Ridgetown (Book 2): Neighbours

by Philip Radford

  He wanted to carry on towards the van but the Scutter was still blocking their path. Helen was swinging wildly but the creature was weaving its body out of the way of her axe in an incredible display of coordination.

  Mark swung his axe into the back of one of the Scutters he had knocked off Eleanor. He knew she was dead without looking and didn’t have time to see if there was anything he could do.

  His axe sunk into the creature’s back near its left shoulder and the momentum carried the axe down its spine. What there was of the creature’s thin skin peeled away as the blade moved through its body, staying shallow as the Scutter moved forward to get away from Mark.

  Mark saw a shadow of movement to his right in his peripheral vision and tensed his body for the other Scutter that was dashing towards him.

  Another axe flew passed Mark’s eyes, close to striking him in his face. The blur of movement made him blink instinctively. He heard an ear piercing squeal and looked at the other Scutter that now had Ishaq’s axe buried deep into its chest.

  Mark’s Scutter had turned to face him. Even without eyes, Mark could feel its gaze. Blood covered its mouth and its pointed fingers. Eleanor’s blood.

  Before it could move towards him, Mark jumped towards it and kicked it in the face as hard as he could with both feet. He heard bones snap and felt little resistance through the soles of his boots. He spread his arms out wide and flattened his back as best he could, preparing for the impact with the ground.

  He landed hard but was ready for the shock, instantly getting back to his feet and surveying the damage he had inflicted on the creature’s face. Dark, putrid looking congealed blood poured from its face where its nose used to be and the collapsed area around it.

  Without taking his eyes off the Scutter, Mark pulled a knife from his belt and drove it into the Scutter’s face as hard as he could. He aimed for its eye socket which had been made easier by his kick collapsing more of its scull around the eyeless sockets. He wiggled the handle as he kept driving it forward and the Scutter’s legs began to collapse beneath it.

  Behind Mark, Ishaq had pulled his axe from the other Scutter’s chest and attempted to bury it in the creature’s skull but it had moved too quickly. It had tried to bite his face and Ishaq had grabbed its wrists in an attempt to keep it away from him.

  Ishaq swung the creature by its wrists, its light weight making it easy to throw around. However, each time it came to a stop, it attempted to lurch forwards and bite Ishaq again. Without a weapon or time to think properly, all he could think to do was continue to swing it round and disrupt its balance.

  Mark could see Ishaq struggling. He reached down and grabbed the handle of the knife that stuck out of the dead Scutter’s eye socket and pulled it out, pressing down on the centre of its forehead with his boot to keep it on the ground. He pressed hard to make sure it was dead and could feel more of its skull breaking beneath his foot. As he turned towards Ishaq, he heard a voice that made him look up.

  “Hey.”

  Still bending down, Mark looked in the direction of the casual voice in time to see the sole of a boot smash into his face. He felt his nose break and his vision instantly went blurry. The knife flew from his hand and Mark was left sprawled on all fours, spitting blood onto the grass. Despite his lack of vision, he knew it was Chris straight away.

  “You think I was gonna let you get away with that?”

  The question was followed by a powerful kick to Mark’s ribs. He collapsed onto the ground, unable to see or breathe. The grass felt cold on his cheek.

  “Mark!” Ishaq shouted, drawing the attention of Helen who had landed a lucky strike with her axe and slashed the neck of the Scuttter that had been dodging her strikes.

  Tearing a chunk of flesh and wind pipe from its throat had stunned it enough for Helen to drive the handle of the axe into its stomach, causing it to double over so she could swing the axe down hard on the back of its skull.

  With the Scutter dead, Helen pulled the axe free and ran over to rescue Mark. She dodged Eleanor’s corpse and swung her axe at Chris without thinking twice.

  He had looked angry when she had last seen him outside The Outpost but now he looked insane with rage. He side stepped the swing, wide eyed and teeth clenched together in a grin so big it looked like it hurt his cheeks to hold.

  Trying to keep the momentum of the axe going, Helen spun with it and brought the axe upwards towards Chris’s body.

  Ready for another strike, he hopped backwards allowing the swing to go wild. As Helen tried to change the direction of the axe, Chris hopped towards Helen again and stamped down on the side of her knee.

  Helen let out a short scream as pain shot up the side of her leg to her hip. Her knee was pushed towards the ground by Chris’s stomp and when she tried to turn it back, pain pulsed through her whole body and she dropped to the knee, keeping it twisted at an awkward angle.

  Helen made a humming noise in her throat, determined not to let out a whimper of pain.

  Mark managed to struggle to his feet, spurned on by the sound of Helen in trouble. His head was spinning and he knew that breathing deeply through his mouth wouldn’t be helping. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice after the kick to his nose. He rubbed at his eyes, clearing his vision enough to see Chris standing over Helen.

  Helen was using her axe as a crutch to support her weight while on one knee. She held herself up and swung the axe at Chris, missing without him even having to move. She had to bring the axe back quickly to support herself again.

  Mark cautiously approached, aware he was within Chris’s sight even though Chris was concentrating on tormenting Helen, staying just outside her reach.

  His grin made Mark angry. The sick pleasure he was deriving from their pain was evident in his face. Although the mocking of Helen was hard to watch, Mark was glad it gave him the opportunity to get over to them.

  He glanced over at Ishaq who was still struggling with the Scutter.

  “Help Helen.” He growled through gritted teeth.

  Mark had felt slightly conflicted when he had seen his friend still struggling but he had every intention of getting over to Helen. He was confident Ishaq would be okay.

  As he got closer, Mark began to speed up. The jarring motion made his ribs hurt even more but he fought through the pain.

  Helen’s arms were beginning to tire from swinging the axe so hard at such an awkward angle. The next time Chris took a step backwards, she pushed the flat head of the axe into the ground and forced her body upright. The pain in her knee was excruciating as she straightened it and she immediately had to put all her weight onto her other leg.

  Chris’s smile turned into a stern look and he instantly changed his stance to someone who was ready to fight. He turned his body more sideways and hopped on the balls of his feet. He held up both arms and dipped his chin like a boxer.

  Helen saw Chris’s eyes flicker to her right side before focusing straight back on her. Worried she was about to be caught off guard by another Scutter, she glanced to her side and felt a brief lift in her confidence as she recognised it was Mark. His slouched stance had momentarily made her think it was a zombie and she could tell he was hurting badly. She knew they needed to stop Chris quickly, before anyone else got killed.

  Mark paused for a moment, readying himself and allowing Helen to catch her breath. She was visibly tired and her right foot was barely touching the floor. He watched Chris intently, waiting for him to make a move. The chaos that surrounded them disappeared and Mark felt ready to fight. He wasn’t convinced he was going to win but he knew that he would sacrifice himself for everyone else to get away. He spat on the ground in front of him and wasn’t surprised that only blood came out.

  Chris dashed forwards and threw a sweeping kick at Helen’s left leg, completely wiping both feet from under her body and sending her crashing to the ground.

  Despite Mark wanting to check on her, he seized the opportunity to punch Chris off guard. The punch caught Chris
on his cheekbone and Mark knew it had been painful by the pain it caused his hand. He followed the punch up with a knee to Chris’s stomach but the higher he raised his knee, the sharper the pain that stabbed in his chest. By the time it contacted with Chris, it had lost most of its power.

  Chris swung an elbow downwards at Mark’s face. Mark ducked backwards and managed to avoid most of the impact but Chris’s elbow caught him and cut his cheek under his eye.

  Mark instinctively pushed Chris backwards with both hands, trying to get some reprieve from the assault but Chris immediately threw two big uppercuts into Mark’s ribs. The breath left Mark’s body and once again he was left gasping for air, lungs refusing to breathe.

  Chris went to grab Mark’s head, readying himself to throw knees at Mark’s face but Helen kicked him in the shin as hard as she could with her good leg. Still on the floor, she had lashed out to do anything to slow Chris down.

  The kick worked too well as Chris turned his attention back to her as Mark still gasped for breath.

  Chris stamped on the thigh of Helen’s good leg. Even though the stamp hurt, she refused to give him the satisfaction of audibly howling. She curled up to protect herself as best as possible. Chris took her change to the foetal position as a sign she had given up so he stamped on her thigh again and stood over her.

  “None of you are getting out of here.” He scowled, spitting the words out venomously.

  Helen rolled into a sitting position, still curled up, hands held tightly to her body.

  Chris leaned closer to her.

  “You should have stayed away while you had the…”

  Before he could finish, Helen darted forward and stabbed Chris with a screwdriver she had pulled from her belt. She drove it deep into his shoulder and wiggled it in the same fashion Mark had wiggled the knife in the zombie’s eye socket.

  Chris let out a shout that sounded like a roar. Pain, anger and shock vocalised into a single sound. Without looking, he swung his arm out and struck Helen in the side of her head. Her vision flashed for a second she held her hands in front of her face.

  Mark managed to breathe again and was fuelled by anger as he saw Chris hit Helen with the back of his hand. He stumbled forward to help as Chris stood upright and pulled the screwdriver out of his shoulder, exhaling loudly.

  Chris threw the screwdriver to the ground and faced Mark head on. He instantly began throwing punches at Mark’s face and Mark covered his face with both arms. The punches came from all angles and each time Mark shifted his arms to try to protect more of his head, Chris found a new opening and threw another punch. Mark’s legs began to give way beneath him and he started to feel confused. He knew he was moments from losing consciousness when the punches suddenly stopped.

  Mark dared to lower his arms and saw Chris grappling with the Scutter Ishaq had been wrestling with. Before Mark could comprehend what had happened, Ishaq charged passed him and kicked the Scutter into Chris from behind. The two figures stumbled over and Ishaq dashed over to Helen.

  Ishaq nodded at Mark as he struggled to help Helen to her feet. Mark shook his head in an effort to clear his thoughts, eager to regroup with them.

  Between Ishaq and Mark, they managed to get Helen to her feet. She rested heavily on Ishaq, Mark tried to take some of the burden but found it harder to breathe the more he did. They had barely made it a few steps before they saw Chris roll the Scutter and mount its chest. Its arms and legs flailed wildly as it tried to escape from being pinned down.

  Chris leant to his side without compromising his position and dragged a large rock close enough to pick up. He held it in both hands above his head and brought it crashing down on the Scutter’s face. He bashed it over and over until the creature stopped moving. He dropped the rock and stood up, slowly turning towards Mark.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” He asked coldly. Blood covered his face and his clothes, not just Mark’s and the Scutter’s but his own as well.

  The three of them stopped moving.

  Mark looked over to Luke who was sat beneath a tree with Cassie clinging tightly to him. No matter how brave Luke was trying to be, Mark could see that he was terrified and watching out for Cassie was the only thing keeping him strong. The dead Scutter lay a few yards from them and Luke was glancing at its corpse occasionally, not convinced he was totally safe from it.

  Mark’s left eye was beginning to close. He looked over his right shoulder at Chris who took a step closer to them. He didn’t have the strength to fight any more. He wanted to get his friends back to Ridgetown and put everything behind them but he knew Chris wasn’t going to let him.

  “I said. Where the hell, do you think you’re going?”

  Mark was about to beg for Chris to let them leave. He was willing to lose face in front of his friends just to give them the chance to get away. They were always what was most important. He pursed his lips to say please when Helen suddenly got heavier on his shoulder.

  Ishaq turned around and went to meet Chris head on.

  Chris’s sickly grin returned just in time for Ishaq to jab at him. Chris ducked out of the way and threw a jab of his own. Ishaq went for another punch, it landed on Chris’s jaw but Chris returned with a strong kick to the ribs.

  Mark winced when he saw the kick land because he knew how much it hurt. He could only watch as Chris and Ishaq exchanged punches and kicks, Ishaq with more energy but Chris matching him with technique. He felt Helen grip his shoulder tightly, knowing she felt as helpless as he did.

  The fight continued and Ishaq began to slow. Chris took advantage of every lazy punch and kick, returning with one of his own, more precise and powerful. Mark felt his heart sink as Chris watched and began to recognise when Ishaq was telegraphing an attack.

  The weight of Helen began to lift and Mark thought she was going to attempt to help. He looked at her and saw that Cassie had taken Ishaq’s place supporting Helen’s right side. Surprised to see her, Mark felt slightly panicked as he watched Luke stride over to Chris and Ishaq.

  “Well what do we have here?” Chris asked in a patronising tone, uppercutting Ishaq in the stomach without looking.

  Mark had never seen Luke so focused before. He walked with a confidence only found in anger, fists balled up tight and his shoulders hunched. Without saying a word, he strode straight up to Chris and attempted a low kick at Chris’s knee.

  Chris dodged easily and laughed mockingly as Ishaq began to stand back up.

  Staying focused, Luke threw a lazy punch at Chris who brought his arm up to protect his face. The punch was ineffective but it caused Chris to turn his attention to Luke long enough for Ishaq to get to his feet and throw a punch of his own.

  Ishaq’s punch connected with the other side of Chris’s head and visibly shook him. Chris’s grin faltered and he looked shocked. He turned his attention back to Ishaq which gave Luke the opportunity to throw another punch, this time landing on Chris’s jaw.

  Physically shaking, Chris stumbled backwards. His look turned serious and he furrowed his brow.

  “You won’t get lucky like that again.” He scowled.

  Chris kicked Luke viciously in the stomach but Ishaq connected with another punch, sending Chris tumbling to the ground.

  Luke and Ishaq seized their opportunity and launched a series of blows at Chris as he stood. They threw punches and kicks as quickly as they could. Their attacks were lethargic and clumsy but the constant barrage made them effective.

  Mark watched nervously as Chris dropped to his knees and covered his head, clearly struggling to stay conscious.

  Luke and Ishaq paused and stepped backwards.

  Chris didn’t move from his knees. He kept his head covered and swayed slowly.

  “Walk away Chris. That’s what we’re going to do.”

  Helen shot an angry glance at Mark. He could see her stare out of the corner of his eyes but he refused to acknowledge her. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on Chris, ready for anything.

  Chris slowly lo
wered his hands, still swaying and staring at the ground before him. He spat blood onto the floor and looked up, his face swollen and bloody. He grinned.

  Ishaq backed away slowly, Luke followed. Both ready to attack again, Luke’s body still betraying the fear he had for the situation.

  “You still think you’re the good guys?” Chris asked, not moving from his spot.

  Once ishaq and Luke reached Mark and the others, the five of them turned and began to leave, hurting as much as they could without putting undue pressure on Helen.

  Chris rose unsteadily to his feet, sticking to the spot. “Hey, Mark.”

  Mark looked over his shoulder.

  “Go to hell.” Chris reached behind him and pulled a handgun from his waistband.

  Time seemed to slow as Mark pushed Helen away from him and he jumped to the ground in the opposite direction. He heard Helen whimper as she fell and hoped he hadn’t caused her any further injury.

  The group dropped to the floor, each individual following Mark’s lead. A gunshot rang out and everyone looked to each other to see if anyone had been hit. A muffled cry rang through the area but Mark couldn’t see anyone who had been shot. He realised the sound had come from Chris and he looked over to see Chris pinned to the ground by his leg.

  A spiked zombie had crawled up to him from behind and driven its spiked arm through the back of his calf. The shot had gone wild as Chris had fallen to his knee.

  Time sped back up in Mark’s mind as he processed the situation. Chris was trapped by the zombie and was awkwardly trying to turn his body. He exhaled loudly through gritted teeth as he tried to angle the gun behind him and fired three shots in quick succession.

  “Go!” Mark shouted. He scrambled to his feet and ran over to Helen who was being helped up by Cassie. Seizing the opportunity they had been given, the group stood and huddled together, moving as a single unit. As they headed off in the direction of the van, Mark glanced back at Chris to see him beneath the zombie that had now crawled on top of him. Chris had rolled onto his back but the zombie’s spikes were piercing multiple points on his body.