“This is a mare. Carbine is a female and she’s doing well,” answers Bo.

  “You alone here Bo?” asks Phil.

  “Yeah, the others just left to go back to the zoo and to meet with Aisha and her boyfriend,” answers Bo.

  “Who is that?” asks Phil.

  “A black fella. He and his group wear these creepy masks and face covers,” answers Bo.

  “Bakari?” I ask.

  “That’s it, yeah,” answers Bo.

  Bo’s horse makes a little noise and Bo says to his horse, “Easy girl. I’ll put ya back in the field in a second.”

  “I hope we weren’t interrupting anything Bo,” I say.

  “Actually I could use your help here,” replies Bo.

  “What do you need?” asks Phil.

  “Let me go put Carb back, she needs some food and to rest,” answers Bo.

  We walk with Bo, who is riding the brown and white Carbine, over to the stables.

  Bo takes off his saddle and puts Carbine away. Carbine eats some of her food, and then she goes into the field and runs over to another small group of horses.

  “Great place you have here,” says Jaws Junior.

  “Thank you, what’s your name again?” asks Bo.

  “Jaws Junior,” answers Jaws Junior.

  “Like the movies?” asks Bo.

  Jaws Junior smiles and answers, “Something like that.”

  “What can we help ya with Bo?” I ask.

  “Well that depends on what ya’ll can do. Barrett and I just did a lot of work around here, but I could use some help repairing the silo,” answers Bo.

  “You got it,” I answer Bo.

  Bo takes us over to the small silo and we see that one of the metal panels is sticking out and needs to be repaired.

  “I need you guys to pull the panel closed so I can replace the rusted bolts,” says Bo.

  “How’s the roof?” asks Phil.

  “It needs work also, but that will be a job for another day,” answers Bo.

  Bo gives us instructions and we help him repair the silo. It’s nice to help Bo and be out on a farm with no worries and just feeling safe and secure.

  Bo replaces several screws in the silo walls and says, “That should do it. Thanks for the help.”

  “You are welcome,” I reply.

  “But what brings you fellas out here? I’m sure it wasn’t to help me with this,” says Bo.

  I look at the O2U van and the long thin tree branch and vine that is stuck to the O2U van.

  “We wanted to see if you had any eggs or anything to trade today,” I say to Bo.

  “We always have eggs, but what else you need?” asks Bo.

  I look at Jaws Junior and Phil for an answer.

  “I’m pretty good on supplies but I know Nicole would love some fresh vegetables,” says Phil.

  “My wife would as well,” says Jaws Junior.

  Bo laughs and says, “Gotta keep the ladies happy. Let’s see what we have for ya.”

  We walk into Bo’s house and I remember the previous times I was inside Bo’s house.

  Bo gathers up somethings to give us as we stand in his living room.

  Jaws Junior looks around the living room and he sees the deer heads and other animals that are on the walls inside Bo’s living room.

  “I got a bunch of different things for ya, as I didn’t know what you may need or want,” says Bo.

  “What do you need for all this?” I ask Bo as I look at the crate of things Bo has in his hands.

  “Nothin, we have plenty of things now that the Pride is pretty self-sufficient and they haven’t needed anything from us for a little while now,” answers Bo.

  “How are things there?” I ask.

  “From what they tell me, pretty good, but I haven’t been there since I found my brother,” answers Bo.

  I think about my vision that I had recently and seeing the attack on the zoo.

  “I hope all is well there, but if Bakari is looking over them then they should be in good hands,” I say.

  “I don’t know much about that Bakari fella, but Barrett doesn’t seem to like him very much,” replies Bo.

  I smile and joke, “Yeah, I know firsthand about Barrett not liking people.”

  “Come in Ryan. Are you there Ryan?” asks someone over my radio.

  I look at Phil and Phil grabs his radio from his belt and answers into his radio, “This is Phil.”

  Phil exits Bo’s living room and walks onto the covered front porch of Bo’s house.

  “Thank you Bo. We appreciate the food,” I say to Bo.

  Bo, Jaws Junior, and I exit from Bo’s living room and Bo puts the crate of food into the back of the O2U van.

  “Where did you get this van? O2U?” asks Bo.

  “We found it abandoned. We have two of them actually,” I answer Bo.

  “I never really cared much for that O2U online thing. Call me old fashioned I guess,” says Bo.

  Phil walks over to me and says, “That was Brad and he is coming to Citrus Oaks tomorrow.”

  “What’s going on with Brad?” I ask Phil.

  “He said he couldn’t say much over the radio, but he’s taking us to see her again,” answers Phil.

  “Oh okay, did he say anything else?” I ask.

  “Not really, he seemed rushed,” answers Phil.

  I say goodbye to Bo and thank him again for the food.

  “Thanks for the help,” says Bo.

  We get back into the O2U van in the same seats that we had before and Bo walks over to the driver side window and says to Phil, “Take it easy on our entrance there. I see you took a couple branches down.”

  “Sorry about that. I was afraid that the height of the van would cause a problem,” replies Phil.

  Bo says goodbye and walks to his front porch.

  Phil drives to the exit of Bo’s ranch and Jaws Junior looks at the fields, horses, stables, and trees.

  I hear the O2U van break another branch and I say, “Easy Phil.”

  “Nothing I can do about it,” says Phil as Phil keeps driving the O2U van and he exits Bo’s ranch.

  “Anywhere else today?” asks Phil as he drives down the street.

  “Just home. Let’s get all this stuff back home,” I answer. I remember that Jaws Junior wanted to go to an automotive store, and we didn’t stop at one yet, so I ask Jaws Junior, “Didn’t you want to go to a car store?”

  “Yeah, but I found what I needed at the O2U store. I can go to an auto shop another time,” answers Jaws Junior.

  “You sure?” asks Phil to Jaws Junior.

  “Yeah, let’s get the food back home. I don’t want any of the food to go bad,” answers Jaws Junior.

  Phil drives down the street and he sees weeds, debris, branches, and leaves all over the street.

  “It’s crazy how many weeds and crap are all over the streets,” says Jaws Junior.

  “Mother Earth is taking back the planet,” jokes Phil.

  Phil arrives at Citrus Oaks, drives into our neighborhood, and parks the O2U van in front of Shaun’s house.

  “Home sweet home,” says Phil.

  Phil, Jaws Junior, and I exit from the O2U van. We unload the stuff we got from the superstore and Bo’s ranch.

  “What do you think was up with the kids in the store?” asks Jaws Junior as he grabs a box of goods from the back of the O2U van.

  “I don’t know, but they didn’t threaten us. I’m glad we didn’t have to kill some young kids,” says Phil.

  Jaws Junior thinks about what Phil just said and asks, “Have you killed kids before?”

  I grab the last box from the back of the O2U van and put it inside Shaun’s empty garage.

  “I shot a teenager once. This was before the world fell apart. Well, before the zombies took over, the world fell apart long before the zombies came,” says Phil.

  I walk over to Phil and Jaws Junior and Jaws Junior asks Phil, “What happened?”

  “It was a routine traffic stop and the driver had priors. I ran the license and the kid was nineteen and was arrested six times previously,” answers Phil.

  “For what?” asks Jaws Junior.

  I see Matt walk down the sidewalk and approach us inside Shaun’s garage.

  Phil continues his story, “A variety of terrible things. But the passenger in the car was mouthing off and saying how we had no right to stop them and it was racist that we stopped them.”

  Matt walks over to Phil, Jaws Junior, and I as we are standing inside Shaun’s garage.

  “My partner saw that their car was reported stolen and that changed everything,” says Phil.

  “Have you been in touch with Riley? She was a pretty cool chick?” asks Matt to Phil.

  “No I haven’t,” answers Phil to Matt.

  “Did the people in the car attack you and your partner?” I ask Phil.

  “Yeah, the passenger came at me and Riley put him down and then the driver came at me and I put two in his chest,” answers Phil.

  “Damn,” I say.

  “Yeah, being a police officer is not easy and it only got harder with all the craziness and politics over the years,” says Phil.

  “Shaun and Lisa came back while you were away,” says Matt.

  “Where are they?” I ask.

  “The Haven. They are staying at the Haven,” answers Matt.

  “Why?” asks Phil.

  Matt, with an expression of unsureness, answers, “Lisa wants to be at the Haven and try to live there Shaun said.”

  “That’s crazy. They left this big house for a tiny room at the Haven,” I say.

  “Shaun also said that Lisa is pregnant and wanted to be close to Dr. Vargas for the baby,” replies Matt.

  I’m not sure if I heard Matt correctly and ask, “What?”

  Matt answers, “Lisa is pregnant.”

  “Maybe that’s why she has been so moody lately,” jokes Phil.

  “Maybe, but good for them. I know Shaun always wanted a boy,” I say.

  “We should get this food inside,” says Phil.

  We divide up the food and supplies we got from Bo and the O2U store.

  “I’ll make sure Jon gets his share,” says Phil as Phil walks with Jaws Junior away from Shaun’s house and towards their homes at the back of the neighborhood.

  “I’ll give the supplies and food to Sam and Kiersten,” says Matt.

  “Thanks, I’m going home. I’ll talk to you later,” I reply to Matt.

  I walk into my house and Matt takes a box of food and supplies over to Sam and Kiersten’s house.

  Matt walks up the driveway of Sam and Kiersten’s house and the front door opens to Sam and Kiersten’s house.

  Brody exits from Sam and Kiersten’s house. Matt sees Brody exit from the house and Brody sees Matt walking up the driveway.

  Matt feels an awkwardness as Brody approaches him. Brody walks towards Matt and Matt looks down at the driveway.

  Brody walks by Matt and he feels the awkwardness, but he feels the need to apologize to Matt.

  “Hey Matt,” says Brody as he stops in Sam and Kiersten’s driveway and turns towards Matt.

  Matt stops walking but doesn’t turn towards Brody and asks, “Yeah?”

  Brody looks at Matt and says, “I’m sorry.”

  Matt thinks about what to say and isn’t sure what to do next.

  “I’m sorry for acting like an ass and not listening to you,” says Brody.

  “And for basically doing what I told you not to do,” says Matt as he looks at the front of Sam and Kiersten’s house.

  “Yeah, and that too. It won’t happen again,” responds Brody.

  Matt doesn’t reply to Brody.

  Brody starts to walk away from Matt, Matt turns around and says to Brody, “Thank you.”

  Brody stops walking and looks at Matt.

  Matt says to Brody, “I know where your head was with what you did, but we can’t be doing that shit now. We could have died.”

  Brody doesn’t say anything and just looks sad.

  Kiersten runs out of her house and asks, “Everything okay here?”

  “Yeah, just wanted to give you and Sam some supplies and food that we got,” answers Matt and Matt hands Kiersten the box that he was holding.

  “We good Matt?” asks Brody.

  “Yeah, we are good,” answers Matt.

  I open my refrigerator and Lauren enters the kitchen.

  “We should be good on eggs, vegetables, and food for a while,” I say to Lauren.

  “Awesome. Good job honey,” replies Lauren.

  I place some of the food in the refrigerator and Lauren sees the chocolate that I got for her from the O2U superstore.

  “Oh man, you got some chocolate,” says Lauren.

  I smile and say, “Anything for you.”

  “Thanks honey, I was going through withdrawals,” replies Lauren.

  Lauren and I put away the other supplies and food and I ask Lauren, “Did you know that Lisa was pregnant?”

  “What? I didn’t know that,” answers Lauren.

  “Yeah, well Matt told us that Lisa was pregnant, and that Shaun and Lisa are living at the Haven now,” I say.

  Lauren hands me a cardboard box that some of the food was in and Lauren asks, “Are you serious?”

  I grab the other cardboard box and answer, “Yeah, that’s what Matt told us when we just talked with him.”

  “I can’t believe that,” says Lauren.

  I put the cardboard boxes in the garage and see my large map of Tampa Bay. It needs to be updated after getting the power back on. We have to mark what streets and areas are still bad and what are safe to use.

  I think to myself, “There is still so much left of Tampa Bay that we haven’t seen. What is safe? What other groups are out there? Where is the military around here? Where is TJ?”

  I go back inside my house and I pet Milo as he walks into the kitchen.

  “How did the trip go?” asks Lauren.

  “Let’s go outside. It’s a nice day,” I say to Lauren and then Lauren and I go onto our back covered patio.

  “The run went well. We got into the O2U store and we met with Bo. That’s where the eggs and vegetables came from,” I say to Lauren.

  “Bo or the store?” asks Lauren.

  “We got the eggs and vegetables from Bo and the rest from the store,” I answer Lauren.

  “How was the store? I’ve never been in one of those O2U stores. It sounded weird to not have people in there and it was all stocked and run by robots,” says Lauren.

  “We didn’t see any robots, but the store was in pretty good shape and we saw a group of kids in there,” I reply to Lauren.

  “In the store?” asks Lauren.

  “Yeah, they were most likely living in the store,” I answer Lauren.

  “Did they attack you?” asks Lauren.

  “No, they ran away from us and ran out the back of the store. They seemed afraid,” I answer.

  I think back to the recent trip to the O2U superstore and seeing the group of kids. There were two older kids, a young girl, and two young boys.

  “I don’t know how they got into the store as we needed a keycard to get in,” I say.

  “Maybe they hacked into it or something,” says Lauren.

  I look into my backyard and see the trees slowly moving from the gentle breeze and I’m thankful for this nice day with my wife.

  “You never really told me what Bakari and Isiah talked to you about when we were at the hospital,” says Lauren.

  I look at Lauren and answer, “They told me that they were working on keeping the hospital operational and that they would be in touch with us.”

  “You were gone for a good amount of time for them to only say that,” says Lauren.

  I think about the conversation with Bakari and Isiah, the tea that they gave me, the story of young Isiah, and remember Isiah telling me that a battle was coming.

  I see Lauren look at me with an inquisitive expression on her face. I think about what to do. Should I tell her exactly what happened and probably freak her out or keep it calm and tell her a general overview?

  “He said that they were making progress around here and they see some potential problems, but nothing that we can’t handle,” I say to Lauren as I don’t want to worry her any more than necessary.

  “Good, because I’m not sure I could handle anymore craziness around here,” replies Lauren.

  CHAPTER 9

  CONCERNED LOOK

  “What time did he say he would be here?” I ask Phil as I sit with Phil in lawn chairs inside Shaun’s garage the next day.

  “He didn’t give an exact time, but sometime around noon,” answers Phil.

  I look at my wristwatch and see that it is 12:30 PM.

  “You really should get a smartwatch now Ry. Step your watch game up,” says Phil.

  “I like my classic style watch,” I reply.

  “It’s 2025 and you’re still living like it’s 2001,” jokes Phil.

  “To the untrained eye that’s what you see, but I’m more connected than you think,” I reply.

  “How?” asks Phil.

  “First, I used robotic assistance during a lot of my surgeries,” I answer.

  “No way,” says Phil.

  “Yeah, it was great. Smaller incisions which made healing much quicker and just better overall,” I say.

  Phil checks to make sure that he doesn’t have any weapons on him since we are going to the stadium and the stadium guards or troops might take them.

  “You can’t bring any weapons into the stadium,” says Phil.

  “Not even knives?” I ask.

  “Nope, nothing,” answers Phil.

  “But I thought Faith pulled a gun on you guys?” I ask Phil.

  “She did, but I guess she was able to sneak it in,” answers Phil.

  The gate to Citrus Oaks opens and a blue SUV enters Citrus Oaks. The guards check out the blue SUV and radio me and Phil, “It’s Brad and Eric.”

  “Okay, send them over to us,” replies Phil into his radio.

  The blue SUV drives down the main street of Citrus Oaks and parks in front of Shaun’s driveway.

  Brad and Eric exit from the SUV and Phil and I stand up from our lawn chairs.

  “You guys ready?” asks Brad to me and Phil.

  “You sure Faith won’t point her gun at me again?” asks Phil.

  “I can’t promise that as Faith is a bit of a wild card,” answers Brad.

 

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