After we got him out from under the Reaper, Mary and I left Marc and Christine with the Land Rover and went to check out the shop. Well, you know the rest; we found Jacob and his son Chris in the storeroom at the back. We gathered the rest of the food and water we could and headed back here.”
(My idiot brother is going to get himself killed the loon.)
“Well, we have new people and all the gear that you managed to go out for and more. Plus, everyone came back safe even if one of them needs a good kicking. So I think we can mark that up to a win for us.” I said.
“Don’t be too hard on him Jay he is trying to prove he is a valuable member of this group.” She said.
I did understand, but the thing is that idiot is the only relative that I knew of still alive. I smiled at Becky and said “Ok, Becky, I will go easy on him.”
It was then that Maddie and Christine came in with the trays of food and everyone lined up for food. Of course Ghost crept out of his hiding place to get his share. He was disappointed when Maddie plonked a bowl of dry dog food down for him. I swear the look on his face was ‘What the hell is this woman?’, but Maddie just scratched between his ears and grabbed her own food and sat down with me.
We all ate and talked about things that happened during the day, Rees and Becky told everyone about what had happened with each group. Derek told us that he would finish the rest of the pistol range in a couple of days and that he had managed with the help of his daughters to clear out the gift shop. The girls took turns to squeal about the fact they would have somewhere to chill out and another kid to chill out with. Chris just blushed and continued eating his dinner. His father Jacob said that he was a qualified plumber and would try and sort out some way to get hot and cold water to the castle.
For everyone that lived in the castle that was welcome news and the idea that they wouldn’t have to try and heat water in those big tubs in the bath house made them happy. With that, everyone broke up from the meals with Christine and her girls gathering the dirty plates to clean. Rees and Derek said they would mount the TV on the wall and set up the consoles so the kids would have something to do. Maddie said she wanted to have a talk with Becky and Mary and drifted over to them. (Nice to know I am wanted.) I walked out the gift shop and up the steps to the top of the wall and looked over at the mainland. It was interesting to see the dark mass off the west side of the island. There were no lights anywhere as far as the eye could see.
Things had changed so much in the last couple of months; the noises that I heard every night in my flat back home were no longer there. The light from the houses and street lights at night seemed to make things safer even though we all knew bad things still happened during those hours, but the appearance of safety helped people to sleep. Now the night seemed to come like an evil presence at the end of each day and choke the color and light from the world. With this blackness came the noises of animals and creatures that you seldom heard if you lived in an urban environment, but it now also came with the hunting noise of the Reapers and if you were still trying to survive in any town or city. The unfortunate cries and screams of those that had been hunted down and caught.
I turned back to look down into our little home and saw the light I missed streaming out of the café and the gift shop. I heard for the first time since this had all began the familiar tone of an Xbox starting up. I walked back down the steps, smiling and went into the gift shop to see Marc arguing with Chris and the two girls as to who got to play on it first. (You know even if he grew up and had kids I think Marc would have argued.)
“Marc, let the kids play on it.” I said.
“Dude, I got it because I hadn’t played it on it yet!” He cried.
(God, he was nearly crying.)
“Look the kids have had nothing since this all started and you have gotten to live the ultimate real life COD and shoot guns.” I said.
Chapter Four
Looking at the floor he passed to controller to Chris and slowly walked past me saying “Well, you’re right about that, but when they go to bed I am having a go.”
I patted him on the back and followed him into the café where all the adults had put the tables together and sat drinking. I went and got myself a tea from the ever present urn on the counter. Turning I leaned my back against the counter and watched as Rees started to take the piss out of Marc and his moaning about the Xbox One. Becky just pulled Marc onto the seat next to her. Drinking my tea I turned to see Jacob standing beside me.
“Jay, I know you hope that this place might be a permanent home, but have you thought about what might happen if we get over run from the mainland?” He asked.
“Yeah, Rees and I were trying to figure a redundancy for if something like that ever happened. From the look on your face I can see that you have an idea.” I replied.
“Hey, don’t get me wrong the island idea was a great one, the only problem we have is that causeway.”
“Yeah, I know Rees wanted to try and destroy it, but I pointed out it was a sandbar. I would take years if ever to make it more secure.”
“Well, you know there are the Farne Islands to the south about five miles away by boat.”
“The Farne Islands aren’t they a wildlife preserve or something?” I said puzzled where this was going.
“It is but there is a lighthouse and some other buildings on there as well. Here is the best part, and you’re going to like it, you can only get there by sea, there is no causeway.” He said smiling.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me. I thought this place was going to be great, but then you come along and kick a big fucking hole in it.”
“Don’t work yourself over about it. The actual island only has a few buildings on it and can get really harsh in the winter. The only reason I thought of it was, to use it as a fall back if we needed it.” He said.
“Jacob, you are a star mate. It would be a good place if we needed to get the women and kids somewhere safe. Do you have any ideas how we could have a look at the island?” I asked.
“Can’t see it being a problem, we just need a boat and then head down the coast. I mean you can see the island from the coast no problem.” He said.
I waved Rees over and asked Jacob to fill him in on what he had just told me, his response “What the Fuck?” We then went on to tell him about the island not being as good as Holy Island for living on. With that his shoulders seemed to relax and he nodded his head.
“That actually takes a lot off my mind. I have been trying to think of somewhere that we could bug out too if necessary.” Rees said.
“Well, unless you know the area, then you wouldn’t know about the buildings on the Farne Islands. I had a caravan up at the Haggerston Castle, and we used to come here for holidays. So we took the kids every now to here and Farne.” Jacob said.
Looking at them I said “So a couple of questions. The first of which being how do we get a boat and the second is do we check out the island before we use it as a fallback?”
“Well, there are a few houses on the mainland near here that have piers with boats.” Jacob replied.
“Yeah, you remember what Simon said Walker!” said Rees.
“Humph! That little psycho ran that boat into the sandbar, but he did say he got it from someone’s private berth.” I replied.
I tapped a finger on my leg and Ghost appeared from round the counter to rub against my leg.
“Where the hell did he come from?” said Jacob backing up.
“Oh! Don’t worry about Ghost, he’s Walker’s stupid mutt.” Rees replied.
Ghost looked at Rees and a slow growl rumbled in his chest. Rees laughed, bent down and rubbed Ghost’s head in between his hands. Ghost just let his tongue hang from the side of his mouth in a doggy grin.
“Shit, he’s a quiet one.” Jacob said.
“The only thing he is good for at the moment is sleeping and eating. He was my dads, but when my dad died, he came with me. I love him, but he can be as dumb as a post sometimes.�
�� I said.
“Back to your questions Walker I think you might be right to check out this island first.” He said standing up.
I looked up at him and said “Ok, it’s getting late now; I think we can get some sleep and talk in the morning about it. Also, I can see Marc edging further and further towards the gift shop. If he starts a fight with the kids again, you’re going to have to smack his arse.” I said to Rees.
“God, I swear he is worse than Bob. You remember Bob?” Rees said smiling.
“Aw for god sake I had forgotten about Bob.” I said.
Jacob looked at us both in turn and said “Bob? Was he a survivor?”
“Nah, this was back when Rees and I were in the Army together.” I said and went on to tell the tale of Bob.
Now you see back when Rees and I first started serving in the Army. Handheld game consoles had just started to appear. I think the one that had Bob hooked was a Gamelad or Gamemate something like that. Anyway, Bob was into the latest game tech, and always had something new. Well, we were on patrol in an armored Land Rover in Northern Ireland back when the troubles were still being played out.
We had just turned a corner to see a republican flag hanging from a lamp post now we had orders to pull them down if we saw them. We stopped and got out of the Land Rover. But Bob being Bob was sitting in the back playing with his new toy. All we could hear coming from the back was the beep and bing. We decided to send the new private in our patrol up on top of the Land Rover to pull it down.
What we didn’t know was that lamp post had been filled with explosive and the flag was the trigger. The explosion knocked us all flat. Well, I say all of us the private (never can remember his name.) was sort of spread in a circle of red for about fifty meters. (I think Rees had an eyeball or something on his jacket when he stood back up. I am not too sure about that.) The Land Rover was on its side and was torn apart; there was nothing we could do for the private. So we rushed to see if Bob was ok. There he was, lay on his side crying out in pain and shock. He had lacerations on his face, but his right arm was missing and blood was pumping out in spurts. The squad medic rushed in and started to stabilize him.
That’s when Rees called out and turned to see him looking down at something on the ground. I walked over at there was part of Bob’s arm. Well, I say part, it was his hand and he still had the console in it. But the thing that stands out was that the thumb still had some remaining nerve impulses and it was tapping on one of the buttons. Suffice to say that Bob couldn’t stand the sight of any type of gaming device since then.
Jacob just looked shocked at what had happened to Bob. Rees and I just shrugged. Jacob wandered over to his son and extracted the controller from his hands. He had a quiet but strained word with his son and said that he would talk with us in the morning. He left the gift shop and started off to the castle for bed. His son was complaining behind him all the way to the castle. Derek and Christine came past next and told us they were off to bed as well. The girls got up and followed when called, but unlike Jacob’s son there was no complaining.
Marc sat on the couch with the controller in his hand just looking at the screen.
I shouted over “Dude, what’s up?”
“Erm... can you believe it? I actually don’t feel like playing on it now that I can. It feels like a waste of time.” He said.
“Fuck, that’s not Marc. What the fuck have you done with Marc? You alien scum!” shouted Rees.
Marc just looked stunned. Becky had her hand over her mouth trying to hide a huge smile. Maddie and Mary started laughing and I just shook my head at his stunned expression. Maddie and Mary stood and cleared away the cups and mugs whilst laughing at Marc’s face as it got redder and redder. I walked over to him and said “Just turn it off bud.”
“That was not cool Rees you giant fuck!” He said.
“Actually, it was very funny.” Becky said finally succumbing to the giggles.
Marc face just fell and after a few seconds a small smile spread across it.
“Ok, maybe a little funny.” He said.
I waited till Maddie had come back out of the kitchen and said “I am off to bed with the missus. See you all in the morning.”
I walked across and took her hand, placed a gentle kiss on her lips and we walked upstairs.
The morning came and I was up before Maddie and decided to get up. I slowly untangled myself and pulled on some clothes, grabbed my rifle and webbing. Quietly letting myself out of our room, I walked across the now nearly empty living room and out the apartment. I stood at the top of the stairs and pulled on the webbing before going down.
The café and gift shop were empty and the outside door was closed. Opening it, I was greeted by the smell of the sea and a gray sky. I walked across the courtyard and up the steps to the top of the wall. I stood where I had the night before and looked out over the wall. The night before me was all empty and black. This morning there was a gray light and a low ground fog. The fog seemed to only reach halfway up the wall, which gave the impression of standing above the clouds. The fog rolled and billowed below me. All I could think was there could be any amount of dangers under that mist.
Reapers could have the castle surrounded and we would have no way of knowing. I was stood woolgathering when Rees came up the steps to stand next to me.
“I thought it was you up here. You ok?” He asked.
“What? Oh... yeah, just thinking.” I replied.
“That cause’s all your problems you know?”
“What does?”
“Thinking you do it too much; sometimes a gut reaction is the right reaction.” He said looking out over the wall.
“Since when did you become the sage of all wisdom?” I asked.
“Since all this shit started to happen. I have something to tell you as well.” He answered.
“What that you and Mary have been bumping uglies?”
He turned to look at me, but I was watching the mist with a small smile on my lips.
“How the fuck did you know? We were being as quiet as possible about it.” He said looking at me dumbfounded.
Still watching the mist, I said “Mate you might have been trying to keep it on the down low, but your shite at it. I am sure everyone knows about you and Mary by now. I think everyone was just giving you both some privacy and not wanting to interfere.”
He stood staring at me for a few seconds, then said “You always have been a sneaky git, Walker.”
“Nothing sneaky about it mate. I saw that you were happy and waited for when you were ready to tell me.” I turned and looked him in the face and continued “You’re my best mate and are like a brother. We have seen war together and fought together. This mess has made me think that if you can get some happiness then you take it. Plus, you do your best to either defend your family or support them. Mate you are part of my family and I would die before ever hurting you either intentionally or by accident.”
He stood looking at me after my little speech, and then pulled me in close for a large hug. (The git had to go and spoil the moment by squeezing my arse.)
He let go and said “Bud, from basic till now you have always been a mate and I can now call you brother.”
We then turned back to look over the wall.
“You do realize that this doesn’t mean we are going steady?” I said.
He laughed and shook his head. There was noise coming from the café and we turned to see movement inside. The warm light from the window was spilling into the courtyard. That triggered a thought and I said “How much fuel do you think we have left for the generator?”
“To be honest, I don’t know, but it might be an idea to have a check on it.” He said walking down the steps.
I turned and followed him down the steps and over to the café. Walking inside I left Rees to check the level of fuel in the generator. I walked over to where Maddie was setting out an urn on the counter.
She turned when she heard me and said “Morning. Where did you get
off to this morning?”
“Just went to get some air and give the old noggin a shake.” I said kissing her.
“Thought I saw someone here on the top of wall.”
“Rees found me up there he wanted to talk.”
“Oh! He wanted to tell you about Mary and him?” she asked with a smile.
“Yeah.”
“About time they have been tiptoeing round you for the last day or so.”
Puzzled, I asked “What do you mean tiptoeing?”
“Well, they both thought you might get upset for some reason. I told them last night to stop being fools and just tell you. I told Rees that you were his best friend and that you would never get upset about his happiness. Anyway, he said he would talk to you today about it.”
“Stupid.”
“Yes, it was. Now sit down and I will bring you a cup of tea.” She said kissing my cheek.
I sat down and Maddie went and got me a cup of tea. I was just taking my first sips when Rees came back from checking the fuel for the generator. He slumped down into the chair on the other side of the table.
“There is about a quarter tank of fuel left. Altogether there is about three maybe four more days’ worth of it. We could stretch that to more, but not more than a day or so.” He said.
“What kind of fuel does it use?” I asked.
“It’s one of them diesel generators.” He replied.
I sat back and looked at the ceiling, where the hell were we going to get diesel from?
“Ok, where are we going to get a large amount of diesel from? I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy sucking on a hose to get it.” I said. (Yes, I know I said sucking on a hose, get your head out the gutter.)
The Reaper Series (Book 3) Reapers Mist Page 3
