​
The Primeval Apocalypse by Robert Keene and Alex Raizman
Start here (Prologue) Previous
I was pretty confident that if I got hit with Infected Bite again, I could survive. On The Prowl would let me weather the damage-over-time effect. But disabling all my other healing meant that I’d need to avoid all damage for the entire duration. With the Mandrill guards closing in—and the queen and her forces nearly upon us—that was a tall order.
Besides, this was all according to plan. A little faster than intended, but all according to plan.
The entelodont’s giant teeth snapped at me, and I pushed off of Rachel, sending each of us to either side of the fearsome maw.
For a moment, its eyes locked into her instead of me, but I put a quick end to that. Activating Enrage before smashing my axe into the side of its head and landing a brutal cut there was more than enough to turn it back to me.
Activating Enrage also spread the effect to the whole raid crew. Their damage output increased sharply, and the thin line of guards came apart at the seams in an instant. Two were dead through the alpha’s healing, and the other four were forced back. The alpha backed off as well, but his expression read to me like a knowing smirk. He thought that the entelodont was going to be the end of us even if he had to retreat.
If I was him, I’d have thought so, too.
Giant claws raked out at me, too fast to dodge and too strong to parry. They ripped across my chest leaving deep wounds. At level 8, two hundred damage wasn’t the end of the world, but it was still a lot more than I wanted to take from a single strike.
But I couldn’t just back off.
The whole plan was going to come apart if the beast was allowed to run loose among us.
Snarling in the entelodont’s face, I hit it again. The stacking attack speed buff from my new axe was starting to feel outrageous as my weapon spun in my hands with tremendous speed, landing two more slashes before the creature could even flinch from the first. The monster bit at me again, seeming to remember how its infection debuff had obliterated me, but I remembered, too. With Rachel’s Shout buffs still rolling I twisted out of the way as the massive teeth snapped shut a hair away from my skin.
Rachel darted into the fight herself, her giant cleaver carving a deep cut across the monster’s rear flank, driving it towards me and stopping it from rearing back to lunge again. It kicked at her with its rear leg almost absently, as if in reflex rather than offering her any real attention.
Despite the casual nature of the kick, when she caught the beast’s claws on the flat of her blade it was still enough force to bowl her over, sending her scrambling, the tinkling of her armor almost drowning out her grunt of frustration.
My detection radius warned me that the Mandrills were fencing us in. Big Sam and Yara were already struggling to hold the line at the back against the initial response, and the other melee fighters—even those who weren’t tanks—were struggling to hold the line as the guards closed in on our flanks as well. We were dishing out a lot of damage, but the Mandrill numbers were growing the longer we outstayed our welcome.
The Mandrills’ wounded fell back from the front line, but another rank surged forward to take their place. Rachel’s raid group had to tighten around us to stop the Mandrills from breaking through our line. What few healing abilities we had were getting burned left and right to keep us going; we didn’t have a second rank to replace the front.
We barely had room for the plan already, and the noose was tightening around us now.
And straight ahead of us, across from the pen and behind the alpha’s retreating line, the queen was about to join the fight with her forces, smashing through the strongest part of our line with superior numbers and support.
All this with an unstoppable killing machine behind our line already, consuming the attention of the team’s best fighters.
We were going to be overrun in seconds. With all of us captured or dead, no one would be left to go back to camp. Just as we’d be crushed now, everyone else would be crushed by the end of the day tomorrow.
And after that? King Alpha and his Monkey Knights of the Round Banana would take a few weeks to armor up and wipe out any humans they could find for miles around. It would be devastating.
So, if the plan was going to work, it had to work now.
For the sake of everyone, not just those here, and not just those in Rachel’s camp. But for my old friends back in Jamestown, and every other budding human settlement I would ever set eyes on.
I broke and ran.
There was a snort of satisfaction. Like the daeodon that it vaguely resembled, when the entelodont was a predator it had a sadistic streak. It wanted to run me down, and when it lunged again, its teeth snapped shut right behind my heels. The monster could have caught me. It was faster, after all, but now that I was running, it wanted to keep me running.
And why not? It didn’t actually care about me. The damage I’d done was nearly inconsequential to it, after all. It was only killing me on orders from the Mandrills. What scraps of meat were on my bones were never going to satisfy this monster. The satisfaction it wanted was in the killing itself. It wanted to have some fun.
And that meant that it only had eyes for my fear as I ran past the others. The two remaining mages cowered away, distracted from their duties supporting the others. But the beast ignored them, charging after me even though it meant ignoring the much softer morsels along the way. Even though it meant running right past Liz.
There was a flash of energy.
Liz’s snare trap blasted the entelodont. Crude bolas of green energy whipped around the beast’s legs, binding it and weighing it down, but at the moment of the trap’s triggering a separate purple tether wrapped around its head and yanked it down like a leash. Even as it arrested the entelodont’s momentum, it was already breaking apart, as it would only last a fraction of a second.
More than long enough for me.
As soon as the blast of energy came, I changed direction, darting to the left around the monster. While it was immobilized, all it could do was follow me with its eyes, ready to pounce once Liz’s ability wasn’t holding it down any longer.
I wasn’t going to give it the option. As soon as I was far enough around it to charge right at the beast without leaving myself open to its teeth or claws, I closed in. The window was narrow, but not too narrow for me to squeeze through.
The tether snapped and the beast started to whirl, but it was too late already.
I slapped my hand to the monster’s bristly hide, and focused on sending my newest ability down my arm into the beast.
The muscles beneath my hand stiffened, tensed, and then relaxed.
The entelodont’s next growl was a very different timbre.
Instead of mindless aggression, there was intent behind it.
Meaning.
I understood.
Freedom, it growled. Freedom good.
“Right, freedom good,” I said quickly. “Freedom very good. That’s all I wanted to give you. Consider it a gift. Use it in good health! Preferably somewhere very far away from me!”
Despite its size and the clear intelligence behind its humanlike eyes, the monster wasn’t very coherent. But I didn’t need coherence. I just needed it loose.
The beast snorted, and as Liz’s ability-created bonds fell away.
It didn’t lash out.
And for a brief moment, the Mandrills around us hesitated. Even from here, I could sense the panic that gripped the alpha. He turned as the queen charged to enter the fight.
The Big One, he snapped at her, hooting loudly to try and flag down her attention. Something’s wrong with The Big One!
Despite the language barrier, the entelodont recognized the name the Mandrills had given it. It whirled suddenly, bowling me over with its shoulder. I caught a glimpse of its eyes and saw nothing but rage in them.
Captor, the monster bellowed as soon as it saw the queen.
“Clear a path!” I yelled, “or this is gonna get ugly!”

▪️ Today, Putin confirmed a strike on the headquarters of the GUR
▪️"The drone attacks on Moscow is the Kiev regime's response to our effective strikes on one of the decision-making centers," Peskov said.
▪️The Ukrainian media report that after the strikes on the capital, traffic was blocked on the Havana Bridge connecting Rybalsky Island, where the intelligence headquarters (GUR) is located.
▪️"Yesterday, in the same area, Kiev residents reported the arrival (the authorities did not confirm this). Eyewitnesses said that the explosion was heard in the same area where traffic is now blocked," the Kiev media write.
Other noteworthy information: Budanov, head of GUR, released a video yesterday where he vowed to exact revenge.

Elimination Order
​
https://preview.redd.it/13zwp2feo03b1.png?width=1402&format=png&auto=webp&s=b46d916f19f421441fc687ee4a5bcefe6d156b80
Max is eliminated in an 8-6-1 vote
He is not able to finish all the pasta and is automatically eliminated. He makes a cry of despair, saying that he ate all that food for nothing, then weeps. He tells Ella to win & gets on the Boat of Losers. Ella is happy that she will be competing with her friend, & Jasmine is the same.
The episode opens with Chris stating that this is going to be the final and most dramatic episode of the show. After eight weeks of fierce competition, the competition will finally come to an end. Two campers remain and only one will be left at the end of the day, with a check for $100,000.
In the confessional, the two finalists voice their thoughts in the confessional.
Ella says that she has had an amazing time here making new friends & being with the nature. She says that she has made many new friends, gushing when she says Beardo. She hopes to be remembered for her cheerfulness & love of animals.
Jasmine says that while she's glad to be here, it certainly hasn't been easy. She says that while most of everyone was good, some people were annoying, some weird, & some just plain vile. But she says that she's happy to have made the friends that she has & wants to be known for her kind but competitive nature.
Chris welcomes back the campers who were voted off and tells them to sit in marked bleachers to show support towards the camper they want to win the competition. Scott, Scarlett, Zoey, Brick, Anne Maria, Harold, & Owen all sit in support of Jasmine. Meanwhile, Staci, Sierra, Cameron, Sadie, Beardo, Dawn, Katie, Trent, Izzy, Geoff, Sky, Max, & Alejandro sit in support of Ella. Alejandro is pissed, as he has a black eye, a shaved head, & a drawn-on face. When Jasmine sees this, she snickers, which turns into full blown laughter which everyone participates in besides Alejandro, who looks as if he is about to explode. In the confessional, Alejandro says "Mocked! Ridiculed! For the crime of having a strategy!
Harold asks how he feels about his girlfriend making the finale, & Beardo says that he's happy for her. Chris then asks the finalists to tell the other campers what they would do with the money if they won the competition and why they think they deserve it. Jasmine says that she will spend the money on college & investing in her cage fighting school/flower shop. Ella says that if she wins, she will donate C$ 25,000 of her winnings to charity, then share the winnings with everyone. Owen & Scott move to her bench for completely different reasons. Scott asks if Beardo is just there because he wants the money, which makes Beardo angry. He says that while Ella is his girlfriend, he loves her charity plan & the fact that she has a heart of gold. Besides Scott, everyone "awws" at this, & Harold gives Beardo a high five.
Chris then announces the final challenge: the Rejected Olympic relay. First, Ella must wear a chicken hat while Jasmine must wear a cow hat. They must climb a flagpole and grab a flag from the top, which makes Jasmine confident. Next, they must cross a three-hundred meter balance beam over a gorge carrying an eagle's egg. Ella remarks that it doesn't seem too bad, but Chris reveals that man-eating sharks are waiting for them in the lake below if they fall off. The last part of the race is a long-distance run to the finish line, where the first person to cross wins. The race begins as Beardo accompanies Ella, while Zoey & Harold accompany Jasmine.
Jasmine tries to climb her flagpole but is slipping due to Alejandro greasing it. Zoey rips a piece of her shirt off to clear it away, which Jasmine thanks Zoey for. She tells her to keep going, as Ella has just grabbed her flag. Both girls hit the ground, & start running.
In a brief flashback, Chris is attempting to test the balance beam stunt with a new intern because all of the other interns had died already. He starts to cross the beam, but Chris distracts him, and he falls to the man-eating sharks that promptly devour him. Despite that, Chris believes the stunt is safe enough.
Jasmine reaches the gorge, with Zoey & Harold heading to the other side. Harold asks Chris why they need to carry an eagle's egg, getting no response. Ella reaches the gorge, & Beardo enacts a whole crowd of cheering which makes Ella blush. As the two cross the gorge, they are suddenly attacked by incensed eagle parents, who attempt to get their eggs back. Everyone is petrified, until Beardo makes a sound effect of fish jumping in the river way below. The eagles swoop down, eager for a meal. When everyone gets past the gorge, they cheer on Beardo before running again.
At the finish line, Scott worries that Ella will lose, which means he won't get any money. Alejandro says that he put laxative laced cupcakes marked for her from "Zoey" which should be kicking in any minute if she ate any. Sierra hears this, & throws him into the confessional, locking him shut with a tree branch on the outside. As Alejandro is yelling to be let free, Staci gives Sierra a fist bump. Max has an idea, but he needs Chris's megaphone. Izzy says she'll go ahead & grab it.
The finalists near the finish, tired out. Beardo & Harold are crawling, with Zoey still running, but tired. Izzy comes back with the megaphone, along with Chris's giant fan that he uses for his hair. Izzy uses the fan which causes her hair to fly back. Izzy asks how she looks, & Owen says that she looks great. As they share a kiss, Ella & Jasmine near the finish, & one of the girls wins Total Drama Island.
Vote for Jasmine or Ella to win, & feel free to come up with any plot points!

So I know the length of a 4.99cm/5cm
P.S. If you anyone says you can’t don’t comment that just say what I got to do to get towards the answer.