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"What were you guys doing when you were trying to track me?" June asks in the middle of lunch, and we all pause.
"What do you uh- What do you mean?" Dirk clears his throat. "You want us to say that we all held hands and skipped to ya?"
Quint and I snort, laughing when June frowns in response. "No, you said Jack was freaking out–" "HEY‐!" "And as true as that might be, what else were you like..Freaking out about?"
"What she's asking, Friends, is our actions and thoughts during her escapade." Quint chirps. And obviously we knew that, but we know that June gets aggressive when we don't 'understand basic English.'
"Besides Jack freaking out?" Dirk chuckles.
"Seriously?? I wasn't freaking out!" I huff, setting my sandwich back down. "I was a normal freaked out like the rest of you!"
"That's a lie my friend, you freaked out. Big time." Quint shakes his head. "We followed the initial trail of the Rifter's chain and troll's prints, but.."
"But along the way we saw a ton of blood." Dirk cuts in. "Like, a worrisome amount."
June rubs the back of her neck, grazing her shoulder, and she winces. "Oh yeah, that was definitely mine.."
"We tried reaching out to your walkie, but you never picked up. It was much more work to try locating you, but I managed it after a few hours." Quint states proudly, standing as he takes his plate. "Especially with the wretch's insides doing something to switch it back on. Seconds, anyone?"
"Thirds!" Dirk holds out his plate. "Thanks Duder, I got next time."
"I'm fine, thanks Quint." I wave him off, looking to June for an answer.
But she's already staring at me.
She jumps and looks to Quint, "Thanks Dude, I'm actually stuffed." She tosses her sandwich back, and with his 7th sense, Rover slides across the treehouse and catches the sandwich before it hits the floor.
He coos, panting before barreling towards me, "ROVER NO!–"
And he crashes into me, knocking me to the floor. He licks my face, tail wagging a mile a minute. Through the licks I can hear my friends giggling, and I can't help but smile, hugging Rover tight. He raises his head, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I squealed as I was being dangled. "WOAH woah okay– Rover- Can you put me do–"
He jumps back, spinning and running towards the balcony, leaping off the edge. "JACK!"
I hear my friends call out, and a piece of me is pleased. My name sounds so cool when they say it. "I'm fine!" I call up and gasp sharply as Rover lies on top of me, crushing me. "Ghhk– Less fine–"
I can hear his stomach growling, then his throat grumbling as he makes a sound similar to a cats purr, but more gravelly. He shifts to cup me closer to his body, tail thumping on the grass. Dirk is the first I see to come, hopefully, save me. He squats down, grinning, "Maybe we should just leave you here."
"It's– Guh– Comfy and all– But-" I take in a sharp breath, wincing as I feel all my bones shudder against Rover's ribs. "It's hard to breathe-"
Rover nibbles on my hair as Quint joins us, my monster dog smacking his lips as he gets my hair stuck in his mouth. It feels like a massage, a painful massage. "Can't breathe—" I rasp out, patting Rover's chest.
Dirk stands, clasping his hands together before lowering his stance and charging into Rover. He tackles the monster dog off of me, pinning him down and rubbing his tummy, "What a good monster dog! Yes you are yes you are!" Dirk scratches his chest. "What a good boooyyy!!"
Rover howls, leg kicking in the air as his itch is satiated. He rolls over, batting Dirk gently between his paws and licking his face. Squealing, Dirk scratches Rover's chin, "Such a good boy!!!!"
June hums loudly as she moves closer, lying on Rover's back, "Oh yeah, this is nice.."
Quint follows suit, and when I finish catching my breath I crawl closer and lean against Rover's side. He turns his attention to me for a second, sniffing me before placing his paw back over Dirk's face. "So you freaked out?" June pokes my head.
"NO! I–I was a normal amount of freaked out!" Defending myself is hard, I totally freaked out! I can't lie, especially to June! She's got that scary reporter thing going for her, when she's Journalist June, and she is not a force to be reckoned with. "They're feeding you lies."
"Sure, when you said, 'Where could she be? I know she can handle herself but she shouldn't have to because—'" I cut Quint off before he starts embarrassing me by knocking him off of Rover.
He squeals, hitting the ground with an almost calculated fall, landing like a cat. Sometimes I do miss those felines, not their claws though. "Geez Sullivan, you must be in love with me if you know me so well." June holds her head in her palms, grinning from ear to ear, leaned over on Rover, closer to me.
"That huge ego is such a turnoff." I mutter as I push her face away, but I know I'm burning bright red.
She snickers, making kissing sounds as I force her further away from me. "Admit it Jack, you freaked out big time for lil ol' me~" She coos, grabbing my wrist and moving my hand down.
I frown, and my gut twists. It's weird to admit, but it's not as cool as it sounds, and I can feel my heart thumping against my chest. "We..We did worry, a lot." I murmur. "The blood trail leading up to your boom kart, with you missing?" I shudder at the fear that bubbles back up again, from the sight, the smell.
Quint sighs, leaning against Rover, Dirk groaning at the added weight. "Jack is right," He winces at saying I'm right, and I smile slightly at the proclamation. "Though he freaked out the most, we all freaked when we came up cold on your trail..We even had Rover follow your scent, but we came up short in this flooded city."
I can see June's muscles tense, and she reaches for her mouth, almost as if she's struggling to breathe. Quint and I shift positions, ready to jump into action if– well, we don't know what's going on so we're just ready to move! Rover stops messing with Dirk to look at June too, sniffing her before giving her the biggest, wettest dog lick known to man. She squeals (so cute!) And begins to wipe her face, dazed as she stares at Rover. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding, hugging Rover's snout.
He snorts at her, tail thumping roughly on the grass. "Urgh..You guys were right to worry.." She starts. "Everything started going wrong after that city..I..May not have told you guys everything either.."
Dirk slides free from Rover's hold, sitting up, "Well we've got all the time in the world Duder," He crawls to sit with Quint and I, and we all look up at June. "Will you tell us about your solo quest?"
———
"And then you guys showed up, and we kicked Rifter butt." June shrugs. "And you know the rest from there."
We're absolutely dumbfounded at the story, all the gaps in our perspective of her journey—now knowing she's gone through much worse than we originally thought– have been filled and we're regretting even listening to every word. "June–" Quint gulps, looking to Dirk and I before looking to June, his words coming out breathless and panicked. "That's a deeply traumatic situation–! You- W-We need to tell, like, a trusted adult! Someone like Bardle or–" Quint covers his mouth, whipping his head back to lock eyes with me.
The silence that follows is thick, heavy. I feel it creeping up my spine, goosebumps covering my skin as the cold from that night returns, and I instinctively reach for the cosmic hand. Quint shrinks in on himself, turning away from me, and I can barely, just barely, hear him mutter, "I'm sorry."
I swallow hard, rubbing my fingers together before reaching out and pulling Quint over, "It's okay. It–It doesn't.." No, it does bother me. Because Bardle is never coming back. And I.. "I'm glad he's the first trusted adult that comes to mind and not Skaelka."
"She's totally responsible! She's always protecting us with her axe." Dirk huffs, crossing his arms. "You're just biased cause she wanted to chop off your hand."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jack." Quint murmurs, wrapping his arms around me in a hug.
I hug him back tightly, swallowing down the sob in my throat, "It's okay, it's okay it wasn't your fault or anything- I know you meant well, it's okay."
"M'sorry–"
"Uh- Group hug, everyone! Reassurance is heavily needed, can't do this solo!" I wave Dirk and June closer, waving frantically as they take a second too long.
Rover barks, nudging Dirk forward before stepping closer, circling Quint and I, lying behind me. June sits on my right while Dirk sits on my left, hugging Quint and I. "Quint, it was a small slip, you..You clearly miss Bardle too." June states. "We never really got the chance to say goodbye, but he never really went away, even now he still influences Jack not to be an idiot."
"Was this part of your plan the whole time??" I gasp. "But its true, I'm less of an idiot than I was last week!"
"That ain't something you should be proud of Duder." Dirk snorts. "S'okay Nerd, we all miss the lug, us thinking he's still here means he did good."
Rover yips, nuzzling against June, closing his half-circle slightly to squeeze us together. "And, truthfully..It would make me feel loads better if I did tell him." June sighs, smiling slightly. "Jack? Can we go see him?"
I beam at June, "Yes! Let's go see Bardle– Quint are you cool coming? We- I can kind of see him in the giant crystal so I can show you– And he's got a nice color going for him so I actually– Auhm–" Oh God am I rambling about Bardle's grave??
"Er- Yeah, let's– Let's go let Bardle know that June almost died.." Quint rubs his eyes, and I can see that his snot transfered to my shirt.
"I didn't almost die! It was– A calculated risk?" She hums, leaning against me as she frowns at Quint. "No yeah I totally almost died. What would Bardle think?"
"He'd be so neutral about it, I think he'd just sigh heavily and go, 'How am I not suprised..'" Dirk lowers his voice, mimicking Bardle and stroking his fake beard.
Quint snorts, "He did grow immune to our stupidity.."
"Moreso Jack's." June blurts, laughing when she sees me frown.
"Oh yeah, for sure." Dirk follows, laughing with June. "I still remember Bardle coming in after Jack's first zombie training regiment and sighing when I asked how it went! Poor dude looked so drained."
"It wasn't my fault none of the zombies were listening! I'm still learning!"
Quint shifts and I let him go. When Dirk and June try releasing us from the hug, Quint glares, and they freeze, as do I when Quint turns slightly to inflict the same stare. He takes the spot between Dirk and I, patting Rover who closes further, squeezing us all together. "When do we ever have a moment like this?" Quint asks. "To just..Be kids?"
"When we're not dying." Dirk tries to laugh, but he blanks. "Wow. Now you got me thinking."
"Quint you broke Dirk, he never thinks!" I gasp. "Quick, break June too! Maybe she'll stop bullying me–" She gasps and punches my arm. "OW! JUNE WHAT THE HECK!?"
"YOU TWAT I DON'T BULLY YOU!" She jabs into my side, cheeks puffed out as she grows angrier.
"OW OW OW!! JUNE STOP STOP I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!" I try slapping her hands away, but she's too quick.
Rover bites her hood, yanking her back and laying his paw over her chest, pinning her down and saving me. "TRAITOR!"
"She's crazy!"
"OH I'LL SHOW YOU CRAZY, SULLIVAN!" She starts kicking in my direction, writhing in Rover's hold.
"AHHHHH OKAY OKAY LET'S GO SEE BARDLE LET'S GO SEE BARDLE!!" I scoop Quint up and stand, tossing him on Rover's back, yanking Dirk up. "June, let's talk this through–"
Rover lifts his paw, June jumping to her feet, glaring. "Talk to the hands, Sullivan."
Dirk hops onto Rover's back, grinning, "Good luck, Jack."
"We'll meet you there." Quint pats Rover's side. "Let's go!"
"WHAT?! NO, WAIT!–" And as I reach out to grab Rover's fur, he dashes away.
I gape, betrayed and suprised. Rover, my monster dog left me! What has this world come to!? I snap back to June when she cracks her knuckles, and I fall back. "June–"
"Are they gone?"
"Wh–" I look over my shoulder before looking to her. "Yes?- Are you checking for witnesses??—"
"Alright let's go." She lets her arms fall to her sides, walking towards me, yanking me up to my feet. "Now tell me about you freaking out."
"Uh- What? Weren't you going to-to beat me up??"
She raises her hands, clenching her fists, "Do you want to get beat up? Cuz I can make that happen, right here, right now."
"NO! No-" I shield my face. "I'm great not being beat up-"
"Then let's go." She walks past me, smacking my lower back as she does.
I hiss, rubbing my back as I follow after her. "Can that be counted as harassment? Are you harassing me?" I wince. "Oh that's definitely going to leave a mark.."
"Are you emotionally distressed?"
"Uhm, yes?? I'm very emotionally distressed, you've emotionally distressed me." I cross my arms, huffing. "And I didn't freak out!"
"Sure sure," She looks around. "Mind telling me your story on route to Bardle? Where is he anyways?"
"He's over yonder." I point the opposite direction she's walking in.
She turns, smacking the back of my head as she walks past me. "Come on Jack, tell me your side now!"
"There is no side to tell! I was so calm about the whole thing." I jog after her. "I didn't even notice you were gone."
"Uh-huh, how long was I gone for?"
"Too long!" I wave my hands in the air. "And it was your day to clean the kitchen!"
She laughs, "I love getting out of chores." She bumps me. "Did you clean up for me?"
"Dirk did, he made snacks for our journey. We ate it all, so you didn't get any." I grin, my smile quickly fading when June jabs at my side. "OW! You are so cruel!!"
"That just means I like you." She smiles, red dusting her cheeks as she passes me. "Come on Jack, let's catch up to the others."
"Hey wait-" Her words click, and I gasp. "WAIT! No can you say that again I think I misheard-! June come on can- What did you mean by that??" I chase after her, stumbling.
"What? What did I say?" She acts blasé, and her poker face rivals Dirk's. "You're crazy, Jack."
"No! I mean probably but– June come on-! What if I heard you wrong? Maybe I heard you wrong!"
"Alright, what do you think I said?"
I slow down, and I can feel the heat climbing up my neck, blush spreading across my face. "I don't want to say it now.." I murmur.
She smirks, "Then I guess, we'll never know."
"You're an evil mastermind."
"That I am, Sullivan, that I am." She bumps up against me. "Now can I know about you freaking out?"
"I didn't freak out! I had a moment of weakness for like, two seconds!!"
"Two seconds too long! Come onnnn Jack! Just tell me! And I'll tell you what you think you heard and what I said." She smirks, laughing as I return a glare.
"How do I know you'll keep your end?"
"You'll just have to tell me and find out."
Tch- She's good! I know I heard it but– Fisticuffs! "Agh fine! I have blind faith that you'll tell me!
She beams at me, "Great! Now tell me everything!"
———
When I shamelessly finish off our side of June's solo quest, we've made it to the crystal Warg made for Bardle. "–and then it exploded! So I obviously had to revisit the tracker, June's life was at stake!" Quint exclaims, waving his hands.
Seems like Quint and Dirk were telling Bardle our side too! "Jack wouldn't stop pacing around either, so it was harder for you to concentrate." Dirk adds, spotting June and I, waving. "Yo! About time! Come on, we're just catching the old man up!"
Rover jumps up, panting as he hops around me, "Ew, dog slober!" I laugh, holding my arms out.
He slams into me, knocking me off my feet, "Arrooroooohh!" He howls, nuzzling roughly against my head.
"Alright alright! I know we took awhile!"
He bites my hood, proudly dragging me through the grass to Dirk and Quint. He drops me in a small puddle, dirty water splashing into my face. "Yuck! Rover!"
June slides off her jacket as I sit up, and she wipes my face, folding her jacket and setting it down before sitting on it, avoiding the dirt and mud altogether. "Keep going Quint, I'll tell him my side when you're done."
He smiles at June, elbowing me slightly and grinning up at Bardle, "I perfected a sort of router! It has a two-way signal, following devices that can switch channels, and when– Neon?" He looks to June, and she nods. "Neon's intestines switched it back on, I was able to pinpoint his, and inadvertently June's, location! We heard through his stomach that he was on June's side, and that he was being attacked by those-those barbaric wretches!" Quint exhales sharply, regulating himself. "We joined the battle at its peak, and we kicked those Rifter's to next year! Oh and we recieved devastating news, but that's for later." He waves the thought off. "June's up next!"
She clears her throat, shuffling closer, "Uh- Wow Quint you just talked to him so easily- I uh-" She swallows. "Hi, Bardle. Uhm. Oh God how do I even start?"
"What happened as you were dragged? Start there!" Dirk suggests. "And don't forget the blood trail."
"Dude- Agh okay- So after Jack lamely chased after me–" "HEY!" "I was dragged all the way to this Jolibee-looking place, and I was actually so excited to be on my own for once!" June waves her hands, and I'm thinking Quint is starting to rub off on her. "Of course I just aimlessly walked around, the Rifter's troll just dragged us around everywhere so I didn't know where I was!"
"What were you thinking at the time?" Quint asks.
She hums a whine, glaring to the side as she reddens from, embarrassment? "Ugh..As happy as I was to be away from you guys for a bit, I did miss you turds.." She scratches the back of her neck as we coo. "Urghh! It was horrible! My first breath of fresh air away from you zombie-smelling dunderheads and I already missed you!" She shoves me into Quint, and we both slam into Dirk.
We burst into a fit of laughter, our laughs growing louder as June reddens further. "You're such a softy, June!" Dirk slaps his knee, leaning back to cackle. "Oh you're a riot Dudette."
"Your love for us masked as disdain is such a June-like behavior!" Quint hums proudly.
"Admit it June, you totally love us!" I wipe a laughing tear, enjoying every second of making fun of June.
Rover yips, "See, even Rover knows!" Dirk wheezes. "Can't even fool the big guy!"
"Bardle would totally hate this," Quint shakes his head, smiling. "I hope he thinks this is funny at least."
"I absolutely agree, indubitably so!" I chirp. "I love making fun of June, it's my favorite pastime! Bardle would love this."
"He would be on my side! He would not find this funny!" June fumes, crossing her arms and pouting, almost like a fussy toddler. "Urgh! Just-- Lemme finish my side!"
We shush eachother, clearing our throats before waving June on. "Grrhhhffh!" Rover huffs, tail wagging as he grins at June.
She sighs, patting his nose, "So after I had my horrible epiphany, I very cooly explored the area! Turns out, Globlet was with me the whole time! My solo quest turned into a girl's quest, which, awesome! I would've loved Skaelka there too, but Globlet was just as great– And maybe Quint, since I was lost I would've preferred getting home sooner, honestly." June mumbles, tapping her chin. "Or maybe Dirk, he's got killer memory, he could've memorized that path I was dragged with.."
"What about me what about me??" I wave at her.
"I would have never been alive to tell this story."
I deadpan, lowering my hands, "How dare you think so little of me."
"It's not hard." She says proudly. "Comes naturally, y'know."
"You're a bully!"
She punches my arm, snorting, "Just means I like...you...Dingus.." The words die off in her throat, and I've never seen someone get so red so fast.
I HEARD IT THAT TIME! I HEARD IT! June jumps to her feet, sputtering. "I–I didn't- You-"
Dirk squeals, "June~!" He giggles, tapping at his chin, practically fangirling.
Quint almost smolders, failing to hide his evil payback ideas for past JuneAbuse™️. But I can't deny that I'm practically beaming, radiating joy and also heat as I can practically feel the blush on my face. "So-Sounds like you–" My voice squeaks and I clear my throat. "Sounds like you're in love with me, Del Toro."
"OOOOH THAT CALLBACK IS INSANEE!!" Dirk holds his open palm out and we high-five.
June bites her lip, practically seething, and I don't think her blush could get any darker. She yells out in frustration, kicking me back into Quint before stomping off, and I can't help but laugh. "ARGHH! BOYS ARE SO DUMB! I HATE YOU GUYS!!" She kicks at the floor. "Augh I'm never saying anything to you three ever again!"
"You don't mean it~" Dirk coos. "You love us! Some more than others~" He lulls the last word, almost like a song.
"I think today was most informative!" Quint quips, rising to his feet. "June and Jack are head over heels for eachother and we've learned of June's girl's quest! Now however we need to plan for the Rifter's and how we'll safely traverse to New York! Dirk, I'll need your brute strength to help me modify Big Mama, Jack-" I perk, I get a job too? "Work on your zombies, we'll take them too."
"Oh? But I'm, like, terrible at it!"
"Regardless, we'll need all the manpower we–..The help we can get. June, ask the other monsters if they've got any info. on the Rifter's, we need to be prepared." Quint begins to pace, and I know the talk that follows is going to be long. "Bardle might not be able to guide us any further, but for his sacrifice and the betterment of other monster's, we shall prevail!"
"Yeah!" Dirk raises his fist. "Whatever that means, yeah!"
"To prevail is to triumph, to suceed, Dirk, victory!"
"YEAH! YEAH TO PRE- pre-prevell?"
"Pre-vail."
"PREVAIL!"
"YEAH!" June and I raise our fists as well.
"Alright team! Let's make preparations as soon as possible, then! We need to be ready for anything and everything!"
"YEAH!" June, Dirk and I cheer. And wow, Quint is great at moving crowds! Even though it's only us four. I'm counting Bardle. Rover yips. Five, now counting Rover!
"June, Jack, let's save the romance for another time!"
We deflate at the proclamation, looking to eachother. The radio flashes through my mind when I look at her, and I remember her family, the fear she expressed when I..Nearly destroyed the radio..I shake my head. The plan has always been to find June and Quint's parents. We just have to mix our two goals together now! "Right. We..We gotta focus! Kicking the heck outta Thrull is our number one goal!" I grab June's hoodie and stand, offering it to her.
Her brows furrow as she takes the hoodie, eyes flicking across the grass. "Fine, we..We can revist this." She punches my arm and I wince, holding my bicep. "Love is pain Jack, love is pain."
"This is a one-sided relationship!" I hiss through gritted teeth, rubbing at my arm. "Eeeevviiilllll!!"
Rover snorts, tilting his head curiously, "You won't be coming with us, Rover." Quint rubs his chin. "It will be safer for you here, and you have monsters to protect here too."
He coos, exhaling sharply through his nostrils, effectively sneezing in Quint's face. "Wait!" June holds her hands out. "Can we finish my story first? I want Bardle to know before we like, forreal go die."
Quint crosses his legs, "Right right right." Dirk nods.
Quint and I sit back down, nodding vigorously, "Right right right." We mimick Dirk, snickering to eachother before resuming a regal and stoic appearance.
June straightens out and sets her hoodie back down before sitting, clearing her throat. "After Globlet made herself known, we had to hide! And. . ." June retells her story, allowing herself creative freedom to put emphasis on her phrasing and herself and Globlet.
And it's nice.
We can relax, for a few more hours, for one more day. For one day, we can truly just be, the last kids on earth.
. . .