♡ 

I want to take a moment to say the biggest thank you to my number one reader, @byeb1234 . You have no idea how much you inspire me to write. I always want to get a chapter out for you or come up with the most interesting plot twists or sit down and spend my day writing something that I think you'll enjoy. One person's support truly can change the world and for me, that's you. Thanks for sticking around. 

This last book - Season 10 - is dedicated to you. 

♡ 

Episode One, Part 1:
Redemption of the Heart

There's an ache in you 
put there by the ache in me.

The tube of the combination rested firmly in Sol's hands and she held onto it as delicately as she had previously been doing to Chessca who was now completely still on the ground in front of her. The only part of the girl continuing to move was the warm, crimson blood that spilled out of her chest and covered Dreea's dark skin as she kept her weight on her, determined to stop any more blood from leaking out, but it wasn't working.

As Sol began to twist the top of the cap off to the needle of the drug, Dreea's eyes widened in a sudden realisation and her voice was loud and desperate, needing to stop Sol from making a mistake before it was too late.

"Wait!" She yelled, knowing that what sounded like a ridiculous order would infuriate Sol at such a time. "This is the last of it, right?" She searched. "There's no more where it came from?"

"Yes, this is the last!" Sol snapped, somewhat annoyed that Dreea seemed to be wasting time. "Can you let me-"

"We have one shot at this, Riv," Dreea emphasised. "And I don't trust myself to it, and you... Your hands are shaking. I'm not going to let either of us waste this chance; we won't be able to live with ourselves if it goes wrong."

"So what do you suggest we do, huh? Because Chessca is already dead and we're running out of time!" Sol pointed out, feeling ravenous tears escape her as she motioned down once again towards the girl they both loved so tremendously. "We can't wait any longer! The only reason it worked on Elara was because Kodiak kept her body alive. We don't have that option!"

"I know!" Dreea fired back, frustrated that both of their tempers seemed to be getting in the way of each other. "One of us has to go and hurry Bas along with Aeryn and Fenn," she said. "And since I can't take my hands off of her waist, it has to be you."

Sol took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, understanding what it was the was required of her, but she didn't want to leave Chessca's side - not even for a minute.

"Riv..." Dreea said, softening her voice as she sensed her friend's hesitation. "She's already dead. Nothing's going to happen between now and you finding them. It's not going to get any worse than it already is."

Sol swallowed down the nausea in her throat, forcing herself to nod and accept what she needed to do. Carefully, she set the vial of the combination to the side of Dreea, feeling nervous for every second that it was out of her hands.

"I'll be quick," she said, stumbling as she pushed herself to feet, unsure at first if she would be able to keep her balance long enough to stay standing, but didn't give herself a choice otherwise.

In one of the hardest things she had ever done, Sol turned away from Dreea and Chessca and moved through the small clearing of trees until she was out of sight from them. She could barely breathe as it was through the grief that had tore it's way into her chest and clawed at her heart, and her desperate running and stumbling in every direction only made things worse.

"Riverly?"

She looked over, relieved to see Bas running alongside Aeryn and Fenn, but he was confused at why she was out in the middle of the forest and not with Chessca like he had expected.

"Quick!" Sol yelled as she beckoned them over; if the misery on her face wasn't enough to tell them what had happened, then the sheer, agony in her voice was.

The three followed behind their Nobel Sovereign as she led them towards Dreea and Chessca, feeling their hope fizzle away with each step they took. Finally, after what felt like forever - even though it had barely been a few minutes - the group arrived in front of them.

Sol continued straight on to fall down by Chessca's side, but Aeryn and Fenn seemed to momentarily hesitate, unable to believe what they were witnessing. Aeryn snapped out of her shock first, shaking her head at herself and hurrying over to the Sovereigns, almost not knowing where to begin.

"What exactly happened?" She asked, beginning to empty the small first-aid bag she had as Fenn join them. They'd managed to secure a few kits from Neptunum before they left as well as what was secured on the life vessels with them, and Tobias had also lent them some of his supplies from Exile Allegiance, but it was nothing compared to what they'd had access to at Basilisk.

"She attacked someone, but their blade went into her waist," Dreea whimpered - a sound not usually belonging to her. It was so unfamiliar to everyone that they hadn't been sure who had answered Aeryn for a moment. "I know you're supposed to keep the weapon in there if you're stabbed, but it came right out when they fell away."

"Dreea, River, she's... She's..." Aeryn didn't know how to say it. In truth, she didn't know if she even needed to say it: it was quite obvious that Chessca was dead, but in their shock, she knew the Sovereigns might have not been able to comprehend it.

"She's dead, we know," Sol answered, her urgency not seeming to waver in the slightest.

What was she fighting for? Aeryn wondered. It was over.

"Guys-"

"But we have the combination!" Sol interrupted Fenn as he began to speak, picking up the drug she had previously set down and holding it up for them to see. "We can bring her back!"

Aeryn shared a terrified look with Fenn, not even pretending that she had any clue how to use the drug.

"Come on!" Sol yelled. "What are you waiting for? We have to use this on her!"

"We don't have any of the equipment Neptunum used," Aeryn explained. "This isn't going to be the same as when it worked on Elara-"

"You won't know until you try. Please! We can't lose her," Dreea contributed, knowing that her fear was going to get through to them. "You have to do something. I love her."

Aeryn nodded, barely able to withstand the pressure from both Sovereigns, but she didn't have a choice.

"We need to get to the root of the bleeding before anything else," she said towards Fenn, beginning to search through what tools they had and praying they had enough of the stitches to be able to fix Chessca's wound.

"What about CPR?" Sol asked. "I-I can do that-"

"CPR can wait," Aeryn said.

"But she's not breathing!?"

"I know, Riverly," Aeryn tried to reassure her through everything that was happening. "But she's going to continue to lose more blood unless we can stop the bleeding. Her body won't respond to CPR until that happens. We'll doing everything we possibly can."

"...Okay," Sol slumped down, feeling completely drained for power. She kept one hand firm around the combination, the other running soothing lines through Chessca's hair as she leaned against Dreea who was finally able to take her hands away from the girl's wound.

"She has to wake up," Dreea whispered beside Sol, her hands held slightly raised from her leg, shaking as she stared down at the blood she was covered in. "She has to wake up."

//////////

Atlantis hovered by the exit of the hideout, unsure how much longer she could wait inside without having the answers to what had happened.

Something was wrong with Chessca. That was all she knew. That was all Bas had said to coax Fenn and Aeryn outside into the forest, purposefully leaving out more details so Atlantis didn't overhear, but it wasn't enough to know if she was okay.

Reluctantly, she turned to face Quill and Harlow who were still in the hideout with them, and the three other members of Basilisk who had also been unable to participate in the fight.

"We need to go after the others," she said, immediately gaining Quill's attention - who was sitting on the far side of the space, Harlow leaning up against his shoulder.

He had clearly heard what she said, but he was nervous to reject her idea, let alone agree with her.

"Atlantis," he kept his voice low as he approached, trying to figure out the kindest way to let her down.

"Anything could have happened," she told him. "And Bas said it was about Chessca. I know he tried to make sure I couldn't hear him, but I did, and I know that I'm right. Something happened to Chess."

"Isn't that all the more reason to stay in here? Where it's safe?" Quill asked. "Look, if Chessca is hurt, then Riv or Dreea will be with her, and the last thing River would want is for you to be in trouble, too."

"Quill-"

"She's protected my siblings when I needed her to, it's only fair that I do the same and make sure you don't get into danger."

"She's also risked her life to protect me and Chess, as I know you have for Wynn and Elara, too," she pointed out. "What if this was one of them out there? You wouldn't want me to keep you from getting to them. Not if you knew they needed you."

Quill sighed, realising that Atlantis had a point and it was kind of hypocritical from him to be keeping her back.

"I can go out there on my own. I'm not asking you to come with me if you don't want, but it sure would be a heck of a lot safer if our people stayed in numbers. I only have one working hand, you know?"

Quill stifled a laugh at her lightheartedness, nodding in remembrance as Atlantis raised up her paralysed hand, rolling her eyes as the obstacle it was proving to be.

"Fine. I get you," he caved. "But what about Harlow and those three over there? I don't exactly want to leave Harlow with a bunch of strangers, even if they are from our clan. He's my family."

"I know," Atlantis sighed, bringing her good hand up to massage her forehead, trying to rid herself of her impending headache. "Either Bas is planning on coming back once Aeryn and Fenn meet the others, in which case he can take Harlow from us and come back here with him, or we'll all stay together where Chessca is. I mean, my guess is there's at least one Sovereign with her and two doctors that we know about, not to mention his brother. I think just because you're not somewhere safe doesn't mean you can't protect someone you care about, right? When have we ever truly been safe, except for in the Bunkers?"

"You've got me there," Quill nodded, knowing it would take too long for him to think of a suitable answer. "I guess we should try and catch up to the others whilst we still can."

//////////

Sol looked up at the sound of commotion, debating whether she had enough strength left to take her hand away from Chessca and reach for her blade. She was glad that Bas was around and she could trust him to take care of any stray members of Terra Firma Tribe that were lurking around, but she didn't know if he would be able to handle a large group of attackers all at once.

"Bas, think can you manage those people we can hear?" She asked, resting so much on his answer.

"I... I think so," Bas hesitated, squinting as he tried to focus his eyes on the glimpses of people he could see as they passed through the trees.

"What is it?" Sol asked, beginning to feel a pit in her stomach at the idea of attackers coming along and forcing her to leave Chessca's side for even a moment. "Is there a lot of them? Is it Terra Firma?"

"No, it's... It's my brother," he said, voice heavy with disbelief as he began to move forward. "And Quill and... And your sister?"

"...What?" Sol shook her head, tempted to get up, but she couldn't quite bring herself to. The next thing she knew, a young boy hurried into sight and ran straight towards Bas, surely enough, followed closely by Quill, Atlantis and the other people from the hideout.

"What are you guys doing here?" Bas asked, pulling Harlow close to him, already unsettled at the idea of him being out in the open in the midst of a war.

"Oh my gosh, Chessca!" Atlantis cried, dismissing Bas' question as she hurried over towards the Sovereigns and the younger girl who had become such a fundamental part of her family. "Chess?" She asked, collapsing on the ground beside Sol, already cradling her face in her hands, horrified to earn no response from her. "Chessca? Wake up!"

"Atlantis, look at me," Sol instructed, unable to watch her break down as she knew she didn't have the strength left to comfort her. "Look at me!" She repeated her order, a little firmer as her desperation took over.

Atlantis didn't want to turn away from Chessca, but she managed to, feeling her sister's hand grip tightly onto her arm. "Everything is going to fine!" She insisted. "We have the combination. Aeryn and Fenn are going to bring her back. You hear me? We're not losing Chess."

Atlantis nodded miserably and despite the hope that Sol was trying her upmost to give to her, the only thing Atlantis seemed able to focus on was the fact that right now, Chessca was dead. Someone had attacked her and they killed her and she died. She died.

"W-what if it doesn't work?" She asked.

"It will," Sol was quick to answer, barely allowing time for any other possibility to settle in her sister's mind. "She's going to survive because she knows our world won't work without her. She'll come back. She'll pull through. She has to-"

"We've stopped the bleeding," Aeryn interrupted, her voice drenched in fear; the same amount weighing on her as there was blood on Dreea's hands.

"Y-you have? That means she's going to be okay?" Dreea searched, finally finding enough courage to reach out and touch Chessca again - wrapping her fingers firmly around the girl's wrists.

"No, it means that the bleeding's stopped," Aeryn corrected her, not wanting to give anyone a false hope that she wasn't responsible for. "But she's already lost a lot of blood and she hasn't been breathing for-" she glanced down at the watch on her wrist, unable to see any of the numbers as Chessca's blood covered the screen. "For minutes, at least," she said. "But I'm going to begin compressions now," she said, shifting her weight so she was leaning over Chessca, carefully placing pressure on her chest and beginning to pump down.

At the same time, Fenn move to kneel down beside Chessca's head, encouraging Atlantis to give him space as he tried to determined the best route at getting the combination into her brain.

"Fenn?" Aeryn said. "W-what are you doing? Athena put the combination into Elara's heart. I-I remember Kodiak telling me that. He was very clear about it being in her heart-"

"I know, but as you already pointed out, Neptunum had resources available to them; things that kept Elara's body alive for days after she was killed. Chessca's already gone minutes with oxygen. I think our best chance at this working is getting it directly into her brain as soon as possible."

"Is that safe?" Dreea asked. "Are you sure it's even going to work?"

"...No," Fenn was honest, gulping down a mouthful of anxiety. "And even if I did try and get this into her heart, there's no guarantee it would work either; we have no clue how the hell this things works because all that information went down with the ship, but Chessca's family. All of us are here a family and I'll be damned if I go against my gut-instincts and it's the reason why she doesn't wake up. I don't have the answers, but I have the need for this work and when you need something to survive, that turns into faith. And faith is what gets you through... I can put it into her heart if you-"

"No!" Dreea cut him off, taking a deep breath as she gathered the words she was trying to say. "Faith is good," she said. "I have faith in you... Save Chessca."

Fenn nodded and turned his attention back towards Aeryn, waiting until she gave a breath to Chessca and finished her last round of compressions. "Okay..." She said, letting out a deep breath of exhaustion. "That should have her blood flowing again. You gotta do it now, Fenn. Give her the combination."

He nodded, bravely extending his hand out towards Sol who held the drug in her hand, beginning to pass it over to him when a voice called out them from behind.

"Stop!"

Everyone turned around, startled to see Tobias running into sight and halting several feet away, his hand held up in warning as he ordered everyone to drop their actions.

Seconds later, a breathless Kodiak and Elara appeared behind him, their faces full of as much panic as was evident on Tobias' face.

"This can't wait," Sol muttered, not sure if she intended for anyone to hear her, turning back around to Fenn and continuing to pass the combination towards him. Tobias wasn't important right now. She didn't care what he had to say or why there was so much fear in his voice.

But again, someone called out for her to stop, more urgency this time and a voice that Sol knew like the back of her hand; a voice she didn't have to question who it belonged to: Kodiak.

Terrified to learn the truth about why Kodiak was continuing to prevent her from helping Chessca - who was obviously in a fatal condition in front of them - Sol turned around and met his eyes, completely unable to have guessed what he said next.

"I can't let you use the combination." 

One // Part One
When you need something to survive, that turns into faith. And faith is what gets you through.

And there it is. The last first chapter of The Boy from the Bunker. Low-key (high-key) breaks my heart. I think that's a big part of why I have been putting off writing this first chapter for so long - because I know it's the start of the series ending (but also because I wanted to publish the first chapter today on FROY'S BIRTHDAY). 

FROY (who portrays Kodiak and Ammon in the series) TURNS 23 TODAY! IT IS HIS BIRTHDAY AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND HE HAS SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART AND HE IS ALSO ONE OF MY MOST FAVOURITE PEOPLE EVER (and he's literally never going to see this, lol). Also, his new show CRUEL SUMMER just came out on Freeform and Hulu so you should totally check that out because it is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time? Not gonna lie, I haven't started watching a new show since I quit watching The 100 (gag) last  year, midway through the last season. I am not even exaggerating when I say that show left me heartbroken and it has honestly ruined a lot of my excitement and commitment for series (as the show runner flipping ruined it and wrote the worst series of TV ever like it was literal trash and I'm still not over ******* dying, not less being killed by *****, anyway... So yeah, this is the first show that I've genuinely wanted to watch since then, and Im even more excited as I've been a massive fan of Froy since his Teen Wolf years, and I'm only two episodes in (third one comes out today), and I'm already blown away by his performance. 

Speaking of which, I have started a BLOG where I will be posting weekly REVIEWS for CRUEL SUMMER! I will post the link (here) in the comments to my website so you can check out my review on the show and hopefully it'll make you want to watch it!

Anyway, this chapter leaves you on a cliffhanger as Sol and Kodiak end up opposing (that's not the right word, but oh well) each other as their needs conflict. Sol and Dreea need  the combination to save Chessca life, Kodiak needs it so he can give it to Tobias who will then allow him and Elara to have Izzy back... A very tough situation and I love the tension this has created. What do you think is going to happen? 

Also, wasn't planned, but I LOVE the focus scenes on Atlantis in this chapter, and more focus on Fenn and Aeryn individually!? I loved Atlantis' "ust because you're not somewhere safe doesn't mean you can't protect someone" speech and Fenn's "faith is what gets you through speech" and just Aeryn taking control of the situation and being a #girlboss trying to save her friend's life. Also, just to quickly point out Fenn's line about all of them being one family. Yeah, that's going to be an important theme throughout this book.

BIG things planned!!! Book 10! The final fight!
Thank you for being on this journey with me and my characters. They are each a part of me and I hope they are a part of you, too.

PS: CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER (the 'Characters' one) as I have added some changes and quotes to the character descriptions and cool, last-book gifs!

27/04/21.
Happy birthday, Froy. ♡

The final fight.