The Virus Within- Changing

Preparing For The Onslaught

The stronghold was straining with the new survivors. We couldn't support them all. Some had to sleep on the grass. I volunteered. Better to sleep outside alone than to share my room with three other people I didn't know.

It was actually pretty refreshing. I brought a sleeping bag and I slept until seven, at which point I helped getting food for the new arrivals. I went out with a skilled forager to look for food in the surrounding neighborhoods.

When I came back, I unloaded the bag of food we found and helped to reinforce the wall with stones and pitfall traps.

I helped Jake and Jack gather mud on the steep hill next to the stronghold so we could mudslide the zombies.

I had a tub of mud in my hands, with Jake holding the other side. We carefully climbed up the steps on the hill and reached the top without any mess ups. Jack was packing the mud, keeping it wet and making sure it wouldn't fall beforehand.

"Hey." he wiped his brow with his filthy hands.

"Hi. Where do we put this dump?" Jake nodded at the tub.

"Over there." Jack pointed at an area without much dirt around it. We walked over and dumped the mud slowly, making sure nothing else was jarred.

"Okay, that's all. Now help me pack it up." Jack started spreading some mud over. Jake helped him.

I went over to the other side and started packing everything. I was done really fast. When I pushed, I did it hard. My side was probably too hard, so I punched it lightly a few times, making a few holes to make the mound unstable. I looked around to make sure nobody was looking. Then I climbed over the mud hill and stood on top. I slowly started to sink, but I ran across, zig-zagging everywhere. Then I hopped back on my side. The mud was much less compact now. Once we were done, we rigged a net to pull the mud down the hill. Then we rigged a pulley system so it was possible to create a mudslide.

With the zombie virus, I was stronger than I used to be, so I helped to do many things. I even dug a pit by myself and filled it with quicksand so zombies would get stuck. The next day the Stronghold was more like a castle, with reinforced stone walls, overhangs, traps, mud pits, and about a thousand other things. I was listening to the battle plan for when the horde would come.

"Okay, there are eight task forces. Max, your squad's in Delta. Sheldon and Caden, you lead Gamma. Kathy and Hayden, you take Beta. Michael, Stan, Lee, and Warren, you're in the main force, Alpha. Dillon, you lead Unit One, and Samantha leads Unit Two. Cole and Marten, you lead M1, and Marten leads M2," Bennet assigned. "Delta takes the south wall, Gamma takes east, Beta takes west, and Alpha takes the brunt of the fighting in the north. Unit One and Unit Two, you help Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Stop any break-ins. M1 and M2 take the Runners. There are about twenty from recent reports. Your job is to eliminate the insane ones. Now, assign your forces."

There was a clatter as everyone stood up. I hurried down the hall and ducked out of sight just as the leaders strolled through the doorway. That night, I got a blood snack and came back. I had plenty of energy. This time, I slipped past the wall without inconvenience.

The wall had only two guards this time; Most were sleeping, getting ready for the big fight in the morning. It would probably last for two days. I got ready, too. I wanted to be able to flee or fight if they broke in. I had to tiptoe past everyone on the ground when someone spoke.

"What are you doing in the middle of the night?" a voice whispered. I whirled (silently) and made out an outline. A kid my age. He had on black jeans, a black shirt, a hoodie, and was from the other Stronghold. I didn't know him.

Not missing a beat, I paused for a split second, not saying anything too fast, and lied.

"I went to answer the call of nature."

He narrowed his eyes. "The bathroom is indoors."

Heart pounding, I lied again. "They're clogged up with people. I went to a different restroom."

"So, if I went there right now...?"

"Go on ahead. You'll find it full of people. Hey, what's your name?" I changed the subject.

"I'm Venta Hansling."

"Well, Venta Hansling, I'm gonna go to sleep. Farewell."

"Bye, Garon Honagoff."

I turned, but then I realized. I never told him my name. I looked back, but he had disappeared.