The Left Series (Book 6): Left On An Island Read Online Free PDF Page B

absorb. I knew every small detail could mean the possibility of life or death down in the watery depths.
     
     
     
     
     
                
                 
     
     
     
                               
     
       
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
    We stood either side of the diving apparatus for over an hour. I asked Smith several questions and I knew he was becoming more infuriated with me by the second. He gritted his teeth and spat out the answers as we went over and over the same things. I had to be sure I had some vague idea of what I was doing and the hazards going underwater posed.
    “If all else fails, kid. Just slowly swim up to the surface,” Smith finished up with. “You got that? Are we fucking clear now?”
    I shrugged. “I suppose. As clear as it’s going to be.”
    Smith groaned. “Listen kid, I’m losing the will to live here. Work with me a little here, will you do that?”
    I nodded. “Yeah, I’m good with it, Smith. Let’s rock and roll.”
    “All right, that’s what I’m talking about.” Smith held out a clenched fist and we bumped knuckles. “Let’s get geared up and ready to go.”
    Smith tested the air tanks and we stripped down to our skinnies. Smith dressed me in the wetsuit then tugged on his own.
    “We’ll put on the rest of the shit when we get up top,” Smith said. “We’ll get Hannigen to drive the boat and take one more guy out with us. Mac and his crew know how to lower the boat onto the waterline.”
    We scooped up the rest of the equipment, weight belts, masks and fins and the scuba units themselves. All the gear seemed heavy and I struggled to haul it all to the upper deck.
    Thomas McElroy, Connor Hannigen, McPherson, Dunne, McDonnell and Duffy were already waiting for us on the boat deck, along with a small crowd of anxious looking people. I noticed Batfish and Wingate among the welcoming party. The worried look on their faces didn’t exactly instill me with confidence.
    “You took your time, Smith,” Hannigen snapped. “The damn ship could have sunk by the time you made it up here.”
    “Yeah, well, worse things happen at sea, Hannigen,” Smith quipped.
    Hannigen’s glowering expression turned to one of confusion. “What? We are at sea, you ejit.”
    Smith pointed a finger in the Irishman’s direction. “Exactly, well spotted that man. By the way, we need you to drive the boat.”
    Hannigen shrugged. “All right. If I must.”
    Smith turned to McElroy’s stern faced crew. “We need somebody else out in the boat with us to haul our asses back onboard when we come up.”
    McPherson nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll go out there with you, Smith.”
    “Good man, well volunteered. Ever think about a career in the military?” Smith asked.
    McPherson looked dumbfounded.
    “Only kidding, man. Let’s get geared up,” Smith said.
    Smith seemed in a weird mood, unusually lighthearted. And he hadn’t even been on the bourbon as far as I knew. Even to a novice like me, drinking before scuba diving didn’t seem like a good idea but Smith never played by the rules of life. I was probably assuming the worst but in these troubled times, optimism and straight thinking wasn’t much of the norm.
    We geared up into the diving equipment. Duffy and Dunne helped Smith and I with our air bottles, flippers and weight belts, whilst McElroy lowered the sea boat to deck level from the big gray winches overhead.
    “Just be careful down there, you guys,” Sarah Wingate called out from the crowd.
    Smith winked at her in reply. “We’re always frosty, babe.”
    I glanced at Batfish, she immediately averted my gaze and looked down at the deck. No ‘ good luck, Brett ,’ rally call like the old days.
    I suddenly felt exactly like who I was. A small town dickhead totally out of his depth, going into a dangerous situation using equipment I knew nothing about.
    The sea boat shook slightly when McElroy stopped the winch. The boat was