Ridgetown: A zombie apocalypse novel Read Online Free Page A

knowing that if she had to drop everything and run, she would still have something to defend herself with.
    They slowly headed down the crest of the hill towards the building. They left the truck pointing in the direction they would be leaving for speed incase a quick getaway was needed. They left it unlocked for the same reason.
    It was strange how unnatural it felt to walk away from a vehicle knowing that it had been left unlocked but it was something that Dennis had rationalised to the others as being the best thing to do. He had argued that the world was a different place now, that people didn't follow the same rules that they did before. There weren't a lot of people left walking around to worry about stealing their truck anyway, but anyone who wanted it wouldn't be put off by a locked door anymore. They themselves had taken vehicles by simply smashing windows to gain entry, locks didn't have the same gravitas as they did before. A locked door used to mean, 'keep out or you will be in trouble' but now it meant 'whatever is behind here could save your life'. Also, they had yet to witness a zombie opening a car door and getting inside. Dennis had summed up by hypothesising a scenario that had been in so many horror films; A person is being chased, they make it to the relative safety of their car, in their panicked state they fumble with the car keys and drop them on the floor, maybe even knocking them under the vehicle. Person gets eaten.
    It was hard to argue the logic, even though he was citing low budget horror movies, so now they always left it open, for safety's sake.
    They practically sneaked up on the closest zombie to them, Scott being only a few feet away as it eventually turned round. Before it could make a sound, he dashed the last few feet between them and buried the axe in the top of its head. The zombie was more decomposed than Scott was expecting and the axe caved its skull in easily, fragmenting like a shell being cracked on the rim of a mug. It fell to the ground without having let out a moan.
    The three of them sped up and covered the last twenty metres to the building quickly. They could hear the occasional moan coming from inside, travelling through the doorless corridors but nothing that indicated too many creatures. They stayed cautious and quiet, sticking to a routine they had used many times before. Dennis motioned with his hand for Scott to go inside, keeping his eyes peeled as best he could. Helen kept her back to the pair, looking out for anything trying to sneak up on them.
    Scott was only out of sight for half a minute before appearing at the doorway, waving them to come in. As they huddled together he held up three fingers clearly to both of them, he held his hand out in front of him in a handshake position with his fingers together indicating he meant straight down the corridor. He then bent his fingers at a right angle to indicate the room to the left of the corridor.
    Dennis and Helen nodded that they understood; Three zombies in the room down the corridor on the left.
    The building was quiet apart from an eerie methodic banging against thin metal and the occasional moan. The three moved as silently as they could towards the room, Scott dashed to the other side of the doorway while Dennis and Helen stayed on the near side. They all peeked inside where three zombies had gathered around an air vent and one was slapping his hands against it.
    Dennis pointed at himself and the middle zombie, then at Helen and the zombie to its left and at Scott and the zombie on the right. They all nodded and stared at each other to indicate they understood. Dennis held his fist up between them and counted.
    On three they dashed inside, Helen and Scott bashing each of their zombies in the head with their respective weapons. The third zombie turned around, distracted by the commotion. It had barely rotated all the way before Dennis smashed the handle of his axe into its temple. It crumpled to the floor and Dennis