by Brian Grenda
I say goodbye to Janet, TJ, and Odin as they drive out of my driveway and towards the South entrance.
I’m about to go inside my house, when I hear an arrow hitting our hay bale targets near Shaun’s house.
SCHHWAFF!
An arrow flies straight into the red center bullseye of a hay bale.
“You are pretty deadly with that bow girl.”
Lauren turns around and says, “I’m getting pretty good, especially with this smaller compound bow. It’s better for my size and arms.”
“I’ve hit twenty,” says Lauren.
“Twenty shots are good sweetie.”
Lauren replies, “Bullseyes. I’ve hit the center bullseye twenty times in a row.”
“Impressive. We will have to get you on the lookout towers soon and taking out some zombies. I’m thinking about opening up the West entrance again.”
“For sure. I’ll have to work on hitting moving targets, even though a lot of the zombies are pretty slow,” says Lauren.
Lauren and I walk from the hay bales near Shaun’s yard to our house.
Lauren and I enter our house.
Milo is there to greet us. He’s usually there to greet us, as he’s curious to see who is coming in the front door.
“Hey belly man,” I say to Milo as I pet him on his head.
Lauren hangs her compound bow on a hook near the front door next to my katana that is on its vertical stand on the tile floor.
Several hours go by, and the sun is starting to set.
Lauren and I are picking some of the ripened crops in our backyard and tending to our garden.
I hear a vehicle park in Bobby G’s driveway.
A car door opens and then shuts.
I look at Lauren and say, “The guys are back.”
Lauren and I walk through our white privacy fence gate and over to Bobby G’s driveway.
Phil is standing at Bobby G’s SUV and unloading the supplies from the trunk.
“Where’s your SUV?” asks Phil.
“TJ and Janet went to the Big Club to hook up the solar panels and get some stuff for our trip to World of Trade. How’d the drugstore run go?”
Lauren and I help Phil unload the supplies, food, and gas containers that Phil has in the trunk of Bobby G’s SUV.
“I can’t believe you almost shot a woman bro,” says Shaun as he walks over to Phil from Matt’s driveway.
“What? You gotta explain this.”
Phil replies, “I didn’t know if she had a weapon or Kung-Fu skills or something. Always be ready bro.”
“Dude, she was like 100 pounds,” says Shaun.
“You didn’t know she was a woman until she turned around, and put her jacket hood down. You were just as shocked as I was when you found out the person was a girl,” says Phil.
Shaun looks at Lauren and me and says, “Ryan, the hooded person that you saw across the street looting houses. That’s a woman. Her name is Sam.”
Matt walks over and says, “We got tons of good stuff from the drugstores and auto parts stores around here.”
Matt hands me back the list and says, “We got everything on the list and then some.”
“Good job guys, but you have to explain this woman in the hood some more.”
“Did she kick your butt Phil?” jokes Lauren.
Phil replies, “No. She was scared. She was looking for medications for her sick sister. Her name is Sam, and I wanted to make sure she wasn’t a threat.”
“I know Phil. You did great. We are just busting your balls,” says Shaun.
“What did she say about her sister?”
Matt says, “Sam said her sister Jerri-Lynn is sick. She was getting medication for her sister in the pharmacy. Sam also said that nothing had been helping her sister.”
I am intrigued by what the guys tell me about this woman Sam and her sister.
“Did you guys try to help her or anything?”
Phil takes the last gas container out of Bobby G’s trunk and closes the trunk.
“She didn’t want our help. She said that she would find us if she needed our help, as she knew that we lived across the street from where she was looting houses, and you saved her from zombies a couple of weeks ago,” says Shaun.
I look at the supplies that the guys got on their run. They got tons of good stuff from the drugstores and auto parts stores.
“How did we do on gas?”
Shaun says, “I got all these gas containers filled and filled up the vehicles that we took on the trip.”
Phil tosses something to Matt and says, “Here Matt. You’ll need one of these to break car windows.”
Matt asks, “So this tool is how you broke the window so easily?”
Phil hands out the window breaking tool to Shaun, Lauren, and myself.
“I have a bunch of these tools. The auto parts store had a whole case of them in the backroom. Keep these tools on you when you leave this place. It might save your life one day,” says Phil.
The tool has a round brightly colored rubber handle with a hard metal point at one end and a knife hidden inside the rubber handle.
“DLifeSaver. That’s a great name. What’s this knife part for. It’s tucked inside the handle, almost like a letter opener.”
Phil says, “It’s to cut the seatbelt off. If you get trapped inside a vehicle, and the seatbelt won’t come unclipped, use the knife part to cut the seatbelt off.”
“I’m not done with our bet Phil. I bet I can still hotwire that car,” says Matt.
I look at Matt and Phil and laugh. It feels like old times. The guys are making bets, having fun competitions, joking around, and just enjoying each other’s company.
“That’s a good skill to learn. You’ll have to teach us how to properly hotwire a car Phil.”
“I will show you guys how to safely break into a car and hotwire it,” says Phil.
Lauren, the guys, and I divide up the supplies.
Everyone gets a good amount of the supplies, and the things that they needed.
Phil and Matt take some supplies into Matt’s house.
“Hey Phil, how are ya?” asks Kylie.
“Good, where do you want this stuff?” asks Phil.
Matt walks into the house and says, “Take your stuff in my room. I have the baby stuff for Nicole.”
Phil puts the bags of supplies in Matt’s room.
As Phil puts the bags down on the floor, something falls out of a bag and onto the floor.
Phil looks at the box on the floor and notices that it’s a pregnancy test.
Kylie sees the pregnancy test box on the floor and rushes to pick it up.
Phil grabs the box and hands it to Kylie.
Kylie says, “Thanks.”
Phil replies, “I hope the test has the right answer on it.”
Kylie smiles and says, “Me too.”
Nicole walks into Kylie’s room.
Kylie walks into the bathroom with the pregnancy test.
Nicole is holding Mason. She walks over to Phil and gives him a kiss.
“Hey Phil. How did the drugstore run go?” asks Nicole.
Phil replies, “Good. Everything went well.”
Nicole jokes, “I heard a 100-pound girl almost beat you up today.”
Before Phil can answer, Matt comes rushing into the room hysterically laughing.
Nicole says, “Sorry, Phil. Matt put me up to it.”
Phil rolls his eyes and smirks.
“I’m getting out of here. I have to shower, but I’ll be back over later tonight,” says Phil to Nicole.
Phil kisses Nicole.
“Gross. Get a room. Wait, don’t get a room. I don’t want to even think about that,” says Matt.
“Grow up Matt!” shouts Nicole.
Phil exits Matt’s house through the front door and walks over to my house.
Lauren and I are inside my house in the kitchen when Phil enters.
“Hey Phil.”
Phil says, “Hey guys. I
was thinking, do we have any leftover houses that aren’t being occupied?”
I have to think for a second, as I’m not sure if we filled all the homes in the neighborhood.
Lauren says, “I think Kim’s old house is still vacant.”
“Okay great. I’ll have to check it out tomorrow,” says Phil.
“You leaving us Phil?”
Phil replies, “I think it’s time to get my own place.”
I look at Lauren and joke, “Our boy is all grown up. He’s a man now, and he wants to leave the nest.”
Phil smirks, exits the kitchen, and enters his bathroom.
Phil washes his hands and face. He looks at himself in the mirror and takes a deep breath.
“Making a big move here Phil. Go big or go home,” says Phil to himself.
Phil comes out of his bedroom and grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“I’m very interested about hotwiring a car Phil. When can you show me how to do that?” asks Lauren.
“Tomorrow. I’ll show you how to hotwire one of the cars at the far end of the neighborhood that no one uses,” says Phil.
“So, what happened today during the run Phil?”
Phil replies, “Nothing crazy. Well, we saw this truck driving down the middle of the road blasting music. A large group of zombies was following the truck. The speakers were hooked to an intercom system. A man pointed at us, and said his name was Dre. It was funny, but also pretty genius.”
“That is a good idea. Did he look like a threat to you guys?”
“No, he actually looked like he was helping us. When we met Sam in the drugstore, she said she was part of a small group. She mentioned something about her friend Andre redirecting zombies,” says Phil.
“Dre is usually short for Andre. They could be a team. He redirects zombies as she loots and gets things.”
“Possibly. She seems like a quick and nimble scavenger. She also had a big owl patch on the back of her jacket and on her duffel bag,” says Phil.
“I wonder what that’s all about? I know owls mean a lot of things to people. Hopefully, Sam is someone we can trust, and her owl symbol doesn’t represent anything bad.”
Phil replies, “Only time will tell, I guess. I’m going to take a shower and head over to Nicole’s. I haven’t spent much time with the babies lately.”
“Okay, have fun Phil. Well, not too much fun.”
Phil walks into his bedroom and shuts his bedroom door.
Matt knocks on his bathroom door and asks, “Everything okay in their Kylie? You have been in there a long time.”
Kylie replies, “Yeah. Everything is okay. I’ll be right out.”
Kylie is staring at the pregnancy test stick that she just peed on.
Kylie is nervously looking at the pregnancy test results box and nothing is happening. She puts down the pregnancy test stick on the bathroom counter, grabs the pregnancy test box, and reads the directions on the box.
“Urinate on the stick for five seconds. Wait one to five minutes. Longest five minutes of my life. Come on test. Hurry up. Biggest test of my life here,” says Kylie.
Kylie puts the pregnancy test box back on the bathroom counter and grabs the pregnancy test stick. She looks at the results window box on the test stick and sees the results of the pregnancy test.
Kylie reads the results on the test and immediately starts to cry.
The bathroom door opens.
Kylie walks out.
Matt walks over to Kylie and sees that Kylie is crying.
“Is everything okay Kylie?” asks Matt.
Kylie nods her head yes and says, “Yeah. Everything is great.”
“Why are you crying?” asks Matt.
Kylie replies, “Because I’m happy, and I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER 11
WHAT WILL IT TAKE?
“Dude! You aren’t going to get it!” shouts Shaun.
Matt has been trying to hotwire a car in the back of our neighborhood for over 10 minutes now.
It’s mid-morning, and we just started our lesson with Phil on how to hotwire a car.
“You would be shit out of luck if zombies were on your ass.”
Matt exits the driver side seat and says, “It’s not easy bro. I keep struggling with what wires to connect.”
Phil has training in hotwiring cars.
Over his years as a police officer, and being around cars, Phil has come to know his way both inside and out of a car.
“You have your window breaking tools now. Those are a huge lifesaver. No pun intended. The best cars to hotwire, are the older cars. Cars from the 1990’s or older, as they usually have less theft deterrent wiring setup,” says Phil.
Matt asks, “Why can’t I get the ignition to start?”
“Because you suck Matt,” jokes Phil.
We all laugh at Phil’s joke.
“Like always bro. Just another thing you suck at,” I joke with Matt.
Matt punches me in the right kidney and says, “I bet you can’t do it.”
I turn to Matt and ask, “What’s the bet? What are you willing to lose? I already owe Shaun a punch in the ass from our Tennessee golfing trip bet.”
Shaun shouts, “We didn’t finish the round! The bet doesn’t count!”
Matt says, “I’m not going to lose, but I bet you my box of cookies. The expiration is still good on them.”
“Okay. I bet you my chocolate peanut butter cups.”
I shake Matt’s hand, and we agree on the bet.
“Quiet, Phil. Don’t give anymore pointers on how to hotwire this car. I just bet Ryan that he can’t hotwire the car,” says Matt.
I look at Matt and ask, “How long do I have?”
Matt says, “Let’s say, ten minutes.”
I stand outside of the car and wait for Matt to say go.
Matt says, “3,2,1, go.”
I jump into the car driver seat and check out the exposed bundles of wires, but I’m not sure what else to do now.
Matt shouts, “Glad I already started the process for ya!”
I tune Matt out and look down at the wires again. There are three groups of wires. Red, green, and black.
My blood is pumping through my veins, and my adrenaline is kicking in.
At times, I have to tell myself to relax and calm down. I have plenty of time, and it should only take a couple of seconds, once I get the correct wires together.
I trace the wires up into the wiring harness and think about which wires to pull out of the wiring connector.
Matt shouts, “Five minutes left! Can he do it?”
I’m running out of time and decide to connect the red and green wires.
I take a deep breath in, and let it out. I grab the wire harness connector with my left hand, and the red and green wires with my right hand.
The wire ends are exposed as I pull them out of the wiring harness and gently put them together.
“Three minutes and counting!” shouts Matt.
I feel the time ticking by and put the red and green wires together.
The red wire end touches the end of the green wire.
The dashboard lights up, and the car radio turns on.
I fully connect the wires together.
The engine starts up, and I rev the engine to make sure the engine stays on.
There is static playing on the car radio.
I hop out of the car and smile at Matt.
Phil disconnects the wires, and the engine turns off.
Everyone claps for me.
“Thank you, thank you. Now pay the bet Matt. I’ll be by later to pick out the cookies I want. None of those crappy thin mints. I gotta make sure you pay this bet. You still owe me twenty bucks from that football bet we made years ago.”
Phil says, “Very good Ryan. You did everything pretty good, but I would try to be faster next time.”
Lauren gives me a hug and says, “Good job honey.”
Matt puts out his hand and says, “Good job. You w
on.”
I shake Matt’s right hand and say, “Thank you. It wasn’t easy though. I can see why you were having trouble. The shows make it look so easy.”
Phil finishes the lesson with us, and we all complete the hotwiring of the car.
About two hours go by.
We all break up after the lesson and go to our homes.
Phil stops by Kim’s old house and sees that he will have to replace the front door, but that’s about it.
As Phil walks into the house, he remembers that day when he and Kim went to her house to get her belongings.
Phil looks at the coffee maker on the kitchen counter and starts laughing.
“What was she thinking? Trying to bring a coffee maker with her,” says Phil as he is laughing.
Phil walks into Kim’s backyard and stands at the fence post where he helped Kim get up on and over into Ray’s backyard.
Phil jumps up onto the fence and replicates what he did with Kim.
Phil hops down into Shaun’s backyard and exits through Shaun’s fence.
Lisa and Shaun see Phil hop the fence and then cut through their backyard.
Phil starts walking to my house, and Shaun yells at Phil from his garage.
“What are you doing Phil? Hopping over fences? Doing some parkour?” asks Shaun.
Phil laughs and says, “You need to cut your grass in your backyard.”
Phil enters my house.
Shaun shouts, “You need to cut your face!”
Lisa laughs and says, “Good one Shaun.”
Phil walks through the front door of my house and sees Lauren in the kitchen.
“How does the house look Phil?” asks Lauren.
Phil replies, “Good, just needs to be cleaned up a little bit, and a new front door.”
BEEP! BEEP!
A loud horn is heard in my driveway.
Phil goes out the front door and checks out who is beeping in my driveway.
I come out of my bedroom and ask, “Who’s beeping out there?”
Lauren replies, “I don’t know. Phil just went to check it out.”
Lauren and I walk outside, and we find TJ, Janet, and Odin standing in my driveway talking to Phil.
I walk over to my SUV and see that the SUV is loaded up with items.
“What did you bring back for World of Trade?”
Janet says, “We have everything that you will want to bring for World of Trade, and what we need to take with us for the helicopter trade.”
