The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 7: To Dig Or Not To Dig

I ambled out of the trees and wasn't surprised to see that my tree ladders had mysteriously found their way inside the fence. Two were visible from here, one of which was now attached to the trailer that had turned into Nina's lab. Daniel must have figured out what they were supposed to be and had taken it upon himself to put them in place.

The guards eyed me up uncertainly, far more hesitant to open the gate than I had anticipated. What was their problem? It wasn't like the cougar I was carrying was still alive. For all they knew, one of my companions had killed it.

I raised an eyebrow at one guard and gave the gate a pointed look as I got closer. He took the hint and opened the gate.

"Where do you want this?" I asked him, hefting the cougar slightly.

"If you leave it here, we'll get someone to take it to the butchers."

That was good enough for me. I set it on the ground and headed to the lab since I could see Nicky sprawled in a beanbag chair outside the door. As I got closer, I examined the tree ladder to the side. The top and bottom had been secured to the trailer so people could clamber up and down without worrying about it falling over.

"I presume you were the beaver who dragged all those things back?" Nicky asked, still ensconced in the bean bag chair and looking quite comfortable.

"It was the easiest ladder I could find," I replied with a shrug. "Did Daniel set them up?"

"Yep. But you should have seen the locals' faces when he carried them in like two-by-fours. It was probably similar to the guards' expressions when you packed that cougar in like it was an oversized turkey."

Perhaps that had been the reason for their stares... "It's free meat. Were they brave enough to eat those ducks?"

"They're being turned into jerky and then boiled in a soup just in case one method wasn't sufficient," Nicky said, smirking. She squirmed deeper into the bean bag chair. "I'm guessing it was a quiet night since you were turning trees into toothpicks?"

"I found an unranked zombie in town, and another down the road. At this rate, they're going to become as common as Runners."

The door beside me opened as Daniel leaned out. "I found two more when I went out for a run this morning. The locals are getting worried." The smell of coyote lingered on his breath.

"I was wondering if you'd find those coyotes. I guess that's one less thing for the locals to worry about."

He flashed me a grin. "I was happy to help with that problem." His voice and expression became more serious. "But with this many unranked appearing so suddenly, I'm worried about leaving this place unguarded while we search for the group responsible."

"Why don't you take the truck while Nicky and I improve this place's defenses?" I suggested. It would spare me a boring road trip, keep the redhead out of mischief, and perhaps give the locals some peace of mind.

He considered that. "That could work. I can check the area and get blood samples from any unranked I cross paths with and lock them in nearby buildings. If you're looking for ideas, I'd suggest digging pitfall traps since it was easy to lure the unranked into the canal."

Nicky sat up—or tried to since the bean bag kept making her fall back. "If you're suggesting we build a moat around this entire place, I have a few non-kid-friendly suggestions for you."

"I was thinking of just a few holes," Daniel replied with a shrug, "but a moat would work remarkably well. Especially if we could connect it to the canal with a one-way gate so zombies can leave, but not return."