Surviving Zombies Was Easier Than Raising Beast Cubs

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: We survived here before the fox female arrived

By sunset, Riverbone’s central clearing was packed.

The tribe stood inside the inner root walls.

The first ten accepted survivors stood among them under guard.

Garran, Maela and several former Sunmane leaders had been allowed into the gathering because the decision could affect the outer camp.

The remaining refugees stayed beyond the boundary, close enough to listen but not close enough to rush the tribe if panic broke out.

Swanly stood in the center.

Kael stood at her right without hesitation.

Kairo, Nilo and Miko stood directly in front of his legs like three tiny guards.

Nahla leaned on her medicine stick.

Raku folded his huge arms.

Tilla held her mink cub against her chest.

Thalara stood barefoot near the roots, listening to something no one else could hear.

Soren sat on a raised stone behind them.

Silent.

Watching.

He had been watching from the moment everyone arrived.

Not merely their faces.

Their hands.

Their tails.

Who moved closer when Swanly spoke.

Who whispered before hearing her reasons.

Who looked toward the former elders for permission to think.

Who glanced toward Garran when migration was mentioned.

Who appeared afraid.

Who appeared pleased by the thought of Swanly failing.

This gathering was not only Swanly’s test.

It was his.

Anyone who could turn against her while she tried to protect them could turn against him when Riverbone became weak.

Soren stored every reaction away.

Swanly took a breath.

"Riverbone needs to migrate."

The clearing exploded.

"What?"

"Leave?"

"Where would we go?"

"This is our home!"

The cubs startled.

Miko immediately shouted back, "Quiet! Mama talking!"

The shouting lowered slightly from pure surprise.

Swanly continued quickly.

"Riverbone is too close to the Rot Nest spill paths. Infected have attacked the entrance repeatedly. Yesterday, three hundred and fifty of them were outside your barrier."

A male called out, "You killed them."

"And what happens when five hundred come?"

No one answered.

"Our food is limited. Clean water is limited. More survivors mean less space, less meat and more sickness if we stay crowded together."

Nahla struck her stick against the ground.

"She is right about the water."

Heads turned toward her.

The old otter healer’s ears flattened.

"It already tastes wrong after heavy rain. I have boiled it twice and still smelled rot beneath the mud."

Unease moved through the tribe.

Raku spoke next.

"The outer walls survived the last horde because the barrier held."

He pointed toward a long crack running through one root wall.

"It will not hold forever."

Tilla hugged her cub closer.

"I support leaving."

Her voice shook, but she raised it.

"I nearly lost my cub once. I will not wait for infected to enter his sleeping place before admitting this land is dangerous."

Kael said nothing.

He simply stepped closer to Swanly.

His presence was his answer.

Thalara suddenly tilted her head.

"The roots beneath Riverbone have begun listening to something far away."

Everyone turned toward her.

Thalara smiled.

"They do not like what they hear."

Silence dropped like a corpse.

Swanly pressed two fingers against her forehead.

"Your smile makes everything ten times worse."

Thalara’s smile slowly disappeared.

"But I am not lying."

"I know."

The creator-being looked faintly wounded.

She had heard something beneath the roots.

A distant scrape.

A call too deep for ordinary ears.

But Riverbone had warriors.

Swanly had weapons.

If something came, they would fight it as they always did.

Thalara released a sad sigh.

Swanly ignored her before the entire tribe panicked over a sound that had not arrived yet.

A former Riverbone elder stepped forward.

His old brown ears lay flat against his head.

"We survived here before the snow fox female arrived."

Several former elders murmured agreement.

Swanly looked at him.

"You survived behind a barrier while three hundred and fifty infected waited outside your gate."

The elder’s mouth tightened.

"We did not ask you to fight them alone."

"No. You were too busy waiting for them to disappear through the power of hope."

Several younger hunters looked down to hide smiles.

Another elder snapped, "Do not mock us. You have been here only a short time and already speak as if Riverbone belongs to you."

Swanly’s expression cooled.

"It does not belong to me. That is why I am standing here trying to convince you instead of dragging you out by your tails."

Garran stepped forward.

The former Sunmane chief placed both hands on his staff.

"Moving more than one hundred people through an infected forest without a known destination would be foolish."

His voice was measured.

Reasonable.

But his eyes were sharp.

This was an opportunity.

Frightened people wanted an older male who sounded certain.

If Swanly failed, Garran could begin gathering influence among both the refugees and Riverbone’s dissatisfied elders.

Soren noticed the slight lift of Garran’s chin.

He remembered it.

Maela spoke next, her tone soft enough to pretend innocence.

"Some females arrive in a tribe and immediately begin turning everything upside down."

Her eyes rested on Swanly.

"It would be unfortunate if Riverbone lost its home because someone wanted to prove she was important."

Kael growled.

Swanly raised one hand, stopping him.

Then she smiled at Maela.

"Some females arrive after their own tribe collapses and still believe they have the right to whisper insults about the woman helping feed their people."

Maela’s face stiffened.

"I did not mention you."

"Good. Then you have no reason to look offended."

A few Riverbone females laughed openly.

Maela’s claws curled, but she did not dare admit what she had meant.

Selka was not allowed anywhere near the inner gathering, but two of her supporters watched from the outer camp with ugly expressions.

Soren noted them too.

One of the former elders raised his voice.

"Migration means cubs dying on the road. Wounded males falling behind. Food lost. Shelter abandoned."

Another said, "Where is this safer land?"

Swanly’s jaw tightened.

"We find it."

"You want us to abandon everything before finding it?"

"No. We prepare scouts, supplies and a route."

The murmuring grew.

Then Soren finally spoke.

"She has not proven we must leave yet."

Swanly slowly turned her head.

Betrayal punched straight through her chest.

The bastard.

He had made her stand here.

He had watched her argue.

Now he was making everything harder.

The reaction was immediate.

"If the ruler says there is no proof..."

"Lord Soren is right."

"We respect Swanly, but migration is dangerous."

"She must prove it first."

Even people who liked her began nodding.

Not because they hated her.

Because Soren was their ruler, and leaving Riverbone could kill them.

Swanly understood that.

She still wanted to launch herself at him and claw that calm expression off his beautiful face.

The cubs did not understand at all.

Kairo stepped forward with both hands on his waist.

"Do not talk to Mama like that."

Nilo copied him.

"Mama knows danger."

Miko pointed at the crowd.

"If you want die, go die!"

Swanly’s eyes widened.

...

Hehe cute cubs. Anyways please send this author your support. It can be gifts, Golden Tickets, power stones or even leaving comments and a review if you enjoy the story!