Ridgetown (Book 2): Neighbours

by Philip Radford

  The group cautiously moved forward, attempting to stick to the shadows as carefully as they could. Zack reached the doors first and was about to enter when Cassie grabbed his arm. He looked at her with a puzzled expression. She pointed to the wall. He followed the line of her finger and spotted what she had seen.

  Next to the door was a keypad that clearly hadn’t been used since the beginning of the apocalypse. Victim to the elements, it was covered in dust and grime. However, a purple cable extended from the rear of the keypad and ran along the wall to an electrical box. Another purple cable, possibly the same cable, exited the other side of the electrical box and up to a telegraph pole along with some other wires. The telegraph pole was closer to the building next-door and another purple cable extended to that building as well. Having been so involved with the regeneration of Ridgetown, Zack recognised the purple cable as one of the many data cables that Helen and Luke used. It stood out as something that didn't belong once it had been noticed.

  “I think they might be monitoring the buildings.” Cassie whispered.

  Zack nodded silently. Such seemingly insignificant observations had been made by Cassie numerous times before and saved all their lives. It was a reasonable assumption and one that may have just stopped them walking into the building and announcing their arrival.

  “Okay, back to the forest.”

  They scuttled back the way they had come as quickly and quietly as they could.

  “Cassie’s right. I think we need to avoid the buildings. Only problem is that our options become very limited and our field of view becomes very restricted. We’re either going to be walking right up to their front door or approaching from the side… Up to their front door.”

  “So what’s the plan?” Rhys asked.

  “The best option I can think of to sneak up on them is from behind, from the train tracks. Unfortunately, due to the car being behind the fence, all stealth is going to go out of the window once we get it. I’m hoping we’ll be able to take it round the back and get away across the tracks. If not, we’re going to have to use the front door. And I think we’ll be going through it while it’s still closed.”

  There was a moment of silence between the group as they considered their options.

  “Well, we’ve come this far.” Said Jez.

  They all nodded in agreement.

  “Alright then.” Zack was surprised at how quickly the matter had been settled. “The least buildings seem to be to the left so I think we should continue that way sticking to the edge of the tree line. See if we can get a visual of the car on the way past.”

  Green team headed off again, in single file and keeping as low as possible. The idea of the buildings being under surveillance added the possibility of cameras. Every one became paranoid that they were being watched. It was the first time they were using their recently developed skills on a group of survivors.

  The tree line was too far from the secure compound for any of them to see Ryan’s vehicle although Rhys pointed to where he thought it would be according to the signal. The decision was made to split the group up. Zack, Jez and Rhys would continue on to the tracks while Eleanor and Cassie held their current position. Eleanor was the most proficient with a bow and could keep the entrance to the compound as clear as possible, breaking their cover if needed. Cassie felt that Eleanor needed someone to keep her covered while she was distracted and didn't know how comfortable she would be using violence against another survivor if it came to it. Staying in the trees was more preferable to her.

  Zack had stipulated that they were going to avoid confrontation at all costs but they may have to use some force if necessary. No one was particularly keen on the idea of fighting to get the vehicle back, it felt like it went against the ethics of the community. They rationalised that they were getting their own property back. The car was Ryan’s and it belonged to Ridgetown, not a group of mercenaries that had taken it from their friends.

  Eleanor used a set of binoculars to keep an eye on the compound while Cassie sat next to her, scanning the surrounding forest.

  The three men continued around the side of the building, noting that it comprised of a plain wall. There were no doors or windows that they could see. Zack hoped that it meant that they could make their way to the front of the building quickly and without being noticed once they were clear of the fence.

  As the train tracks came into view, Zack became worried about their lack of cover. The ground surrounding the train track was completely open. The fence extended out to the track and left a slim gap for the train to fit through. They went one at a time with Zack going first. Rhys and Jez held their breaths.

  Zack ran as quickly as he could, conscious of how loud his footsteps sounded against the gravel surface. He darted through the gap without stepping on the train tracks and headed straight for the relative cover of the building. It was only once he was on the other side and pressed up against the brick wall that Zack wondered about the train lines themselves. He’d heard plenty of stories about people getting electrocuted on train lines and wondered if he’d dodged sudden death without even knowing it. There were lines running overhead, above the track but he didn’t know whether all the electricity ran through those or some through the tracks, or both. He began to panic as he watched Jez run for the gap, praying he wasn’t about to watch his friend fry himself in front of his eyes.

  Zack winced as Jez bounded across the train track and sprinted up to meet him against the wall.

  “Are any of those lines live? Like, deadly?”

  Jez didn’t answer, although his eyes widened and the two of them watched Rhys intently. Neither wanted to shout out and risk giving away their presence or distract Rhys as he ran.

  Rhys jogged up to the two of them, confused by the alarmed expressions on their faces.

  “Everything okay?” He asked.

  “Yeah,” Zack shook his head to ease the panicking feeling now that they were all together. “I’m just glad we don’t have to go back that way on foot.”

  Jez took a deep breath as he followed Zack, hoping that was the closest they were going to come to danger that evening.

  Rhys joined the line, still slightly confused at what their problem was.

  The three of them stayed as close to the wall as possible, the occasional bang from inside the building making them stop and question whether they had been spotted. Rhys looked towards the tree line, looking for any sign of Eleanor or Cassie. He couldn’t see them and wasn’t sure whether he felt better or worse. He hoped it was an indication that they were good at staying hidden rather than being in trouble.

  When they reached the corner of the building, the three of them paused.

  The front of the compound was empty and well lit. The building sat approximately thirty feet behind the large electronic gate and perimeter fence. Apart from a couple of shipping containers near the fence on the opposite sides of the building, the space in front of the building was completely open. Just inside the gate, with its doors still open, was Ryan’s car. It was parked up with its back to the gate and looked like the driver and passengers had dumped it in a hurry.

  “I doubt they left the keys in the ignition but it’s a possibility. They obviously left in a hurry so maybe they switched the engine off and left them in the barrel.” Zack knew how unlikely the scenario was, however a small part of him wished it would be the case. It would make the first part of the plan a lot easier.

  “And if they haven’t?” Jez asked.

  “Ryan taught me how to hot-wire all of our vehicles. I’m pretty sure I could remember how to do it. Might take me a bit of time though, hopefully the basic tools will still be in the glovebox.”

  “How do we get out once it’s started? We could try using the train tracks to get out.”

  “Too risky.” Said Zack. “If they hear the car, we’d be heading further into their base and we don’t know what kind of defence they have set up once they’re alerted. Plus, I wouldn’t want to abandon Eleanor a
nd Cassie once we’re moving.”

  “So what do you suggest?” asked Rhys.

  “The gate must have some kind of control box.” He squinted at the gate, trying to compare it to the more vulnerable version they had at Ridgetown. “There, closest to us. If one of you can get the cover off it, I’d bet there’s a manual override inside. There should be a lock picking kit in the glove box with the tools. If there is, I’ll throw it in the direction of the gate.”

  “I’ve probably had the most practice at picking and I’ve worked on our gate at Ridgetown a few times.” said Jez.

  “Okay. As we’re trying to keep a low profile, I’ll go first, alone. Once I’m at the car, I’ll give you a thumbs up when I’m getting close to starting it. Might be straight away, might take a few minutes. You’ve got from the moment I give you the thumbs up to the moment the car starts to prize the control panel open.” He sucked on his bottom lip. “Once the car starts, it’s go time. If you’ve not picked it by then, smash the cover off. We’ll lose any covertness we have by that point.”

  “What about me?” asked Rhys.

  “Crowd control. Stay close to the front of the building. If you see anyone come through the door at the front, let us know and stop them.” Zack looked at both of his friends with a stern expression. “Remember what we discussed before. Non-lethal force. We’re not trying to make enemies of these people, just get back what’s ours.”

  Zack looked at the front of the building. There was a single metal door for people to enter and exit and a large cargo-bay shutter that looked like the entrance and exit for any vehicles.

  “If anyone opens the door, slam it shut on them and shout for us. If the shutter opens and it’s a vehicle or more than a single person, we bolt back for the train tracks. This isn’t worth our lives.”

  Jez and Rhys nodded in agreement.

  “We all know what we’re doing?” Zack asked.

  They nodded again.

  Zack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “See you on the other side.” He grinned and shuffled forwards a few steps before sprinting over to the car, keeping his body hunched and as low as he possibly could.

  Rhys nodded to Jez and moved slowly backwards to the front wall of the building. Sticking as close to the wall as he could and keeping his eye on the metal door.

  Jez gazed intently at Zack, watching him reach the vehicle and drop to a seated position behind the open passenger door.

  Zack waited for a few seconds. Listening for any noise to indicate he had been spotted. A creak of a door, or a shout from an unseen guard. His adrenaline pumped and his heart raced. He was convinced someone would hear his heartbeat over the silence.

  Convinced he hadn’t been spotted, he opened the glove box and found what he wanted. A rolled up piece of material that contained a basic set of tools including; two screwdrivers, a pair of long nosed pliers, wire strippers, insulation tape and the two thin hooked pieced of metal used for picking locks.

  He removed the lock picks that were evocative of dentist’s tools and threw them over towards the gate. Instantly he regretted the decision, although only making a faint ting as they hit the gravel floor, Zack was almost certain Jez wouldn’t be able to find them. They were so thin and small that they would have blended into the dark, uneven gravel straight away. He hoped that the light might be shining off them when Jez ran over to the gate.

  He turned to look at Jez and shrugged, trying his best to look apologetic. Jez closed his eyes and nodded once in acknowledgement, letting Zack know he realised it was a dumb idea.

  Zack waited for him to open his eyes again so he was sure Jez knew he wasn’t ready for him to run to the gate yet.

  Satisfied Jez wasn’t going to move too early, Zack slipped inside the vehicle. He squatted in the passenger footwell before sliding across the passenger and driver’s seat, trying to avoid the discomfort from the centre console and handbrake digging into his hip. He pried the cheap plastic off from underneath the ignition barrel and saw the bunch of wires he needed to sort through.

  As Zack struggled under the dashboard he periodically checked the open doors, paranoid that he was going to discover a figure stood over him, holding a gun. He stopped himself losing track of time by constantly checking his watch. He’d been working for ten minutes and was very aware that it was taking longer than he expected.

  Zack was pretty confident he was ready to give it a proper try but knew that as soon as he did, their cover would be blown. He wiggled backwards enough that he could sit up and see Jez without too much of his head showing over the dashboard.

  Jez was shuffling on the spot, clearly beginning to cramp up after being in the same position for so long. He was immediately brought to attention when he noticed Zack signalling to him.

  Zack pointed at him and gave him a thumbs up as well as a thumbs down signal, allowing Jez to respond if he was ready. Jez gave a thumbs up and Zack shuffled back into position beneath the dashboard. He couldn’t see Rhys from inside the car. Hoping he was okay and Jez would have signalled if he wasn’t, Zack took a deep breath and cut the wires he needed. He heard the stomping of Jez’s feet as he ran to the gate. Zack stripped the wires back and dropped the strippers in the footwell, knowing that he was racing against time. He jumped at the sparks when he struck the wires together, his already racing heart beat even harder. Doubts about picking the right wires suddenly turned into fear that Zack was about to electrocute himself with the car’s battery.

  He struck the wires together again and the grunt of the starter motor was enough to give him confidence he was doing it right. The fear from the adrenaline turned to excitement as he tried again and again. Each time, the car’s engine lurched closer and closer to starting. It began to stagger ever closer towards idle. Zack ignored the amount of noise he was making, accepting whoever was in the building had probably heard them and focusing on getting the car to start properly. He twisted the wires together and pushed on the accelerator pedal with his hand to help the car idle properly.

  Zack laughed to himself as he became satisfied that the car was running. Excited to pick up his friends and get back to Ridgetown with the car, he banged the back of his head on the steering wheel as he pushed his upper body back onto the drivers seat. Still trying to stay below the windscreen, Zack tucked his legs up to his chest as quickly as he could and awkwardly tried to manoeuvre his body into a seated position. As he hesitantly looked out above the dashboard towards the building, sitting in a driving position, Zack heard a single gunshot.

  Cassie gasped as she watched Jez’s lifeless body drop to the floor. She had been watching him through the binoculars from their position in the trees. Shocked, she dropped the binoculars and covered her mouth. She suddenly felt disorientated as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.

  Having heard the gunshot and seeing Cassie’s reaction, Eleanor grabbed the binoculars from the ground. As she looked through them, desperately searching for Jez, she whispered, “What happened?”

  Cassie’s silence was deafening and as Eleanor heard her begin to whimper, she knew that Jez was dead.

  Eleanor frantically scanned for Rhys or Zack, seeing the car running but unable to make out anyone inside. She lowered the binoculars and could see Cassie’s eyes beginning to glaze, staring at the compound in shock. Eleanor knew how sensitive Cassie could be if she allowed herself to become too empathic with a situation.

  “Come on,” said Eleanor, standing and grabbing Cassie by the arm as she did, “we need to get moving.”

  Zack waited for pain to register, convinced he’d been shot when he sat up. Confused, he looked out to the wall of the building ahead and saw Rhys pressing himself as flat as he could. Feeling himself break out into a cold sweat, Zack looked in the rearview mirror of the car. He kept his head facing forwards and glanced up with his eyes. Instantly, he focused in on the body of Jez, now lay prone on the floor.

  A wave of emotions hit Zack all at once, anger, fear and sadness most prevalent. H
e jerked his head around as he looked for the shooter. There didn’t seem anywhere for someone to hide, he panicked when he couldn’t see anyone.

  Jez had died at the control panel of the gate without succeeding in opening it, Zack knew that he and Rhys were going to have a rough exit.

  Not wanting to waste any time, Zack threw the car into gear and headed straight for Rhys, who he now realised was pressed against the wall so tightly to prevent himself being shot next. Before he had covered half of the gap, Zack saw the door next to Rhys swing open.

  Seeing the movement out of his peripheral vision, Rhys turned to see what was happening.

  Zack was close enough to see Rhys’s eyes wide with fear as he watched the figure before him raise his assault rifle and fire three shots into his chest in quick succession.

  The figure looked just as Mark had described, dressed head to toe in dark body armour and a visor reminiscent of a paintball visor. Before Rhys’s body hit the floor, the figure was already raising the gun at Zack.

  Zack instinctively yanked on the handbrake and jerked the steering wheel to the right. The car spun and skidded to a halt just short of completing a one hundred and eighty degree turn leaving the rear and half of the passenger side facing the figure in the doorway. Struggling to process everything that was going on, Zack released the clutch too quickly and the car jerked a few times before stalling. Cursing himself, Zack reached under the dashboard for the wires that dangled beneath.

  The figure strode towards the car and fired multiple shots from their hip, hitting the car wildly. Walking steadily, the figure raised the rifle taking more careful aim. They shot the rear two tires out and fired through the rear windscreen in the direction of the driver’s seat. The bullet pierced the window and sent a spiderweb of cracks all around it. Still aiming and getting closer to the vehicle, the figure fired just below the window and began to walk around the driver’s side.

  Zack hunched down as low as he could. His left shoulder burned and he could feel blood soaking his T-shirt. He tried his best not to cry out as his shoulder rubbed on the seat, sending a crippling pain shooting down his side. The gunfire stopped but his ears still rang. He heard heavy footsteps getting closer. He tried to mentally prepare himself for a fight but began to feel light headed, unsure whether it was due to blood loss or through his erratic and heavy breathing.