Reapers Isle: TheParaplegic/Chronic Gamer Returns for the Second Book in his Reaper Series (18 page)

I sighed and rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up, legs dangling over the side.

“You, do know I am the supposed big shot round here don’t you?” I said.

“Yeah, well mister big shot we need to get sorted, this island of ours is only going to have so much supply wise. So get your skinny arse out of bed and lets get sorted.”

I stood up and looked down at my lower half and turned it this way and that, saying “My arse is not skinny!”

“Just get ready Jay.” She said laughing and walked out.

I picked up the baby wipes and started to give myself a rub down. All the while eyeing the shower in the corner, thinking we have to find that if we can get the generator going would it power the shower? Wadding up the used baby wipes I put them in a plastic bag and tied the top. That’s another thing to think about, what do we do with our rubbish? God, so many things to think about and plan for.

I pulled on some jeans and a blue rugby shirt, picking up my boots and rifle I walked out into the living room of the apartment. Sitting on the couch thinking of all the things that we would need to talk about was starting to way heavy on my mind. I tie my boot laces and standing, stamped my feet to settle my boots. Putting my combat jacket on I walked to the door carrying my rifle and picked up my webbing from the hook near the door and left the apartment.

Heading down the stairs to the café, I could hear voices talking and laughing. I saw nearly everyone was sitting having drinks and there was a large pot of what looked like porridge on the counter with bowls beside it.

“Morning Jay! I thought Maddie could do with a rest this morning from cooking so Mary and I Made the porridge. I know it isn’t a great breakfast, but we didn’t know what to make. I hope you didn’t mind?” Said Christine.

“Morning Christine and everyone. First off, no I don’t mind and second I think Maddie and I were grateful for the extra time in bed, so don’t worry about it.” I replied.

I went to the counter got myself a bowl of the porridge and emptied two of the small packets of sugar you can get, on the top. (what can I say I like sweet things.)

I sat down at the table next to Rees and said “Dude, when we get a minute I need to have a chat.”

He turned and looked at me “Yeah, of course.”

“Ok guys, is everyone here?” I asked.

Derek put his hand up and said “The girls and that boy Simon are still in their rooms I think, did you want them here?”

“First of all Derek, please don’t put your hand up I feel like a fucking teacher. Second, I think they should be alright where they are. I will want to talk to Simon, but Rees and I can do that later today. Ok, this morning we need to have a chat about things people are willing to do with regards running the castle. The first thing is that we need to sort out is who is willing to run the kitchen and control the food supplies. Now Maddie has been doing most of it before we got here and with Christine’s help made that great feast last night. So who would like to do that?”

“Well, I roughly know what we have in the kitchen and am quite happy to carry on running it. The only thing I can see being a problem was last night, making that dinner, I really did need Christine’s help.” Said Maddie.

“I would be happy to help in the kitchen.” Said Christine.

“Ok, that settles the kitchen. Mary is there anything that you feel you want to do?” I asked.

Mary looked up and said “If I could be trained on the guns I would be happy to help out that way.”

“That was going to be one of the things I was going to bring up, but might as well talk about it now seeing as it was brought up. I think that all the adults be trained up on the weapons, at the very least a pistol. I am thinking the courtyard area in front of the castle doors as the range. Rees and I will have to prepare the area first, but once it is done, we will start lessons.”

“Jay, I would like a hand setting up the garden. I think until the range is set up Mary and the girls could help me do that!” Said Becky.

“Is that ok with you Mary?” I asked.

She just nodded her head, we were going to have to try and get her to be less quiet.

“Ok, that leaves me, Marc, Rees, Derek and Simon. Oh, and don’t forget my useless mutt of a dog.”

“Er… Jay I can help build the range. Was always good with tools. All I need is a rough design of what you need.” Said Derek.

“That’s cool Derek. Ok, Marc, Rees and I with the help of Simon will do a scout of the island, and bring any supplies of materials to the castle. That ok?” I said.

There was to usual nods and replies from everyone round the table.

“Right, if everyone wants to have their food and stuff. Nobody is going to be put under pressure today, just take your time and relax, we made it here now and for the time being we are safe. Rees, Marc, Simon and I can have a look out into the village sometime later today. If we say before lunch, that should give Simon enough sleep. Rees, we also need to sort out an armory to put the weapons in. I think that the store room in the other kitchen, but we will need to be able to lock it. It might be an idea to go have a look after we have eaten.” I said.

“That’s, cool Walker let’s eat and then have a walk over there and look at the door.”

With that, we ate our porridge and a kind hearted person put a cup of tea in front of me.

Chapter Twenty

Everyone broke up after breakfast and went off to start the day. Rees and I walked over to the castle to have a look at the pantry door to see how hard it would be to place a lock on the door.

“Ok, Walker spill, what’s got your pants in twist?” Said Rees.

“Remember the other day the dream I had?” I said.

“Yeah, the one where you were the Queen of the Reapers, now if I was a psychologist, I would say you had some kind of problem.” He said with a short laugh.

“Well, I had another one last night, but different.” I said

That stopped his laughter.

Continuing I said, “I was in the same clearing, but this time just the Queen and her helper. Then these other Reapers came and said that they couldn’t track someone. I think you can guess who that was from the last time.”

“What the fuck is going on buddy? This is some kind of SciFi bullshit. So how did you feel, I mean afterwards?”

“Alright, I think. I mean Maddie was in bed with me and I didn’t feel the need to hurt her or anything. I only felt my love for her.”

Walked down the steps and into the kitchen and to the corner where the pantry was.

“So you said that they couldn’t track you?” He said.

“Yeah, they said that they couldn’t get my scent because of the industrial units and that. They did get a scent of someone leaving there and they followed it, but got attacked, by someone with guns. They think I am there with those people.”

“Sounds like we are in the clear then.”

“For the moment buddy, but what happens when we need to go to the mainland to get food and supplies?”

“Walker, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s get this armory sorted and then we can have a little look into the village. I might have an idea who to get supplies and not leave a trace of your scent. Let’s see what is on the island first before we think about any mainland problems.”

“Ok, dude.”

The door to the pantry was the same as nearly all the ones in the castle, a large oaken door with big iron bolts in it. It closed into a recess carved into the stone work around the door. There was a sliding bolt that went into the stone work at about hip height. We both agreed that this was probably the best place in the castle to place our armory. The only problem that either of us could see was being able to lock it more securely. This was something that we were going to have to think about. At the moment the armory was in Rees’s room, it was not like he minded. Again, his room was unlocked all the time so completely unsecure.

Walking out the front doors to the castle we saw the small courtyard area in front. The full distance from one end to the other was roughly thirty meters and it was about ten meters across. The problem we would have here would be a suitable backstop, yeah the stonework would stop the rounds, but they would also cause them to ricochet all over.

“Rees, we need to think of a backstop and even then I think space will only be good enough for pistol practice. We’re going to need somewhere to get some rifle practice done and get some more rifles.” I said.

“I was thinking about that and if we could set up targets outside the walls we could shoot from the top of the wall.” He replied.

“Smart fucker.” I said grinning.

I left Rees to trying and figure out how to set up the pistol range and went looking for Simon.

The entrance hall was quiet and the light from the stain glass, cast patches of color everywhere. I walked up that central staircase and along the gallery into the hallway. There were doors spaced evenly on one side of the hallway. The first two of the doors were open and I could tell that no one had claimed them. Each had a large four poster bed and wooden wardrobe which were probably the same size as a car standing on its end.

The next door was closed and I opened it and knew at once that it was where Rees had chosen to sleep in the corner of the room were that remaining weapons stacked neatly. On a dresser in the opposite corner were the boxes of rounds for all the guns we had. I pulled the door closed and walked further down the corridor to a junction and the hallway split in two directions, one side headed to the front and the other towards the rear. The one that headed toward the front had only one doorway and I headed that way first.

Getting close to the door, I could hear muffled music coming from the other side. I knocked gently and didn’t seem to get any response from whoever was inside. So I knocked harder, the door vibrating in the stone work. The door flew open and I saw Simon stood with no shirt on but at least he was wearing jeans.

“Oh, hello Walker!”

“Ok, let’s get something sorted out there are only a few people left in the world that can call me that and sorry to say you’re not one of them yet. But you can call me Jay for the time being, I am not being a cunt, it’s just I don’t know you enough yet.” I replied.

“Whatever! What did you want then?” He said.

(hmm, going to have to do something about his attitude when we get the chance.)

“You have been on the island for a while and have had a chance to look round. Rees, Marc, you and I need to have a little look round today and see if there is any food or supplies you have missed picking up.”

“Well, I was by myself and couldn’t carry that much. There is a small shop on the main street, that I hadn’t gotten to yet. The houses nearest to here I pretty much cleaned out, one at a time.”

“Ok, then Simon get your gear on and we’ll get the others and head out just after we have a snack.”

“Let me grab a top and my trainers.” He said and turned into his room.

I waited in the hallway for him and after a few minutes he came out and we walked back out into the central courtyard. I could see Becky and Marc with a shovel and spade creating a garden so we walked over to them.

“Marc, dude are you ok leaving Becky for a while. I want myself, you, Rees and Simon to take a walk into the village. To see if there is any food and supplies we can get our hands on.” I asked.

“Yeah, sure, I think Becky would do better without me being here anyway.” He replied smiling.

He stood wiping his hands on his jeans and then bent down to give Becky a kiss on her upturned lips.

“Jay, make sure he comes back with all his parts. I need him!” She said with an arched smile.

My brothers face went a bright red and I just laughed. We walked to the café to find Rees in a deep conversation with Mary. He had his feet up on one of the chairs and was looking quite intensely into her eyes and she was doing just about the same.

“Jay, gonna just go get my gear from upstairs, I’ll be right back.” Said Marc heading for the stairs.

Maddie came out the kitchen and walked over to Rees and Mary putting two cups of coffee she had in her hands on the table between them.

“Hi sweetheart, any chance of a brew, please?” I asked.

“Of course, sit down babe and I’ll bring you one. Simon do you want a can of coke or something?” She said.

Going red he looked at his feet and mumbled “Yes, please Mrs Jay.”

I burst out laughing and Maddie cast me a look to say that she was going to kick my arse later. I stopped laughing just as quickly.

“Simon, sweety, I am not a Mrs anything you can call me Maddie, ok?”

He nodded his head and went to sit down.