Fight 4 Us (Book 10): Ghosts Read online

  Everyone looks up at Sal from the ground level.

  Sal’s wristwatch beeps and Sal shouts, “It is nine AM, and I’m glad you made it here!”

  Sal walks down the steps.

  A man and woman stand outside the closed gate at the entrance to the central courtyard.

  The man looks at the male guard that is inside the closed gate and says, “Come on man. We were like one minute late. Open the gate.”

  Sal hears the man standing outside of the closed gate tell the guard to open the gate, and Sal shouts, “Should have been on time!”

  The middle aged male guard just stares at the man that is standing outside of the closed gate.

  “I told you to be on time. If you won’t listen to a simple order, then I can’t trust you,” says Sal as he walks towards the closed gate.

  “We are sorry. It won’t happen again,” says the man that is standing outside of the closed gate to Sal.

  Sal looks into the man’s eyes and says, “You are right. It won’t.”

  Sal whistles.

  The two guards take out their handguns and point them at the man and woman that are standing outside of the closed gate.

  The man and woman, who are standing at the outside of the closed gate, put their hands up and plead for their lives.

  “I was in the U.S. Army, and I learned never to be late! Show them boys!” shouts Sal.

  BANG!

  BANG!

  The two guards each fire a single gunshot at both the man and woman who were locked out of the Channelside central courtyard.

  The crowd screams in horror as they see the two guards kill the man and woman who were locked out.

  Brad looks at Ola, and Eric looks at Julia.

  Sal looks at the dead man and woman and says, “I wish I didn’t have to do this, but this place is going to run differently now… The previous leader let this place turn into a disordered mess.”

  Sal walks back over to the set of large steps and gets a message on his radio.

  Brad sees Eric and walks over to him.

  “Did you see what he just did Brad?” asks Eric.

  “I did, but we are clearly on the right side of the fence. Just be glad you made it in here,” answers Brad.

  Carmine and two armed guards walk over to Sal.

  “Have you seen DJ?” asks Brad to Eric.

  “No, I didn’t even see you until now,” answers Eric.

  “Are we safe in here?” shouts a woman to Sal.

  Sal gives orders to Carmine and his two guards.

  The two guards run down the steps and towards the closed gate.

  The people in the Channelside central courtyard are scared and nervous about what Sal might do next.

  “Everyone in here is safe! You have my word!” shouts Sal.

  “Then why do you have us locked up in here?” shouts a woman to Sal.

  “It will all be explained. I give you my word on that,” answers Sal to the woman.

  CRASH!

  The sound of a window breaking in the distance is heard around the Channelside West Tower.

  A group of people inside the Channelside central courtyard run to the closed gate and try to see what just happened.

  A man screaming is heard around the Channelside West Tower.

  AHHHH!

  “We found him. What do you want us to do with him?” asks a man over the radio to Sal.

  Sal answers the man over the radio, “Bring him here.”

  Brad runs over to Sal and asks, “What’s going on here?”

  “Just getting this place in order,” answers Sal.

  Brad steps closer to Sal.

  Sal points his gun at Brad and says, “Careful Brad. I’m just doing what you wanted to be done… I just have the balls to actually do it.”

  Eric shouts, “Come here Brad!”

  Sal says, “Listen to your friend their Brad.”

  Three armed guards bring a man and woman into the center of the Channelside central courtyard.

  Carmine walks over to Sal and says, “He put up a good fight. He knocked out Enzo, but we got him.”

  Brad walks back over to Eric, Ola, and Julia.

  The man and woman, who were brought into the central courtyard by the guards, are pushed down onto the concrete.

  “I have been chosen to be your leader, and I plan to make this place a great power in Tampa Bay!” shouts Sal to everyone that is at the Channelside central courtyard.

  Brad, Eric, and everyone look at the man and woman who are now kneeling on the concrete.

  “Please. Please don’t kill us,” pleads the woman.

  Brad looks at the man and woman and notices that it’s Evan and his wife from the meeting that was held last night.

  Brad looks around and he sees Sal, Carmine, and several armed guards.

  Brad feels that he should do something, but he isn’t sure what to do.

  Brad says, “We have to do something.”

  Eric, Ola, and Julia don’t say anything.

  A hooded person puts his hand on Brad’s shoulder.

  Brad turns around and sees the hooded person standing behind him.

  “You are a piece of shit Sal! I hope you burn in hell!” shouts Evan at Sal as he turns and looks at Sal.

  Sal responds to Evan, “I probably will, but you’ll be there before me.”

  BANG!

  Sal shoots Evan in his left temple.

  Evan’s wife screams in terror.

  AHHH!

  Evan’s dead body falls towards the concrete and the right side of Evan’s face smacks the concrete.

  Evan’s wife looks at her dead husband and cries.

  Sal says to Evan’s wife, “I’m sorry, but you can’t be trusted either.”

  BANG!

  The dead body of Evan’s wife hits the concrete. Puddles of blood slowly start to cover the concrete around the dead bodies of Evan and his wife.

  CHAPTER 6

  WE AREN’T

  Kat exits from a bedroom and starts walking down a hallway.

  People are talking in the kitchen of the house as Kat walks down the hallway.

  Kat enters the kitchen, and the people that were just talking in the kitchen stop and look at Kat.

  A woman looks at Kat and asks, “Did we wake you?”

  Kat answers, “No, I have been up for a little bit now.”

  Kat opens the kitchen pantry and sees there is not much food inside the pantry.

  “What do we have for food around here?” asks Kat.

  Deb answers Kat, “Not much, we were just talking about that this morning.”

  Kat closes the pantry and looks at Deb and the four other people that are sitting at a table in the kitchen.

  “Well we have to do something. I’m not sure how long we can survive on bottles of water, a couple cans of vegetables, and some expired crackers,” says Kat.

  “Where can we get food?” asks a woman that is sitting across from Deb at the table that is in the kitchen.

  Kat looks at everyone sitting at the table in the kitchen and asks, “Do we have any other people from The Grove? Anyone close to us?”

  Deb answers, “I don’t know Kat. We barely got away from all the craziness at The Grove.”

  Kat starts to picture the craziness around The Grove, the Conquerors, DK, Jacob, and Dr. Morris.

  Kat looks at Deb and asks, “Did you get any of my weapons from The Grove?”

  Deb answers, “Yeah, they are in my room.”

  Kat walks towards Deb’s room and Deb follows Kat.

  “I was able to get pretty much all of your weapons from The Grove,” says Deb as Kat sees some of her weapons in the corner of Deb’s bedroom.

  Kat grabs some of her weapons and starts to put them on Deb’s bed.

  Deb grabs the remaining weapons and puts them in a pile next to the weapons that Kat just put on her bed.

  Kat puts the last two handguns on Deb’s bed and says, “These will help protect us, but we need food.”
r />   “What about Ryan or that place you were telling us about? I think you called it the Haven?” asks Deb.

  “We’ll figure it out. I’m just glad you and everyone here is safe,” answers Kat.

  “Me too. I’m just glad you were able to get away from those assholes,” replies Deb.

  “We can always go back to that crazy church,” jokes Kat to Deb.

  Deb smiles and replies, “I’m going to pass on that, we aren’t that bad yet.”

  “It’s good to be home,” says Jaws Junior to Darlene as Jaws Junior and Darlene unpack some items from boxes in their master bedroom.

  “I just wish those idiots didn’t trash the place so much. Most of the homes in the neighborhood are wrecked,” says Darlene to Jaws Junior.

  “Me too, but I’m just glad we got our home back,” responds Jaws Junior to Darlene.

  Indy is heard barking in the backyard.

  “How’s the shoulder?” asks Darlene to Jaws Junior.

  Jaws Junior moves his shoulder and answers, “It’s feeling much better. A little sore still, but I can move it a little better now.”

  Indy is heard barking even louder now in the backyard.

  Darlene says, “I wonder what has Indy so crazy right now.”

  Jaws Junior exits the master bedroom and walks towards the sliding glass door that leads into their backyard.

  Indy is seen running back and forth along the broken wooden fence and seems to be interested in something that is happening in the distance on the other side of the fence.

  Jaws Junior opens the sliding glass door and tries to make sense of what Indy is barking at and focused on.

  “Come here boy!” shouts Jaws Junior to Indy.

  Indy doesn’t budge away from the broken wooden fence.

  Jaws Junior walks into his tore up backyard and starts to walk towards Indy.

  As Jaws Junior is walking, he hears some commotion on the other side of the broken wooden fence.

  Jaws Junior stops walking and looks at the broken wooden fence, overgrown shrubs, tree branches, and debris.

  Indy barks towards the sounds that are being made a couple feet away on the other side of the wooden fence.

  “What is it?” asks Darlene to Jaws Junior.

  “SHHHHH,” answers Jaws Junior.

  “Well Indy is barking his head off. Whatever is out there is definitely hearing Indy,” replies Darlene.

  Several car doors open and then close.

  Jaws Junior sees a red car through a piece of the broken wooden fence.

  “Someone is on the road back there,” whispers Jaws Junior to Darlene.

  “Go off in teams and check things out!” shouts a man to his group of people that just exited from the cars.

  Jaws Junior hears the man shout, but can’t see who the people are.

  “Get Indy and get back in here,” whispers Darlene to Jaws Junior.

  Darlene goes back inside the house to get her rifle.

  Jaws Junior starts to walk slowly towards Indy.

  Indy barks at the sounds of the people walking around the road behind Jaws Junior and Darlene’s house.

  “Go check out that damn dog! I heard barking when we checked those houses at the beginning of the road!” shouts the same man that shouted before.

  Jaws Junior is just about to reach Indy when he hears the rustle of the overgrown bushes and trees that are around his broken wooden fence.

  Jaws Junior panics and looks for somewhere to hide.

  The person moves some of the overgrown brush away from the broken wooden fence.

  Jaws Junior hits his left shoulder on a large piece of broken fence and feels intense pain in his left shoulder.

  Jaws Junior wants to scream in pain, but covers his mouth to avoid making any pain noises as he tries to hide behind the trunk of a large tree that is in his backyard.

  Indy growls at the person as the person tries to look into Jaws Junior and Darlene’s backyard.

  “Oh crap! It’s a pit bull!” screams a man as he looks through the broken fence and gets a clear view of Indy.

  Indy growls at the man and the man cowardly runs away from Indy and the broken wooden fence.

  Darlene runs over to Jaws Junior and helps him up.

  Jaws Junior stands up.

  Darlene grabs Indy’s collar and walks with Indy and Jaws Junior back inside their house.

  Jaws Junior walks back into the house and moans in pain as he stands in the kitchen.

  “What happened?” asks Darlene.

  Indy growls as he looks out the closed sliding glass door.

  Darlene shouts, “Quiet Indy!”

  Darlene closes the blinds to the sliding glass door and looks at Jaws Junior.

  Jaws Junior grabs his left shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” asks Darlene to Jaws Junior.

  “Yeah. I just banged my left shoulder on a piece of broken fence,” answers Jaws Junior.

  “Did you see the group out there?” asks Darlene.

  “No, I only heard a couple people talking,” answers Jaws Junior.

  “I want to have Ryan look at your shoulder. I hope you didn’t mess up what he did,” says Darlene.

  “I’ll be okay. I just need some meds for the pain,” responds Jaws Junior.

  Darlene looks out the blinds near the sliding glass door and looks at their broken wooden fence.

  The sounds of vehicles speeding away are heard.

  “I think they are leaving,” says Darlene.

  “I hope it’s not the Conquerors,” says Jaws Junior.

  Darlene steps away from the blinds and replies, “I hope not, and I hope we aren’t going to find out.”

  Indy keeps looking through the blinds into the backyard.

  “Whoever it was, Indy definitely doesn’t like them,” says Jaws Junior.

  “I’m glad to see that you are coming with us today,” says Shaun to Matt as they both stand in Shaun’s garage.

  “I think it will be good for me to get out of here today. I also want to see what we got in that tractor trailer at Fisher Sports,” replies Matt to Shaun.

  Phil comes speeding down the street in an electric truck and stops in front of Shaun’s house.

  BEEP! BEEP!

  “Let’s go ladies!” shouts Phil to Shaun and Matt.

  Matt and Shaun look at Phil and Shaun gives Phil the finger.

  “Don’t make me break that finger now,” jokes Phil.

  Matt grabs his weapons, exits Shaun’s garage, and walks towards Phil’s electric truck.

  Shaun grabs his gear, walks down his driveway, and asks Phil, “Jon got his drone out already?”

  “Yup, he’s been talking to me over the radio since he sent his drone out,” answers Phil.

  Matt gets into the backseat of Phil’s electric truck and grabs the radio that is in a center console cup holder inside Phil’s electric truck.

  “Jon, can you hear me?” asks Matt into Phil’s radio.

  “Yeah, loud and clear. Who is this?” asks Jon over the radio.

  Shaun gets into the front seat of Phil’s electric truck.

  Matt says into Phil’s radio, “It’s Matt. Where is your drone at now?”

  “I got it over Jerri-Lynn’s house right now and moving towards Fisher Sports,” answers Jon.

  Phil asks Shaun and Matt, “You got everything?”

  “Yup, let’s get going,” answers Shaun.

  Matt asks into Phil’s radio, “Can you check out the neighborhood where we found Chris?”

  “Why? What’s going on?” asks Jon over the radio.

  Phil starts driving towards the main gate of Citrus Oaks.

  “See if you can find out some intel on a house that is painted orange and has solar panels and satellite dishes on the roof,” answers Matt into the radio.

  Phil exits Citrus Oaks and Shaun wonders what Matt is talking about.

  “I will after you guys make it back from Fisher Sports. I’m more worried about giving you an eye in the sky to
day,” replies Jon into his radio headset.

  “How is Jon talking to Matt and controlling the drone?” asks Shaun to Phil.

  Phil tells Matt to tell Jon that we just left Citrus Oaks and then answers Shaun, “A headset. I helped Jon set it up before I came to your house.”

  Phil drives down a street and the street is clear. “What’s going on Matt? What’s up with the orange house?” asks Shaun to Matt.

  Matt looks out the front windshield of Phil’s electric truck and answers Shaun, “It could be nothing, but I think I saw someone in an orange house where Chris was.”

  Phil makes a left hand turn and asks Matt, “Well, did you see someone or not?”

  “I think so, but it was hard to tell. The orange house just had tons of solar panels, wires on the roof, and satellite dishes,” answers Matt.

  “You guys in the white or black electric truck today?” asks Jon over the radio.

  “White,” answers Matt into Phil’s radio.

  “After we finish with the store today, we are going to see about that orange house,” says Phil.

  Jon, from the comfort of his shaded back patio, looks into his drone monitor screen and sees the area around Fisher Sporting Goods has some zombies roaming around the parking lot.

  “You guys have a couple zombies around the parking lot, but it’s pretty dead there,” says Jon into his radio headset while looking into his drone monitor.

  “Yeah, we see them,” responds Matt into Phil’s radio as Phil slowly drives into the front parking lot of Fisher Sporting Goods.

  Jon adjusts his drone camera as he puts his drone in hover directly over the top of Fisher Sporting Goods.

  Phil drives around to the back of Fisher Sporting Goods and parks his electric truck.

  Shaun quickly exits from the electric truck and stabs an approaching zombie in his forehead.

  Phil runs to the back of his electric truck and grabs his neon orange aluminum baseball bat.

  Matt asks into Phil’s radio, “What are we looking at here Jon?”

  CRUNCH!

  CRUNCH!

  Phil bashes in two zombie skulls with his baseball bat.

  Jon jokes to Matt through the radio, “It looks like you haven’t left the truck yet.”

  Matt half smiles at Jon’s joke.

  “Thanks smart ass,” jokes Matt into Phil’s radio to Jon.

  “No problem. Now go help Shaun and Phil,” replies Jon over the radio.