The Left Series (Book 6): Left On An Island

by Fletcher, Christian

  “You okay, Wilde Man?” Tony was asking me when my senses slowly returned.

  I squirmed and Tony bent down to help me to my feet. The pain in my ankle was still there but not so bad that I couldn’t stand.

  “I’m okay,” I rasped. “What is this place?”

  “I don’t rightly know, mate,” Tony said, glancing around. “I think it’s some sort of loft space.”

  A few wooden chests and old wooden furniture stood piled against the walls in the cramped space around us. I’d crashed into a waist high dresser table when I’d come through the window and the thing lay sprawled on its side in the center of the room. A rectangular gap in the far corner of the floor space revealed the top of a descending wooden staircase down onto the ground floor. I shuffled tentatively towards the steps, checking my handgun was still in place in the back of my waistband.

  “You still got your gun with you?” I asked Tony.

  He shrugged and shook his head. “Nah, sorry, mate. I lost it somewhere back on that rooftop. I think I dropped it when Dan got shot.”

  I managed to contain the rage that threatened to spill out of me. “Okay, Tony. Not to worry,” was all I could muster.

  I drew my Glock and checked it over. It still looked in reasonable condition. I crouched down and glanced through the opening at the top of the stairs. No movement of any kind caught my eye and I couldn’t see any shadows moving across the beige floor tiles in the room below.

  “Follow me,” I whispered, as I began to pad slowly down the staircase. Sweat rolled off me. Where the fuck was Smith? “Smith...are you down there?” I heard no response. Nothing. I felt uneasy leading the way. Normally, Smith took charge and I followed. Now, I had the responsibility of Tony’s life in my hands. Not something I was comfortable with. I always had a tendency to get people killed.

  Tony followed close behind me. The stairs creaked as we trod slowly downwards. The acrid stench of rotting flesh attacked my senses as we neared the ground floor. Sunlight blazed across the room from windows facing the street to the right.

  I moved slowly in the shadows, close to the brick wall to my left and indicated for Tony to do the same. We were in a rectangular shaped, open plan kitchen come dining room with the windows facing the harbor to the right. Two rotten corpses sat facing each other at a circular glass table situated around three feet from the bank of windows.

  The dead couple had obviously taken their own lives some time ago. They sat with their decaying heads tilted to the ceiling, the skin parched and tightly pressed against their skulls. The hair was wispy and gray and the eyes had gone, their teeth protruded in a deathly grimace. Half full glasses and an empty pill bottle sat on the table in front of the bodies. From their decomposing clothing, I gathered they were a man and a woman, probably a retired couple intending to live out their days on the island and had taken their own lives when the undead virus engulfed the world.

  A crowd of zombies trudged by the windows, groaning and screaming as they purposefully traipsed down the street, as though they had a human target to aim for. I didn’t know what had attracted them but at least it kept their attention away from our presence.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Tony muttered.

  I put my finger to my lips. It wouldn’t take much for the undead horde to batter their way through the bank of coastal facing windows. We had to allow them to pass before we figured out our next move.

  I closed my eyes, willing the undead to pass by. Images of people I’d known floated through my mind. My sister Samantha, Julia, Estella Cordoba – beautiful intimate moments. My father, Eazy, Rosenberg, Jimmy, Pete Cousins, Marlon Keen and good friends in good places. I shuddered and had to open my eyes. The past was not somewhere I wanted to visit. The past was another world. A lifetime away. Gone forever but not forgotten.

  I breathed a few inward breaths. Smith was nowhere in sight and I didn’t know what his plans were. I didn’t even know if he was still alive. We couldn’t go back to the truck and I didn’t know where the sniper was in the town.

  The question I had to ask myself was - did I stay put or try and make a break for the boat in the harbor?

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  “What are we going to do now?” Tony asked me, when the rush of zombies had trotted by the windows.

  I didn’t have any answers. I didn’t know what the hell to do for the best. I didn’t like the feeling of somebody hanging on my every move. What the hell! I just wanted to be back on that damn warship playing chess with Chandra, moaning about the onboard facilities and being bored out of my brains.

  I knew we couldn’t stay where we were or we’d end up like the old couple sat at the table. The extreme heat, the stench of decaying flesh and the intense situation made me feel like puking. I wanted a cigarette. I wanted a stiff drink. I wanted to be in a safe place. I knew I wasn’t going to get any of those things unless I thought with clarity and acted rationally.

  “Smith will be heading for the boat,” I muttered. “We have to try and get to the jetty.”

  “We ‘aint going to get out of here in one piece, Wilde Man,” Tony wailed. “Fucking zombies are all over the gaff and that bastard sniper will shoot our bollocks off if we try and make a move out of here.”

  Perhaps Tony was right. I’d been in some shitty situations since the world had gone all to hell. This one was right up there amongst the top of them. I tried to think logically.

  “Smith must have come inside here and he must have made it out of here somehow,” I said, pacing across the kitchen. “He can’t have just disappeared.”

  “If he had any sense, he’s done one and legged it out of here,” Tony said. “We should try and do the same, mate.”

  I opened a small wooden cabinet and saw a half empty bottle of rum. I lifted the bottle, unscrewed the lid and took a long slug. The burn down my throat felt good. I turned and offered the bottle to Tony. He rushed forward and took the bottle, glancing out of the windows before taking a swig.

  “This is totally fucked up. All that sea out there and we’re stuck in here,” Tony murmured.

  I took the bottle from Tony and engaged in another long gulp. “All we have to do is make it to that jetty,” I said. “Once we’re out of the harbor, those bastards can’t touch us.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Tony gulped and wiped sweat from his forehead with his forearm. “So, what’s the plan?”

  I passed him back the rum bottle and thought long and hard before I spoke. I gazed out of the windows at the bay beyond.

  “We’ll make a run for that boat and try and get out of the harbor,” I said. “Smith will either show up or he’ll stay somewhere in the town. He’s probably trying to track down that sniper. He’s the one guy who can find her.”

  Tony shrugged. “I haven’t even got a gun, mate.”

  I glanced around the kitchen-diner. “Grab something you can use as a weapon, just in case.”

  Tony moved to the countertop and took a long kitchen knife from a wooden chopping board rack. He studied the blade for a few seconds then held it up.

  “This will do,” he said.

  “Okay, we’ll run hard and fast and try to make it through the streets to that glass bottomed boat,” I said. “Just don’t get snared up and don’t get caught anywhere that leads to a dead end.”

  Tony nodded but he seemed distant, as though he wasn’t taking in anything I was saying. I didn’t know if he was suffering from shock or he’d mentally given up on things.

  “You hear me, Tony?” I said, with a little more urgency.

  Tony stared at the kitchen knife in his hands, turned it over then glanced up at me with a strangle expression on his face. For one brief moment, I thought he was going to hurl the blade at me.

  “Yeah, I understand you,” he muttered. “You don’t need to keep harping on. I’m okay.”

  I somehow doubted his last statement but I had to go along with him. In my experience of apocalypse survivors, if your mind wasn’t fully focu
sed you didn’t last long out in the thick of things.

  I glanced around the kitchen diner looking for an escape route. I was starting to doubt if Smith had even come this way. Why the hell hadn’t he waited for us?

  Nestled next to an alcove around to the left of the kitchen, I spotted a door, which was half wooden, half glass paneled at the top. I looked through the glass and saw the exit led to a small wall enclosed yard. Edging closer to the doorway, I studied the area beyond. The concrete covered yard couldn’t have been more than a few square feet in size and a small lean-to shed stood against the outer wall to the right.

  “We’re going out this way,” I said to Tony, nodding at the door.

  Tony shook his head. “That doesn’t lead anywhere.”

  “We hop up onto that shed and over the wall.”

  Tony scowled. “You’re fucking crazy, Wilde Man. We don’t even know what’s over the other side of that wall.”

  I sighed. “We have a quick sneaky look-see first, Tony. I’m not expecting us to jump on top of a whole bunch of zombies on the other side.”

  Tony snorted. “Well, all right. If you think that’s the best way out of here.”

  I nodded to the bank of windows facing the bay. “We can always go right out the front way and straight into the arms of that crowd of zombies if you want.”

  A half smile lingered briefly across Tony’s face. “Okay, Wilde Man. We’ll go out the back way. I’ve had to get out of a few music clubs over the wall in my time after a shit gig so this won’t be any different.”

  I smiled and managed a silent laugh. It was good to see Tony regaining some of his sense of humor at least.

  “Just try and remember to keep quiet out there,” I reminded him.

  Tony shrugged and nodded. I thought for a moment and decided I could use some kind of a silent weapon myself. I tucked the handgun in the back of my waistband and searched through the kitchen drawers. A long bladed fruit knife sat in the cutlery tray in the top drawer. I picked up the fruit knife and studied the shiny thin blade. It looked a useful weapon as I held it up by the black plastic handle.

  I nudged the kitchen drawer shut with my hip and glanced over at Tony standing by the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” I said.

  Tony nodded and his focus seemed to have returned. His eyes looked clearer and his whole body language seemed more upbeat. He’d need all the positivity he could muster when we hit the streets outside.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  I opened the door and leaned out into the backyard. I couldn’t hear or see any sounds of movement in the small enclosed space. I glanced back at Tony and nodded towards the lean-to shed in the corner. Tony followed close behind me and silently closed the door once we were both in the yard. The high brick walls stopped any breeze blowing across the yard and the hot air felt cloyingly thick and heavy. The unmistakable rotting stench of the undead reached my senses along with the decaying matter all over the town.

  I padded across the scorched concrete ground and hauled myself up the side of the lean-to shed. I crawled across the flat, square asphalt roof and was surprised how hot the rough material felt against the palms of my hands and burning through my cargo pants at the knees. The roof panels under the asphalt surface creaked slightly under my weight and I worried how rotten the structure was beneath me.

  I reached the side of the adjacent brick wall and peered over the top into the alleyway beyond. Three zombies lurked on the ground, bumbling around in circles seemingly not knowing in which direction to go. I glanced back down at Tony and held up three fingers, indicating the three ghouls in the alley. Tony’s face dropped and all enthusiasm for escape seemed to evaporate. His negativity was starting to piss me off. What did he expect, a chauffeur driven Limo right to the jetty? The rough, tough London boy image he liked to exude seemed almost farcical.

  I huffed and turned back to the alley. The three zombies hadn’t seen me and I didn’t want to use my handgun to take them out. The sound of gunfire would reverberate around the alley and magnify itself tenfold. No, these schmucks had to be eliminated the hard way.

  The strength of the lean-to shed was worrying me and I didn’t want to risk Tony joining me up on the roof. It wasn’t far to fall if the damn thing collapsed but it was our only means of escaping out from the grounds. I decided I’d have to go over first, take out the three zombies as quickly as possible then hope Tony followed me over the wall.

  I attempted to relay the plan to Tony by the use of hand signals but I could tell by the confused expression on his face halfway through my waving and flapping that he didn’t know what the hell I meant. Screw it, I was going to have to just roll with it and hope he didn’t freeze.

  I slid the fruit knife from the side pocket of my cargo pants and clenched the blade between my teeth. Now I knew why pirates held their weapons in such a way, ready to attack while climbing around without the need to draw a blade from a sheath. I briefly pondered on the thought of the zombie apocalypse kicking off in past times. How would they have coped say two hundred years ago? In all probability, it would have been eradicated pretty quickly. Nobody traveled as far and as quickly in such great numbers in those days and they kind of believed freaky shit could just happen, like the dead getting up and eating people. It was probably our generation’s unwillingness to accept what had happened that contributed to our downfall.

  I knew my tired mind was wandering and I couldn’t allow that to happen. I had to concentrate on the job in hand. Maybe the sun was getting to me, combined with a lack of sleep. I glanced back at Tony then scrabbled up the side of the wall.

  A lone cloud briefly blocked the sun for a couple of seconds as I mounted the wall and sat astride the brick structure. The alley was momentarily completely blackened in shadow, preventing me from seeing the whereabouts of any of the ghouls below. The lack of sunlight disorientated me and I couldn’t see anything on either side. I felt giddy and thought I was going to topple over the summit of the wall.

  A low pitched snarling, growling sound rapidly brought my senses back and the cloud overhead drifted away from the sun. The three zombies in the alley had spotted or sensed me and now my element of surprise and possibility of a swift attack had gone. The ghouls all looked up at me with sneering expressions, exposing decaying gums and rotting teeth. They reached upward with bony fingers, almost willing me down to join them in the alley. The excited noises they were making would soon attract more undead so I either had to silence them quickly or abort the whole plan.

  I didn’t have too long to think about the dilemma. If we sat tight in the house, they’d soon figure out we were inside and break their way through the glass panels out front. I was going to have to go for it.

  I hoisted my leg over the wall so I was perched on the edge facing the alley. The drop was roughly twelve feet so my landing was going to have to be spot on. I couldn’t afford to turn my damaged ankle over in an awkward jump.

  I took the knife out from between my jaws and glanced over at Tony.

  “Follow me down,” I muttered.

  I didn’t wait to see if or how Tony had responded. I gripped the fruit knife by the handle in my right hand and slid my backside down from the top of the wall. I raised the knife as I descended in mid-air, slipping from the wall. There was no turning back now.

  The nearest ghoul was a male, and the flesh around his face hung loose around the side of his cheeks. What remained of the hair was short and sparse and long elongated grooves scarred the top of the head. He was short but thickset and his ragged, filthy clothes hung around him as though they were about to fall away from his body.

  I brought the knife downward as I hit the ground, bending my knees at the point of contact to absorb the impact. I made sure I aimed the fruit knife blade at the male zombie’s head as I hit the alleyway. The blade pierced the guy’s skull at the very top of his head and my dropping momentum meant the knife went deep into the brain. The guy keeled over backwards and slumped unmoving against the
wall on the opposite side of the alley. I made sure I gripped the knife handle so the falling body wouldn’t pull the weapon from my grasp.

  I landed on the ground without any twinges of pain from my damaged ankle. I was okay, still on my feet and good to go.

  The remaining two zombies came at me together, one was behind me and the other to the front, cutting off both directions of the alleyway. A female ghoul with long, knotted dark hair stood in front of me and made a swipe for my face. I ducked the gnarled hand and took a forward pace in a crouching stance toward the female. As I raised myself upright, I brought the fruit knife upwards below the zombie woman’s chin. The blade pierced soft decaying flesh and speared the inside of the woman’s skull. I quickly withdrew the knife and let the deceased body fall to the ground.

  I spun around to face the third and final ghoul in the alleyway. The shuffling corpse had once been an industrial worker of some kind, perhaps plying his trade on the boats in the harbor. He wore light green coveralls that were heavily blood stained and shredded along the arms, legs and midriff. His gait seemed awkward and an almost surprised expression was imprinted on his face. I wondered if that was the final sensation he felt when he shuffled off his mortal coil and returned as one of the undead. No matter, he had to be eliminated.

  I feigned to move right, waited for the zombie to react and then dodged to the left. I stomped forward and brought the fruit knife around in a sideswipe motion. The blade connected and pierced the guy’s left temple, producing a spray of black liquid from the wound. I pulled the knife out of the ghoul’s head and let him sink to the ground. He still wore the surprised expression that would be locked on his face until the flesh finally decayed.

  I bent down and wiped the pulp and gunk off the knife blade onto the guy’s filthy coveralls then looked up at the top of the wall to the left.