Chapter 4

"Why are you trespassing on my territory without my permission?" His voice thundered. 

" The last time I checked, this ain't a private property" Gary replied sharply, tightening his grip on the Ar-15.

The man with a painted face walk over to Gary and stood face to face making Gary's gun touch his chest. He looked at Gary with his wide angry looking eyes and then shift his gaze to mine. 

I'm gonna shoot him in the face if he keep looking at me that way, I thought.

"This is my territory, and any mo'erfucker that wishes to pass through will have to pay homage to me or face my wrath"  he said looking Gary in the face.

" Fuck your wrath" I snapped back. He looked at me shock and walk angrily over to my place.

" What did you just say?" He asked this time with all seriousness. 

" FUCK YOUR WRATH" I replied stressing each word.

 He raised his hand to my head as but I was fast enough to pull out my Beretta and point it directly to his head, intentionally making him feel the cold metal. I could see the shock in his eyes and the people with him all turned their attention to me. 

He smiled and provided an insect out of my hair holding it to my face so I could see.

"What I expected was a thank you" he said smiling at my reaction. Damnit!

"Come on man, we don't play with guns" he said removing my Beretta from his face with his hand.

"We ain't Zeds" he added jokingly while the rest of his group laughed at his joke. Who the hell are this people? I asked myself. By now, they've all retrieved their gun and started working towards us.

"I'm Mike" the man with a painted face said extending his hand for a shake. I took it reluctantly and he smiled. He walked over to Gary and introduced himself shaking him as well

"You are....?" He asked looking from Gary to me .

"I'm Gary and he's....."

"Name's Richard" i said cutting Gary short. He looked at me and I just stared back at him .

Mike told us he has a large group of survivors at his base which according to him, it's a Ten minutes drive from where they are. He called that place checkpoint and said the armed men there have seen us coming from afar. I only listened all the while making Gary do all the talking. He told Mike about Wayne and Nancy back at home and how we came in search of supplies.

"You can join our group if you like, we have lots of supplies and also it's very secure and fortified from zeds and bandits"  Mike said 

"Give me a minute" Gary told said. He took me to our car while Mike watched with keen interest.

" I think we should follow them" Gary said almost in a whisper

" What?" I said in shock at what he said 

" You're crazy?" I asked "we barely know who they are and you want us to follow them?" I said almost disappointed

"You don't get it" Gary said "At least we could try it out and see how it goes. We're just four left with a kid, it's not easy to survive on our own with the bandits terrorising the city" Gary said

"Well I see no bandits here except 'em" I replied sharply. Gary was surprised at my reply, I guess he has never seen me like this. 

" How about we go check out their base and then later decide if we go or not with the rest at home" he said. I was silent for moment. This does not look good  I thought. I'm not willing to risk people's lives with the decision we're gonna make, but maybe he's right, we can at least check it out.

" Fine" I said " we can check it out, but I'll always keep an eye on Mike" I said looking over at were he stood. He smiled at me but I frowned back.

" I don't trust him" I added 

"Fine then" Gary said and we both went back to Mike and his group.

Gary told him our conclusion and he agreed to take us there. Gary snapped his finger and the group removed the vehicles used in blocking the road. Two SUV's were parked by the side of the road and I guess that's what transport them here. Mike and three others got into the vehicle while we went back to our truck with Gary driving as usual. 

We followed the SUV from behind while I take note of the signs on the road. We saw a large billboard ahead with the Inscription 'Galaxy Mega Hotel' a large skyscraper building could be seen behind it and I guess immediately that's where we're headed. 

In few minutes we got to the building. It has a giant gate with a kind of watch tower made with wood. There's a man on  on the tower armed with an Ak-47 , he gave some sort of order to someone at the other side and the giant gate opened with the help of two armed men pushing it open. 

We drove in with Mike leading us in. The people around all shift their attention to us, they kept staring till I feel embarrassed. The compound is a very large one with the skyscraper at the center. More buildings surround it all around with everything secured with tall wired fence. 

Kids were running around playing with toys and other things. Men and women were all busy with one thing or the other. Few of them are armed with assault rifles. The armed ones seems to all be putting on some type of mask. 

The SUV kept driving and we followed it with patience. Some of the people by now have stopped what they're doing and are staring at us non stop. We took a left turn towards where I guess served as the hotel's car park before the virus broke out and I guess it still serve the same purpose cause of the fleet of cars parked there. 

Mike's SUV parked beside a Honda and we pulled up beside the SUV. Mike came down full of smiles with some of the guards waving at him in greeting. I came out of the truck first taking note of everything around me. The area was well kept and i almost forgot about the apocalypse.

"Here we are" Mike announced as soon as Gary came out of the truck. He was beaming with smiles like someone about meet his bride. By now, we've been surrounded by a small group of people looking inquiringly at us. 

A man with a hat pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He's putting on a brown shit with its sleeves rolled up to his elbow and a blue jean. He has a holster strapped to his side with a revolver in it. He looked more like a cow boy in his out fit.

"You've brought friends with you huh"  he said standing akimbo and scanning us from head to toe with his eyes7075! I thought .

"They're here to stay?" He asked chewing something in his mouth, I guess it's gum

"Not yet" Mike said making him frown.

"Then why are they here?" He asked with the frown still on his face.

"They wanna check if it's safe for them or not" 

"What's gonn' happen if it's safe for 'em? He asked

" Then they're gonna go get the rest of their group, three people to be precise" Mike said

" To grown ups and a kid" he added hastily

"And if it's not?" He asked

" Well, it's their choice" Mike replied. The man turned to me still chewing the gum in his mouth making me wonder were he got that from with the whole apocalypse.

"What's your name?" He asked turning to Gary 

"I'm Gary and he's....." 

"Name's Richard" I said cutting him short the second time today. He looked questioningly at me I just stared back and gave him the whatever look. The man kept looking from Gary to me. What was he thinking? I asked myself.

"Well, I'm Mr Bryan" he said. Gary offered his hand for a shake but he refuse to shake it.

"No shaking of hands for now" he said "who knows if you're hiding a bite he added in disgust making me hate him immediately.

He disperse the crowd and told Mike to take care of us. We decided to leave very early in the morning as it is getting late already and we can't risk driving at night. We were giving one of the luxurious room in the hotel and we had a very delicious meal of pasta and beef in a hall were I guess is used as a conference room before the apocalypse. 

I showered in the bathroom and was surprised the water still runs. Mike told me of the solar panels they use in generating electricity and think I'm starting to like him compared to that proud motherf***ker called Bryan. According to Mike, he was the CEO of the hotel before the virus outbreak and he has connections with top government officials. He volunteered to turn his hotel to a safe haven for survivors and that's how the base came to existence. 

It's strange for a rich man like Bryan to give his hotel up for charity. Something is not just right here I thought while lying down beside Gary who was fast asleep. Hope it's not what I'm thinking? Where do all the supplies they have come from? . I kept asking myself all this questions till sleep crept in.

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TBC.