Surviving Zombies Was Easier Than Raising Beast Cubs

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Moving an entire tribe because four cubs entered a hole is madness

The broken tunnel remained open behind them.

Black water moved beneath the shattered floor.

Bones floated through it.

Fresh claw marks cut across the stone.

And still, some people refused to accept the truth.

"We do not know whether that passage truly reaches outside."

"It may be an old animal tunnel."

"The danger could already be gone."

"Moving an entire tribe because four cubs entered a hole is madness."

Swanly sat on the ground with Kairo, Nilo, and Miko pressed tightly against her.

She had not released them since they were rescued.

Miko sat in her lap with his injured foot wrapped in clean cloth. Kairo leaned against her right side while Nahla treated his palms. Nilo was tucked beneath her arm, his face still swollen from crying.

Kael crouched behind them.

One arm surrounded Swanly and the cubs.

His golden eyes remained fixed on the tunnel.

He looked ready to tear apart anything that moved inside it.

Tilla sat nearby with Tavi trapped against her chest. The little mink cub had stopped crying, but every time the earth groaned, his small hands tightened around his mother’s clothes.

A former Riverbone elder raised his voice.

"We have lived here for years. No infected has ever entered through the ground."

Raku stared at him.

"There are bones inside the tunnel."

"Old bones."

"Fresh flesh is still attached to some of them."

The elder hesitated.

Another male stepped forward.

"The cubs were frightened. They may not have seen clearly."

Miko’s ears lifted.

"Bad hand."

The gathering quieted.

Miko pointed toward the broken floor.

"Bad hand come from water."

His tiny voice trembled.

"Try catch Miko foot."

Several faces paled.

The elder forced a laugh.

"A frightened cub can mistake a root for a hand."

Miko’s eyes widened.

"It had fingers!"

Nilo clutched Swanly’s clothing.

"I saw water move."

Kairo nodded quickly.

"Something under it."

Tavi peeked out from his mother’s arms.

"It knocked stone."

The former elder opened his mouth again.

Nerin stepped forward before he could speak.

His broken silver antler caught the light.

"They have no reason to lie."

His voice was gentle, but it carried across the hollow.

"The warm air beneath the sleeping cave proves the passage connects to another opening. The soil near the outer crack is loose. If the cubs could enter, something else could enter too."

One of the older males snapped, "This does not concern you."

Nerin stiffened.

"You were accepted only recently," another said. "Do not speak over Riverbone’s elders."

Selka watched from beyond the inner boundary under guard with other beast people.

A slow smile touched her lips.

Nerin lowered his gaze.

Swanly saw it.

She saw the way his shoulders folded inward.

She saw the former elders relax once they believed they had silenced him.

Something inside her snapped.

She carefully placed Miko in Kael’s arms.

"Hold them."

Kael looked at her face and immediately obeyed.

Swanly rose.

The elder continued speaking.

"We should seal the opening and remain calm. There is no need to allow one female’s fear to throw the entire tribe into disorder. Ever since she arrived, Riverbone has faced one danger after anoth—"

Swanly crossed the distance between them.

The elder barely had time to turn.

Her palm struck his face.

Crack!

His head whipped sideways.

The sound echoed through the cave.

Silence fell so quickly even the cubs stopped breathing.

The elder stumbled and grabbed his cheek.

"You struck me?"

Swanly’s chest rose and fell.

Her white ears had flattened against her hair. Her blue-gray eyes burned with such fury that the elder took one step back without realizing it.

"Yes."

She turned slowly.

She made sure every former elder, hunter, survivor, and frightened family could see her face.

"Fuck all of you."

Several mouths dropped open.

Kael’s eyes darkened.

Not with anger.

Something far more dangerous and possessive moved through them.

Soren stood near the tunnel with his arms folded.

His silver gaze settled on Swanly.

It sharpened.

She was shaking.

Not from weakness.

From the terror of nearly losing her children.

"If you want to remain here and wait for whatever lives beneath that hole to crawl into your sleeping caves, stay."

She pointed at the black water.

"You may feed yourselves to it one by one."

Her voice rose.

"But you will not drag me, my mate, or my cubs into your grave with you."

The elder’s face twisted.

"You cannot divide the tribe because you are emotional."

Swanly stepped closer.

"Emotional?"

Her laugh came out sharp and breathless.

"My cub’s foot was burned by rot water. All four of them nearly fell into that channel. Something reached for him, and you are standing here telling me I am emotional?"

She jabbed one finger into his chest.

"I am furious."

The elder moved back again.

"I am leaving Riverbone whether you approve or not."

Swanly looked at the surrounding families.

"You may come with us, or you may remain here."

Her eyes moved over the former elders.

"But I will not waste another breath begging people who value their pride more than their cubs."

Miko squirmed in Kael’s arms.

"Mama."

Swanly immediately turned.

His lower lip trembled.

"Water thing move big."

Every person nearby went still.

Soren looked at him.

"What did you see?"

Miko pointed down.

"Long pale thing."

Nilo swallowed.

"It rolled under water."

Kairo hugged Kael’s arm.

"Then hand came."

Tavi whispered, "It was waiting."

Tilla’s face lost all color.

A female near the back grabbed her own cub and pulled him closer.

Another family stepped away from the tunnel.

Swanly crossed back to Kael and gathered Miko into her arms.

"You hear them?"

She held him against her chest.

"You can doubt me. You can insult me. You can call me frightened."

Her eyes swept across the gathering.

"But you will not tell my babies they imagined the thing that nearly killed them."

Nahla struck her medicine stick against the stone.

"I am leaving with Swanly."

Tilla stood with Tavi in her arms.

"So am I."

Raku lifted his weapon onto one shoulder.

"I follow Soren. Soren will not remain in a rotten hole."

Several hunters murmured agreement.

The ten newly accepted survivors moved closer to Nerin.

A goat female raised her hand.

"My young will go with Swanly."

A beaver male nodded.

"My family too."

One voice became three.

Then seven.

"We will go."

"We are not staying here."

"She warned us before."

"Riverbone is no longer safe."

The former elders began speaking over them.

"This is panic!"

"She has no destination!"

"She is tearing the tribe apart!"

Soren’s claws lengthened.

The soft scrape of them against the stone cut through every voice.

He stepped forward.

The entire gathering fell silent.

"We begin preparing to migrate."

One former elder stared at him.

"You agree with her?"

Soren’s silver eyes shifted toward him.

"I agree with the tunnel beneath your feet."

The elder swallowed.

"We should discuss this properly."

"We have discussed it."

"You cannot silence Riverbone’s elders."

Soren’s claws grew another inch.

"I can remove their heads."

No one moved.

His voice remained almost bored.

"Anyone who continues arguing against necessary preparations will be treated as someone deliberately endangering the tribe."

He looked at Raku.

"Seal every underground opening temporarily. Double the guards around the sleeping caves."

Raku nodded.

"Done."

"Nahla, prepare medicine for travel."

The healer grunted.

"Tilla, count every cub, recovering female, injured male, and elder who cannot travel without support."

Tilla tightened her grip on Tavi.

"I will."

"Kael, select hunters who can move quickly without abandoning the slower groups."

Kael’s gaze stayed on Swanly.

"I will."

Soren looked around the gathering.

"Start packing."

The former elder Swanly had slapped touched his swollen cheek.

"What about those who refuse?"

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