Ridgetown (Book 2): Neighbours

by Philip Radford

  “Oh, sorry. Did you want to know what happened?” Ishaq teased. “I’ll wait for Scott.”

  “I’m listening.” Scott shouted from the kitchen.

  “Okay then. Well, I only met two of them and heard another voice over the radio. They made reference to two others but I’ve got a feeling that they’re part of a much larger group.”

  “Friendly?” Helen asked.

  “Yes and no. Two men, said their names were Adam and Chris. Wore full body armour the whole time, Adam kept hold of a rifle, looked like some kind of military machine gun type thing. Not in a hostile way, more like he didn’t want to risk putting it down incase I made a move for it. Didn’t say much, Chris did most of the talking. He wasn’t the first person I spoke to though.”

  “Walk us through it.” Mark tried to steer Ishaq’s train of thought. “What happened when you got to the gate?”

  “They have an intercom thing that I buzzed, pressed it a couple of times before I got an answer. A woman’s voice asked who I was and what I wanted. I told her my name was Ishaq and I’d gotten split up from you guys. Asked if I could come in for an hour or two while I tried to get in contact with you.”

  “Did they let you in straight away?” Asked Mark.

  “First she asked how I knew there was anyone inside. Caught me off guard a bit, so I just said that I’d heard a train and seen it on the tracks. Told her I’d tried one of the other warehouses but couldn’t find anyone, just zombies.”

  “Nice cover. It would also explain the corpses if they decide to investigate.” Mark replied.

  “I got buzzed through an airlock, first door shut before the second door opened. No one came out so I just kept walking. The door to the building had another intercom and a keypad. Before I pressed it I heard the door buzz unlocked, must have been watching me on camera. The door was a big heavy metal thing, small room inside with another heavy door opposite and another keypad. Like the first door, this one buzzed to indicate it was unlocked.”

  “Sounds secure.” Said Scott as he reentered the living room with a hot drink for Ishaq.

  “Yeah, it definitely was. Through the third door was a corridor, I waited where I was and Chris came through the door opposite. Didn’t smile or anything, introduced himself, said his name was Chris and I could wait inside. I stepped through the door he’d come through and Adam was stood on the other side, holding his gun. It opened up into a huge open room, didn’t get much of a look though ‘cause I got ushered through to a small office to the left. From what I could see, there were a lot of those crates we saw being loaded into the trucks.”

  “What about noises? Anything undead sounding?” Mark asked.

  “Like I said, I got ushered into the office room pretty quickly. Come to think of it, it was really noisy. Not undead noisy but lots of loud machinery.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Straight away, Adam asked how I knew they were there. I told them the same as I’d told the woman over the intercom. Made me think they were kind of paranoid or at least suspicious.”

  “Or checking your story matched both times.” Dennis pointed out.

  “Maybe. I told them the same story, said that I was part of a group and I’d got split up. Chris asked if we were a big group so I told them I had been in a small scavenging party that was part of a larger group. Didn’t mention any numbers and they didn’t ask, they did give each other a look though.”

  “How do you mean?” Mark asked.

  “I think it was the way we were both being a bit vague, it felt pretty obvious we were both feeling each other out. Chris asked if I wanted a drink or anything so I asked if I could have a drink of water. Adam left and came back with a bottle for each of us, still had his gun which I decided he was using as a show of authority by this point. He was quite a while, probably checking to see if anyone else had turned up or talking about me to another member of their team.”

  “If it had been the other way round, we probably would have been waiting for someone else to turn up.” Said Mark.

  “While he was out of the room Chris seemed to relax slightly. He asked if I was injured or needed anything else. I told him I was fine and he seemed happy with that. I don't really know what I could have asked for.”

  “You should have seen what they had said if you asked for a gun.” Said Luke.

  Everyone looked at Luke with a quizzical expression. He wished he’d remained silent.

  Ishaq tried his best to describe the layout of the building when compared to an overhead map even though he had moved through it quickly. Although he’d spoke to Adam and Chris for the entirety of his stay, once he was relaying the conversations, Ishaq realised how little information he’d actually managed to gather from them. The adrenaline of the mission had worn off and the group began to get tired. Noting that it was close to three in the morning, Mark suggested that they get some sleep and pick up their ideas when they felt refreshed. Mark, Luke and Ishaq slept in the living room while Helen, Scott and Dennis had their own rooms upstairs.

  Helen had told Ishaq that she didn’t mid him using her room while she was at Ridgetown but he had refused, saying he was happy sleeping on the couch in the living room. She still wasn’t sure whether he genuinely preferred the couch or whether he thought of her room as private. Walking back into her room, exactly as she had left it, was a nice feeling. It had an aura of comfort and safety. That was something that was hard to find in the new world.

  No one slept longer than a few hours. Their bodies had grown used to having short sleeps and adapted to wake up a lot earlier than what used to be considered a full night’s sleep. Blue Team and The Outpost team ate breakfast together, enjoying each other’s company for what felt like too long. Mark asked how The Outpost’s supplies were doing and offered to do a raid with them if they needed to go out.

  As they discussed plans to visit a supermarket further to the North than they had been scavenging, Scott checked the computer for any updates to the website.

  "Ishaq, did you get the tracker back from the train?" Scott asked hesitantly.

  "No?" Ishaq replied. He frowned in apprehension, knowing there would be a reason Scott was asking.

  "You didn't find it earlier when you scoped the place out with Mark?"

  "No?" Ishaq repeated, slightly more inquisitive than the first time.

  "Why are you asking Scott?" Mark asked.

  "I was just gonna close down the window we used to track the train last night and I noticed it had moved."

  "Moved to where?" Asked Ishaq.

  "It looks like... It looks like it's come back here."

  The room fell silent as everyone looked at each other. Glances were cast from person to person and eventually to Ishaq as he began to pat himself down. He had slept in the clothes he had worn last night and hadn’t had chance to wash yet. After finding nothing, he checked the hoody he had been wearing and thrown on a chair when he had returned to The Outpost. His eyes widened when he patted the pockets, he continued to pat his right pocket as if he didn't believe what he was feeling. Slowly he reached into his pocket and pulled out the improvised tracker Scott had put together.

  "Wait a minute, how did that end up in your pocket?" Helen asked, knowing the answer but hoping someone would offer another explanation.

  "We need to go. Now." Said Mark.

  "All of us?" Dennis asked.

  "All of us now. Grab only what you need and go. Helen and Luke, head out to the car and wait for me, blast the horn if you see anyone. I'll help the others pack up here. Scott, secure all the electronics, Dennis, show me what you want me to do."

  "You think this is that serious?" Asked Luke.

  "They planted that thing on me to see where I went. Yeah, it's serious." Said Ishaq.

  "We need to seal off The Outpost as well as we can, make it look like Ishaq only came to the entrance building. They don't need to know any of this is here or any of us were."

  "Do you think they'll follow the signal straight
away?" Luke failed to hide the fear in his voice.

  "They could already be on their way here, might have been waiting for it to get a bit lighter. That's why we all need to get moving, now!"

  With Mark's final push to get the others moving, a flurry of movement ensued. Helen grabbed her and Mark's bags, motioning for Luke to follow her. Still looking scared, he picked up his own bag and bundled a pile of electronic equipment he had been working on into a box.

  Scott began frantically typing on the computer, running a set of commands in the terminal that he had practiced many times before but never expected to have to use. The commands sent control of The Outpost's network to a remote address, in this instance to a dedicated server located in the church back at Ridgetown. None of the computers in The Outpost would seem to function and couldn't control any of the cameras or remote locks around the building. The Outpost also now had read-only access to Ridgetown's website, without the option to edit it via a guest account, effectively freezing the terminals out of the site. Not that anyone would be able to boot any of the computers up fully without a decent knowledge of computer science. The steps taken by Scott put the whole building's electronics into sleep mode, if anyone got inside the building they wouldn't find anything useful or have any kind of access to any of the computers. The most they could achieve was to switch things off, something that could, within reason, be reversed off site.

  Ishaq followed Helen and Luke into the entrance building of The Outpost, switching lights on and throwing some spare clothing and bottles of water into the main room upstairs to make it appear lived in. He paused as he dipped his hands in his pockets.

  "The tracker?" He said as a question to the others.

  "Here." Luke said, holding it up to Ishaq.

  Ishaq took the tracker and put it back into the hoody pocket he has discovered it in. He then unzipped his top and discarded it with the other clothes in the corner of the room.

  "Hopefully it'll look like I hadn't even noticed I had it. They could get suspicious otherwise."

  "Good thinking." Said Helen. "If they realise you've ditched it, they might snoop around too much."

  Scott rushed through the room towards the window.

  "Hey, what's up?" Ishaq asked, concerned.

  "I'm gonna move the car. We're taking the truck to Ridgetown but I want to make sure they don't find the car."

  "Why don't we take it with us?"

  "Dennis and Mark think it would be a good idea to keep it around here in case someone comes back to The Outpost before we move back permanently and needs a vehicle. I'm gonna park it on a driveway down the street and throw a cover over it." Scott was already climbing through the window as he finished his sentence.

  "Fair enough." Ishaq chuckled.

  Dennis and Mark collected together all the maps of the area that had been printed off along with any notes that had been scribbled about the area. Anything that could suggest the location of Ridgetown was picked up and bundled into a backpack. The attic had previously been cleared out for an instance such as this. Dennis passed equipment to Mark who stood halfway up the step ladders and stacked weapons, supplies and some of Scott's electronic creations.

  "Anything that Scott's made that looks improvised, let's put it up here. I don't want them making the association with the tracker." Mark reinforced.

  Outside, Mark heard Helen start the car and hesitated for a moment in case that was her signal that there was trouble outside. Satisfied that she would sound the horn in such a situation, Mark continued to load the attic.

  Helen waited outside impatiently, tapping her fingertips on the steering wheel in a way that irritated Luke but he didn't say anything. Helen watched Ishaq lower himself down the side of the building, hoping to see Mark and Dennis behind him but being left irritated.

  "Where are they?" She asked to no one in particular when Ishaq arrived.

  "I didn't see them as I left but I could hear them moving stuff around." Replied Ishaq.

  "Here comes Scott." Said Luke.

  They watched as he jogged past, straight towards the truck parked behind them. As soon as he was inside, he started the engine. Helen hoped the noise of two engines would hurry the others up a bit.

  Inside The Outpost, Mark heard the truck start its engine and knew that all if the others were now waiting for them outside.

  "That's our cue Dennis, we need to go." He shouted down the steps to the empty hallway.

  "Okay, the doors are shut downstairs we just need to make sure they're all shut up here. Scott thinks he can lock everything with his phone. Don't ask me how it works but he assured me it would, so I believe him."

  "That's good enough for me." Mark trotted down the steps and closed the hatch to the attic, sending the steps up with it.

  Helen threw her hands in the air as she finally saw Mark and Dennis exiting the building. Mark jumped in the back of their car as Dennis climbed into Scott’s truck.

  "What are we waiting for?" Mark asked having already witnessed Helen's display of impatience, knowing it would further irritate her. "We're kinda in a hurry here, so it'd be nice if..."

  Helen stomped down sharply on the accelerator without waiting for Mark to finish what he was saying. He already had hold of the headrest in front of him, anticipating her sudden charge forwards.

  Scott followed close behind, Mark hoped the locks he’d fitted The Outpost with would work like they were meant to.

  "Ridgetown, this is blue team. Ridgetown, this is blue team." Luke spoke in to the handset.

  There was a tense silence.

  "This is Ridgetown. Blue team, can you advise of your location?" Jack sounded more confident over the radio already, Eleanor must have had him practicing.

  "We're coming home, figures fifteen." Luke replied.

  Helen silently nodded at his estimation approvingly.

  "Blue team, can you confirm your company?" Jack asked, wanting to know how many people were returning with Luke.

  "Myself and five friends." ‘Friends’ told Ridgetown that they were all current residents.

  "Good to hear Blue team, see you soon.” Jack signed off sounding pleased. Pleased with his performance or pleased having realised that The Outpost residents were coming back as well, it was hard to be sure. Jack looked up to Ishaq almost as much as he looked up to Mark, so the latter was a possibility.

  The ride back was mercifully scarce of zombies. The vehicles pulled in to Ridgetown and straight to Mark's house. As soon as he was out of the car, Luke was asking Scott about the cameras back at The Outpost.

  "I tried logging in on the way here but I kept getting blocked."

  "I moved the authorisation IP to these servers, we should be able to log in through one of the computers here."

  The two of them hurried around the back of Mark's house. The rest of the team regrouped outside and slowly followed, bringing the few bags of belongings they had brought at such short notice. Thinking of everything they had left at The Outpost, Mark prayed the whole thing was a misunderstanding and they were overreacting. With any luck, the other survivors wouldn't even visit The Outpost anyway.

  They entered Mark's house to find Scott at the desk in the living room with Luke leaning over his shoulder, there was no talking or typing, the two were simply staring at the screen.

  "What can you see?" Helen asked as she lowered herself down the ladder to join them.

  "Nothing so far, everything's as we left it." Scott replied.

  "Do you want me to show you the security script I wrote?” Asked Helen. “You'll get an alert and a screenshot sent to your phone if the cameras pick anything up."

  Scott looked at her sheepishly. "I, erm, I'm already using it." He spoke quickly to explain himself, hoping not to suffer Helen's wrath. "I modified the source code slightly when I fitted the remote locks so that the program would send alerts out if a door was forced open as well."

  Helen's eyes squinted as she wondered how Scott had managed to alter the code without her help.
He'd showed basic programming knowledge before and the code she had written wasn't too technical, she was just surprised he had managed it.

  "Luke showed me how to do it." Scott blurted out as if he had been holding his breath.

  Luke looked startled and betrayed, eyes darting between Helen and Scott. He had been on the wrong end of Helen's vengeful side before and knew she could be possessive about anything she had created.

  "Oh." She replied.

  A tense pause followed. Eventually, Helen spoke.

  "That's a good idea. Well done." Helen turned and walked away. She left Luke and Scott bemused and slightly unnerved, not sure if they were in trouble. They didn't see the smirk on her face as she walked off. Mark's passion for teasing people was rubbing off on her.

  "Anything?" Mark asked as she returned.

  "Nothing yet. We'll just have to wait and see. Scott'll know as soon as anything happens though." She looked at the concerned look on Mark's face. "If anything happens." She corrected herself.

  Mark sighed loudly, trying to expel any negative thoughts about what might be about to happen.

  "I'm gonna go and see Zack, see how the other team's been doing while we've been away. If you hear anything, get hold of me straight away." He turned towards the ladder and hesitated before turning back to face Helen. "And try not to torment the other members of our team, that's my job." He started to climb the ladder. "If you do it as well, it gets them confused and they don't like that."

  Helen smiled and looked back at Luke and Scott who were clearly bickering. Helen changed her face to a stern expression and when they noticed her looking at them, they froze and stared at her wide eyed like deer in the headlights.

  Mark climbed into Gaz's house to find him sat at the table with Zack and the rest of Green team. Mark heard laughter as he approached and as they all looked at him they were smiling, something that lifted Mark's spirit as he entered.

  "Hey, how'd things go? You find the other survivor's base?" Gaz asked.

  It was then that Mark realised they hadn't been keeping Ridgetown up to date with what was happening.