speeding towards us.

  Shaun sees a red Conqueror symbol near the front door of the resort and exits the electric truck.

  Shaun grabs his bag and pulls out a can of white spray paint.

  I exit the electric truck and watch Shaun walk towards the red Conqueror symbol.

  Shaun shakes the can of white spray paint and paints a large white X over the red Conqueror symbol.

  I look at the main entrance of the resort and ask myself, “Why am I back here?”

  CHAPTER 15

  TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY

  “Brad is on his way here now,” says Phil to me as we enter the main entrance lobby of the Clearwater Sand Beach Resort.

  CRASH!

  A loud sound comes from the back of the resort near the restaurant.

  We all point our guns towards the sound.

  “Keep your eyes peeled. We could have company.”

  “Could it be Brad?” asks Jon.

  “Doubt it. I just talked with him, and he was in the Gulf of Mexico,” answers Phil.

  “Let’s go check out the restaurant. That noise sounded like it came from there.”

  Shaun, Phil, and Jon start to walk towards the back of the resort.

  “Come on Matt,” I say to Matt as I see him nervously looking around.

  Matt starts to walk towards the back of the resort.

  I walk by the large floor to ceiling glass windows and see that the large resort pool is green and full of algae.

  “See, we need to cover any pools that we find. They are breeding grounds for mosquitos and disease.”

  Matt looks at the pool and says, “Yeah, I see what you mean. That’s pretty gross.”

  Matt and I catch up with Shaun, Phil, and Jon.

  Phil, Jon, and Shaun are standing inside the restaurant and staring at something.

  “Damn, he’s all fucked up,” says Shaun as he looks at a zombie who is aimlessly walking around the resort restaurant.

  “I think that’s Jason.”

  “Who?” asks Phil.

  “You know that over the top Conqueror. The one that showed us to our table in here.”

  “You are right. Damn, he got ripped apart by that drone,” says Phil.

  “But his brain is intact,” says Jon.

  I look at zombified Jason and see that he has about ten bullet holes in his torso, his left forearm is gone, and he has a huge hole in his abdomen.

  “I can see through his stomach,” says Matt.

  I walk over to Jason and stab him in his face.

  SHICK!

  “You have to admit, that was pretty crazy,” says Jon as he walks over to me and looks at Jason’s dead body.

  “I’ve seen it before,” says Matt.

  “What do you mean? In movies?” asks Jon.

  “No, at Phil’s house. I shot a giant hole in a guy’s stomach before,” answers Matt.

  “It was pretty awesome,” says Shaun.

  “Was it here?” asks Jon.

  “No, it was back in North Carolina,” answers Matt.

  The guys walk around the restaurant and see the damage from the last time we were here.

  Shaun goes over to the bar and starts loading up every alcohol bottle that isn’t broken or empty.

  I see a round discolored spot in the carpet near a table next to the broken restaurant windows.

  The spot in the carpet is dark red and looks to be dried blood.

  “That’s where you were when the smoke cleared,” says Phil to me as I look at the bloody circle in the carpet.

  The sound of people walking towards the restaurant is heard.

  Four people enter the restaurant.

  I turn towards the people and see that it’s Brad, Eric, Carmine, and a young woman.

  “Hey Ryan,” says Brad.

  I walk towards Brad and greet everyone.

  I look at the young woman and say, “I’m Ryan. I don’t believe we have met.”

  Carmine, with his New York accent, interrupts, “She’s my sister Trish.”

  “Oh, nice to meet you Trish.”

  Trish, with her New York accent, replies, “Nice to meet you Ryan.”

  “How are you Ryan?” asks Brad.

  “I’m good. How are you? How are things going?”

  “Good, we have had an eventful couple of days,” answers Brad.

  “What’s up Brad?” asks Phil as Phil, Jon, and Matt walk over to me.

  Shaun finishes filling up his bag with all the liquor bottles he could fit.

  “I see you guys are doing well,” jokes Eric as he sees Shaun come around the bar with his duffel bag full of liquor bottles.

  “What did you find out?”

  Brad asks, “Can we sit?”

  Trish sees Jason’s dead body and asks, “Can we get rid of that dead body please?”

  Carmine jokes, “Weak ass!”

  Eric and Carmine pick up Jason’s dead body and Jason’s dead body rips in half.

  Trish almost throws up at the sight and sound of Jason’s body ripping in half.

  “Damn, could it get any grosser?” asks Matt.

  Eric tosses Jason’s legs out of the restaurant through the broken windows.

  Carmine asks Eric to help him lift Jason’s upper body.

  Carmine and Eric lift Jason’s upper body and toss it out the broken restaurant windows.

  SPLAT!

  The loud sound of Jason’s head exploding as it hits the resort concrete is heard.

  “I guess it could get grosser,” jokes Phil.

  Phil, Jon, Brad, Trish, and I sit down at a table.

  “What did you find out Brad?”

  Brad answers, “We haven’t seen Jacob or DK, but we have seen some Conquerors on the water. They were in the Gulf and in the Bay.”

  “Did you talk with them?”

  “Didn’t have the chance to. They attacked us, so we killed them,” answers Brad.

  “How many of them?”

  “About three boats full. I think about fifteen or so,” answers Brad.

  “Nice. The less of those assholes around, the better,” says Shaun.

  “We also have seen the Coast Guard, a couple military drones, and some soldiers around downtown Tampa. The soldiers inquired about our community but didn’t engage us,” says Brad.

  “What did the Coast Guard say?”

  “Nothing, they just kept going when they saw us. I think something big was happening in the Gulf and they didn’t bother with us,” answers Brad.

  “Why are we here? This place is a dump,” says Trish with an annoyed tone of voice.

  I look at Trish and reply, “This is the last place we saw Jacob and DK. W
e wanted to see if there were any clues left here and also get some supplies.”

  “Plus, we were also going to be in the Gulf today and this resort was a good meeting place,” says Brad to Trish.

  “Oh,” replies Trish.

  “Let them talk Trish. Stop being a pain,” says Carmine.

  “Shut up Carmine!” shouts Trish.

  “Enough you two! Stop being a pain in my ass!” shouts Brad.

  I look at Brad and say, “I also wanted to let you know that there is a woman from The Grove asking for supplies.”

  “I think I met that one woman from there. I think Kat was her name,” replies Brad.

  “Oh yea, you met her a couple days ago when she was taking out my stitches.”

  “Yeah,” replies Brad.

  “Well, she came by looking for more supplies and help for The Grove. We didn’t give her anything but said we would ask you.”

  “We don’t have anything to give. Maybe some fish or something, but we don’t have an abundance of supplies,” replies Brad.

  “I’ll let her know. You mind if I tell her about Channelside and how to meet you and your captain?”

  “If you think she is trustworthy, then yes,” replies Brad.

  “Okay, I’ll see if she is or not.”

  “As for our Captain, I think he’s on the way out. He’s not doing so well without his drugs,” says Brad.

  “Is he dead?”

  “Not yet, but he’s going through bad withdrawals and I’m not getting him anymore pills,” answers Brad.

  “Good for you. That guy is a dick anyway. Good riddance,” says Phil.

  “He’s not gone yet, and I’m not sure what to do about him. People still expect him to lead us,” says Brad.

  “Are you going to take over as leader?”

  “He should, he’s basically leading us now,” says Eric.

  “Looks like you have some support. You should declare yourself as the leader.”

  “I don’t know. The Captain isn’t going to like that,” replies Brad.

  “Don’t be a pussy Brad,” says Trish.

  “Yeah, Brad. Don’t be a pussy,” jokes Shaun.

  I look at Brad and say, “Being a leader is not easy, but you clearly can do it. You’ll have to figure out a way to take over as leader and make the Captain disappear.”

  “Like back in New York, people went missing all the time. The Captain could go out on a fishing trip and be killed by the Conquerors,” says Carmine.

  “What if the Conquerors don’t kill him?” asks Brad.