The first burrower crossed beneath the broken stockade while Hans sent every carrying frame toward the western checkpoint.
That crossing narrowed between two drainage banks before joining the field road, giving the village one barrier the monsters could not tunnel around.
"Empty the storehouse," Hans said, pointing the families toward its rear door, "walk until you reach the checkpoint, then keep walking toward the field carts."
The innkeeper's mother opened the rear exit before anyone argued, moving the children in pairs along the marked shelter rope.
Several parents reached for grain sacks until the ground lifted beneath the eastern wall again.
"Leave them," she said, striking one man's hand with her counting board, "you cannot carry grain while holding two children."
Garret's frame went first behind the families, followed by the injured hunters Vella had stabilized near the storehouse.
