“And how did he get away exactly?” asks Lisa.
Shaun looks at Lisa with an annoyed look.
I turn to Lisa and say, “Well if you must know, his brother shot me, held my dad and wife at gunpoint and shot my father.”
Lisa says, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Is your father okay?”
“Yea. We are all okay, but Joseph got away and we need to worry about his brother now.”
Phil interrupts, “I’m going back to the Big Club to help them secure the store. Carlos, Chris, and Matt will likely need help in repairing the store and protecting the store from any threats.”
TJ says, “I will come with you. Just let me take Odin home first.”
“Sounds good Phil. I’m going to get some rest for a couple hours, and I’ll meet you at the store.”
Shaun says, “I’ll go with you Ryan. Just let me get some rest as well as some aspirin.”
“Let’s be ready to go in 6 hours. I’ll come get you Shaun.”
Phil says, “Sounds good guys. I’ll see you later.”
TJ, Phil, and Odin hop into Phil’s SUV and they drive to the South entrance of the neighborhood.
I say goodbye to Shaun and Lisa and walk towards my house.
I enter my house and turn on the shower.
I need some rest and relaxation, and it starts with a good shower and a nap.
As I wait for the shower to heat up, I take off my shirt and look at myself in the full-length mirror that is hanging on the wall next to the bathroom.
I barely recognize the man in the mirror.
The marks of the previous gunshots to my body are still evident and the new bruise still hurts as I lightly press into it.
My hair is long and my beard is the longest I have ever had. I look like an unkempt mountain man.
I walk into the bathroom and pick up the scissors. I start to trim my beard with the scissors and it feels good to cut away the long beard hairs.
My beard is cut down to a manageable length that I shave down with my razor. I put some shaving cream on face and give my face a nice clean shave.
I hop in the shower and feel the warm water on my body. It feels good to finally shower.
As the dirt and blood are washed off my body with the soap and water, I feel a sense of relief. I feel a sense of spirituality like my sins are being washed away.
It’s a weird feeling. I know it’s only a shower, but it feels like my body and soul are being cleansed.
It might be post-traumatic stress of being shot or divine intervention, but I feel a huge relief that I’m alive, my father is alive, and our plan succeeded.
I turn off the shower, get dressed and kneel next to the bed.
I can’t remember the last time I felt the need to kneel and pray, but the urge to give thanks for my life and what we have accomplished comes over me.
As I’m kneeling, I feel a strong presence in the room. I’m not a religious person by any means and have only been to church a handful of times in my life, but I feel the need to be thankful for what I have in my life right now and have had in my life up to this point.
I give a quick prayer and then hop into bed for a quick nap.
Several hours go by, and I remain in bed.
The front door opens, someone walks in and closes the front door.
I hear someone say something, but I am half asleep still, and can’t make out what the person said, or who it was that just entered the house.
Suddenly I feel something jump onto the bed and start to walk towards me. It’s something small and furry.
I look down at my feet and see this furry white and black cat walking towards my face.
It’s Milo.
Milo walks right up to my face and starts licking my nose.
I look down at Milo and ask, “What are you doing in here Milo?”
Milo meows at me and starts purring.
Lauren walks into the bedroom holding Callie.
Lauren sits down next to me in the bed and says, “I had to bring these cats over here. I don’t want your dad to have to worry about caring for them now. He needs to rest and sleep.”
“Good idea. My dad needs to focus on his recovery right now. I don’t mind taking care of these two for a while, you know I love cats. Is my dad back in his house now?”
“Yeah. I got him back into his house now and in his own bed. He is on some pain medication and something to help him sleep. He will most likely be out for a while. I’ll check on him in a couple hours,” says Lauren.
Callie jumps down from Lauren’s arms and hides under a recliner chair that we have in the bedroom.
Milo is staring at me as he lays partially on my right leg.
I pet Milo on the head and he blinks at me.
Lauren asks, “Look at you all clean shaven now. I’ll have to give you a haircut later, but I like the clean-shaven look.”
“I was turning into a mountain man. A Tampa mountain man.”
Lauren leans in and says, “You know I like the smooth baby face look, but you might have to grow that beard out again.”
Lauren gives me a big passionate kiss on the lips.
Milo meows to keep some of the attention on him.
I get out of bed and start to get dressed.
Lauren asks, “What are you doing now Ryan?”
I put on my shirt and say, “I’m going with Shaun back to the Big Club. We need to secure the store and fix the store front still. I also want to make a plan for the store and going after The Conquerors.”
“Going after them? Why do that? We have the store now Ryan,” says Lauren.
“We can’t stop now Lauren. We can’t stop. Joseph and Jacob are still alive. We need to finish them off and cripple their stronghold on the stores, businesses, and anything else they had control of.”
Lauren replies, “We are a small group though Ryan. We can’t keep fighting them with this small of a group. We are bound to lose people, if we keep attacking them.”
“You are right. We need more people and we will find allies. We can’t be the only people The Conquerors attacked and went after. I will send out a group to find some allies and take out The Conquerors if we find them.”
Lauren says, “I will go with you.”
I reply, “Not this time, but another time. I need you to watch over this place. We are low on man power in the community. I need you to keep watch on my dad and the neighborhood.”
I finish getting ready, grab my gear and weapons, and make my way to the front door.
Lauren says goodbye to me at the front door, and I exit the house.
I load up my SUV and drive over to Shaun’s house.
I knock on the front door of Shaun’s house and am greeted by Lisa.
Lisa says, “What are you knocking for? Just come in.”
I walk into the house and say, “I didn’t want to disturb you guys. I find it weird just walking into someone’s house.”
Shaun walks out of the bedroom and asks, “What’s up Ry? Everything good?”
Before I can respond, Shaun shouts, “Damn! Baby face over here now. Nice shave bro.”
“Shut up Shaun. Let’s get going. You sure you are okay to get back out there?”
“Yeah man. I got a pain killer in me and I slept a couple hours. I’m good for today,” says Shaun.
Shaun picks up his baseball bat and shotgun and says, “I really hope my rifle is at the Big Club still. I love that thing.”
“Let’s get going and find out, but I’m sure it is. We control the store now.”
Shaun puts on a baseball hat and says goodbye to Lisa.
As I’m walking out of Shaun’s house with Shaun, I turn towards Lisa.
“Can you help out Lauren at my house and checking out the neighborhood, Lisa?”
Lisa replies, “Yeah no problem. I’ll head right over to your house now and see what Lauren needs helps with.”
“Thank you, Lisa. I’d appreciate it.”
Shaun and I get into my SUV,
and I start up the engine.
I look over at Shaun and ask, “How are you really doing Shaun? How’s your shoulder and your head?”
“It’s killing me man. I can move my shoulder with minimal pain, but it does hurt. My head is okay and overall I’ll be okay,” replies Shaun.
“Good. We can’t stop now man. We are starting to take control of our surroundings and this world.”
“I hear ya man. We can’t stop now. We have these Conquerors on the run and we need to get rid of them while we can,” says Shaun.
I drive towards the South entrance and head to the Big Club.
CHAPTER 5
WE CONTROL IT
Shaun and I pull up to the Big Club.
As I drive into the parking lot, I see a big group of zombies trying to get into the main entrance of the store, but are being blocked by the vehicles that the guys put in place at the entrance.
As I drive up closer to the front of the store, I have the idea of clearing out the zombies with my SUV.
I slowly drive through the zombies and knock a lot of them over with my vehicle.
The sound of zombie moans, bones being crushed, blood vessels bursting, and zombies being killed by the SUV are heard as I drive through the herd of zombies.
I pass through the herd once, turn around and approach the zombie pile again.
I beep the horn and attract some of the remaining zombies. I start to drive towards the pile of zombies and take out several more zombies with my SUV.
The herd of zombies is significantly thinned out and Shaun I decide to clear out the remaining zombies with our weapons.
Shaun and I exit the SUV and approach the five remaining zombies.
With a couple slashes from my katana and swings from Shaun’s baseball bat, we clear out the remaining zombies.
The vehicles did a good job at preventing the zombies from getting into the store, but we will need another plan to protect the front and rear entrances of the store.
“We cleared out the zombies. Let us in guys.”
Chris comes out from inside the store, jumps onto the hood of one of the cars in front of the store, grabs his crotch, and says, “Clear this!”
Shaun and I laugh at the joke Chris made and I say, “Good one Chris. Now let us in.”
Chris says, “I have to get the key to this car. I’ll be right back.”
As Shaun and I wait for Chris to come back and move the car, I can’t help but to think of how the store was being run before. The Conquerors didn’t help anyone that came by the store before.
Shaun looks at the white smoke coming from the burning building that Matt and Phil set on fire last night.
Chris comes back with the keys and moves the car.
Shaun and I walk into the store and Chris puts the car back into its place.
As Shaun and I walk into the store, I feel like the store is a great asset to have, but we will need to control appropriately. We control this store, but need to make it available to others. We can’t just give stuff away, but need to be open to help others and available for trading.
“We need to build up the walls and put in a good solid metal door in the front next,” says Carlos as he walks up to the front of the store with Matt.
I look at Matt and Carlos and ask, “How we doing guys?”
Matt responds, “We are good overall, but we need to build up the front wall and entrance. It’s only a matter of time until people come here looking for what we have.”
“Good idea. Let’s start on that today.”
“We will, but how is your dad doing Ryan?” asks Matt.
“He is good. I got the bullet out of his shoulder, stopped the bleeding, and patched him up.”
Matt replies, “I’m glad to hear that. I’d miss him if he wasn’t around. I have known him since you and I were in high school.”
“Yeah. We have known each other too long. My dad loves all you guys. You will see him again.”
Shaun walks over to TJ and Phil, and helps them move the last of the dead bodies out of the store.
I look at Matt and Carlos and ask, “How is the store? Anything we need to be concerned about?”
Carlos replies, “Right now my main concern is closing off the front entrance and making sure it’s secure again.”
Matt replies, “The store is in good shape, but I’m with Carlos about securing the front. We are going back home to get the supplies we took from the hardware store, but we may need more things.”
“Whatever we need, we will go get. There are a couple more hardware stores we can hit up, and we can take some supplies from abandoned construction sites as well.”
Chris walks over to me and asks, “Ryan. Any idea of who will be watching over this place now. I mean, we are going to need someone here to watch over this place.”
“Do you want that job Chris?”
Chris replies, “If no one else wants it. Plus, I have my family to help me take over this place.”
“I like that idea. You go back with Matt and Carlos. Get all the supplies that you can and make a list of items that we don’t have for repairing the front of the store. Take the trucks that The Conquerors left behind. They won’t be needing them anymore.”
Chris, Carlos, and Matt exit through the back of the store and each take a truck back home with them. They will come back with the necessary items that we have back home to repair the front entrance.
I start to walk around the store and start to think about how Lauren and I shopped at this store before the zombie apocalypse.
We used to get so many different items here. We would get toilet paper, paper towels, rotisserie chickens, frozen pizzas, giant jars of peanut butter, and so many different bulk sized products.
I grab an empty shopping cart that was left down one of the aisles and start putting products that I know we can use back home in the cart. As I grab a variety of products and go down several aisles, I feel like I’m shopping again before the zombie apocalypse.
This huge warehouse of a store is filled with so many products that will be useful for us in this zombie apocalypse. We have tons of food, water, clothing, and supplies at our disposal now.
I can’t help but to think of this store as a great opportunity to trade with others as well as to help provide for us.
I come across the electronic section of the store and see that a television is playing some footage of a football video game. It’s in an endless loop and playing from a DVD but it’s still nice to watch something I use to love to play and watch.
The world is a far different place now and our priorities have changed. We used to care about the latest electronic devices, games, phones, shoes, cars, and material possessions. We took for granted that we were safe and protected. We didn’t have to worry about finding food, shelter, and protection. There was no reason to worry about finding a meal, because food stores and restaurants were on every corner.
We cared about being connected to our social media, the internet, and the latest news and gossip going on in the world.
It’s kind of nice not to have to worry about your phone running out of battery, or missing the latest information about some celebrity news or scandal.
It’s great not having to worry about paying your bills. Stressing over mortgage payments, and paying taxes.
Life is different now, and I’m not sure we will ever go back to what it was. Maybe that’s a good thing.
“You okay Ryan?” asks Shaun as he sees me staring at the television screen.
I get out of the television trance and say, “Yeah man. I’m okay. Just missing the good ole days of watching football games, playing video games, and being on the internet.”
“I miss it too. I miss being able to jump online to find help with something or able to look up something that I didn’t know,” says Shaun.
“The times are a changing. That’s for sure. What’s up Shaun?”
“TJ, Phil, and I removed all the bodies from the store and stock piled the weapons and u
seful items in the middle of the store. We want to show you what we have,” says Shaun.
Shaun and I walk over to TJ and Phil who are standing next to a massive pile of weapons and a table that has boxes of ammunition on it.
TJ says, “We have tons of weapons now. The ammunition is okay for now, but that will be our problem. We have a lot of different guns which will require different bullet calibers.”
Phil says, “We have a lot of different guns and we will have to be smart about the guns and how we use them.”
I look at the weapons and see a variety of different weapons in the pile.
The pile is huge and consists of handguns, shotguns, rifles, knives, two crossbows, three compound bows, machetes, hatches, axes, and other smaller weapons.
Shaun picks up a rifle and says, “I want to try this bad boy out. This is a very expensive rifle. It’s something I always wanted to try. It’s a combination of a semi-automatic rifle with a precision sniper scope.”
“You look pretty happy with that thing bro. It’s yours.”
Shaun says, “Awesome! The scope looks to be high powered and I can see for miles with this thing. I’m going to check out the scope and capabilities of this gun on the roof.”
I look at Shaun and say, “Wait. Take this radio and let us know if you see anything we should worry about and any problems.”
Shaun takes the radio, clips the radio to his belt, and takes the rifle up to the roof.
“Like a kid on Christmas morning,” jokes Phil.
I look at Phil and TJ and ask, “Did you find any problems here? Anything we need to worry about?”
TJ replies, “I think we are good here for now. We need to secure the front obviously. The rear entrance is vulnerable right now also. We need to barricade the front and rear entrances, but overall the store looks good.”
“We are good for now, but we need to limit our power use for essential things only. The store is being run by several generators and they require gas. The less things being run on the generator the longer the generators will last.”
“Good thinking. Let’s prioritize power use. Move products in less freezers, use perishable items to prevent food waste.”
“Once we secure this place at the level that we feel comfortable with it, we need to get out and start taking down The Conqueror buildings, businesses, and strongholds. Joseph and Jacob are still out there. We can’t forget that.”
Fight 4 Us (Book 4): Conquered Page 4
