The Left Series (Book 4): Left In The Cold (13 page)

“Okay, if those bastards are all on the veranda, we can slip out the fire door and skirt around the back of the clubhouse. That way we’ll be halfway across the golf course before they notice us,” Smith said.

“Okay, let’s roll,” Wingate said, rising to her feet. “I don’t want to have to spend the night in this place.”

We moved towards the fire exit in the corner of the clubhouse. Gera clicked off his flashlight and Smith depressed the gray, metal bar in the center of the door.

“Lead on, Wilde Man,” he whispered, shoving the door wide open.

Chapter Eighteen

The wind screamed through the open fire door and I battled to move through the entrance. I turned left on the walkway around the back of the building. No zombies lurked in the immediate vicinity and I assumed they were all still on the front veranda, hoping I would re-emerge from the roof skylight.

The others silently followed my lead. I headed off of the side walkway in a slight jogging run and onto the flat ground that was once a golf course. The dim interior candle lights inside the castle glowed eerily through the night sky. The towers loomed out of the blackness as we drew closer to the solid stone structure.

We dodged several straggling zombies
, who moaned wildly as we brushed by them. Smith and Gera smashed their rifle butts into the heads of a couple of undead who came too close for comfort. I couldn’t hear or see any sounds or flashes of shotgun blasts and I wondered where the hell Alex and Batfish and the others were.

I saw a number of silhouettes of heads and hands, reaching between the gaps in the portcullis entrance at the front of the castle but no sounds of gunfire. It seemed pointless heading towards the front of the castle if the way in
side was blocked and nobody was there to let us in. I decided to head for the side entrance and just hoped Alex and the others had started to make their way back to the gate.

I reached the corner of the outer wall and jolted in fright when a deep voice barked from above me.

“Hey, Brett!” the voice hissed.

I stopped moving and looked up. Davie stood on top of the outer wall looking down at me
, holding his shotgun in one hand and the flare pistol in the other.

“I was just going to fire up the flare. Make your way back to the side gate. The others are waiting for you there on the inside but you’ll have to hurry.
There are more zombies coming around the outside walls. I can see them from up here.”

“Okay,” I whispered
and continued onwards into the shadows of the side wall.

“Who the hell was that?” Smith asked.

“He’s one of the guys who live here.”

“Jesus, he looks like Satan himself,” he huffed. “I hope these pals of yours are friendly, Wilde. I’m not in the mood for another shoot out tonight.”

“Quit whining,” I snapped. “We’ve got to get back inside there first.”

I heard a series of hisses and screeches from the darkness in front of me so I slowed up the pace. Smith banged into my back from behind me.

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

“Up ahead,” I whispered. “There are some zombies in the shadows. Somebody turn on their flashlight.”

I heard a click from behind me and a bright white glow projected across the snowy ground. At least twenty undead lurked in a line along the wall. Some were even chewing on loose or protruding stones from the fortification. The flashlight picked out their milky white eyes, glaring back at us.

“Where’s this damn gate, Wilde Man?” Smith spat.

“Just up ahead,” I groaned. “Only another few yards.”

Smith raised his M-16 rifle to his eye line and released a burst of fire. The rounds rattled against the wall, passing through undead skulls and producing a slimy brown stripe of
diseased blood and brain matter across the stones. Cordoba also opened fire, taking out any zombies who had strayed away from the wall.

“Keep that flashlight on,” Smith instructed Gera. “We need to see what the hell we’re doing now. A whole load more of them are going to come after us.”

We moved steadily forward but I could see the pale faces looming from the darkness beyond. Masses of the undead surged around the far corner of the castle and headed in our direction. I hoped we could make it to the side gate in time before the horde swarmed all over us.

I caught sight of the recess where the side gate was located but it was closer to the swarm of zombies than it was to us.

“We’re going to have to move faster or we’re not going to make it in time,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“You better hope your buddies open the door for us or we’re all toast,” Smith growled.

“Give me the flashlight,” Wingate screeched at Gera. “You’ve got that rifle and I’m only carrying a handgun. That way I can keep the light steadier.”

Gera handed over the flashlight to Wingate and she slowly swept the light beam across our pathway and up the high bank away to our right. We were bottled in unless we retreated back to the front of the castle but by now, those zombies roaming the golf course would be making their way towards us.

“Some fucking plan this, kid,” Smith mocked. “We were nice and safe in that old clubhouse, if you’d just left us alone.”

I opened my mouth to protest but didn’t utter a single word. The side door banged open and Alex stepped into the flashlight beam. He
had his shotgun in his hands and looked to his left and saw the oncoming horde of undead, then turned his head towards us.

“Come on,” he hollered.
“This way, quickly.” He furiously waved us forward towards him.

Alex stood between us and the crowd of zombies so we couldn’t fire any gunshots for fear of hitting him with a stray round. I picked up the pace and surged forward on aching legs, somehow finding an extra spurt of energy. The others followed my lead and easily kept pace. Alex bundled me through the open gate and Batfish and Mo stood inside the castle grounds waiting with their guns drawn. Smith, Wingate, Cordoba and Gera followed me through the entrance. Alex fired his shotgun into the closing undead throng
, leapt back through the doorway, then slammed the gate shut and locked it with the bolts and key within a couple of seconds. We heard the howls and thumping of fists on the opposite side of the gate once it was closed.

“You cut that fine,” Alex sighed, breathing heavily. “We didn’t think you were coming back.”

“Will that gate hold them out?” Smith asked suspiciously.

“That door will keep them out, all right,” he replied
, with a hint of contempt in his voice. “Come on, let’s go inside out of this cold.”

Smith nudged me and nodded towards Alex as we followed him back inside the castle interior. We walked in file through the conservatory. Smith, Cordoba, Wingate and Gera dumped their backpacks next to mine and Batfish’s by the chairs in the Great Hall. We
took off our jackets and spent a couple of minutes thawing out by the fire, then followed Alex upstairs to the dining area. He promised us all more hot soup and a main meal as we trudged up the staircase.

The rest of the castle residents were tucking into their main course when we entered the dining area and approached the long table.
Spot came to greet us, wagging his tail and leaping up at our shins as we walked across the carpeted floor space. He looked full of beans after his rest and his belly looked full.

“Find yourselves a chair and sit yourselves down,” Alex addressed
us new arrivals. “There’s plenty of room and food enough for everyone.”

We all took our places at the table. I avoided sitting anywhere near the weird hag called Joan and slumped down
on a chair between Cordoba and Smith. Mrs McMahon smiled warmly as she handed out steaming platefuls of a meaty stew like substance. To be honest, it wasn’t much different from the earlier soup but it was warming and suppressed the hunger. One of my Irish mother’s favorite sayings was “
never look a gift horse in the mouth
,” and I never really knew what that meant until these troubled times, enduring a lack of the fundamental, basic needs.

Alex poured more wine and held court, recounting to the others about our close shave with the undead. The room soon filled with the hubbub of conversation from both parties.
Who we all were, where we had come from, who they were and how long they’d been holed up in the castle.
Cordoba and I talked between ourselves for a few moments.

“I didn’t like us being
separated during that dangerous situation,” she said and briefly rested her head on my shoulder. “I didn’t know where you were and I was worried.”

I smiled and noticed somebody watching me from across the table.
Maddie continuously stared at me, still with a flirty smirk on her face. I returned the smile but let my eyes drop. I couldn’t exactly reciprocate the alluring behavior with Cordoba sitting next to me.

“How long will you all
be staying with us at Connauld Castle?” Alex asked.

“Ah, we don’t want to cramp you guys,” Smith sighed. “But we’d be grateful if you could spare us some shelter for a couple of days.”

“No problem,” Alex said, shaking his head. “We’re happy to have you here. Stay as long as you like.”

Mrs
McMahon collected up the dishes when we’d all eaten as much soup and stew as we could stuff ourselves with. The young pretty girl, Chloe gave Mrs McMahon a hand with the piles of dirty plates and bowls.

“We’ll prepare some guest rooms for you in the North Wing,”
Mrs McMahon called back, as she and Chloe disappeared through an open doorway beyond the long table at the back of the dining hall.

“It’s just like staying in a hotel,” Wingate cooed, with a big grin on her face. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

I nodded in agreement but immediately caught the eye of Joan, who glared intently at me from the opposite side of the table. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel so welcome, after all.

Chapter Nineteen

The dining table was littered with empty wine bottles and Alex asked us if we wanted
something stronger. I could hardly keep my eyes open and desperately wanted to find a bed for the night. The combination of a long day’s trek, the biting cold, lots of hot food and booze made me feel as though I could sleep for a week. I declined Alex’s offer of another ‘
wee dram
’ but Smith, Wingate and Gera accepted.

The atmosphere amongst the residents of
Connauld Castle reminded me a little of how things were at The Glenross Hotel before the rot set in. Everybody getting on fine and simply enjoying the fact they were still alive. I smiled to myself when I thought how satisfying simple pleasures, such as a good meal, a nice glass of wine and a roaring fire during a cold winter could be.

Alex suggested we move into the lounge for a little more comfort and showed us through a set of double doors to the right of the long table.
Maddie and Davie busily lit a few candles, which were dotted around the lounge at various points. The room was large with a boarded wooden floor, stone walls and a high ceiling. A circle of high backed, padded lounge chairs and two chaise longue sat in the center of the floor space. A row of church style windows with engraved stained glass overlooked the front of the castle. I stood in front of one of the central windows with a glass of wine in my hand, looking out onto the medieval ramparts illuminated by the moonlight. The silvery glow shone through the latticed grille of the portcullis gateway, eerily projecting a backlight behind the numerous zombies crowded outside, moaning incessantly while reaching through the square shaped holes.

I felt the presence of somebody approach me from behind
and stand close to my back. I presumed it was Cordoba.

“I w
onder who they all were and why they’re still out there,” I muttered, gesturing to the medieval entranceway with my wine glass.

“Golfers, former guests, people who used to work at the castle,”
came the reply in an unmistakable Scottish accent.

I turned my head slightly and was slightly surprised to see
Maddie pressed a few inches behind me. She stared into my eyes and smiled seductively. I briefly glanced around the room and picked out Cordoba, sitting on the chaise longue talking to Alex, who sat beside her.

Maddie
rested her head on the back of my shoulder and I felt a little uncomfortable. “It’s all right, she’s not looking,” Maddie whispered. “Your girlfriend, I mean.”

I laughed nervously. “Ah, she’s not really my girlfriend. We’re just…” my words trailed off. I didn’t really know what we ‘just’ were. Maybe we were nothing more than cohabitants
sharing carnal needs.

I turned back to the window and took another long sip of wine. The situation had turned surreal. One minute I was battling for my life, the next, trying to stem the advances of a beautiful Scottish woman.
Bizarre.

To my relief,
Maddie raised her head off my shoulder and moved beside me, facing the scene outside the window.

“It took us a long time to clear the castle grounds of all the undead,”
Maddie said. “We lost quite a few people during that cleanup operation. They’re probably amongst those still out there.”

“It’s hard to see an end to all this,” I mused. “Things will never be how they were before the outbreak.”

“It’s the dawning of a new era,” she sighed. “It’s a fresh start for the last remaining few of the human race on the planet.”

“I can’t help thinking that it’s Mother Nature’s purge,” I said. “The world got too over populated and we destroyed too much of the landscape and used up nearly all the natural resources.”

“That’s quite deep, Brett,” Maddie said, smirking. “You must be a sensitive kind of guy.”

I shrugged. I didn’t really think too hard about the circumstances anymore. The situation was what it was and no amount of thinking was going to make one iota of difference to the world. The only one sure outcome guaranteed in life is death. The part in between is only measured by time.
We all had an expiry date looming over us as soon as we were born.

Maddie
rubbed my bicep in a kind of affectionate manner. “Hey, I promised to play a few songs for you,” she said in a child-like voice. “I’ll get my guitar.”

I smiled and watched her saunter to a giant
, light green bean-bag in the corner of the room with a wooden acoustic guitar propped against it. I really wasn’t in the mood and just wanted to go to bed but I didn’t want to appear rude by adjourning for the night.

“No,
Maddie,” Alex shouted in mock protest when he saw her picking up her guitar. “I’m sure our guests don’t want to be subjected to your terrible music.”

“Fuck you!” she spat, with a hint of venom in her tone.

She sat on the bean-bag and began to strum the guitar chords. “This song reached number thirteen in the indie charts,” she proudly proclaimed. “It’s called ‘
Never Saw You Smile
’ and it’s for our lovely new guests.”

I inwardly groaned. I liked music a lot but wasn’t much of a fan of soppy, acoustic songs.
To give Maddie her credit, she had an incredible, melancholy singing voice and her song was really good. We all clapped in a round of applause when she’d finished. She looked directly at me and broke into another song. The lyrics told a tale of a love that was secret but even more passionate because of its futility. Again, I felt uncomfortable and hoped she wasn’t singing the song directly to me.

The room erupted with another round of applause and mock jeers from Alex, when
Maddie completed her tune. Mrs McMahon stood in the lounge door and announced that our rooms were ready for us. I sighed with relief, ready to hit the sack. Another day over with and another day still breathing. Every twenty-four hours still alive and remaining uninfected was a little bonus.

I yawned and stretched my arms before downing the remainder of the wine in my glass.

“Lead the way,” I said to Mrs McMahon. “I’m ready for the land of nod.”

Maddie
glanced at me with a look of disappointment on her face. I couldn’t stay up any longer, though. The time had to be rapidly approaching midnight.

“You’ll want to go and collect your baggage from the Hall?” she asked.

We agreed and trudged back downstairs for our backpacks. Mine seemed to weigh twice as heavy as it had done previously. Alex, Maddie and Chloe carried our jackets for us as we followed Mrs McMahon up another staircase and through a series of candle lit narrow, winding corridors to the North Wing, situated in one of the castle’s towers.

The tower’s landing area was circular shaped with a series of dark wooden doors surrounding us.
An indoor flare burned from a bracket affixed to the wall, lighting the landing with an orange glow. Wax droplets buzzed as they dripped from the flare onto the stone slab floor.

“These are your rooms,”
Mrs McMahon said, pointing to the doors in turn. “They haven’t been used in a while. I’ve done my best to give them a quick clean but they might smell a bit damp inside, I’m afraid. The castle roof leaks slightly and you may get a wee whiff of mold.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,
Mrs McMahon,” Wingate said cheerily. “Thank you very much for getting the rooms ready at such short notice.”

Mrs
McMahon replied with a smile. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” she said and fleeted off down the corridor.

“Who’s going where, then?” Batfish asked.

“I really don’t care,” Wingate sighed. “I’m dead beat.”

“The bathroom is through the door to the right of the corridor,” Alex explained. “Obviously the light doesn’t work so you might need a flashlight. Have you got one?”

“I’ll leave mine by the door,” Wingate said and took her jacket from Chloe. She fished through the pockets and placed the flashlight on the floor next to the bathroom door. “Night all,” she chimed as she bundled through the bedroom door next to the bathroom.

Smith took the room next to Wingate and the rest of our party accepted the accommodation in a counter-clockwise motion. Batfish took the next room
, accompanied by Spot, then Cordoba, then Gera, leaving me with the final room to the left of the corridor.

Maddie
waited for Chloe and Alex to depart before she handed me my jacket.

“Sleep well,” she whispered, then leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

“Goodnight, Maddie,” I sighed, before turning towards my room.

I think she was expecting me to ask her inside but I’m afraid I left her disappointed. Cordoba hadn’t spoken to me since we’d been socializing with the castle dwellers in the lounge. I didn’t know if she’d noticed
Maddie’s flirtatious behavior and was mad at me or was just plain exhausted and wanted to sleep.

I dumped my backpack and jacket down on the floor and shut the door behind me
, feeling as though I was going to fall asleep while still standing. The room did indeed smell of damp and mildew, behind the pungent stench of hastily scattered lavender scented powder. A queen sized bed, with a fluffy white duvet and a matching mound of pillows, was pressed in the corner of the small, square shaped room. The bed looked extremely inviting and I thought about unpacking my gear before I hit the sack. The room was minimally equipped with a solitary wooden closet standing in the far corner beside a narrow window, which was constructed in the shape of a cross. The room was dimly lit by a stout candle, burning on top of a small bedside table. A small sink with an oval mirror above, was mounted on the wall opposite to the bed and the whole chamber was painted a dull white.