Free The Left Series (Book 2): Left Alone by Christian Fletcher Page A

Smith took out all the jagged edges of the pane before hauling himself fireman style through the open frame and out of our vision.
    Spot and I moved under the front porch and waited for Smith to open the door. I found a book of matches on the veranda and slipped it into my back pocket. We waited for what seemed like ages and I lit a cigarette, trying to stall my impatience.
    I’d smoked around half the cigarette when I dropped it on the porch in a state of sudden shock. A muffled gun shot rang out inside the post office building.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
    “Smith...Smith, are you okay?” I yelled and pummeled the front door with my fists.
    Smith sometimes had an annoying habit of going rogue when we faced some sticky situations. I hoped this was another one of those times and he wasn’t lying shot somewhere inside. I had no weapon of any kind; no transport and I didn’t know the area in this hostile environment.
    “Shit,” I spat.
    Several scenarios ran wild through my brain. What the hell was I supposed to do?
    Spot’s ears pricked up and I heard a clank from inside the building. Unless rodents were running amok inside, I was pretty sure someone was moving around in there. Spot let out a lone, shrill bark.
    The noise seemed to come from the back of the building. Spot and I hurried around the side and back through the gate between the picket fence. The back door stood halfway open. The interior of the building was dark and uninviting. I could make out shapes of bulky right angles, maybe boxes or kitchen closets. I slowly put down the canvas bag by my feet.
    Spot’s hackles rose on his back and he growled, low and long.
    I looked around for a weapon of some sort. Anything that I could defend myself with. The only thing close to hand that resembled an item of combat was a thin, bamboo cane still stuck in the ground at a sloping angle. I pulled the cane from the dusty ground and held it out in front of me as though it had miraculously turned into a rapier sword.
    A sturdy figure loomed from the blackness and stood in the doorway. I recoiled in shock for a fraction of a second until I blew out a sigh of relief.
    “Have you turned into Harry Potter now, Wilde Man? Are you going to whip me to death or turn me into a frog with your magic wand?” Smith mocked.
    I tossed the cane back into the unkempt garden.
    “I heard a gunshot in there.”
    Smith moved out of the gloom and into the sunlight. I noticed he was carrying an old style, double barrel shot gun.
    “I found this inside.” He lifted the shot gun slightly to show me. “It’s not exactly top of the range in modern warfare but it beats a hatchet in a game of who can kill each other first from ten yards .”
    I’d never heard of Smith’s game and wondered if he’d ever played that particular party piece for real.
    “Who were you shooting at?”
    “Only a rat. I got a little spooked in there in the dark. I found the shot gun under the counter, then I saw something moving in the corner. Turned out, it was only a damn rodent munching on some old candy bar.”
    “So you shot it with a shot gun? Wow! That’s a bit extreme.” I shook my head and reached for my pack of cigarettes.
    “When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, we used to get overrun with fucking rats at times. I hate the creepy little motherfuckers.” Smith shivered and pulled a horrified face.
    “You hate them worse than zombies?” I asked, lighting my smoke.
    Smith shook his head. “At least you can see zombies coming. Rats just sneak up on you out of the dark.”
    “Rats don’t sneak up on you,” I scoffed, blowing out smoke. “They’re more scared of you than you are of them.”
    “Whatever, it still doesn’t take away the fact that rats are sneaky little bastards.”
    I sniggered and flicked my ash. Unearthing Smith’s phobia was a new and enlightening source of amusement.
    “Do you know rats can survive without food for