The Virus Within: Blood Moon (Book 3)

Chapter 23

I carried two boxes through the forest as I made my way back to Ironwind. The eastern sky was bright enough that the guards would be able to see me long before I got close to the gates.

Nicky had better appreciate these shelves because they were a hassle to bring back. The weight didn't bother me, but the bulky boxes were white, and my instincts were very affronted by their easy-to-spot presence. I had transported the other four boxes to the small town halfway to Ironwind, which was as close as I felt like bringing them right now. We could pick them up whenever we went near there with the side-by-side.

As I came out of the trees, I noticed the gates on the outer fence were closed and barred, but the guards were only by the inner fence. Interestingly enough, the feral zombies that had appeared overnight circled the entire fence instead of clustering near the towers. I was sure there'd be entire discussions around that detail once people woke up.

There was no way to open the gates from the outside when they were barred like this, but that wasn't going to stop me. The boxes were too big to carry both of them under one arm, but too fragile to throw, so I'd have to climb over this fence a few times.

Leaving one box on the ground, I tucked the other one tightly under my arm and jumped. I wasn't strong enough to reach the top of the fence, so I had to climb up with just one free hand. It was awkward, but possible.

I cleared the top and dropped to the ground. After setting the box down, I glanced at the barred gate, but decided I was too lazy to unwrap the chains and remove the wood boards. I climbed back up the fence – much more quickly with both hands – and went to retrieve the other box. A zombie approached with a growl, which I returned.

It stopped, but when I picked up the box, it came forward again. Ignoring it, I jumped back up the fence and out of its reach. Once over the top and on the other side, I grabbed both boxes and continued down the road.

One of the guards was already opening the main gate for me. I set a box down long enough to pull the radio off my belt and pass it to him.

"Thanks," he replied. "It's pretty quiet tonight. I like having a second fence farther out."

"I could open the other gate if you guys want some excitement," I said as I picked the box back up.

"Not necessary, but thanks for the offer." With an amused expression, he closed the gate behind me.

I packed the two boxes into the secondary building and placed them beside Nicky's door for her to discover whenever she woke up. With my delivery completed, I went into my room to relax until people started stirring.

~

        "Nicky, let's go," I called as I tapped on her door twice. The two boxes were gone, and judging by the muttering coming from within, she had already started the long process of deciphering the shoddy instructions that were closer to hieroglyphs than construction blueprints.

"I'm coming!" her muffled voice called back.

As Nicky opened her door, I got a good look at the room behind her. One shelf stood against the wall with items and clothing stacked neatly on it, organized by color apparently. A second shelf stood right beside it, empty, and the third one was halfway assembled on the floor.

Her beige carpet was covered in bits of lint, sawdust, and paper, but it was visible. I assumed her bed was underneath the giant pile of stuff she had moved off the floor to give her enough room to build her shelves. The clothing rack was to the side with shirts and pants already hung up, also organized by color.

"I didn't expect to see you building the shelves already," I said as she closed her door and joined Jess and me on our way downstairs.

"It turns out it only takes a fraction of the time to get dressed when you can find your clothing in under two minutes, so I had plenty of time on my hands."