Felix looks at Jeremy with a shocked face and says, “Oh man. Bruce isn’t coming. There is no way that your dad will just let Bruce and us go alone.”
Suddenly, the door swings open and Bruce walks over to Jeremy, Felix, Ricky, and James.
Bruce is alone as he walks towards Jeremy.
Felix says, “I guess I was wrong. I can’t believe your dad is okay with this.”
Bruce walks over to Jeremy and asks, “You guys ready?”
Jeremy smiles and says, “Yes sir. We are ready.”
Bruce asks, “You sure you want to do this with only us five?”
Jeremy asks, “Who else ya got?”
Bruce whistles.
Suddenly, a group of ten Warriors and William come walking towards Bruce and Jeremy.
Jeremy shakes his head and gets a look of displeasure on his face.
“What the hell Bruce?” asks Jeremy.
William shouts, “You can’t do this alone! I won’t allow it!”
“What else is new,” says Jeremy.
William doesn’t like the tone and disobedience of Jeremy.
William walks right up to Jeremy’s face and shouts, “Jeremiah! You aren’t doing this alone! Stop trying to prove yourself! We work together, there is nothing wrong with working as a team!”
Felix says, “Your dad is right Jeremy. It’s better this way.”
“Gregory and Tanner told us about Dolan and his group. Dolan has a large group. They don’t have many guns, but they have a lot of people. Bruce and I have a plan on how to deal with Dolan,” says William.
William and Bruce go over the plan with Jeremy, Felix, James, Ricky, and the rest of the group that will be going on this trip.
William takes a group of Warriors and Bruce takes Jeremy, James, Ricky, Felix, and another group of Warriors.
William and his group get into a truck and exit The Haven parking lot.
Bruce and his group get into another truck and they follow behind William.
Bruce is driving the truck, while Jeremy sits in the passenger seat.
“Your father is just looking out for us. Not only you, Jeremy. Your father is very smart, he has been through a lot in his life. Things he doesn’t really want to talk about,” says Bruce.
James and Felix are intrigued as they sit in the backseat of the truck.
Jeremy says, “I know. I heard part of the story about how my dad was part of a group back in China while my mom was pregnant. He left China for America and how it was tough to leave.”
Bruce says, “You don’t know the half of it Jeremy. You father made some great sacrifices for you and your mother. He could have died for what he did. You just don’t leave the group he was a member of.”
William pulls up to an entrance of a gated community.
Bruce stops his truck behind William’s truck.
William picks up a walkie-talkie and says, “Bruce, this is the neighborhood. Dolan should be living in house number 35. I want to do a drive by first and see if anyone is up this early.”
Bruce replies through the walkie-talkie, “Okay. Let’s do a drive by and check things out before we just go into Dolan’s house. It’s still early morning. I doubt these teenagers will be up this early.”
William drives through the partially opened main entrance of the neighborhood.
Bruce slowly follows behind William’s truck.
The large neighborhood is made up of very expensive two-story homes.
Jeremy looks at the homes and says, “I guess these guys are living large in the zombie apocalypse.”
William and Bruce slowly drive through the neighborhood and don’t see anyone outside.
The streets are somewhat clear, but they have trash, debris, and tons of alcohol bottles everywhere.
William sees house number 35 on his right and stops.
House number 35 is a huge two-story mansion that is set back from the street. The property has a very secure and solid thick brick wall that surrounds it. The house has two long driveways that can hold a lot of vehicles.
William examines house number 35, the open gate, the two driveways, the property, and the brick wall. William sees tons of sports cars and vehicles in the driveway but no one outside of the house.
William drives away from the house and Bruce follows.
Bruce and William drive down a street and turn around in a cul-de-sac.
William checks to see if anyone is around.
Bruce and William park their trucks in the cul-de-sac.
The neighborhood is safe and quiet.
William exits his truck and so does Bruce.
William and Bruce gather everyone together and decide what the next step is.
“This place is silent. Let’s keep it that way. Stealth is our best option. House number 35 is where we need to go. Greg and Tanner said that Dolan lives there with most of his group,” says William.
Bruce says, “William and I will lead our groups into the house. Make sure you have your weapons ready. These people could attack us. Let’s stay hidden and take cover if necessary.”
William says, “I saw the gate to Dolan’s house is open. They probably don’t have power in the house, so it could be somewhat dark inside. Be careful and quiet. We want to talk with Dolan and his people first. We do not want to kill these kids.”
Jeremy looks at William.
“Let’s gear up and get ready to go to Dolan’s house. We will leave in five minutes,” says William.
William walks over to Jeremy and says, “Jeremiah, you need to calm down. We are handling this situation. We can’t just go in and kill these kids. There might be good people in the house.”
Jeremy looks at William and says, “You are right father. I’m just pissed that this group disrespected our home and our people.”
“Better get used to it son. Hate, disrespect, and violence isn’t going away any time soon. This new world is full of it,” says William.
Five minutes goes by and William gets his team together.
Bruce gets his team together and drives to the large metal gate at the front entrance of Dolan’s house.
Jeremy slowly pushes open the entrance gate and runs back to Bruce’s truck.
William drives through the entrance of Dolan’s house.
There are sports cars and several vehicles blocking the driveway as William drives towards the house.
William needs to drive on the overgrown front yard to get to the front door of the house.
Bruce drives his truck behind William.
William and Bruce position their trucks toward the exit driveway of the house, in case they need to leave in a hurry.
William says into the walkie-talkie, “We are in position. We are going in the front. Bruce’s team goes through the back. Keep quiet everyone.”
William and his team exit from his truck.
Bruce, Jeremy, Ricky, Felix, James, and the rest of the Warriors exit from Bruce’s truck.
Bruce and his team run around the house and to the backyard.
William walks towards the front door and sees that one of the garage doors is open.
William points to the open garage door and he leads his group into the open garage.
Bruce leads his team into the backyard and back patio.
The swimming pool is green and stinks. Without the pool pump working and no chlorine in the pool, the pool will turn green and full of algae.
Bruce opens the screen door near the pool, and he walks towards the large back patio of the house.
Jeremy holds the screen door open, and the team follows Bruce.
Bruce sees a sliding glass door is slightly open, and he walks towards it.
Bruce clicks his walkie-talkie call button one time to signal William that he’s inside the house.
William hears the beep from Bruce as he is about to open a door that leads from inside the garage into the house.
William clicks his walkie-talkie call button.
Bruce hears the beep and st
ops.
William walks into the house through the garage and stops.
The house is quiet.
Bruce walks into the living room and sees a group of teenagers sleeping on a large sofa and the floor.
Bruce and his team walk into the kitchen.
William and his team make it to the kitchen also.
William points to the second floor.
Bruce whispers, “We will go upstairs. You cover us down here.”
William nods his head yes.
Bruce, James, Ricky, Jeremy, Felix, and two other Warriors exit the kitchen and walk towards the front foyer.
There are two large staircases that lead up to the second floor.
Bruce, James, Ricky, and Felix go up one staircase, while Jeremy and two other Warriors go up the other staircase.
Bruce and Jeremy meet at the top of the staircase on the second floor.
Bruce whispers, “We need to clear these bedrooms and find Dolan.”
Jeremy nods his head in agreement.
William whispers to his team, “Let’s clear the downstairs. Keep quiet.”
William and his team walk through the first floor and clear each room. The living room is the only room on the first floor that has people in it.
William directs two armed Warriors to keep an eye on the living room.
Bruce and Felix clear two rooms on the second floor.
James, Ricky, and two Warriors find two bedrooms full of people.
Ricky, James, and the two Warriors keep an eye on the people in the two bedrooms, but they do not wake them up.
Jeremy is walking towards the master bedroom on the second floor.
Jeremy walks towards the master bedroom and whispers to himself, “I know you are in here Dolan.”
Jeremy makes it to the slightly opened master bedroom door and hears two people talking.
“I want some pancakes,” says a girl.
“Well, go make yourself some pancakes,” says a boy.
The boy and girl kiss as they lie in bed next to each other.
Jeremy waits by the master bedroom door and looks at his handgun in his right hand. He makes sure the safety is off and tries to stop his right hand from shaking.
Jeremy hears some movement in the master bedroom.
The boy in the master bedroom gets up out of bed and looks in the full-length mirror that sits in the corner of the bedroom.
“Man, I’m freaking sexy,” says the boy as he runs his right hand through his spikey hair and then flexes his right biceps muscle.
The girl in the master bedroom bed says, “You sure are Dolan.”
Jeremy hears the girl call the boy Dolan.
The girl that was talking with Dolan gets out of bed and walks into the connected master bathroom.
Jeremy looks down the hallway and isn’t sure whether he should go into the master bedroom or wait.
Dolan sits down on the edge of his bed and asks, “What do I want to take today?”
Jeremy becomes impatient and decides to go in the master bedroom alone.
Jeremy slowly pushes open Dolan’s master bedroom door.
Dolan looks at the door and shouts, “Ox, that better not be you messing around again!”
Dolan stands up from his bed.
Jeremy slowly enters the master bedroom with his gun pointed at Dolan.
“Who the fuck are you?” shouts Dolan.
Jeremy shouts, “Shut the fuck up! Put your hands up!”
Dolan shouts, “You don’t tell me what to do! You slanty eyed piece of shit!”
Jeremy shouts, “I should just kill you right now. The world would be better without you in it!”
“I know who you are. You are from that group that took over the school. My school. My crew and I ran that school,” says Dolan.
The girl comes out from Dolan’s bathroom.
The girl sees Jeremy and screams.
AHHHH!
The high-pitched scream wakes everyone up in the house and causes a bunch of shouting and screaming by Warriors and Dolan’s group.
Jeremy looks at the girl and says, “Please stop screaming.”
Dolan charges Jeremy.
Jeremy drops his gun.
Dolan and Jeremy are fighting now.
Bruce runs into the master bedroom and pushes Dolan off Jeremy.
Dolan falls to the floor.
Dolan sees Jeremy’s gun on the floor and goes to grab it.
Bruce runs towards the gun and kicks Dolan in the face before Dolan can grab the gun.
WHAPP!
Dolan is knocked out by Bruce’s kick.
Jeremy picks up his gun from the floor.
Bruce and Jeremy carry Dolan downstairs and outside.
William and the rest of the Warriors have moved all of Dolan’s group outside into the backyard.
Bruce and Jeremy place Dolan on the grass in front of William.
“Anyone else inside?” asks William.
“A girl in the master bedroom,” says Jeremy.
“Go get her and bring her out here. I need to talk with them all,” says William.
Jeremy and Felix go get the girl from the master bedroom and bring her outside to the rest of the group.
William looks down at Dolan and asks, “Really? Superhero boxer shorts? You couldn’t put something on him?”
Bruce says, “He was knocked out. I wasn’t worried about dressing him.”
Felix and Jeremy stand next to Bruce and James.
“I am William, and these are my Warriors. We are not going to hurt you. We only want your disrespect and vandalism to stop,” says William.
“What happened to Tanner and Greg?” asks a girl.
Jeremy shouts, “We killed them!”
The teenagers gasp in fear.
William looks at Jeremy and says, “No we didn’t.”
Jeremy smiles.
“Gregory and Tanner are safe at our home. We welcome any of you to join us there. It’s not safe out here. If you join us at The Haven, then you will be one of us. You will have food, shelter, water, and electricity.”
The teenagers get excited when they hear the mention of electricity.
A girl asks, “Do you have phone service? I haven’t been able to get a hold of anyone for months.”
William looks at the girl and says, “We do not. The cell towers aren’t working still.”
Bruce says, “You will be safe with us. We will take anyone who wants to come with us.”
No one moves from the backyard.
William says, “We will leave you alone now. You know where to find us, and we know where to find you. Please do not vandalize our home again. We will not be so kind next time.”
Dolan makes a moan as he lies face down on the grass.
William looks directly at the teenagers and says, “Don’t waste this chance in this new world. We can rebuild this world, and it starts with you.”
Bruce, William, and the rest of the Warriors walk towards the backyard fence to the front of the house.
Dolan gets up from the ground and runs towards a Warrior.
Dolan pushes down the Warrior and grabs the handgun that was in the Warriors’ holster.
William and Bruce turn back towards Dolan.
Dolan points the handgun at William and shouts, “You! You can’t just come into our home and take over! I run this! These are my people!”
William puts his hands up and says, “No son. Put the gun down. We mean no harm. We want peace actually.”
Dolan points the gun at William’s face.
“You don’t deserve the school! We do! That was our school before the world fell apart!” shouts Dolan.
The teenagers look at each other and want someone to stop Dolan.
“Put the gun down Dolan! It’s over! William and his people aren’t here to hurt us!” shouts a teenage girl.
Dolan turns to face the girl who was shouting at him.
WHAPP!
A very large teenage boy punches Dolan
in the face.
Dolan is knocked out again.
Dolan drops the gun and lands face first in the grass.
“That a boy, Ox!” shouts a teenager.
Ox looks at a teenage girl, smiles, and says, “It’s over now, Emily.”
Emily smiles back at Ox and says, “Good job, Ox.”
Ox picks up the handgun and hands it to William.
“I’m sorry about Dolan. We won’t bother you anymore,” says Ox.
William takes the handgun from Ox.
Emily looks at William and says, “Thank you, William. We won’t waste this second chance.”
CHAPTER 16
IT’S ELECTRIC
It’s mid-morning, and I’m packing up my SUV for our trip back to Davis Island.
Bobby G walks over to me and says, “I’m coming with you. I can’t say in this house and neighborhood any longer.”
“Okay. Get your stuff and put it in here.”
Bobby G thought I was going to put up a fight against him coming and is taken back by my acceptance of his request.
Bobby G goes back into his house to get his gear and weapons.
Phil walks over to me and asks, “How many vehicles are you trying to bring back?”
“All of them on the island.”
“How many is that?” asks Phil.
“I think at least five, but it could be ten. I want all the electric vehicles. I remember seeing two electric trucks and three electric cars.”
“It’s Electric!” shouts Phil.
I laugh as Phil is singing the heavy metal song.
Phil grabs a stick and pretends it’s a microphone.
Shaun and Matt come over to my SUV and watch Phil dancing around.
“What is going on over here?” asks Shaun.
“Phil is excited for the electric vehicles.”
Matt says, “Oh, I get it. That’s why he’s yelling it’s electric.”
Phil throws the stick at Matt and hit’s Matt in the leg.
“You can put some stuff in my SUV as well. I’m taking mine too. We will need to move the concrete barricades near the entrance of Davis Island to get the vehicles off the island,” says Phil.
I hold up some plastic explosives and say, “I got that covered.”
“Nice, but let’s try to move the barricades with my SUV first. We shouldn’t waste the plastic explosives. We might need them down the road,” says Phil.
Fight 4 Us (Book 6): Keeper Page 16