4 How to build a Hive (1/4)

Jakob was very happy, seeing his son again. He already knew that his wife was dead, but at least his son was safe and sound.

"Moon! I am so glad to see you alive. What took you guys so long?" Jakob looked at the Bee behind Moon, clearly exhausted. She must be a young Bee, not really able to gauge her strength and stamina yet.

When Jakob was that Moon didn´t have any wounds on his body he was relieved. Only the Hive knew what happened after they flew away. After Tzkrrt had filled him in everything could have happened after they had flown away.

"Dad, I am fine. Bea helped us survive, but Mom..." Moon stopped mid-sentence, unable to speak anymore. Seeing his father again the grief that he kept at bay finally erupted and he started sobbing.

Jakob rushed forward and embraced his son. With a tight hug he caressed his head and consoled him.

And with that dawn started to settle in. As Jakob had predicted, they didn´t manage to get any decent structure together. Actually, no structure at all. But the Dung-beetles and some other Insects managed to gather quite a few materials. Tomorrow they could start putting together an emergency shelter.

All the Insects started looking for a place to settle down for the night. The Bees and others managed to gather enough honey, animals, and plant matter for everyone to eat so no one had to starve tonight.

Most of the Insects were omnivores, with some exceptions like bees that were on a flower-based diet. There was no dispute between anyone.

Every Insect here has lost someone that they cared for, and some even more than one. Hives, colonies, groups, families. After a long day of not just losing beloved ones, but also basically everything they had no one had the energy left to start some quarrel about food, or a better sleeping spot.

Everyone was equal. Which was good for now, but eventually if they wanted to survive as a species they needed a leader.

Jakob knew that. And while Moon was resting in his arms he formulated a plan.

"I was never good enough at politics to even help my wife. I always kept outside of that part of the Hive. All I know is how to build stuff and make friends. But there is one person that will know how to handle all of this. Luckily, this has time for now. For now, all he has to do is rest and focus on growing up. Once he is an adult I am sure he can carry this burden. After all, he is the son of Jakob the builder and Milena the princess."

After carefully placing his son in some bushes Jakob was grabbing something to eat. He placed a few fruits next to Moon in case he woke up and got hungry and ate some for himself.

"We need to make this place livable long term as soon as possible. I don´t want to get attacked out of the blue again, so I´ll have to make sure something like that won´t happen again."

Jakob pondered over these structures of the Hive and started walking towards an elevated position.

"We could build into the Mountains, although if we get attacked there they could collapse the Mountain, or just block off the entrance. That doesn't seem like a feasible idea. Instead, we should build the Hive rather close to the mountain range and possibly even bordering it. So if we get attacked from either side of the mountain we can retreat to the other side.

Either splitting up the attackers or, if they attack from both sides with a too-small force we could engage early. Seems like a perfectly valid strategy to future proof. The ground is also not quite as damp as in the middle of the swamp, but still softer than rock, so we will have an easier time to tunnel through and into the ground."

Jakob was standing on a small hill between the central swamp and the beginning of the mountain range.

"We got complacent as a species. After not having to wage war for so long we didn´t protect our Hive well enough. We didn´t even train our soldiers properly. Sure, we had the militia, but they were just forces meant to protect our own from our own, not from stronger evolved animals. We also need something like weapons, to make up the difference in Evolution. We need to learn how to produce and how to wield them."

Jakob was in such deep thought that he didn´t even hear the buzzing sound coming closer to him so he got quite startled when someone tapped on his shoulder.

"I wouldn´t have taken you for the jumpy type, Antoid." Bea was smiling at Jakob. It was dark now but Bees usually are quite loud while flying somewhere. So it surprised her that Jakob didn´t even hear him.

"Sorry, I was deep in thought. With the threat still looming over our heads and without a leader I am afraid of what the following months or even weeks will hold in store for us. We have no protection here, no stable food source, no warriors, no nothing.

We could get attacked at any moment now and all our efforts would have been for nothing."

Jakob sat down, hands in his arms, and sighed. Even though Insects never gave up that didn´t mean that they didn´t feel pain, or lost their minds or hope sometimes."

Bea also didn´t have an answer for that, but she could feel that this Antoid in front of her was someone special even though she couldn´t put it into words. She rested her hand on his broad shoulder and didn´t say anything.

---

Bea and Jakob didn´t say a single word, and both of them left after a while. It was already dark and quite late in the night, so they had to get some rest to prepare for the work tomorrow.

Jakob lay down next to Moon closed his eyes and went on to have a deep but disturbing sleep. In his dreams, he kept seeing the last moments of Milena, of the war that happened, the friends he lost, and the sharp claws that kept chasing him.

---

Jakob woke up the next morning before the sun was even up. He went back to the small hill he was on yesterday to get a clear head and make a count of everyone that was here.

"I have most likely the most experience here with building a Hive out of any of the survivors, so it is my job to make a good home for everyone."

In the last settlement every race had their own little area where they could nest and feel at ease. Antoids for example preferred the underground, while Bees were mostly above ground, Spiders had a mix between both and sometimes made their own houses out of silk on trees, while mantis liked to build cubic housings.

This is going to be a tough job, but if anyone can do it, he is the one.

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