The Virus Within: Blood Moon (Book 3)

Chapter 19

Instead of returning to my room at daybreak, I opted to spend a few hours napping in the forest. It was almost noon before I headed back. As I strolled down the deer trail, I finally felt normal, which was a relief since my absence probably had Jess worried again.

Both of my radios had been silent, so someone had either sufficiently reassured Jess, or they had kept the other radios out of her reach. It probably didn't help that my personal one had finally died around midnight.

As I exited the forest, I could see Daniel and a dozen others unrolling three bundles of chain-link fencing side by side on the ground in front of the telephone posts. As several people unrolled them, others followed and connected the joining edges to make a tall sheet of fencing.

At a guess, each bundle of chain-link was about ten feet wide, which would make the fence thirty feet tall by the time they were done. The telephone posts stood about forty feet in the air, so there would be plenty of room left at the top for whatever anti-climbing systems Daniel wanted to try building.

"You're going to have fun getting that to stand up when you're done," I commented as I got closer.

"It's easier to clip the sides together while it's still on the ground," Daniel replied as he continued securing two fence sections together. "Getting the first end up will be the hardest. After that, I'll climb a ladder two posts away and pull the fencing tight while others secure it to the post in the middle. We'll just keep moving from post to post like that until it's done."

"If you say so," I replied dubiously, although I could already see it in my mind's eye. If Daniel just used the ladder for height and braced himself against the post, he'd have no problems pulling the fencing tight enough. Even if the ladder fell, a thirty-foot drop was nothing for a Terror.

"We'll probably start putting it up tomorrow if you want to swing by and watch."

"You just want to put me to work," I retorted lightly, although my amusement came through my tone.

"Not really. I don't need help pulling the fence tight, and only one person needs to climb the second ladder to secure it to the middle post. Other than that, it's just the group clipping the fences together, and I think that task is a bit too crowded for your tastes."

I glanced at the ten people all clustered in the same area. "Yeah, I'll pass."

"Jess was looking for you earlier, and I'm not sure where Nicky is." He used the last clip in the small box beside him and stood up. "It's almost time for lunch, so we might as well take a break."

The people around him took his advice and set their tools down, chatting amongst themselves in good spirits. Daniel walked beside me as we headed to the open gate. I passed my patrol radio to the guard holding the gate open for us.

We were almost to the dining hall when someone behind us called out, "Trinity! You're back!"

It wasn't the person I had been expecting, but I knew the voice. With a faint sigh, I turned around to watch the girl run over.

"Hello, Liz."

She stopped in front of me, practically dancing in place with youthful energy. "Hi, Trinity! Are you playing archery tonight? Matilda and Jared said they'd help me shoot my bow!" She pointed at the couple who were trailing behind her. I recognized them from the archery group, and from their presence, I guessed these must be Liz's adoptive parents.

"I'll probably show up. Are you staying with Matilda and Jared now?"

"Yes! They're lots of fun!"

"That's good, but you better go with them for lunch."