Chapter 11

Chapter 11 MOVE ALONG, ZOMBIES- THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE HERE! Just as they'd done the night before, the kids worked through the daylight hours to prepare for the nighttime siege. But this time, Harper led them in a different kind of preparation. This time, they had to build. They started with a bridge—a wide, floating walkway that began at the mountain's peak and went right over the village. They had a lot of "junk" material left over from digging for iron the night before—dirt and several varieties of stone. They used it all now. Harper decided the bridge should have a high ledge so that falling from it would be less likely. The last thing they needed was for zombies to take the bridge and then fall right off it. She imagined the chaos of zombies

plummeting onto the village like hail. An engineer imagined problems like that, then worked to avoid them. The bridge was a good start. But they couldn't possibly make it large enough to divert every mob. So they dug a tunnel. It led from the foot of the mountain, under the village, and into the woods beyond. With any luck, most of the mobs that

missed the bridge would end up in the tunnel. Finally, for any strays, they dug a trench around the village. It was deep at the front but became shallow near the rear. Any mobs that fell into it wouldn't be trapped. But they wouldn't be able to jump out until they'd bypassed the village. Even working together, it was a lot to do. They barely finished before the sun went down. "IT'S NOT THE PRETTIEST BRIDGE I'VE EVER SEEN," said Po. "It doesn't need to be pretty," said Harper. "It only has to work." Please let it work! "So what do we do now?" Jodi asked. "We get out of the way," said Harper. "Our presence could mess everything up. If they see us, THE MOBS MIGHT STILL COME AFTER US." "Back to the village library, then," said Morgan. "To hope for the best."

"And to talk about our other problem," said Ash. "The real-world one." She grinned. "BECAUSE I THINK HARPER'S SOLUTION HERE MIGHT HELP US SAVE THOSE BATS, TOO."