As the sun rose onto the horizon basking every living thing with its light, Jepp, Gus, and Aimee are devising on what to do with the approaching General Abbot and his remaining loyal soldiers. While Bear, and Jess are busy bandaging the severed arm with the help of Hope to keep Tiger from moving. And with Wendy in charged by Aimee to keep an eye and play with the other hybrid kids everything is in order. For now...
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"That should do it." Jess sighed as he wiped his sweaty forehead. "You sure?" Bear glanced at him for a moment before returning her gaze to Tiger. Her best friend, Her companion, Her lo-. Anyway, she misses her Tiger.
"Yup, I'm sure." Jess nodded with absolute confidence. He then added, "Plus, the injuries that I've accumulated is far worse than this." After hearing this, Bears' face expressed gratefulness and pity at Jess. While Bear is busy pitying Jess, he is currently relieving back a trauma from the past. 'Hope...my ribs...fingers...nose...broken...everything is broken...'
As Jess continues relieving the past, a tap or more like a slap brought him back to the land of the living. "Hey! Are you even listening?!" Screamed Hope.
"I am! Ouch! Why did you have to hit me so hard." Jess whined as he rubbed his sore shoulder. Hope crossed her arm and scoffed. "Well, that's your fault for being so unattentive." Jess then rolled his eyes off "Yeah right, also you're adopted."
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Jess stood up, brushing the dirt from his knees as he looked toward the distant treeline. The morning fog still clung to the air like a ghost that didn't want to leave. His mind, though barely stitched together after last night, was already grinding, Abbot was coming. And not just for Gus and Hope, but for all of them.
He turned to Bear who was still seated beside Tiger, their eyes locked in a silent exchange of guilt, regret, and something unspoken. Jess knew better than to interrupt.
"Hope, you stay here and keep Tiger in place. She moves too much, that wound's gonna open again." Jess said firmly.
Hope nodded, puffing her cheeks out. "Yeah, yeah. I'm not a baby, you know."
"Could've fooled me," Jess muttered as he headed toward the main room, dodging the slipper Hope threw at him with a casual lean.
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In the center of the cabin, Aimee had laid out a rough map drawn on scrap paper—routes, trees, bottlenecks, old fencing, all circled and scribbled with frantic marker strokes. Jepp stood beside her, arms crossed tightly, while Gus leaned over the table, chewing on the edge of a pencil nervously.
"They'll come in from the east," Jepp muttered, tracing the line. "That's the flattest land. No trees. Nothing to hide behind. Perfect for a convoy."
Aimee's eyes narrowed. "Which means we'll need traps. We've got scrap metal, wiring, maybe a few gas canisters. That's enough to make a few surprises."
Gus perked up. "I can help! I can lay them out. I know the woods."
Jepp knelt down, placing a hand on Gus's shoulder. "Only if you're careful, Sweet Tooth. You're our ace card right now."
"I'm not afraid of them anymore," Gus said quietly, almost like he was trying to convince himself.
Jess walked in, leaning against the doorway like he didn't just walk in on a war room in the middle of nowhere. "Okay, so who's in charge of the booby-traps? Because I'm not getting blown up by some rusty nail contraption some deer kid set up."
"That deer kid has saved your ass more than once," Bear said from behind, entering with her arms crossed and her voice sharp.
"I didn't say he couldn't. I just don't want him playing with explosives."
Gus grinned. "No explosives. I promise."
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Jepp wiped the sweat from his forehead as he came back from hauling barricade pieces into position. Jess, leaning against a tree with a rag over his shoulder, smirked.
"You look like a dad trying to set up a backyard barbecue."
"I am a dad," Jepp shot back without looking.
Jess tilted his head. "Oh yeah... Guess you are."
A brief silence passed. The kind that stretches but doesn't break.
Then came a sound, a distant, low rumble.
Everyone froze.
Hope, holding Tiger's water jug near the cabin steps, looked up. Bear stepped out with her bear claws already in hand. Jess's fingers went straight to the strap of his rifle.
" It's them," said Aimee, already reaching for the flare gun they'd salvaged weeks ago. "They're here."
Gus stood next to Jepp. "We're ready, right?"
Jepp looked down at him and gave him a nod, maybe more for himself than the kid. "We better be."
From beyond the trees, the sound grew louder—motors, tires on gravel, the crunch of boots. The LastMen were approaching.
"Positions, everyone!" Jepp ordered.
The cabin shifted into motion like a well-rehearsed play. Wendy moved quickly, ushering the younger hybrids toward the trapdoor at the back of the cabin—half-covered by a rug and half-buried in leaves. The old storm shelter below hadn't been used in years, but it would have to do.
"Come on, Bobby, Jojo down here!" Wendy called, lifting the door open with a creak.
"But what about Gus? And Hope?" Max squeaked, his ears drooping.
"They're helping" Wendy said, her voice thick.
Hope stood just outside the open door, her hand tight around Wendy's. "You keep them safe, okay?"
Wendy nodded, hugging Hope before she climbed down into the dark. Bobby went next, followed by Jojo, Finn, and the others, their small figures vanishing into the darkness. Wendy was the last to go, casting one last look at Gus and Hope before pulling the trapdoor shut from below.
Gus turned toward the front of the cabin, where Aimee and Jepp stood watching the treeline. He exhaled slowly, shoulders squaring.
"You could've gone," Aimee said quietly without turning.
"I know," Gus answered, "but I didn't."
Hope stepped beside him, arms crossed, gaze locked forward. "Me neither."
Jess stood nearby, rifle in hand, watching both kids with a strange, unreadable expression. "You two are either brave or insane."
"We learned from the best," Hope replied.
Jepp grunted, half a smile tugging at his lips. "Alright then, kid soldiers. Let's make this count."
Bear stood at the front with Jess, both watching the treeline.
"Last chance to back out," Jess said, loading a final round into his rifle.
"You back out, I'll shoot you myself," Bear replied, lips tight.
Jess smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "That's why we get along."
The rumble stopped.
A silence more terrifying than any sound.
And then, through the haze and smoke of the early morning, he appeared.
General Abbot.
Grinning like the devil himself.
Through the haze, General Abbot emerged like a phantom, leather coat snapping in the wind, his long beard matted with dust, and a wicked grin stretched across his face. Behind him, a dozen LastMen fanned out, rifles raised, armor clanking, boots crunching over dead leaves and gravel.
Jepp's voice was low but firm. "Wait for it…"
Hope crouched behind a pile of stacked wood just left of the cabin, her muscles tense. Her breath came out in quick bursts, eyes locked on the approaching soldiers. Her fingers clenched around a hefty stone the size of a melon.
Gus knelt beside her, slingshot loaded with a jagged rock he'd sharpened earlier that morning. His hands trembled only slightly.
"Now," Jepp growled.
Hope let out a roar, louder than anyone had ever heard from her, and with one mighty arm, hurled the stone like a cannonball. It soared through the fog and smashed into the helmet of a LastMan in the rear, sending him flipping backward into a pile of brush.
Before the others could react, Gus let fly his rock, straight into another soldier's thigh. The man dropped with a shout, grabbing at the bleeding wound.
Sniper fire cracked from the cabin's rooftop, Jess, calm and calculated, picked off a soldier who'd raised his rifle toward Hope.
From the trees, Bear struck.
She exploded from the underbrush, claws flashing, slicing through the back of a distracted LastMen with brutal efficiency. He dropped before he could scream. Bear vanished again into the mist, silent as a ghost.
"Second row, incoming!" Jess shouted, reloading fast.
Hope was already on it. She grabbed another boulder, pivoted, and hurled it with enough force to shatter ribs. The rock slammed into a soldier's chest, lifting him off his feet. Another two tripped over his body, trying to scramble back.
Gus moved quickly, zig-zagging between trees, launching rock after rock with deadly precision. "That's three down!" he called out.
Jepp and Aimee, stationed behind overturned tables and reinforced barricades, opened fire with what few rounds they had. Controlled bursts. Just enough to slow the enemy down.
"Bear, right flank!" Jepp barked.
Bear emerged again, this time from a dug-out hole covered in brush. She swept the legs out from two charging LastMen and dragged one into the pit, clawing and kicking as they fell together. Blood sprayed. She emerged seconds later, face smeared, breathing heavy.
"We've got more coming!" Jess yelled from above. "Backups!"
Hope turned to Gus. "Get ready, they're spreading!"
She gritted her teeth, lifted another chunk of stone and hurled it high, this time smashing the windshield of an incoming LastMan jeep, sending it veering into a tree. The explosion rocked the ground.
Behind her, Jess took out another sniper on the ridge. He paused to reload, watching the battlefield below like a chessboard on fire.
Bear sprinted along the tree line, darting from cover to cover, clawing ankles, throats, wrists, anything exposed. She was a ghost of fury, bleeding from her shoulder but pushing forward.
Aimee covered Jepp as he ducked out to plant one final trap, rigged with scrap wire and nails. He dove back just as it detonated, sending shrapnel into a group of LastMen who'd been trying to flank the left side.
"They're breaking!" Gus shouted, eyes wide.
"No, they're regrouping," Jess corrected grimly. He spotted a group trying to flank behind the cabin and took them out with two clean shots. "But they're not giving up."
Then, through the gunfire, smoke, and chaos, General Abbot stepped forward again. Rifle in one hand, his cold eyes locked on Gus.
"Deer Freak!" he shouted. "Come out and this ends!"
Gus's jaw tightened. "Not a chance."
Hope stepped in front of him. "You'll have to get through us first."
Jess slid down from the rooftop, rifle slung, pistol in hand. He stood beside them, eyes on Abbot. "Final wave's coming."
"Then we hold," Jepp said, blood on his arms, clothes torn with some scratches.
Aimee nodded. "No one else dies today."
Bear limped into position beside Jess and Hope, claws still bloody, chest rising and falling.
The family stood united.
The final stand had begun.
The haze hung heavier now, stained with smoke and the metallic scent of blood. Trees whispered under the weight of the wind, as if holding their breath for what came next.
From the east, a second squad of LastMen marched in, more organized, better armored, Abbot's elite. Eight men. Well-trained. Coordinated.
Jepp counted them from behind cover. "Eight left."
"And six of us," Aimee replied, crouched beside him.
"Six and a half," Gus muttered. "Bobby bit one guy's ankle earlier."
"That counts," Jess said, wiping blood from his temple, pistol still hot in his grip.
Hope and Gus stood side by side, bruised, scraped, and panting, but their eyes burned with the same fire. The kind that refuses to dim.
Jepp turned to them. "We hold. We don't run. We don't scatter. This is our home now."
Hope nodded. "No one gets through."
Bear pulled a torn bandage tighter around her arm and exhaled sharply. "Let's finish this."
The fight resumed.
The LastMen split into two squads, one flanking right to pin down Jepp and Aimee, the other charging straight for the kids in the center. Bullets cracked, bark shattered off trees, and dirt exploded at their feet.
Jepp and Aimee leaned into the flank, ducking and weaving. Aimee tossed a gas canister rigged with flame, when a bullet struck it mid-air, it erupted into a fireball that sent two LastMen diving for cover.
Jepp tackled a third head-on, wrenching his weapon away and slamming his head into a rock. "That's one down!" he shouted.
Hope and Gus, pinned near the woodpile, worked like a tag team. Hope hurled chunks of stone like missiles, cracking helmets and sending men stumbling. Gus used every rock in his pouch, slingshot snapping rapidly, he aimed for kneecaps, shins, anything soft.
A LastMen rushed Hope with a baton. She grabbed a broken shovel handle and met him mid-charge. Wood splintered. He reeled back. She spun and clocked him across the face. Down he went.
Bear, bleeding from her calf, sprang from behind a bush and tackled another LastMen from behind, pinning him to the ground and slicing his forearm clean open before ducking behind a tree. Another came up behind her, she twisted, driving an elbow into his ribs and slashing upward with her claws.
"I'm fine!" she grunted as Jess called her name.
Jess, now on foot, moved between trees like a shadow. A LastMen had Gus in his sights, until Jess's shot rang out, piercing the man's shoulder and spinning him sideways.
"That's two more for me," he called, ducking back behind cover.
Abbot barked orders from the edge of the clearing, his voice thundering. "Push forward! Take them! We end this now!"
Two more LastMen charged at Jepp, one caught him in the side with a baton, but Jepp drove his shoulder into the man's gut, tackled him, and disarmed him with a punch. Aimee took out the second with a knee to the face and a swift blow from a broken plank.
Three LastMen remained.
They regrouped near the clearing's center, surrounding Gus, Hope, and Jess.
One of them lunged, Hope intercepted with a shoulder check that knocked him to the ground, then delivered a rock-hard punch to his chest. He gasped, unconscious.
Another aimed at Gus, but Bear came from behind and tackled him into a tree, both of them disappearing in a tumble of fists and screams. She emerged seconds later, panting but standing.
The final soldier raised his gun at Jess.
Click.
Out of ammo.
Jess raised his.
Bang.
He didn't miss.
Only one figure remained standing in the field
General Abbot.
He stepped forward slowly, rifle slung over his shoulder, machete drawn from his belt. His eyes fell on Gus. "So this is what it comes to. A boy with antlers. A girl who throws rocks. A man with a sniper and a bad haircut."
Jess squinted. "You're not wrong about the haircut."
Abbot chuckled. "This ends with me, Sweet Tooth. You don't understand the world. You were never meant to survive it."
Gus stepped forward, defiant. "Maybe. But I'm not alone anymore."
Hope stood at his side. "And I'm not afraid of you."
Bear limped up beside them, claws raised. Jepp and Aimee approached from behind, battered but still standing.
Jess leveled his pistol at Abbot's chest. "Six against one."
Abbot grinned, bloody teeth bared. "Then I guess I like my odds."
And the forest held its breath again.
TO BE CONTINUED!
So? Did ya miss me? Probably not.