“You heard me!” shouts Rich as he stares at Colonel Meyers.
Major Hoffmann and his men come between Rich and Colonel Meyers.
“We don’t have a problem, Rich. It was just a misunderstanding,” says Major Hoffmann.
Rich looks at Major Hoffmann and sees that he is trying to calm the situation down.
“Okay, good. Let’s move along from this. We need to work together. Without us working together, we have no shot at rebuilding the world,” says Rich.
Rich shouts, “Show them to their barracks! Major Hoffmann stay with me!”
Colonel Meyers and his men leave the hanger.
Commander Pine comes over to Rich and asks, “Are you available to meet later today?”
Rich looks at Commander Pine and replies, “Yeah, I’ll be here all day.”
Commander Pine says, “Great, I’ll see you later. I want to go over the stages for the new project. I’ll come by your office later today.”
Lieutenant General Swartz comes over to Rich and says, “I would like to meet with you tomorrow morning. General Godfrey gave me special instructions over the phone when we were in your office.”
“Yes sir, lieutenant general. I will be available to meet anytime after 0800,” says Rich.
Commander Pine and Lieutenant General Swartz exit the hanger.
Major Hoffmann stays with Rich.
Rich looks at Major Hoffmann and says, “I don’t know about Colonel Meyers, but I think you are okay Major Hoffmann.”
Major Hoffmann replies, “Thank you sir, but call me Luke.”
“Well, Luke. I need you to help me around here with blending my staff with your group. We need to mesh the groups together and help clean up Tampa Bay,” says Rich.
Luke says, “I like that. My men and women are good people. I handpicked them myself. I love Tampa Bay. I have family around here. I’m eager to see them. How is St. Pete?”
Rich replies, “I haven’t heard good things about St. Pete. It’s a bad spot around Tampa Bay. We have had teams report that St. Pete is in rough shape. Especially downtown.”
Luke replies, “That’s okay. My team and I can handle it. We have been in some bad places before. We’ll make sure we are ready for the worst of the worst.”
“You be careful around here. Parts of Tampa Bay are in good shape, but not all of Tampa Bay is safe,” says Rich.
Luke says, “Thank you sir, my team and I will be careful. You can trust us. I wouldn’t put your faith in Colonel Meyers and his team, but you can count on us.”
Rich and Luke exchange a handshake.
Luke and his group exit the hanger.
Ramano walks over to Rich.
“How are the new arrivals? They look like a big pain in the ass,” says Ramano to Rich.
“What happened here with the soldiers?” asks Rich to Ramano.
“They are a bunch of wild men. They didn’t want to get checked in and started getting physical for no reason. The Marines were causing the trouble. I don’t like a lot of those Marines, they were being insubordinate. Everyone else was good and got checked in without a problem,” says Ramano.
Rich walks closer to the C-130 plane back hatch and investigates the plane.
Ramano says, “They have tons of people, supplies, medical equipment, weapons, vehicles, and several containers that were making noises and sounded like zombies.”
“Make sure you stay away from them for a while, especially the crates and containers. They might have some dangerous cargo in them,” says Rich.
“Sure thing, Captain Bailey,” says Ramano.
Rich says, “Thank you for your help and information Ramano.”
Rich exits the hanger and goes back into his office.
Rich pours himself another glass of scotch as he sits at his desk with the WEAPONIZE folder open.
Rich drinks the scotch, puts down the glass, and looks at a picture that is sitting on his desk.
Rich picks up the picture and smiles.
“I hope you two are okay,” says Rich as he looks at the picture.
Rich puts the picture back down on his desk.
The picture is of Rich, TJ, and Alice.
CHAPTER 4
TALLAHASSEE
Two vehicle doors close.
A cool breeze blows some trash in the street.
“I think this is her apartment here,” says TJ.
Odin and Janet follow TJ up some steps and stop.
“This place looks to be deserted TJ,” says Janet.
“There were cars in the parking spaces and some signs that people may be living here,” says TJ as he steps towards apartment number eleven.
The apartment door to unit eleven is open slightly.
TJ clicks on a flashlight with his left thumb and holds it under his handgun that is in his right hand.
Janet takes out her handgun and flashlight also.
TJ slowly slides open the front door to apartment number eleven.
The door makes an eerie creaking sound as it opens all the way.
TJ enters apartment number eleven.
Odin runs into the apartment.
Janet whispers, “Odin, get back here.”
TJ enters the living room.
Janet enters the kitchen.
“Clear,” says Janet.
“I’m going to check the bedroom,” says TJ.
Janet replies, “I’ll check the other bedroom.”
Odin barks from inside a bedroom.
TJ walks into the bedroom and hears a noise coming from the bathroom.
Odin barks at the closed bathroom door.
TJ runs into the bathroom.
TJ shouts, “Odin out!”
Odin barks at TJ but doesn’t leave TJ’s side.
TJ fires his handgun.
BANG!
Janet runs into the bathroom and sees TJ.
“Everything okay?” asks Janet.
TJ looks at Janet and says, “Yeah. It was a raccoon.”
“Don’t eat it Odin!” shouts Janet.
Odin looks at Janet and whimpers.
“I know you’re hungry. We will get your food out of the jeep soon,” says TJ.
TJ, Janet, and Odin exit the bathroom and enter the bedroom.
“I didn’t think she would be here. Her car wasn’t parked outside, but I had to try,” says TJ.
Janet says, “Yeah. It’s better to know that she wasn’t here. At least she made it out alive.”
TJ looks at a picture frame that is on the ground.
TJ picks up the picture frame, shakes off the broken glass, and looks at the picture.
“I guess you were right,” says TJ to Janet as he looks at the picture.
Janet walks over to TJ and looks at the picture.
“Your sister is cute. The guy she is with looks okay,” says Janet.
TJ hears a noise come from across the hall.
TJ runs out of the apartment and into the hallway.
A loud crash is heard from inside the apartment that is across from number eleven.
TJ bangs on the apartment door.
BANG! BANG!
“Hello? Is anyone in there?” asks TJ.
Silence. It’s quiet inside the apartment and hallway.
“We mean no harm, we are just looking for my sister who lives across the hall in apartment eleven!” shouts TJ.
Janet and Odin walk over to TJ in the hallway.
TJ looks at the closed apartment door.
“Please! I’m looking for my sister Alice!” shouts TJ.
“You must be TJ!” shouts a woman from inside the apartment that TJ is standing in front of.
“Yes! I’m her brother TJ!” shouts TJ.
“She isn’t here, she left with Al a couple days ago,” says the woman in the apartment.
“Are you okay in there?” shouts Janet.
“Yeah, we are okay!” shouts the woman.
“Can you please open the door?” asks Janet.
“I can, but I’m
not going to. The troops already took everything we have,” says the woman.
“Thank you for your time and information!” shouts TJ.
“Thank you, good luck finding Alice. She was my friend,” says the woman.
TJ walks back into Alice’s apartment and takes one final look around.
Janet says, “I’m going to get Odin’s food from the jeep. He hasn’t eaten since we left Gainesville.”
Odin and Janet walk down to TJ’s jeep.
TJ looks around Alice’s apartment.
Alice’s apartment is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, second floor apartment. It’s a nice college apartment that was well taken care of before the world fell apart.
TJ walks into Alice’s bedroom and examines the closet, floor, drawers, and bed.
Janet walks back into the apartment with Odin.
Janet fills up Odin’s food bowl with his food and another bowl with some water.
Odin starts eating the food and drinking some water.
“Good boy,” says Janet.
Janet walks into Alice’s bedroom.
TJ looks at Janet and says, “She definitely got out of here. Her suitcases are gone, her pillows, her clothes, and even her toothbrush.”
“See, she is smart and got out alive,” says Janet.
TJ replies, “I hope you are right.”
TJ hands Janet the picture he found of Alice and Al and asks, “What nationality do you think Al is?”
Janet says, “He looks Spanish or Native American.”
“I was thinking Native American, but not sure,” says TJ.
“Why does that matter?” asks Janet.
“Just thinking where she might have gone with Al,” says TJ.
“Oh,” says Janet.
“I’m not racist, my parents taught us to see people for who they really are and not what skin color they have,” says TJ.
“I agree, I’m not racist at all. It doesn’t matter anymore anyway. It’s the living versus the dead,” says Janet.
“It matters to some people. Racism, sexism, discrimination, and prejudice are ingrained in some people. I used to see it a lot in the military and on the streets,” says TJ.
“What do we do next?” asks Janet.
“We get back home to Tampa. We tried and made our trip out here. We need to get back,” says TJ.
Odin finishes the food and water in the bowls.
TJ exits Alice’s apartment and walks across the hall again.
TJ looks at the apartment door where he talked with the woman before.
TJ shouts, “Hey! Sorry to bother you again, but can you answer one more question?”
Silence. No one responds to TJ’s question.
Janet walks over to TJ with Odin.
“Where did Alice and Al go? Where did they say they were going?” shouts TJ as he looks at the closed apartment door.
Silence. No one responds to TJ’s questions.
TJ waits a second for a response from the woman inside the apartment.
TJ bangs on the apartment door.
BANG! BANG!
“Please answer me!” shouts TJ.
“Go away asshole! We already told you about Alice!” shouts a man.
TJ immediately gets pissed.
TJ looks at Janet.
Janet looks at TJ and asks, “Who the fuck is that?”
Janet shouts, “Where is the woman?”
The man shouts, “She is busy right now! Fuck off!”
TJ walks away from the apartment door and down to his jeep.
Janet and Odin follow him.
Janet puts Odin’s bowls and bag of food in the jeep.
TJ grabs his shotgun from his jeep.
“What are you going to do?” asks Janet to TJ.
“I’m getting answers. Something isn’t right in that apartment,” says TJ.
Janet grabs her rifle from TJ’s jeep and asks, “How are we doing this?”
“I’m going to take out the door, you keep Odin back and stay hidden. I’m not sure if they have guns or what in there,” says TJ.
TJ pumps his shotgun and says, “I’m getting answers.”
TJ, Janet, and Odin walk back to the apartment door.
TJ bangs on the door and shouts, “Open the door!”
A man from inside the apartment shouts, “Screw You! Leave us alone!”
TJ looks at Janet and signals her to take cover.
TJ shouts, “Last chance!”
Silence. No one inside the apartment responds to TJ.
TJ shoots two rounds from his shotgun at the hinges of the apartment door.
BOOM!
BOOM!
TJ kicks the apartment door into the apartment living room and takes cover against the exterior apartment wall.
“What the hell!” shouts a man from inside the apartment.
TJ peeks into the apartment and sees a military soldier standing in the living room.
TJ points his shotgun at the man and shouts, “Freeze! Put your hands up!”
The man freezes and puts his hands above his head.
TJ notices that the man has a handgun in his right hand.
“Drop the gun!” shouts TJ.
The man slowly puts his gun on the kitchen countertop and puts his hands above his head again.
TJ steps into the apartment.
Janet looks into the apartment and points her rifle at the man standing with his hands above his head.
“Where is the girl?” shouts Janet.
The man asks, “What girl?”
TJ shouts, “Odin! Here!”
Odin runs over to TJ.
TJ shouts, “The living room is clear, but the bedroom doors are closed!”
Janet says, “She must be in a bedroom.”
TJ has his shotgun pointed at the man.
TJ shouts, “Who else is in here? Who are in the bedrooms?”
The man replies, “It’s just me in here.”
TJ knows the man is lying.
TJ shouts, “Odin!”
Odin looks at TJ.
TJ looks at the man and says, “Tell me who is in the room or Odin here will bite your dick off.”
The man starts to show signs of fear as he looks at Odin.
“Come on man. Don’t do this,” says the man.
“One simple command and bye bye dick,” says TJ.
Odin barks at the man.
The man says, “Okay. Okay. There are two soldiers and some girls in the rooms.”
“Thank you,” says TJ.
Janet walks behind TJ and points her red laser sight on the soldiers’ groin.
Janet shouts, “Bite!”
Odin latches onto the man’s genitalia.
The man screams in pain.
Suddenly, two soldiers come from inside the bedrooms.
BANG!
BANG!
The soldiers shoot at TJ and Janet.
Janet fires a rifle shot and hits one of the soldiers in the head.
PKOW!
TJ dives out of the way.
Odin is still latched onto the soldier’s groin.
“Shoot the damn dog!” shouts the man that is being bit by Odin.
The soldier shoots the man in the head and the man falls to the ground.
Odin releases his bite and looks at the approaching gunman.
The gunman takes aim at Odin.
PKOW!
A bullet flies into the head of the gunman and he falls to the floor.
Odin latches onto the gunman’s left arm and bites down on it.
TJ and Janet search the apartment and there are no more gunmen in the apartment.
Janet and TJ find three women.
The women are scared, beaten, and bruised.
Janet and TJ talk to the women.
Janet says, “We aren’t going to hurt you. You are safe now.”
The women start to cry but they are thankful that TJ and Janet saved them.
“What happened here? Who were we talking to before?”
asks TJ.
“Me. They told me to talk to you, but not to let you in,” says a brunette woman.
“Do you actually know my sister?” asks TJ.
“Yes, Alice and I were close. I’m just glad she got away from here before the troops came in,” says the woman.
Janet looks at the soldiers and sees that they are U.S. soldiers.
“What happened here?” asks Janet.
“The military came in and just started taking over. They cleared out most of the dead around here, but also started looting homes, buildings, and business,” says the woman.
“Why are you still here? You didn’t try to leave? Where are your families?” asks TJ.
Two of the women start to cry again.
“We tried to leave, but these soldiers kept us here. They tied us up and wouldn’t let us leave,” says the woman.
Janet asks, “Did they?”
One of the women replies, “Yes, repeatedly. They were terrible people.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You are safe now,” says Janet.
“I’m sorry about your door,” says TJ.
Before the women can reply, a loud commotion is heard down the street from the apartment complex.
One of the women shouts, “It’s them, it has to be them!”
“Shhhhh, quiet,” says the woman who is sitting next to the woman on the sofa that just screamed.
“What are your names?” asks Janet.
“I’m Destiny, this is Kara, and that is Jill,” says Destiny as she points to Kara and Jill.
Janet replies, “I’m Janet and that’s TJ.”
Odin barks.
“And that’s Odin,” says Janet.
“We are getting out of here,” says Janet.
TJ asks, “Where do you think my sister went?”
Destiny replies, “I think to a Seminole Indian reservation with Al.”
“Do you know where?” asks TJ.
“Tampa,” says Destiny.
Kara and Jill stand up from the sofa.
Jill says, “We need to leave Destiny. We are free from this torture. You all can come with me to Alabama. My family lives close to the border.”
Loud voices are heard in the apartment complex parking lot.
“We need to get going TJ,” says Janet.
TJ is worried about Destiny, Kara, and Jill.
Destiny says, “Thank you TJ, Janet, and Odin. You should get going. We will be okay. We have a car in the parking lot. We will leave for Alabama today.”
TJ says, “Good. Get out of this apartment. Go over to Alice’s and lock the door. Don’t make a sound and hide.”
Fight 4 Us (Book 7): Weaponize Page 4
