Fight 4 Us (Book 4): Conquered

by Grenda, Brian

  “Which metal do we want to use for the door Matt?” asks Phil.

  Matt walks over to the guys and says, “I really don’t know. We should take it all. We can use the material for something, if not for the door.”

  “I guess we are taking it all,” says Phil.

  Shaun walks over and gets two flatbed carts that are designed to hold bigger objects like metal, wood, and doors.

  Phil and TJ start to load up the flatbed carts with large pieces of metal.

  Matt finds screws, bolts, hinges, and other materials that he needs to replace the door.

  Shaun says, “Matt come with me to get the vehicles. I want to drive them closer to this entrance over here.”

  Phil tosses the truck keys to Matt.

  Phil and TJ load up the other flatbed cart, while Matt and Shaun get the trucks.

  As Shaun and Matt walk toward the exit of the store, they see a lone zombie standing at the exit door.

  Shaun takes out his bat and runs straight at the zombie.

  Shaun runs to the left and swings his bat with his right hand.

  The zombie flies into the wall.

  His head is crushed from the bat strike.

  Matt manually opens the electronic door and places two cinder blocks to hold the door open.

  Shaun and Matt get into the trucks and drive them to the entrance they just came from.

  They place the back of the trucks towards the store entrance to make it easier to load the metal and wooden pieces into the truck.

  TJ and Phil push the flatbed carts towards the store entrance and the trucks.

  Shaun helps TJ and Phil load the supplies onto the trucks.

  Matt walks back into the store. He grabs the shopping cart and puts the flashlights into one cart. Matt takes the shopping cart back over to the zombie pile and grabs something from the floor.

  Matt picks up the chainsaw and smiles. He places the chainsaw into the cart and walks back towards the trucks while pushing the shopping cart back with him.

  “I can’t believe this all ours,” says Jamie to Chris as they are walking down the middle of the Big Club store.

  “Yup. It’s all ours, sweetie. We will live like a king and queen here,” says Chris.

  I hear Chris say that to Jamie as I walk past them in the store.

  I feel the need to put in safeguard measures around the store to help prevent Chris from running things poorly.

  Carlos is standing next to the pile of weapons, and I walk over to talk with him.

  I check to see if anyone else is around and the coast is clear.

  “We need to watch Chris and Jamie. I don’t have 100 percent faith in them with this store. They might start to act like dictators and keep everything in this store for themselves.”

  Carlos replies, “I will watch him and keep my eye on it. I need a lot of this stuff for my family and the people back home. I will come back the store every couple of days, maybe even set up a room here for myself and my family.”

  “I trust you Carlos. I want you to be part owner of this and taking care of this place. I will tell Chris that you are in charge as well, not just him.”

  “Thank you, Ryan. I won’t let you down,” says Carlos.

  Chris starts walking over towards Carlos and I, after we finish talking. He might have felt that we were talking about him.

  “What’s going on Ryan?” asks Chris.

  “Just talking with Carlos about the store and checking out our weapon reserve.”

  Chris picks up a machine gun and says, “This is awesome. I think I’ll keep this one for myself.”

  Chris is holding the machine gun at Carlos and myself as he talks with us.

  “Move the machine gun away from us Chris. That’s dangerous.”

  Chris looks down at the gun, but keeps the gun pointed on us. He hesitates for a second, but then points it away from us.

  “Sorry about that. Guess I was excited about holding a machine gun,” says Chris.

  “Just be careful with it.”

  Chris jokes, “Okay mom. I will.”

  The joke pisses me off and I have to control myself as I feel the need to yell at Chris and smack him in the face.

  I look at Chris and say, “Carlos is going to help out around here and be in charge with you.”

  Chris says, “No problem. He can fix up the door and any repairs around here.”

  “He will do that, but he will also be in charge of the day to day stuff and keep an eye on this place.”

  Chris starts to show some anger. He clenches his left fist and shows an angry expression on his face.

  Chris starts to respond, and I can see that he isn’t happy with what I just said.

  “You okay with that Chris?”

  Chris looks at Carlos and says, “Yeah. Carlos and I are good friends. We can do it together.”

  The tone of Chris’ response is one of displeasure and disagreement, but his words are what you want to here.

  “Good. This place is huge and will need all the help we can provide to keep it running smoothly.”

  BEEP! BEEP!

  A truck horn is heard at the front of the store.

  Carlos and I run to the front to see what the beeping is all about.

  Chris grabs a shopping cart and starts to load up a lot of the weapons in it.

  Jamie comes over to Chris and asks, “What are you doing Chris?”

  Chris puts the last gun in the cart and says, “I’m providing a little insurance for us. Put this cart of guns in our new room here.”

  Jamie says, “Okay I will, but is everything okay?”

  Chris looks at Carlos and me at the front of the store and says, “It will be Jamie. Everything will be okay.”

  BOOM!

  A huge piece of metal hits the street near the store entrance.

  “That piece is huge. It’s too big for the store entrance now.”

  Matt replies, “We can cut it for the door, or use that piece of metal for something else. We got tons of different pieces to choose from.”

  Carlos and I help TJ, Shaun, Matt, and Phil unload the metal pieces from the trucks and place next to the wall near the front entrance.

  Phil says, “We cleared out another hardware store. It was taken over by The Conquerors, but zombies took it from them.”

  “It’s all clear now. No zombies or Conquerors?”

  TJ says, “There may be a couple zombies left, but can’t be many. It’s hard to see in the store though.”

  Carlos says, “I think we use two pieces of metal with a metal support in the middle. We will be able to control both doors and can keep one door closed while the other one is open if we want.”

  Matt replies, “That’s a good idea. I like the idea of having two openings that we can control rather one big opening.”

  “Do you guys have everything we need for this?”

  Carlos and Matt say, “Yes. We will have this door up in a couple of hours.”

  Carlos looks at Matt and says, “Let’s get my tools we brought from my house, and we can start cutting this metal to size.”

  Matt and Carlos leave us and go get the tools that are necessary to build the metal doors.

  Phil, TJ, and Shaun walk over to me and want to know what the next step is.

  “What do we do now?” says Phil.

  “We need to check out the buildings around here. Be smart, safe, and tactical with it though.”

  TJ says, “Phil, Shaun, and I can do it. Too big of a group draws attention. Unnecessary attention. A three-man team is all we need.”

  Shaun says, “I think we have to eventually check out that building I saw from the rooftop. It could be another Conqueror stronghold.”

  “We will Shaun, but let’s check out the surrounding buildings first and after we do that then we can see what that building is all about.”

  Phil asks, “What did you find out about Chris?”

  “He is definitely up to something. I don’t trust him, but I will have Carl
os in charge as well when Chris is here. We need to take a lot of the weapons and have our own way to get in and out of this store.”

  I look at Chris and see that he is staring at me and the guys from a distance.

  I look at Chris and shout, “Everything okay Chris?”

  Chris replies, “Yeah boss. We are all good, just checking things out.”

  The guys and I break away from our huddle, and I can’t help but to feel nervous about Chris being in control.

  I’m stuck with what I can do right now with who runs the store.

  Only time will tell how bad of a decision it was to have Chris run the Big Club.

  CHAPTER 7

  ALL CLEAR

  BOOM!

  The front door of a house is kicked in by TJ.

  “Clear!” shouts Phil.

  Shaun runs up the stairs.

  “All clear. Second floor is clear,” shouts Shaun.

  TJ, Shaun, Odin, and Phil are clearing out the last house of a neighborhood. The guys have been clearing out buildings, businesses, and homes for the past month.

  Over the course of the month, they have found tons of quality supplies, weapons, and food.

  They also have had to take out several groups of people. With the police and military tactics employed by the Phil and TJ, the guys and Odin have been unharmed during their missions so far.

  Shaun and Phil sit down on the back patio off the house they just cleared and relax for a second.

  “How much you think a home like this goes for?” asks Shaun.

  “Probably 400 thousand,” says Phil.

  “I wish I didn’t waste all that money on a house mortgage back in North Carolina. It’s all gone now. Nothing to show for it,” says Shaun.

  Phil replies, “No way to know this was going to happen bro. A home with a wife and kids is the American dream. You had 2/3rds of that. You and Lisa going to get that last 1/3rd of the dream and have a kid?”

  “I don’t know man. It was something we talked about before all this crap went down. I would like to have a little son. Name him Doug. I would like to keep my family name going also,” says Shaun.

  TJ and Odin enter the back patio.

  “Does that still happen now. Family names, history, and lineage. Who is keeping record of things? Will we have records before and after this zombie apocalypse?” asks TJ.

  “What about you TJ? You got a lady in your life?” asks Shaun.

  TJ looks at the overgrown unmanicured palm tree in the backyard and says, “Not right now, I had my eye on a couple ladies, but they were taken.”

  TJ looks at Phil and smiles.

  Shaun notices the look and isn’t sure what to make of that statement.

  Phil says, “Yeah. I guess it’s slim pickens right now for desirable ladies in the world. No more online dating or meeting people out and about.”

  Shaun looks over at Phil and asks, “When you going to make a move on Nicole, Phil?”

  “Her husband just died bro. I’m being respectful of that,” says Phil.

  Shaun takes a drink from his water bottle and says, “Well, I wouldn’t wait too long. You never know when it’s too late. The world isn’t a place to wait on things now.”

  Phil has always been a cautious guy. I have known him since elementary school, and he has always been overly cautious with woman.

  TJ jokes, “You need to hurry up with her Phil. If not, someone might swoop in and take your spot.”

  Phil gets annoyed by that statement and stands up from the table.

  “Watch it TJ! You don’t know the history between Nicole and I!” shouts Phil.

  “History? What history?” asks Shaun.

  “I was just joking Phil. I know you care for Nicole. I would never try anything with her,” says TJ.

  Phil calms down and says, “I’m sorry TJ. Nicole is just a sensitive subject with me. We went out on a couple dates years ago, and I have always regretted not making it work between us.”

  “I didn’t know man. I apologize,” says TJ.

  Phil replies, “I know. It’s cool. Locker room joking around here. Nicole just means a lot to me, and she is a touchy subject.”

  Shaun says, “That’s what I’m saying bro. You have your chance now. You are back together in this world for a reason. Don’t lose this second chance.”

  After this talk with Shaun and TJ, Phil realizes that he needs to talk with Nicole and see what happens between them. Life is too short not to take chances.

  Phil says, “Enough of this relationship talk. What are we at the nail salon? Let’s get these supplies back home and see what’s going on.”

  The guys and Odin get back to their vehicles and load up the supplies they found from the house.

  Shaun says, “I want to check out the building that I saw from the rooftop of the Big Club. It has to be very close to here.”

  TJ says, “Let’s do a drive by first, before we just stop and check it out.”

  “Sounds good. You lead the way Shaun,” says Phil.

  The guys loud up their vehicles and drive to the entrance of the neighborhood they just cleared.

  Shaun gets to the entrance of the neighborhood and stops. He gets out of his jeep and walks over to the main entrance sign.

  The sign reads, “Argyle Estates,”

  Shaun uncaps a can of white spray paint and paints over The Conqueror symbol that was on the entrance sign.

  Shaun whites out the symbol and says, “Another one down, about one million to go.”

  Two zombies come around the corner of the entrance gate.

  The gate was left open and the two zombies walk right into the neighborhood.

  Shaun sees the zombies walking towards him and he gets into his jeep.

  The zombies start to walk towards Shaun’s jeep.

  Shaun hits the gas pedal and pulverizes the zombies as he drives through them and through the neighborhood entrance.

  Shaun leads the way as TJ, Odin, and Phil follow behind Shaun in TJ’s jeep.

  TJ looks over at Phil and says, “I’m sorry if I made you mad about my comments with Nicole.”

  Phil replies, “It’s okay. It’s just a sensitive subject. I apologize for getting mad about it.”

  “There is actually a woman that I am interested in,” says TJ.

  “Why aren’t you with her?” asks Phil.

  TJ replies, “It’s complicated.”

  Phil laughs and says, “It’s always complicated when it comes to woman. That is nothing new.”

  Shaun makes a right turn down the street and says over the radio, “The building is coming up on our left.”

  Shaun and TJ drive down the street and see this massive set of buildings, a big parking lot, a football field, and a baseball field.

  “This is Tampa high school Shaun,” says TJ over the radio.

  “Should I stop or keep driving?” asks Shaun.

  “Keep driving, but slowly to see if we see anything or anyone,” says TJ.

  Just as Shaun starts to slow down, he sees two people walking inside the gates of the high school.

  “I just saw two people,” says Shaun over the radio as he pulls into the high school parking lot.

  “Damn it. We can’t just show up like this,” says TJ.

  Shaun pulls up the gate and stops.

  TJ drives behind Shaun and stops.

  Shaun opens his driver side door, picks up the radio and is about to talk when suddenly a loud bang is heard.

  BANG!

  Shaun’s back passenger side window is shot out.

  Shaun drops down next to his driver side tire and says, “TJ, Phil. You have to cover me.”

  TJ and Phil look to see where the shot came from before they exit TJ’s jeep. They don’t see anyone and exit TJ’s jeep.

  “Stop right their assholes! Don’t move!” shouts a man from inside the school.

  Shaun replies, “We come in peace, but you owe me a back window now.”

  A woman shouts, “We don’t want any t
rouble! Get out of here. We don’t belong to Joseph anymore!”

  Shaun hears the word Joseph and says, “We aren’t with Joseph or The Conquerors. We hate them too.”

  TJ shouts, “We are fighting The Conquerors. We just want to talk. I have a dog with me, and he will attack unless it’s safe for us to talk.”

  Silence.

  “We mean no harm, we are just seeing what this school is all about,” says Phil.

  TJ is about to open the back-driver side door to let Odin out, when a group of ten people surround Shaun, TJ, and Phil.

  “Drop your weapons and put your hands up!” shouts one of the men.

  The guys put their handguns, knives, and radios on the ground and then put their hands above their head.

  Shaun says, “We took Joseph and a lot of The Conquerors.”

  A woman interrupts Shaun and shouts, “I told you to shut up.”

  “You can say whatever you want to say right now. We don’t believe you or trust you,” says one of the men.

  TJ says, “We use to be cops. We are good people.”

  One of the men walks right over to TJ and says, “Use to be, don’t mean shit to me. Who you are now matters to me. Good people can turn bad really quick.”

  TJ replies, “You are right. We will show you that we are good people. Honest people. Trust worthy people.”

  “What is going on out here?” asks a tall Asian American man with long black straight hair who walks through the gates of the school over to the guys.

  “These three men came speeding into the parking lot and stopped, my leader,” says one of the men.

  “Thank you, Kevin,” says the man who just entered from the gate.

  The man looks at Shaun, TJ, and Phil and says, “I am William. This is our home. What do you gentlemen want?”

  Odin starts barking and trying to exit TJ’s jeep.

  William walks over to the window to look at Odin.

  Odin starts snarling, barking, and trying to break out of the jeep.

  “Is your dog friendly? Or does he pose a threat to us?” asks William.

  TJ replies, “He is both actually. Odin is a police K-9 dog. He listens to me and to us on what to do and who to attack.”

  “Let’s have a trust exercise. I want you to take Odin out of the jeep and have him sit without attacking any of us,” says William.