The different teams had now gone their separate ways. The courtyard that they had been standing in was far more barren than it was before. Only Jean, Klaus, Richter, Eve and a few teachers Jean had never seen before stood around the gate. Richter began pressing multiple sets of metallic poles around the perimeter. Jean simply watched in silence.

Klaus stumbled over to the log that Jean was resting up against. He groaned as he bent down to sit beside Jean.

“I’m getting old…”

“Yeah. Well after a beating like that, I think anyone would lose a couple years,”

Klaus lit a cigarette.

“That’s the part where you say ‘no way Klaus. You’re still super young!’”

Jean and Klaus couldn’t help but laugh at Klaus’s ridiculous impression of Jean.

“Old, but still manages to crack jokes in probably the worst situation possible,”

“It’s important to re-center yourself every now and then. You lean too much to one side, you’ll just end up falling over,”

“Is this one of your analogies or metaphors?”

“It’s an analogy,” Klaus responded blowing out a stream of hazy tobacco smoke.

“Well what’s it even supposed to mean?”

“It’s just my roundabout way of saying sorry. I know that I haven’t been there for you very much recently…”

Klaus remained silent for a moment.

“I forget how easy it is to lose sight of what’s important… When you’re a hunter, we don’t really get to live life. We become so desensitized to it all. But occasionally, when there’s something that kicks you awake, you realize the value in the little things. And in my experience, it’s the little things that leave the biggest impression,”

“To be honest, I think I’m starting to see what you mean,”

“What makes you say that?”

Jean thought back to the experiences he’s had until now. The grief, the pain, the joy, all of it.

“There’s a lot I’ve taken for granted. And even if it was because I was naïve, I’ve come to realize that something as simple as being able to spend time with friends can matter more than I thought,”

Klaus placed his hand atop Jean’s messy hair.

“You’re a good kid, Jean… and I’m proud of you for that,”

Richter plunged the final metal rod into the ground, creating a perimeter around the courtyard. Richter paced back a few steps and gave a nod to a teacher holding onto a button.

Seeing the nod, the teacher pushed it. Not a moment later, streaks of electricity sparked between the rods creating a barrier around the bunker and everyone inside the courtyard. Richter tested the barrier by throwing a decent sized rock at it. The moment the piece of stone met the electricity, it shattered into nothing but dust. Confirming that the barrier was in working order, he turned to face Klaus and Jean.

Klaus stood up to meet Richter as he approached.

“So, what now?” Klaus asked.

“We wait…”

“That’s it!?” Jean asked as he stood up from the log.

“The teams have been assigned their tasks. Trust them to carry it out.” Richter responded.

His response was straightforward and stern, but Jean knew that Richter was right. Considering their position, there wasn’t much that they could do but defend the main gate and be ready to inform the other teams if something goes wrong.

But Jean was restless. He felt a shiver down his spine. Maybe it was the eerie silence. Maybe it was just him being paranoid. But, the idea of simply waiting for something to go wrong didn’t sit well with Jean.

“It’s not that I don’t trust them, sir… I just think that we could be doing more than just standing around,”

“There’s a reason we’re stationed here, Jean,” Richter said.

“From what I understand, the beasts main target is you. That means that if they’re planning to attack again, having you here will give the others a chance to get everyone out,”

“So, you’re using me as bait?”

“You said you wanted to fight. If you’re true to your word, then this is how you’ll do it. It isn’t guaranteed that the kids still trapped in the school are in any condition to help the rescue team fight their way back. We need to do everything we can to keep any beasts off the rescue team. And that means keeping you here,”

In Richter’s brief explanation, he didn’t evoke a sense of superiority. He was simply stating a fact. After Jean’s demonstration of his resolve, Richter seemingly decided to put his faith in Jean. Of course, Richter had his reservations about how much Jean would be able to help.

Eve happened to be pacing around, ignoring the conversation between the other three. Like Jean, she also felt something was off, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Serizawa, Kade and Doctor Elton pushed the rubble piled against a wall out of the way. After a few minutes, they managed to make a space large enough to enter and exit from. The three of them carefully made their way back inside of the school. Luckily, due to this section of the building being lower to the ground, the flames had yet to envelop the area.

The group turned on flashlights and latched it onto the straps they had around their shoulder as they entered a dark hallway. One end of the hallway had a single staircase leading down into a door covered by more rubble while the other end was completely blocked off by the collapsed rubble of the floor above them. Serizawa approached the blocked doorway.

“God dammit. Not more of this shit,”

“Looks like we’ll have to do some more heavy lifting,” replied Kade.

The three of them bent down and began pushing aside broken pieces of wood and stone. After another few minutes, they had cleared the doorway enough to open it. Kade moved in first followed by Serizawa, then Elton. The room itself was large. However, the visibility was severely limited. Especially considering the size of their flashlights. Due to the size of the interior, the smallest of sounds caused an echo to resonate. Even the slight shifting of a pebble could be heard.

“Hello?” Kade called out.

There was no answer. Strange, they all thought.

Kade called out once more. Still no answer. Serizawa’s patience waning thin, pushed Kade out of way and shouted.

“Alright you little shits! If you’re in here, you better say something before ‘I’ kill you!”

Kade and Doctor Elton couldn’t help but think to themselves;

How did this lady even get hired as a teacher?

But still there was no response. To ensure their safety, they stuck close together and surveyed the area as best they could.

“You’re sure that guard said there were still kids trapped here?” Kade asked.

“He made a god damn commotion about it. Why would he lie?”

The three continued to search the room. Making sure to check as much of the space as physically possible. They lifted toppled furniture to see if there were any children stuck underneath the rubble. They searched feverously, moving quickly but as thoroughly as they could. Considering the time constraint, they decided they would have to stop the search.

“Was that fucking guard blind? This place is completely deserted!” Serizawa vented her frustration.

“Something isn’t right, here,” Kade chimed in.

“Way to tell us the obvious, Kade. Aren’t you supposed to be part of some elite squad?” Serizawa said.

“No, I mean… Like you said. Why would that guard lie about something as important as trapped children?”

Elton continued surveying the area. He continued to push things out of the way in hopes of finding someone. Getting tired, Elton straightened his back and stretched. As he stretched his back, his flashlight shone the light up towards the ceiling. Immediately, Elton let out a scream as he fell backwards.

Hearing Elton trip, Serizawa and Kade turned towards his direction. Elton’s face had gone completely pale as he shakily pointed his finger towards the ceiling. Serizawa and Kade unclipped their flashlights and shone it up in the direction of Elton’s finger only for them to briefly feel a sense of dread.

Hanging above their heads were massive spiderwebs with the limp bodies of multiple children hanging from cocoons.