The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 33: The Trench

I dug around another large rock and exposed the edges enough for Daniel to lift it out later. I should have known the ground was full of rocks ranging in size from gravel to boulders practically the size of the truck. Ironically enough, the large rocks were actually speeding up our digging process since Daniel could hoist them out of the trench, leaving an open spot we didn't have to dig.

Some of the locals had been so overjoyed at the prospect of having a new trench that a dozen had flocked out here to join us. They had quickly abandoned the idea of digging, especially with how fast Daniel and I were working.

Most were bringing in boards, small tree trunks, and anything else they could find to reinforce the sides of the trench and prevent erosion when zombies tried to climb out. A handful were on top, restacking the rocks and dirt to form a waist-high retaining wall that would keep any zombies from successfully climbing up.

One perk was that I didn't have to worry about scooping up all the loose dirt since the locals were happy to assist with that. Their work took longer than ours did, so we were over a hundred feet ahead of them already.

Wren and Jax zipped by on their nearly continuous patrol. Only a couple of zombies had stumbled out of the forest as the afternoon wore into late evening, which was a good thing since the humans were rather uneasy this close to the tree line. It was only the presence of two sane zombies that convinced them it was safe.

"We'll have to build them a bridge soon," I said, keeping my voice low enough that only Daniel would hear it.

"I'll check if the locals want to do that. I could build one, but I think my digging abilities are needed more."

I nodded absently, huffing when my shovel hit another rock. The pickaxe was more useful in the gravel-filled soil, so I put my shovel to the side and grabbed the other tool to speed up my digging. When I unearthed a horse-sized rock, I left it for Daniel and kept digging past it.

To my surprise, the humans and Daniel continued working until the sun began to set.

"I think that's about as far as I'm going to get tonight," Daniel said, lightly jumping out of the chest-deep trench.

Our helpers took that as their cue to climb out, using the ladders they'd built while reinforcing the sides.

"We got more done than I expected," I said, looking back. "It's not a fast process though. It'll take us over a week just to protect half of the tree line."

One of the women said, "Two mechanics are installing a wood gasifier on a backhoe. It's really a small excavator, but it can help. We used it last year, but we needed the boiler on the tractor more. It should be ready by tomorrow. It's not the fastest thing around, and it can't move big rocks, but it works."

"Any help will be welcome," Daniel said. "Let's head back." Glancing at me, he said, "Have a good evening."

I remained in the trench and leaned on the pickaxe. "I'll keep digging for a while longer. See how many more boulders I can find."

He chuckled and waved as he walked to the Stronghold with the humans.

~

I climbed to the top of the building and scanned the streets from my vantage point. No scent of a Runner reached my nose. A few scents weren't quite right, evidence of several unranked zombies, but overall, it was very quiet.

Reassured that nothing concerning was passing through the town, I returned to the highway and went around the forest to avoid leaving an obvious trail that ferals might follow.

Having already hunted, I circled the sleeping Stronghold and went back to digging. It was only midnight, so I had plenty of time to see how much I could get done. It wasn't like I had anything else to do.