The Left Series (Book 4): Left In The Cold (28 page)

“
Today children, we’re going to look through the arched window
,” the smiling presenter would say. “
Through the window we have a freezing cold land where most people are dead. These dead people can get up and walk. They also try and eat the remaining people who are still alive. The only way to stop these dead people is to smash their heads in with a big hammer or something heavy. So don’t forget children, if you see one of these dead people, don’t ask them for anything, just run away. Keep running until you find a safe place.
”

“Brett?”
Batfish’s voice snapped me out of my nostalgic trip down memory lane. The others were a few paces ahead of me and I stood still, staring out of the window.

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“Sure,” I muttered.

“Well, come on. Keep up,” Batfish hissed. “We don’t want anybody else going missing.”

I plodded after them, still thinking about the kids TV show and trying to recall the presenter’s names.
I remembered a bunch of rag-tag looking toys on the show, which included an egg-shaped, humpty-dumpty type thing that kept unexpectedly rolling over, a couple of teddy bears and two dolls, one of which looked totally evil.

Chloe led us through part of the castle that I began to recognize. I knew we’d nearly reached the route to the tower bedrooms. At last, we could regroup and maybe grab some sleep, or some rest, at least. I felt jaded and totally sick of trudging around the damn castle.

We rounded a corner in a whitewashed passageway and the staircase to the tower stood in front of us. Chloe still led but we all stopped still in unison when we saw Alex sitting on the steps at the foot of the staircase. A shotgun lay across his lap, the usual smile and jovial nature had both evaporated, he looked sullen and totally pissed off. He gazed at us each in turn and his eyes widened when he recognized Jimmy Sloane but he still didn’t speak.

“Alex,” Chloe gasped. “What’s going on?”

Alex stared at her for what seemed a very long time. “I’ve been wondering when you people would show up. Which one of you guys killed Trevor?” he asked in a flat, accusing tone.

“Now, wait a minute,” Batfish snorted. “We should be quizzing you on who killed Gera. We found his body down there in the wash room, all cut to damn pieces.” Her voice rose in decibels with every word she spoke.

Alex’s mask of trying to look mean and threatening slipped and an agitated expression crossed his face. “That wasn’t me,” he muttered defensively.

“Yeah, we know who it was,” Batfish seethed through clenched teeth. “And he’s dead now, as well. That fucking big lump, Rory tried to attack us but we’ve taken care of him and he’ll never hurt anybody
, ever again.”

Alex
’s face visibly drained of color and he was briefly taken aback. “You killed Rory?” he gasped.

“We did and I’m glad that big klutz is dead,” Batfish hissed, leaning close to his face. “We’re going to get our stuff back and then we’re out of here. You can keep your
hospitality and your castle and shove it up your ass.” She lurched forward as she yelled the last few words, causing Alex to recoil backwards.

I thought for one second Batfish was going to launch into an attack and leap at Alex so I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Alex swept his long hair off his face with his hand and composed himself.

“Thanks for the appreciation for saving you from all those undead outside,” he barked sarcastically. “We let you into our home and all you do is insult us and kill members of our community.”

“I killed Trevor,” Jimmy uttered quietly.

The small hallway went silent. Alex breathed outwards loudly and looked to the floor. He shuffled on the step and glanced up with an incredulous expression on his face.

“Why the hell did you do that, Jimmy?” he asked. “We don’t see you for weeks on end and then you rock up with the
se strangers and confess to a murder. Did they put you up to this? Did they make you do it?”

“No, we didn’t,” Batfish snapped. She turned to look at Jimmy. “Tell him what you told us, Jimmy. Tell him what Trevor was doing to you and
Shona, the girl who hung herself.”

I knew Batfish was emotionally charged but she was going way over the top. Jimmy had only just calmed down but was obviously in a fragile mental state.

“That’s enough, Batfish,” I snapped. “Leave the kid alone. Both of you.”

“Trevor was a good man,” Alex growled. “He was part of a community here, part of a team. He helped build what we have here. Are you saying he was abusing you? Is that what you’re accusing him of?” He stood up and trod down the few steps
, tucking the shotgun under his arm.

“I said that’s enough, Alex,” I
shouted.

Alex turned his attention to me. He squared up a few inches from my face, staring menacingly into my eyes. I returned the glare, hoping I looked equally as mean.

“I should have just left you and
Batgirl
here to get eaten alive outside instead of saving your ungrateful asses,” he hissed.

I caught a whiff of whisky on his breath. No doubt he’d previously indulged a
wee dram
to fire himself up for a confrontation.

“Just get our guns back for us and we’ll be on our way,” I said calmly.

Alex smiled and sniggered, looking me up and down. “You Americans all think you’re tough guys, don’t you?”

I said nothing.

“Well, let me tell you a little secret, Mr Wilde.” Alex smiled smugly as though he knew something we didn’t and was genuinely proud of the fact. He glanced briefly at Chloe. “She knows the truth.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I muttered.

“That girl who seems fixated on you, isn’t all sweetness and light.”

I shook my head.
“Which girl?”

“Oh, I think you know who, pal.”

“You mean Maddie?” I felt slightly uncomfortable. I hadn’t realized the attraction was so obvious to everybody.

Alex nodded. “Aye,
Maddie. Do you know what she’s capable of, eh?”

Everybody in the castle kept warning me but I hadn’t seen any evidence she was dangerous.

“She did indeed go to America with her band,” Alex continued. “I was out there with her for a while, in Miami. We used to be a couple, you see. Until I found out about her little secret.”

I grew bored with Alex’s
drawn out tale and wanted to end the conversation. “Don’t tell me she’s really a man?” I gasped in mock shock.

Alex retorted with a false belly laugh. “No, nothing like that, pal.” He began to pace up and down the hallway. “We split up when I found out she was having an affair with her U.S. tour manager, Tommy
Bartez. The whole thing blew up, we had a big row and she stomped off. The tour manager came to see me, full of apologies and guilt, saying he’d call the whole thing off with Maddie and off he went. Anyhow, next day Tommy is found in his motel bathroom, literally chopped to pieces in the tub.”

I genuinely gasped and flashed a glance at Batfish.

“Oh, that isn’t quite it yet,” Alex continued. “I’m sure you’re now putting two and two together. The cops questioned us briefly but it was around the time when the apocalypse or whatever you want to call it, was kicking off. So we got out of there, took the first flight back to Glasgow while we still could. The lot of us, including the other members of the band all came back here. I worked here and I thought it would be relatively safe but like everywhere, the infection took hold of the world really quickly.”

Alex paused but I guessed he wasn’t finished yet.
My mouth was dry and I anticipated another bombshell of information.

“We had a tough time clearing the castle of undead and lost some people while doing it. Eventually, we locked the gates and kept them out but as you have seen, they keep coming.”

“What’s your point, Alex?” Batfish sighed. “We haven’t got all night.”

I glanced at Batfish and saw she was shaking slightly but I knew she was trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.
Alex seemed to be enjoying enlightening us with his tale. He strolled around in a small circle, glancing at each one of us as he talked. Chloe looked decidedly uncomfortable and shuffled from foot to foot, glimpsing at the floor then at Alex.

“Once the castle was clear of infected people, we all sat around having a drink one night, just glad to still
be alive,” Alex carried on. “Everyone else went to bed and it was only Maddie, myself and the band left. We got absolutely blooted drunk and the subject of Tommy Bartez came up. We’d all kind of forgotten about it after the dead had risen up and tried to kill anybody left alive.” Alex paused again, probably for dramatic affect and I assumed he was getting to the crux of the story. 

I reached for my cigarettes and offered them around. Batfish and Jimmy took one each but Alex and Chloe shook their heads.

“Maddie swore blind she knew nothing about Tommy’s death but one of the band said they had seen her going into his motel room that night. They all started arguing and pointing accusing fingers. I’d had enough and went to bed alone, I might add. The next morning, the rest of Maddie’s band had all disappeared. She claimed they’d all decided to leave after the row. But that wasn’t true.” Alex looked down, fiddling with the shotgun.

“I was patrolling around later that day and heard some strange noises coming from that cellar you and Smith went down into yesterday.” He pointed at me. “I found the remains of the band down there.” He shook his head and continued talking in a hushed tone. “The place was a scene of carnage. Those guys were pleading for me to help them. They had some of their limbs cut off and couldn’t move. But they weren’t the only ones down in that cellar. There was a fully blown zombie amongst those dungeons, roaming around and moaning and feeding on each of them.” He gulped loudly and looked at the floor.

“So what did you do?” I asked, trying to keep calm.

“I got the fuck out of there and shut and bolted the hatch,” Alex admitted. “And I’ve never been down there since.”

“And you think Maddie did it?” Batfish asked.

“I know she did,” Alex said, nodding. “And she knows I know it was her, just like I know it was her who killed Tommy
Bartez in Miami.”

“How can you be sure?” I sighed.

Alex looked me straight in the eye. “Because we know she killed a young couple who came to the castle around a month ago.” Then he gazed over my shoulder at Chloe. “She saw her do it.”

I swiveled my head to glance at Chloe
, fearing I was going to hear another horror story. Chloe nodded and sighed, then continued the tale.

“The
couple were called Freddie and Dana,” she said, with a slight tremor in her voice as she recalled the events in her mind. “He was a rich, handsome business guy from Glasgow. They’d somehow kept themselves alive with some other people in the city, living in a high rise hotel but their supplies had dwindled and the building was breached by the undead. Freddie and Dana got away but the others in their group didn’t get so lucky.”

Chloe wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Freddie used to play golf here and rightfully thought the castle would be a safe haven. Alex let them in and
Maddie took an immediate shine to Freddie, outrageously flirting with him all the time. I knew she was acting weird so I kept my eye on them, from a distance in the shadows. He politely told her he was with Dana and not interested in having an affair. That made Maddie really pissed off and she lured Dana outside to the castle side gate one night. I kept myself hidden but I couldn’t save her.” Chloe stifled a snivel and had to compose herself before she carried on.

“I was in the conservatory and saw
Maddie shove Dana through the side gate and bolt the door after her. I heard her say she was keeping Freddie for herself. The next day, she told Freddie that Dana had left during the night. Freddie said he was going out there to find her but Maddie wouldn’t let him leave. She cried and pleaded with him but he was adamant he wanted to go and find Dana.”

“And you saw all this happen and said nothing?” I whispered. I was shocked at all the murderous brutality allowed to continue in the place.

Chloe shook her head. “I told Alex but we decided to keep it quiet.”

I glanced incredulously back at Alex but he looked unrepentant.

“Later that evening, we found Freddie’s headless body in the shower room,” Chloe whispered. “I saw him go in there and Maddie followed a few minutes later. She was carrying one of the broadswords from the museum and she came out covered in blood.”

Part of my brain refused to believe their horrific story. I felt my face screw up in revulsion.

“Maddie came out of that washroom carrying that bloodied sword and Freddie’s severed head,” Chloe concluded in a whisper.

“We buried the body in the old vegetable plot at the back of the castle,” Alex sighed. “Everyone else assumed Freddie had gone after Dana. Nobody has spoken of them since.”

“We think she keeps the body parts she takes somewhere in the castle,” Chloe added.

“Fuck,” I gasped. I felt goose bumps cover my whole body.