Primitive Man

As the truck rumbled along the rugged terrain, Garnt and Oswald exchanged tense glances, each lost in their own thoughts of the losses they had suffered and the uncertain future ahead.

Garnt was worried about the village and his people, while Oswald knew the trucks and the soldiers he lost from this expedition were too much of a loss for him to bear.

"We'll make it to the camp," Oswald muttered, his jaw set with determination looking at the driver of his vehicle and giving orders to others who were lucky enough to survive the attack.

Garnt nodded silently, his hands clenched tightly despite the situation being terrible for everyone on the island.

But for some reason, the driver of the vehicle that Garnt and Oswald were in suddenly came to a halt, and Oswald quickly tried to see what was happening, only to find the driver unconscious in the driver's seat, possibly from the shock of witnessing some prehistoric creatures chasing them.

Pushing him away Oswald took the driver's seat, but before that, he tightly put some cuffs on Garnt's hand hoping that he wouldn't make things any more hard for them.

But as they approached the camp, the weight of their recent struggles hung heavy in the air. Oswald's grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles white with tension.

"We're here," he said, his voice strained and looked at the back of the truck to see Garnt staying there as if he had given up on his fate.

But before he could fully bring the truck to a stop, Oswald slammed on the brakes and leapt out, his frustration boiling over.

"Damn it all!" he roared, his voice echoing through the clearing. "Damn it! Damn it! How many of my soldiers do I have to lose because of this? Damn it!"

Garnt watched in silence as Oswald stormed away, leaving him behind with his hands cuffed and his heart heavy with guilt looking at his brother who was still struggling.

As Garnt scanned the camp while climbing down from the truck, his gaze landed on Mia, a woman he knew would be trouble. She stood with a confidence that bordered on arrogance, her eyes locked on Eva with an intensity that sent a chill down Garnt's spine.

She looked at Garnt as if he was invincible to her and Eva was the only thing she saw in him. Ignoring Garnt completely, Mia launched into conversation with Eva, her words like poison dripping from her lips.

"Finally! The traitorous bitch is here. General Oswald, you did a good job bringing this woman here. I knew you would be the right person for this job," She said those words and got dangerously close to Garnt.

Since his hands were tied, Mia had nothing to fear and even if they weren't, she knew that Garnt was not the type of man to resort to violence, as soon as he met someone.

"Are you talking to someone? It hurts to be ignored by a familiar face like you." Garnt muttered hoping to catch her attention, and it worked as Mia looked at Garnt and clicked her tongue.

"Young boy! Stay out of this, you're just a puppet that is being used by the evil woman inside you. I have nothing to talk with you, just tell me what Eva tells and that's all I want from you." She muttered and turned around, as she looked at Baktou being unloaded from the truck by some other helpers under Mia.

"You see...I didn't want things to turn this way, but Baktou had to suffer like this because of you and your Eva. If she hadn't come to this world and tried to ruin everything things wouldn't have turned this way. Accept this! She is just a selfish woman who won't care about anyone else if she can obtain what she wants." Mia muttered as if she was truly pained by something that happened between Eva and her.

Eva's expression and voice remained stoic while she was observing everything from the inside, her eyes flickering with a hint of defiance. She knew Mia's accusations held some truth, but she wasn't about to let her manipulate the situation entirely and accept all the allegations she made against her.

"I admit, I have made mistakes," Eva began, her voice steady despite the weight of guilt pressing down on her. "But everything I've done, I've done to protect what matters most to me. I never wanted anyone to suffer because of my actions. I'm not a selfless martyr to think about all the possible outcomes of my actions."

Mia scoffed, her disdain evident as she crossed her arms. "Save your excuses, Eva. Your selfishness knows no bounds."

Eva's jaw clenched mentally, but she maintained her composure. "And what about you, Mia? Are you really one to lecture about selfishness? What about your crush on a professor who worked with me? Or are you conveniently forgetting that? You just hate me because that man valued me more than you even though I couldn't give a ratass about him."

Mia's cheeks flushed with anger, her facade of confidence faltering for a moment. "That's none of your business!" she spat, her voice sharp.

"But it is relevant, isn't it?" Eva pressed on, her gaze unwavering. "You can't preach about selflessness while harbouring your own desires."

Even though Garnt was the one who kept exchanging what Eva was saying, he knew things shouldn't escalate; any further, especially because of something like this.

Caught in the middle of the tense exchange, finally, he spoke up, his voice a calm contrast to the rising tension. "Let's get to the point. What do you want from Eva, Mia?"

Mia's gaze flickered between Eva and Garnt, her expression hardening once more. "We brought Eva here for a reason," she stated coldly. "She's the only one who can create the machine to extract the essence of the meteor. If she wants you to leave this place unharmed, she'll do it."

"I'm not ashamed to admit it...without Eva, our project won't be successful. We won't be able to activate the effect of the meteor even if we manage to collect it."

Eva's resolve hardened as she met Mia's gaze head-on. "Fine," she said, her tone firm. "I'll do it. But only if you promise to release Garnt unharmed. This boy should be treated like a guest and shouldn't be harmed in any way"

Mia's lips curled into a smirk, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes. "Deal," she said, though her tone held a warning. "But remember, Eva, you're not in control here. We are."

With that, Mia turned on her heel and strode away, leaving Eva, Garnt, and the weight of her ultimatum lingering in the air. Eva knew she had no choice but to comply, but she refused to let Mia's manipulation go unchecked.

But before she left, Mia left a remark that Eva couldn't help but feel embarrassed about. "Flawless woman who didn't really care about anything else besides her experiment, suddenly caring about a young boy...Eva, you have some weird taste for a woman of your status."

Eva wanted to mutter it wasn't like that and she viewed Garnt as her son, but was it really the case for her? She had her own daughter that she wanted to revive and travel back to her original life, but could she really leave Garnt after all this? The question remained with her, which she couldn't answer no matter how much she tried to.

"Eva, do you think they know about the meteor that is going to clash? Mia didn't mention anything about it, do you think they can stay safe from something so dangerous?" Garnt questioned curious about Eva's idea.

[I'm not sure, but I don't think with this equipment they can survive a meteor impact that could possibly wipe out a whole continent. Let's wait and see! I feel like something big is coming...]

"Is it really a good idea to help them?" Garnt questioned, as he nodded at Eva's words.

[It is. We needed to build this machine to extract the essence of the meteor anyway, and it was our luck that Mia came with all the equipment and ingredients we needed. If we are to use the meteor we need this machine. Don't worry, no matter how much they try we will be the victorious part of this event.]

Eva said with such confidence, that Garnt actually thought she had everything under control, but obviously, he knew no one could control the danger of a meteor that was threatening their life.

Meanwhile, in the forest things were starting to look pretty bad for Garnt's villagers and his women since the stampede really caused havoc in the forest.

"We have these weapons, but can we really last long if we use them like this? Are we going to die before Garnt can return to us?" Rona questioned Unami, who was standing next to her watching over the forest from an elevated point the forest, and suddenly they started to see another group of dinosaurs fighting among each other, and knew it was time for them to move away from the place that Garnt found them.

"Rona, do you think we are going to die before we can meet him again? I don't...I don't want to die without him." Unami muttered with tears struggling to come out of her, but she quickly wiped her face knowing weakness was not something the wives of the village leader should show.