Night on Terror Island (18 page)

Tad grunted and struck a match. In the sudden glow, Rose could see exactly what was behind him. It was the biggest snake she had ever seen; a long glittering body covered in tiny scales and a great oval head from which two cold eyes stared down mercilessly. As she watched, horrified, the beast opened its jaws revealing huge fangs that dripped liquid and a forked tongue that flicked rapidly in and out.

Jade turned and looked at what was behind Tad. ‘Well I think I’ll be off now,’ she said, and without another word, she turned and headed for the door as fast as her legs would carry her.

‘Hey, where do you think you’re going?’ yelled Tad. ‘We need to—’

Suddenly, shockingly, the snake shot downwards and its open jaws engulfed Tad’s head and shoulders cutting off the rest of his sentence. He stood there for an instant, his body shuddering, the match still burning in his outstretched fingers.

‘Tad!’ Tamara opened her mouth and screamed. Then the match went out and there were just the awful sounds of slithering in the darkness.

Rose grabbed Tamara’s hand and pulled her towards the door.

‘Come on,’ she said.

‘Wait!’ yelled Tamara. ‘We can’t just leave him.’

‘We have to,’ said Rose. ‘Don’t you see, it’s his turn. These films are always like this. We have to get out of here or we’ll be next.’

She dragged Tamara from the room and slammed the door behind them. They turned to run along the corridor beyond. Halfway along it, they saw two figures grappling in a patch of moonlight. Jade was struggling with a big muscular figure, a creature that looked more like an ape than a man.

‘What the hell is that?’ shrieked Tamara.

‘It’s a Number Tail,’ said Rose grimly.

As they drew closer, they saw that the creature was in the act of biting a large chunk out of Jade’s neck and judging by the noise she was making, she wasn’t enjoying the experience much.

Tamara looked frantically around for a weapon and spotted a red fire-extinguisher fixed to one wall. She wrenched it from its mounting and brought it down on the ape-like creature’s head. He sprawled on the floor and didn’t get up again. Tamara dropped the extinguisher and kneeled to look at Jade, but it
was
clear at a glance that she was badly injured. Blood was pumping from the wound on her neck, soaking into her T-shirt.

‘What … was that thing?’ she croaked.

‘It was a …’ Tamara looked at Rose.

‘A Number Tail.’

‘What’s that?’ gasped Jade.

‘Never mind,’ said Tamara. She took hold of one of Jade’s hands and tried to help her to her feet, but she shook her head.

‘No use,’ she croaked. ‘I’m … done for, I’m afraid. Leave me and … save yourselves.’

‘But—’

‘Go,’ she groaned. ‘I think there may be … more of them. They must have … made their home up here … I think this is their … lair.’

Rose turned her head as she heard sounds coming from the corridor behind her. Other Neanderthals were shambling out of dark doorways. Beams of moonlight were spilling in through a line of barred windows and she caught glimpses of long hair, huge foreheads and bared teeth. The creatures turned towards her and started lurching along the corridor.

‘Tamara!’ she squealed.

Tamara glanced up, took one look and then jumped to her feet.

‘Come on,’ she yelled, and she and Rose ran along the corridor, leaving Jade to her fate. Rose glanced
back
and saw that the creatures were closing in on her. In an instant she was buried beneath an onslaught of hungry cavemen and her screams echoed along the corridor.

‘Look!’ Tamara pointed. At the top of the corridor, another flight of stairs angled upwards. They ran towards them and went up as fast as their legs would carry them.

There was a sudden flash of blinding light and Mr Lazarus had to shield his eyes from the glare. The wooden platform slid smoothly forward and there was Captain Holder, standing on the platform, a look of complete shock on his grizzled features. He was holding a torch in one hand and the Retriever in the other, blinking around at his surroundings.

‘What the hell is going on?’ he demanded. He noticed Mr Lazarus standing there and gave him a challenging look. ‘Who the hell are you?’ he said. ‘And where the hell am I?’

Mr Lazarus sighed wearily. This exercise was turning out to be a whole lot more complicated than he had anticipated. He lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender.

‘Don’t worry, Captain Holder,’ he said. ‘I can assure you, I’m on your side.’

‘Yeah? Well, perhaps you’d like to tell me what’s going on here? And how you know my name.’

Mr Lazarus smiled.

‘I’ll certainly give it my best shot,’ he said.

Kip and Beth raced up the staircase to the first floor, horribly aware that the sabre-toothed tiger was coming after them in hot pursuit and gaining on them by the second. Beth was still holding the machete; it wasn’t much but it was the only weapon they had. Glancing back, Kip saw that the tiger was only a few feet behind Beth’s racing heels, and he realised that they would have to turn back and try to fight the beast.

Just then, a figure appeared on the stairs ahead of him – a big bare-chested Neanderthal. The creature was holding a spear and had a look of absolute rage on his ugly features. He lifted the spear with a bellow of defiance and came racing down the stairs towards Kip, who stopped dead in his tracks. Beth crashed into him and knocked him over. They went down in a sprawl, and the machete fell from Beth’s hand and clattered down the stairs. The Neanderthal was almost upon them. Kip gritted his teeth, anticipating the thrust of the spear but inexplicably, the Neanderthal raced straight by him and Beth, as though they were of no interest to him whatsoever. For an instant, Kip was bewildered but a ferocious roar made him snap his gaze round to look back down the stairs. The Neanderthal had plunged the
spear
into the chest of the tiger and now the animal was roaring and lashing out with its paws as the Neanderthal attempted to push it back down the stairs.

A moment later, two more armed Neanderthals appeared on the landing and ran down to the first one’s assistance. As they raced past Kip, he realised what was happening. This must be the Neanderthal’s lair. They were simply defending it against one of their deadliest enemies. Clearly dinner could wait until they’d managed to drive off the tiger.

‘Come on, let’s keep going,’ he gasped, disentangling himself from Beth. They got to their feet and looked back at the battle that was going on below them. The Neanderthals had formed a barrier and were moving slowly down the stairs, jabbing at the tiger with their spears. The tiger wasn’t at all happy with the situation. It was roaring and thrashing its tail, but it was slowly being driven backwards.

Without another word, Kip grabbed Beth’s hand and pulled her up the staircase. ‘We’ve got to find the room with the incubators,’ he yelled.

‘What?’ asked Beth.

‘It’s where the Retriever is,’ Kip reminded her. They reached the landing and turned into the corridor beyond. Kip ducked his head into one empty room and shone the flashlight inside it. What he saw in there startled him. Crouched in the
corners
of the room were groups of Neanderthal women and children, who shrieked and held their hands up to their eyes as the torch beam dazzled them.

‘Oops. Sorry!’ he said and moved quickly on. He tried the next room. Empty. He ran on again and came to a closed door. In the light of the torch he saw a couple of words stencilled on the door.
Incubation Room
.

‘This has to be it,’ he said. He opened the door and shone the torch inside.

‘Let me get this straight,’ growled Captain Holder. He was sitting on the platform now, his head in his hands. ‘You’re saying I’m just a character in a movie?’

‘Yes,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘That is correct. Oh, in another life you are the famous movie actor, Clint Westwood. But in
this
life you are, forgive me for saying this, just a work of fiction.’

‘But that’s ridiculous,’ snarled Captain Holder. ‘I’m a ship’s captain. I’ve worked on boats since I was a teenager.’

‘No, that’s just the part you’re playing,’ said Mr Lazarus. He thought for a moment. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘let’s just try something.’ He walked across the projection room and rummaged around on a workbench. Eventually he found a length of rope. He came back and handed it to Captain Holder. ‘Now, if you really
have
spent your life on the ocean, you’ll be able to do a running bowline for me.’

‘A running
what?
’

‘A bowline. It’s just about the most-used knot on any ship you care to mention. Any sailor worth his salt will know how to tie one.’

‘Oh, OK.’ Captain Holder took the rope in his hands and stared at it for several moments. He actually started to try and tie a knot but after a few moments, he shook his head. ‘Nope,’ he said. ‘Haven’t a clue.’

‘All right then. How about a rolling hitch? Or a sheet bend?’

Captain Holder stared at him.

‘Sounds like you’re talking a foreign language,’ he admitted.

‘Well, I ask you. How likely is that? I know how to do those knots because I used to work at a cinema in Venice and all my equipment had to be carried to and from it by boat. But you, supposedly a captain for many years, can’t even come close to doing it. And yet,’ he pointed to the projector, ‘What can you tell me about that?’

Captain Holder smiled. ‘Say, that’s an old Westar, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Haven’t seen one of those babies in a very long time. Must date from the—’ He paused, looked surprised. ‘Now, how in the hell would I know that?’ he muttered.

‘Because you … or rather, your other self … has spent a lifetime working in the movies. Projection equipment is something you would be very familiar with.’

Captain Holder frowned.

‘I guess that does make some kind of sense,’ he agreed. ‘That spooky little girl who turned up on the boat, she kept saying, over and over, that we were in some kind of movie. But it sure
felt
real.’ He shrugged, shook his head. ‘Anyway, Mr Lassoo, or whatever your name is, I guess I should thank you for pulling me out of there. It was getting pretty hairy, to tell you the truth. Now if you’ll just show me the way out of this place, I’ll get out of your way.’

Mr Lazarus was horrified.

‘Oh, no, no, you can’t stay here! You don’t belong in this world. Forgive me, I don’t mean to sound rude, but you must go back into the film.’

‘Are you kidding me? Go back into that hellhole? Call me old-fashioned, but that’s not my idea of a good time.’

‘I appreciate that but
think
for a moment! We know you’re not really a captain, but in the movie you are, and a captain always takes responsibility for everyone in his care, right?’

Captain Holder frowned. ‘I guess,’ he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

‘Well then, the remaining members of your crew are depending on you to get them out of trouble.’

‘What do you mean the
remaining
members. Are you saying …?’

‘Since you’ve been gone, several of them have …’ – Mr Lazarus searched for the right way to say it – ‘… expired.’

Captain Holder looked shocked.

‘I’ve only been gone a few minutes,’ he protested.

‘I know. And that’s exactly the problem. They didn’t have your guiding hand to steer them out of trouble.’

‘What happened to them?’

Mr Lazarus frowned.

‘Well, it’s been rather difficult to follow,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘What’s the young man called? Todd?’

‘Tad.’

‘Yes. He’s been swallowed by a giant snake.’

Captain Holder stared at him. ‘Are you kidding me?’

‘I would never joke about such things. And the younger woman … Jade? I believe she was just eaten by Neanderthals.’

‘By what?’

‘Cavemen. Cannibalistic cavemen. There’s only Doctor Flyte and Rose left and they are depending on you to come back and save them.’

‘I see.’ Captain Holder still didn’t seem entirely
convinced
. ‘That’s all very well but, like I said, it’s hairy in there. I could die.’

‘Oh, that’s not going to happen!’ Mr Lazarus gave a dismissive laugh. ‘This movie is a big hit. They’re talking sequels. They’re talking a three-movie deal. Naturally they’ll want you back for part two.’ Mr Lazarus was making it up as he went along, but he could see that he had Captain Holder’s interest.

‘Hmm. What’s the second movie about?’

‘The scriptwriters are still working on the storyline … but I believe in that one you have the lead role. In fact, they are building the entire picture around you.’

‘Really?’ Captain Holder looked more interested now. He seemed to consider for a moment. ‘And you said that Doctor Flyte hasn’t been harmed?’

‘Not yet,’ admitted Mr Lazarus. ‘But she’s in a very … what did you call it? A very hairy situation.’ He looked at Captain Holder slyly. ‘I think you like Doctor Flyte, don’t you?’ he said.

‘She’s OK,’ admitted Captain Holder. ‘For a dame.’

‘Hmm. And what if I told you that she’s very attracted to you?’

‘Me? Hell, no. If she is, she’s pretty good at keeping it hidden.’