NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37: Night Watch
With dinner done and the dishes stacked haphazardly in the sink, the crew stood around under the house in a loose circle, each of them swaying slightly on their feet. The hum of crickets filled the night, the occasional thud of a moth hitting a solar light above adding to the quiet rhythm.
Zane clapped his hands once and cracked his neck. "Alright, crew. We've got trenches dug, punji traps set, and sensor lights on poles taller than a giraffe's dreams. Let's not waste all that effort by getting ourselves stabbed in our sleep, yeah?"
"I'll take first watch," Tarni offered, stretching with a wince. "My legs are cooked, but I reckon I can stay upright for a few more hours."
Zane nodded. "Right. We'll go three-hour shifts. Tarni first, me second, then Kai, and Lily if we need a fourth before sunrise. Bell, you get the full night."
Bell looked like she might protest, but Zane raised a hand.
"You're did an all-nighter by yourself last night. No arguments. We'll swap you in once we've paid you back."
Bell rolled her eyes, but a small smile betrayed her appreciation.
Tarni grabbed a folding chair and set it up in the corner where he had a decent view through one of the cut-out shooting slots between the house stilts. His machete rested against his leg, a steaming mug of instant coffee in his hand.
Zane patted him on the shoulder as the rest of them climbed the ladder into the elevated house above.
"Wake me if anything moves." Zane said. "And if it's moving and screaming? Maybe wake me louder."
Tarni grinned. "No worries, mate. If something screams, we'll both be screaming together."
Upstairs, the house was still and warm. The open windows caught the faintest of breezes, and the glow from the solar lights outside cast pale patches across the hardwood floor. Kai flopped onto the lounge like he'd been shot. Lily grabbed a mattress and dragged it close to one of the front windows. Bell sat on the edge of the bed she and Zane shared, breathing steadily.
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"You okay?" Zane asked.
Bell nodded, leaning back slowly. "Still feels like I'm wearing borrowed strength sometimes, but it fits better now."
Zane smiled. "Good."
Outside, the hours passed quietly. Tarni rotated from chair to standing, occasionally doing slow laps around the under-house perimeter just to stay awake. The gravel crunching underfoot was oddly comforting.
At just past midnight, Zane came down the ladder in a loose shirt and jeans, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Your shift's up, big fella."
"Beauty," Tarni muttered, finishing the last of his coffee. "Nothing moved out there but a suicidal rabbit trying to cross the gravel. Nearly gave me a heart attack."
Zane chuckled and took Tarni's seat, stretching with a grunt. "Go get some kip."
An hour into Zane's shift, the quiet broke.
BLINK-BLINK-BLINK.
One of the solar sensor lights—facing the back fence—began to flash rapidly.
Zane's head snapped toward the light. His body shifted, alert but calm. He didn't yell. Instead, he reached up with a stick and knocked three times on the veranda above him.
Tap-tap-tap.
Seconds later, Lily's head poked over the railing. She didn't speak—just watched Zane point silently toward the flashing light.
After Lily came down the Ladder. Zane handed her the binoculars from beside his chair and pointed again.
She peered through the gap in the boards toward the light.
"Movement," she whispered. "But... it's low to the ground."
Zane lifted his machete and checked the loaded speargun. Then came the sound—a low, wet grunt.
Lily went still.
Another noise: a squeaky snort, followed by something scratching at the fence.
Zane took a breath, then held up a hand. "Wait. Hold."
Out of the shadows lumbered a large feral pig, its coarse bristles catching the light as it snuffled around the edge of the trench.
Zane exhaled. "Bloody bacon on legs."
The pig sniffed at one of the tall poles with the sensor lights on the top, then gave it an investigative headbutt.
"Should we shoot it?" Lily asked.
"Nah," Zane muttered. "Noise'll draw goblins if they're nearby. Let it wander off. It's not worth wasting an arrow or waking the house."
After a few more minutes, the pig grunted and lumbered away toward the bush, snorting its disapproval as it went.
The sensor light timed out and faded back to darkness.
Lily let out a long breath and handed the binoculars back. "Well... better a pig than a pack of goblins."
"No argument here," Zane said, settling back into the chair. "But let's keep an eye out. Where there's bacon, there's properly worse sniffing around after it."
They kept watch until Kai came down to relieve Zane at around 3:30 a.m., bleary-eyed but alert. Tarni grunted from the lounge as Zane passed him, half awake.
And upstairs, Bell slept soundly, trusting in her family to keep her safe.