The Antithesis knew we were coming. That’s the only explanation I could come up with for when I saw the wave of gribbles that had poured out of the abandoned town just before we arrived. It wouldn’t have been a problem if the hive had just been pumping out the rank and file, Threes through Sixes. The problem was this one had the ability to birth Thirties.

  Even if it found creating those massive monsters slow or difficult, it had no problem pumping out twenties to defend itself.

  “Is there anywhere we can land safely that’s close to the hive entrance?” Nora asked.

  “Not without a distraction,” I muttered. “The Twenty-Threes are so thick that at least one of them would be on top of us before I had a chance to deploy the bears.”

  “Did someone say distraction?” Bob asked from behind us. The sudden change in cabin pressure and sound of rushing wind told me he had already cracked the door. “Say no more.”

  “Bob…” I started, but before I could say anything, the big bear had already thrown himself out the back, the badgers right behind him.

  Nora just stared. “Is it alright to let him just jump off like that?”

  “I couldn’t stop him even if I wanted to,” I sighed. “We better take advantage of the opening he’s creating. I just need a minute to get the bears out and into battle lines. Once they’re organized, they should be able to hold off those Twenty-Threes.”

  At my silent command the vehicle pitched wildly, going into a steep dive; I had to clamp onto the side of the monitor to keep myself from sliding right into the driver compartment. Thankfully it didn’t last long, and the Kodiak leveled out just above the river, screeching to a halt and swinging around so the back of the vehicle rested just a couple inches above the riverbank.

  As soon as the vehicle stopped, the bears poured outwards. They dispatched the few scattered Antithesis that hadn’t gone to engage Bob and formed up into combat teams. About a minute after the bears had secured the area, the others descended in their own vehicles to join us.

  “I don’t know how you’d get anything done without that bear of yours,” Charlotte chuckled as she slipped off her bike. “The path of destruction he was leaving was quite impressive.”

  “He’s not supposed to be leaving any destruction,” I muttered. “He’s just supposed to be distracting the big shit.”

  “Well I guess running through brick walls to tackle a Twenty-Three is a good way to attract its attention,” Angeline laughed.

  “I’d love to claim he’d rein it in if we were in a more populated area, but I know that’s not true,” I sighed. “I’ll call him back once we find the hive access point.”

  I glanced up and down the riverbank before looking back at Charlotte. “Speaking of which… isn’t the access point supposed to be around here? I might not be the most observant person in the world, but I’m not so blind that I’d overlook a twenty-foot wide tunnel.”

  “This is where the satellite network first picked them up,” Charlotte muttered. I watched as she reached up and tapped the side of her helmet. “Well, within a couple of meters anyways.”

  “A couple meters in which direction?” Amy asked as she bounced from one foot to the other in excitement.

  “South,” Charlotte replied quietly.

  I slowly twisted my head to the right, then leaned back to look past the edge of the Kodiak that was floating a couple of feet away.

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  “You might want to check those coordinates again, because that’s the middle of the river,” I grumbled.

  “Well… hold on there,” Bern said, adjusting the helmet of his oversized hazmat-like armor. “There are many aquatic Antithesis species, so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that they came out of the river.”

  “I really hope not,” I grumbled. “Even though I’m sure my armor would allow me to swim, well, sink down a hole, I have no idea if my gear will work down there. I don’t even know if the bears are waterproof.”

  “You’re worried that your Class Two equipment might not be waterproof,” Nora repeated, eyes narrowed. “The same bears you mentioned marching directly into burning buildings without any hesitation?”

  “They’re robots made of metal, not puppets made of wood,” I muttered.

  “I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Nora said. “Right now what we need to do is confirm if there’s an entrance down there or if the Antithesis managed to sneak out some other way.”

  “I’ll do it!” Angeline declared. I hadn’t noticed when she arrived, but she’d been stuffing a calorie bar into her face. As she turned towards her truck, she tapped on a little control panel mounted on her wrist. The numerous compartments sprang open, causing hundreds of foot-tall squirrels in bomber jackets to explode out of them. The small creatures quickly swarmed all over the area, crawling over everything and everyone within reach.

  “Come on, you lot, behave yourselves,” Angeline declared, standing up straight and addressing the squirrels like a class of six-year-olds. “I need a handful of you to crawl through the river and look for a cave opening. The rest of you, swarm through the ruins and look for access points. Feel free to chew up any Antithesis corpses you find.”

  The army of squirrels paused, looked at her, and then saluted before scattering into the surrounding area. A couple of them fell upon the corpses of the Antithesis the bears had taken down when we arrived, doing their best impression of a wood chipper as they swiftly disassembled the aliens.

  “That’s horrible,” Charlotte whispered, before clicking her tongue.

  “Cool!” Amy declared right afterwards.

  A couple of the squirrels immediately jumped into the river and were immediately swept downstream by the current. When that happened, a couple of the other ones ignited the jetpacks on their tiny backs, rocketed into the air, and then came screaming down into the middle of the river.

  Most of them disappeared below the surface, but a couple bounced off some rocks in the shallow part of the river.

  I couldn’t help but wince as I watched the ones with dented heads float away. “Least Bob comes back in one piece when he does something stupid,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Looks like there is a tunnel system down there,” Angeline declared. “It goes down, under the river, then comes up into a cavern somewhere under the town.”

  “You think you can find us an alternate entrance?” I asked.

  “Why? Still afraid the bears might not be able to make the trip?” Nora chuckled.

  “No…” I replied, drawing out the word as long as I could. “I can’t swim.”

  Nearly everyone turned to look at me.

  “What do you mean you can’t swim? Everyone’s been swimming at least once,” Amy asked, aghast.

  “Maybe if you live in the upper city,” I pouted, “but not if you live in the undercity. We don’t have any standing water that’s safe to even stand near down there. You know what ‘going for a swim’ is a euphemism for down there? Being thrown in the chemical soup and having your body dissolved so you’re never seen again.”

  “Well, that’s… unpleasant,” Charlotte muttered. “You know the river is relatively clean, at least as far as natural water sources are these days, and I know you have environmentally sealed armor, so you don’t have to worry about drowning. We can either have someone guide you through by hand or tie a rope to you, if that’d help you get through.”

  “I have a better idea,” I declared. “How about I wait here?”

  Charlotte sighed. “Angeline, can you see if your squirrels can find an alternative way in? There must be an alternative way into the complex, considering how many Antithesis are swarming through the ruins.”

  “I’m on it,” Angeline replied, pulling out another calorie bar and tilting her head to the side.

  I noticed that most of the squad was still staring at me, so I casually turned away and started wandering towards the abandoned town.

  “I’ll go help Bob clear out the Antithesis up top so we can access the alternative entrances,” I said, ignoring the stares.

  “We’ll join you,” Charlotte sighed. “No point in splitting up, especially when most of the troops are following you.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll escort the first squad up and leave the rest to follow you,” I said, heading up the hill with half my troops. I made it all the way to the top before pausing for a second and glancing back.

  “Sorry,” I whispered.

  “Don’t worry about it, we all have our weaknesses,” Charlotte replied quietly. “Go on, we’ll meet you up there.”

  I nodded, mentally nudging the bears forward and following after them. “Thanks.”

  As I crested the ridge, I caught a quiet reply. “No problem,” Charlotte said before she raised her voice again. “Alright people, we’ve got a town to clear. Grab your gear and get ready for battle. We’ve got a hive to destroy.”

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