Ridgetown: A Zombie Apocalypse Novel Read online

  "Yeah, that's kind of our philosophy." He changed his attention from her to Liz and Ryan, "We've just had a run in with a zombie."

  Liz gave him a confused look, "Just one? Isn't that a blessing after yesterday?"

  Allister spoke up, "This one was different, it wasn't like anything we've seen before. It was huge, in a muscly type way. It looked like a zombie that had been hitting the gym since the outbreak."

  Luke jumped down from the truck, "I managed to stop it." He didn't want to sound like he was bragging but he wanted everyone to at least be aware he had been brave.

  Liz's confusion intensified, "What do you mean muscly? We don't know much about whatever this plague is, but one thing we do know is that it's degenerative. We don't see many fast ones because of how rapidly it affects new victims."

  "Oh, you haven't seen fast like this." Mark began to explain how far it had jumped and the force it had landed with as well as how it had kept pace with the truck. He told how he had shot it in the face but it had barely had an affect, Luke interjected with how he had managed to stop the creature long enough for them to get away but felt like the shine was taken off his story when he had to admit that he hadn't killed it.

  Helen listened to Mark's description and waited for a gap in the conversation to speak, "We call them Leapers."

  Everyone looked towards her in shock.

  "I'm surprised you haven't seen any before. We've also seen one that Dennis called a Screamer, ironic because it doesn't make a sound."

  The others looked at each other in confusion.

  "What?" It was Mark who spoke for them all, breaking the stunned silence.

  "We were holed up once, overlooking a farm and saw what we thought was a woman wandering through a field. Her hair was long and disheveled and so was her clothing. Scott was going to shout out to her but Dennis stopped him, there was something not quite right about the way she was walking. Dennis looked through his binoculars and told us to look for ourselves. She was definitely dead, her eyes were a solid red colour and her skin was all shriveled. The weird thing was that she was walking along with her mouth wide open as if she was screaming but there was no sound coming out."

  The others stared at Helen waiting for her to continue her story, eyes transfixed on her and hanging on her every word. Helen felt slightly uncomfortable about the attention but she continued.

  "We watched her wander around the field in front of our house for about half an hour. Her movements were sudden and erratic. She'd take a few steps one way and then turn around and take a few steps in another direction, the whole time she didn't make a sound but kept her mouth open."

  She shuddered as she thought about what had happened next.

  "There was an old recluse that had been hiding in his house, further down the road from where we were. We didn't really interact that much, just kept out of each other's way. We saw him coming down the street towards the field, the woman was still wandering in her irregular circles. Dennis tried flashing his torch at the guy to get his attention but he didn't look up, he was being quiet. Real quiet. If it had been any other zombie, it wouldn't have heard him, but..."

  "Go on..." Mark gently encouraged her to continue.

  "It wasn't even when he got closer, it was when she turned in his direction that she noticed him. Dennis said afterwards he thought she was producing something like sonar with her mouth wide open. When she faced him her body stiffened up, she went completely rigid and followed his movement. He didn't even know she was there. She stumbled forwards a few steps, holding and rubbing her hands like she was anxious. Then she ran. She ran full speed towards him without making a sound, Dennis flashed his torch again to try and get his attention but it was too late. The Screamer tore him to shreds. When she was done feeding, she got up and wandered off as if nothing had happened, rubbing her hands all anxious again."

  "And you've seen these Jumpers before as well?"

  "Leapers we call them, not that that's an official term or anything. But yeah, we saw two when we were nearer to the city. It's one of the reasons we headed somewhere more suburban."

  Mark was eager for more information, "Two? Were they close to each other or was there anything familiar about their hunting grounds?"

  "Close? They hunted together."

  Allister and Luke had similar reactions to Helen's revelation. Luke throwing his hands in the air while Allister covered his face, clearly the idea of two of those things was too much to think about.

  Mark looked frustrated and concerned. Frustrated that he didn't know as much as he thought he did about their common enemy and concerned about how much more there was to find out.

  "We need to compare notes about exactly what we know about what's out there. This is the kind of thing we could share with each other and the rest of the world if we could get ourselves online again."

  "Hey! Don't take it out on me just because you're not up to date on the outside world. I might have took your Internet off you but I've not kept you locked up in your safe little haven out here in Rich-town." Helen felt like Mark had targeted his comment directly at her.

  "You what?" Liz asked, concerned rather than confrontational.

  Helen turned to address her, "I... I blocked your link to the net. Not just you guys, everyone."

  Liz's confused expression hardened, "Why would you do that?"

  Ryan gave Helen a similar stare of disbelief.

  Suddenly Helen felt like the bad-guy, "Look, it's not as simple as that." Her sudden guilt took her by surprise, "I hacked access and blocked everyone out so that we could control the access."

  Liz started to look irritated, "But why would you not give access to everyone? Why would you take it away from people when it could help them? It could save lives."

  Helen started to suddenly feel really hot and began to panic. "I didn't mean to.... I didn't know..."

  Luke stepped in between the group and Helen, "Why don't we give her a break, it's not fair to jump on her like this for something that any of us could have done."

  "You forgot how she tried to kill you?"

  Helen was shocked at Mark's accusation. She felt her eyes welling up, she was furious that she suddenly felt like she was about to cry. Liz, Ryan and Allister looked like they had just found out she had been bitten. They looked shocked and uneasy, suddenly wary of this person they were still getting to know. Helen had to get away, she ran past them and over to Liz's house where a ladder was still propped up against the platform around the house. She climbed, constantly trying to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat and ran straight to the upstairs bathroom, shutting herself inside.

  She leaned over the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror in danger of hyperventilating. It didn't look obvious that she was going to cry, something she was relieved about. Her guilt turned into anger as she thought about what had just happened. Mark had verbally attacked her in front of everyone else without any kind of provocation. She was here to help them, not that she needed to. She had gained access to the network by herself. If she wanted to block access to everyone else, that was her choice. If they wanted to get online, they could go through all the effort she had put in. She felt like turning the whole area into a technological black spot just to prove a point. She suddenly thought about Ryan and Liz and the guilt came back.

  She thought about Luke who she hadn't tried to kill at all. She'd set the alarms off to get him out of there, if he got himself eaten on the way out it would have been his own fault. The way he had jumped up to defend her had been humiliating, she didn't need anyone to speak for her or defend her actions.

  Helen's mind raced as she tried to decide how she felt. She was furious at being embarrassed and put on the spot but felt ashamed of how she had denied Ridgetown of its online access, not to mention putting Luke's life in danger. She felt angry again as she rationalised that she didn't owe these people anything and she was here to do them a favour. Her anger turned to guilt again as she pictured Liz and Ryan's fac
es when they heard about her kicking their access.

  She barely knew them but felt like they were decent people. She had always thought of herself as level headed and fair but this recent turn of events had made her question if she was really as fair as she thought she was.

  Her thoughts were distracted by a knocking on the door followed by Luke's voice, "Are you okay in there?"

  Helen didn't know if her voice would falter when she spoke, she was determined to keep her dignity as she stood up for herself, so instead of verbally responding, she opened the door.

  Luke had his head lowered slightly, his eyes looked up to her making his forehead wrinkle slightly. "I told Mark he had been unfair with what he'd said."

  "I'm not bothered what Mark thinks, I just didn't want the others to think I've betrayed or sabotaged them."

  "They'll be fine. They were probably just shocked to hear it like that. You didn't know anything about us before you met us, so we can't really judge you for anything you'd already done. Plus, you're here now. You could have not bothered helping us at all but you've come to fix it, that's the most important thing."

  He stepped back from the doorway, hinting for her to follow him. Although she felt okay speaking to Luke, she wasn't sure if she was ready to face the others.

  "I was thinking about letting everyone cool down for a bit."

  "Everyone's fine, you can't just hide in here forever. The whole thing's a bit 'pre-apocalypse teenage girl' reaction anyway."

  Luke laughed and Helen couldn't help but let out a single snort of amusement. She realised she would consider it a bit childish if someone ran off and locked themself in a bathroom, she pictured how it must have looked and cringed inwardly, allowing herself to smile awkwardly.

  "Oh God, now I feel even worse."

  "It'll be fine, come on back to the others and we'll talk through your plan of action to share the network."

  Listening to Luke did make her feel better. She believed him when he said it would be okay, probably because he had been so honest with her about everything and wasn't scared of teasing her just now, even though she felt bad. He was right. If she explained to the others exactly what she was planning to do and helped them set things up, she might be able to earn back their trust.

  Her wanting their approval surprised her. Even with Scott and Dennis, she didn't care what they thought most of the time. Helen had never acted in a way that wasn't genuine just to make anyone like or accept her, but she felt like she wanted these people to respect her. She found the thought slightly troubling at first but wondered whether she was forming a bond with them. She'd only known them just over a day but they had made a big impact on her.

  When he saw she was coming out of the bathroom, Luke turned and led the way. The others had come inside and most were downstairs in Liz's living room, each of them taking a seat on one of the eclectic mix of chairs except Mark who was walking into the living room from the kitchen carrying something heavy. Helen had heard a vehicle's engine so assumed he had brought one of the cars into the garage.

  As she lowered herself down the ladder, she saw Luke walk over to Mark who was setting up a two-way radio on the table. Luke looked to be offering his services to set it up, Mark glanced at Helen and allowed him to take over. Helen wasn't sure what was about to happen as he approached her, he didn't look angry any more but she was ready for an argument incase he was. Liz and Ryan watched them apprehensively, not moving from their seats.

  "I'm sorry." Mark blurted out, "It was unfair of me to address you like that in front of everyone."

  Helen was taken aback by his sudden apology. She wasn't sure what to say back but was suddenly very aware of the pause he had left for her to speak. She tried to read his facial expression but struggled. She tried to guess if he was looking for her to accept his apology or offer one of her own.

  "You've every right to be angry at me blocking your network, I'm sorry about that. But I'm not as malicious as you were saying. I wasn't trying to get anyone killed, I was just trying to protect what was ours."

  "Well.... It wasn't strictly yours to begin with..."

  Helen felt her anger rising again at Mark's comment. Luke quickly rushed over between the two, Ryan and Liz covered their eyes with their hands.

  "Guys, guys! Let's keep thing civil shall we? I think you both can see where the other is coming from can't you?"

  Luke's act of peacekeeping seemed to have a positive affect on Mark and Helen, the pair of them visibly relaxing slightly, like watching a pair of cats raise their hackles before lowering them again and going their own way.

  "Yeah, sorry." Mark kept his eyes locked on Helen's as he spoke.

  "Me too."

  Despite the two looking like they were going to launch another attack against each other, Luke stood between them and threw his arms round their shoulders, a huge smile across his face.

  "Don't you think it's so much better when we all just get along?"

  Helen and Mark turned away from each other and shrugged Luke's arms off their shoulders. Unperturbed, Luke turned to Helen.

  "Helen, Mark's brought the radio in from the truck so you can contact your group."

  Helen was about to take a seat with Liz and Ryan when she heard him. She stood behind the chair she was about to sit on.

  "Oh, thank you."

  She suddenly felt bad for not asking to contact them before now, she'd originally hated the idea of coming to Ridgetown and thought she'd want to stay in contact with them constantly. It was also a nice thought on Mark's part, offering her the chance to speak to them without her having to ask. Although, she wondered if it was because he wanted to check on how his team member was doing as well. With some of the comments he had made, Helen was inclined to think it was the latter.

  She could see Luke and Mark were still setting the radio up so she took the opportunity to speak to Liz and Ryan, sitting on the chair between them.

  "I just wanted to say I'm sorry to you guys about taking your Internet off you. I didn't realise that it would be being used so crucially. I was just trying to make sure that me and my group would always have access. We didn't even realise you guys were here, plus we've run into more than a few hostile groups before we met you."

  Liz and Ryan looked at each other as if mentally deciding who was going to respond, it was Ryan who eventually spoke.

  "Listen. Three hours ago, I hadn't even met you so don't worry about me, or anyone else here judging you. This whole situation is crazy for everyone and there's no real rulebook about how to act. We scavenge for food and supplies in people's houses and even though they're deserted or inhabited by their dead or missing owners, it still feels wrong going in. It's not a normal thing to do, go into someone's house and root around for things to take with you." He paused for a moment as he reflected on past events. "But we do it. We do it because we have to if we want to survive. And you've been doing the same. If you hadn't you wouldn't be here. That's something no one can judge you for."

  Helen started to feel emotional again. Not just because it was kind of him to say so, but also because it was true. She'd had to do things she wasn't proud of, not helping people so she would survive. Taking more than her fair share of supplies and letting other people go into dangerous situations when she could have gone herself.

  Ryan continued, "You seem like you've got your head screwed on and the others like you. Especially Luke."

  They laughed and Helen felt herself get slightly embarrassed.

  "To be honest, as long as you pull your weight and don't stab me in my sleep, you're always gonna be welcome in Ridgetown."

  Helen smiled and looked at Liz, raising her eyebrows as she waited for her response.

  Liz smiled back, pointing towards Ryan with her eyes. "What he said."

  "Helen, we've got it working!" Luke shouted over.

  "Thank you." Helen whispered to Ryan and Liz as they stood up and joined Luke and Mark at the table. Mark was already trying to get a response.

&n
bsp; "Bravo one, do you copy?" He waited for about five seconds before trying again, "Bravo one, do you copy? Over"

  There were a couple of breaks in the static but no voice came through. Mark was going to try again but heard a faint noise. He turned the volume up and Helen instantly recognised Dennis's voice.

  "I ca......Where......."

  Mark looked to Luke, "It's on the right frequency isn't it? Everything looks set up okay?"

  Luke's confused expression told that everything should have been working perfectly. The voice came through again.

  "Bloody thing..... Hello? Scott! Ishaq! How do you work this stupid contraption?"

  Helen grinned, knowing how technically inept Dennis was first hand. She had quickly given up trying to explain anything computer or network related to him when she realised how much of a technophobe he was. He was okay with mechanical things but anything that required software was a mystery to him. He would always ask what she was doing and she would explain to him, knowing fully well that he didn't understand. It was like a little performance between the two, he would pretend to understand so he didn't look stupid and she would pretend that she thought he understood what she was saying. Dennis had evolved into a leader for their little group and she didn't want to undermine the authority Scott and herself had given him.

  "Don't worry, it sounds like it's working fine. Dennis might not have been the best person to operate on our end."

  Mark understood what she was getting at and tried communicating back, "Bravo one can you hear us? Dennis, if this is you, can you put Ishaq on for me?" He felt uncomfortable using real names over the radio because anyone could be listening, but he hoped if he could get Ishaq on the radio as quickly as possible, they might be able to go back to using call signs and code words.

  "Hello, I can hear you. Is that Mark?"

  Mark sighed.

  "Yes, is Ishaq there?"

  "He's erm.... impared at the minute."

  The words sent a shockwave through the group and Mark stood up with the transmitter, disregarding his self imposed radio protocol.

  "What do you mean? What's going on? Where is he? I want to speak to him now!"