Chapter 97 The family (1/2)

So… I mean.. It's a little odd…

I was a human before after all. I may not have lived what people would call a … normal life … but hey, I went to school, a bit, I saw people, I ate human food.

Now I have a giant ant Queen staring down at me and insisting that she and my many siblings are my family now.

…

For some reason I'm surprisingly ok with that.

I had a pet ant colony as a human, I kept them contained and fed them, watched the colony grow and cleaned out their s.p.a.ces for them. In some ways they were the most constant members of my household, I certainly saw them every day, which wasn't really true of anyone else.

Perhaps that is why I don't really mind being an ant.

If I'm going to be a member of this family then I have to do my best to save them!

I start thinking out loud.

”Ok then, Queen, I don't think we are uh, strong enough to survive the wave. If our nest is invaded from the outside as well as the inside, we could be completely wiped out!”

The Queen looks concerned and taps me with her antennae, urging me to continue.

”I think we need to move the colony! We have to get somewhere … else. Somewhere safer”.

”Do you know where we should go child?”

Err.... No?

We live in the Dungeon, and from what I'm told the entire place is going to become a death zone for up to a week!

I don't even know that the surface will be safe from the impending danger!

…

But … it may be safer than the Dungeon?

If endless numbers of monsters will be fighting and going crazy through these tunnels, going to the surface might actually be better. Of course that doesn't mean running headlong into the humans, that would be suicide, but with my Tunnel Map I can clearly see where the entrance I first encountered the humans is. If we can find a way to the surface far enough away from a human settlement, we might be able to remain undetected and ride out this disaster!

…

Am I crazy? If I get the colony to relocate to the surface there's definitely a chance that we all get killed by those powerful human soldiers, burnt to death, cut to pieces and slaughtered without mercy.

If we stay down here, will the outcome be any different?

I think we have to take a chance.

The Queen has waited patiently as my thoughts run circles inside my head. My resolution firms as I see her commitment to waiting on my directions.

”We have to dig a new tunnel to the surface!” I declare.

The Queen slowly digests this bombsh.e.l.l, taking time to think them over.

Then she responds.

”What is the 'surface'?” she asks.

…

Of course, how could she possibly know about it?

”We will dig a new tunnel upwards, that bypa.s.ses the existing Dungeon pa.s.sages and if we can dig far enough upwards, we'll be safe!” I say.

Hopefully that is simple enough that she can understand what I'm saying!

The Queen pauses for another moment, her monster intelligence mulling over this suggestion. I wait nervously for her to puzzle out exactly what this means to her.