Read Floxham Island ~ Sinclair V-Log AZ267/M for Free Online Page B

most hopeless of circumstances and
I reckoned there was always a chance that this guy might just save
my hide before we got off this rock. Once we were all armed we
split up and I found myself teamed up with Luggs, Cap and Ronjo.
Not a bad haul considering what else was on offer. We decided to
take the second floor so with a deep breath, we set off up the
stairs.
     
     
*****
     
     

CHAPTER
THREE
     
    My mood was
almost fearless as we began climbing the stairs but as we continued
climbing and the silence closed in around us, a sense of unease
again crept in. As we reached the second floor I’d decided that I
was mighty glad to have Luggs nearby and mentally apologised to him
for my low opinion earlier. A throwback to ancient times he may be,
but he was damn fearless and ready to take anything on. He strode
forward with purpose and I couldn’t help but admire him.
Embarrassed at not being the first to move, I tried to emulate him
and strode after him. Cap was behind me and Ronjo, shaking with
fear, crept along at the back. Looking back on what we must’ve
looked like as we crept our way around the second floor offices; a
fearless throwback, a law enforcer, a terminally optimistic
engineer and a terrified civilian, I can’t help but laugh and
although we were a motley bunch, we were no pushover.
    The first three
offices we found revealed nothing of any use to us, either by way
of explanation or assistance and we were beginning to relax as we
continued down the corridor. Luggs snorted with annoyance and swore
as he hefted the ridiculously large laser rifle he’d helped himself
to in the armoury. It turned out that he was ex military too and
was firearms trained so we felt safer with another competent gun in
our group. As he continued onwards with his huge gun at the ready,
he reminded me of one of those characters in vidicom games. You
know the type; massive shoulders and eyebrow ridges to match and no
language to speak of other than the occasional grunt. Oh and always
the obligatory huge gun. Even his name matched the look and I
couldn’t help but smile.
    We approached
the fourth office in the corridor and saw at once that something
awful had happened here. The remains of the door lay in pieces on
the floor and the bit that remained hung flaccidly on its remaining
hinge; giving silent testament to some previous and terrible
assault. Each of the pieces bore huge scratches almost an inch deep
and as I looked, I couldn’t imagine what manner of beast made them,
nor with what. We looked at each other, eyebrows raised and eyes
wide in shock as we took in the scene.
    “What the hell
could’ve made those scratches?” Ronjo exclaimed, verbalising the
thought each of us was silently wrestling with.
    “More to the
point,” Luggs said, “is it still inside there?”
    “Well you’re
more than welcome to go and find out,” Ronjo responded immediately,
“and I’ll wait out here for ya.”
    “On your own?”
Luggs grinned at him. “Sure buddy, okay. See ya later,” he snorted
as he stepped towards the door and ducked under the wood that hung
limp from the wrenched hinge. There was no way I was about to drop
any further down the pecking order just yet, so I stepped in after
him, swiftly followed by Cap. The interior of the room looked like
the aftermath of a hurricane. One desk was smashed to matchwood;
the other was still in one piece but upside down with one leg bent
at a most unnatural angle. The remains of computer consoles lay in
pieces on the floor amongst other assorted debris; the flotsam and
jetsam of prison administration cast unceremoniously aside in what
must’ve been one hell of an attack. Cap produced a flashlight and
swung it around the room and we all saw the body at once. Propped
up in one corner, the abdomen flared open to display the contents
within that none of us wanted to see.
    “Holy fuck,”
Luggs exclaimed as we heard Ronjo gasp behind us and run out into
the corridor; his heaving and gagging