The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 18

"Wow. I can't believe how much you two managed to do," Nina said as she entered the much-larger clearing with Daniel, Nicky, and Jess. The smell of flowery perfume heralded the arrival of the three women.

"Luke even got those solar-powered LED string lights set up in the cave," I added. "You can see the solar charger sitting on the ground."

Nina glanced at the cave entrance, which was still partially hidden behind the neatly trimmed bushes, although a path now wound through them. The shiny black solar panel sat to the side of the opening.

I used my knife to smooth one last spot on a tree stump and stood up to examine my handiwork. My razor-sharp nails and extra strength had allowed me to carve simple chairs out of the stumps of larger trees. There was even a back for people to lean against, which just so happened to make them face the spot I'd made for a firepit. We'd have to cover the wood with something until the sap stopped seeping out, but we could still use them.

"I'm impressed with the changes that have been made," Nina repeated. "If I didn't know you two had managed all of this within three hours, I wouldn't have guessed it."

"It will take a while for the grass to grow where we removed the trees and shrubs, but the ground is more or less flat now." Luke said, looking pleased at the praise. "Credit for the picnic table goes to Trinity. I still can't figure out how she split those logs so straight."

Jess walked over to the picnic table and gingerly ran her hand along the top, paused, then pressed harder, peering at the smooth surface. "How did you sand this?"

"It involved several pieces of wood, handfuls of sand, and a lot of elbow grease," I replied, glad that I had used a dead pine tree to avoid dealing with sap.

"We brought enough food for all of us," Daniel said as he put a large, insulated cooler on the picnic table.

Daniel backed up to let the women unpack the food and fill their plates. When they were done, Luke motioned for Daniel to go ahead of him. Part of it was courtesy, and part of it was that his instincts didn't want the more powerful zombie behind him.

I collected an armful of ferns from the edge of the clearing and stuck them on a stump, making sure I covered each sticky spot before going to the rest of the stumps and giving them the same treatment. Sometimes tree sap could be even more tenacious than a Nightstalker.

"Daniel, can you find one of those standing firepits?" I asked him, lightly kicking my shoe against a protruding root. "I think I saw a couple behind one of the garages. There's too many roots here to light a fire on the ground."

He nodded as he made a sandwich from the stuff he'd taken. "I'll bring it out before sunset so Luke can have a fire if he wants."

Luke and I sat on the fern-covered stumps while everyone else sat at the picnic table.

With a giant grin, Nicky brandished a massive turkey drumstick in the air like she was issuing a royal decree. "Look what I got! Can you guess which foul-tempered bird this came from?"

"I guess you finally got your revenge after all, huh?"

"Revenge is sweet. Or in this case, chewy and tastes like over-cooked poultry. The cooks promised to barbecue the other drumstick for me tomorrow, so I'll get it two days in a row!"

A very distant clank had Luke perking up with the knowledge that one of his new live traps already had its first occupant. Three traps had been more than sufficient for me, so I didn't foresee any problems with five keeping up to Luke's appetite, even if he took the controlex and needed to hunt more.

That reminded me about the rabbit hutch Luke had told me about while we were working. My lip quirked up as I remembered just how much detail he had gone into, mostly about the hutch, but also touching on the resourceful Runner who'd built it. I made a mental note to inquire about someone building such a hutch for him.