November part three

Time flew by.

My nephews finally got the rest they deserved, far from the chaos. It took us a while to get used to living with ultramutants. But when they saw how their mother treated them like normal humans with a smile, they followed her lead. I tried to keep my distance, but they wouldn’t stop dragging me into meetings and drinking nights. I couldn’t help but make some friends and actually enjoy my time with them.

As for my day-to-day, I couldn’t just sit around. I went on reconnaissance missions with Melanie and Peter, infiltrating PowerMax labs to find out what they were up to.

Melanie and I treated each other with mutual respect and friendship, as if we’d never had a relationship in the past. Even so, something inside me burned every time Peter tried to get close to her.

Seriously, who would’ve thought?

Me, getting along with ultras. My nephews playing happily with them. And my sister-in-law, not so annoyed to have me around.

But of course, this peace wouldn’t last long with the chaos outside.

November 31st.

I woke up early and went out to watch the sunrise while smoking a cigarette.

Melanie came running toward me, stopping breathless.

“What happened? Couldn't wait to see me first thing in the morning?” I said smugly.

“It’s not that, idiot. We did it. We finally managed to narrow down the list.”

The list.

The project we’d been working on the past month at HealingCamp.

“Where is it?”

“Clara’s handing it out in the center.”

Without saying a word, I followed Melanie to the center of the camp. Clara stood on top of a box in front of everyone, holding some papers. At the same time, Peter was handing out copies. He reached us and gave each of us one, then stayed with us.

“What you’re holding is the list we worked so hard to complete,” Clara began, addressing the whole camp. “A list of all the possible mutants who want to wipe out humanity—and are capable of doing it. We’ve narrowed it down to ten suspects.”

Everyone in the camp was shocked and began discussing it, creating a wave of murmurs.

I started flipping through it. A man with electricity powers capable of electrocuting every human on Earth, another with sand powers who could bury the world in it, an ultra who could open black holes, one capable of spreading a deadly virus, and several others. I tried to kept reading, but they all started to be more or less the same, so i stopped. 

“We’ll divide into teams and each one will approach a suspect peacefully. We’ll figure out who the real threat is—and we’ll show them HealingCamp, so they can see how humanity can heal!” Clara said confidently, and the crowd cheered.

“I don’t think it’ll be that easy, leader!” I shouted, raising my hand to get everyone’s attention. “We’re talking about the ultimate ultramutant—the one who could end it all. If he wants to destroy us, he is probably completely insane, and nothing’s going to change their mind. There’s only one way to stop them.”

I shaped my hand into a gun.

“HealingCamp isn’t that kind of place,” Clara said firmly. “We are not savages. We help others.”

I kept quiet. I didn’t want to get kicked out into the freezing woods.

Once the meeting was over, I returned to my tent and finished reading through the profiles.

Now I see. It all makes sense. How didn’t I realize it sooner?

I marked what stood out with a highlighter.

Just as I was about to leave to confirm my suspicions, a bell rang through the camp—the alarm for an attack. I shoved the list under my bed and rushed back to the center to see who was responsible.

Everyone was gathered around Clara, who was trembling.

“It’s PowerMax...” she said shakily. “And they’re coming with a dozen Reapers. They found us. They’ll arrive by midnight.”

Reapers. The special PowerMax armor suits built to fight and easily defeat ultras. It’s said one Reaper has the strength of 20 ultras. The image of one shooting Johan flashed in my mind.

Panic spread through the camp. Some talked about running, others about accepting their fate. A few wanted to fight back like when they were monsters—saying it was the only way to survive—but Clara wouldn’t allow it, not even against PowerMax’s cruel soldiers.

“They’re led by an unknown figure,” Clara continued. “He wears a cowboy hat, a dark suit, and has a large mustache. He’s also leading a group of ultras bigger than ours.”

“Santos...” I muttered.

Paradise Castle and PowerMax working together. I looked over at Peter, the prime suspect for revealing our location.

Feeling my glare, he looked at me and started to tremble.

“No, no, Jason, you know it wasn’t me!!!”

“He’s right, and you know it,” Melanie said, stepping in to defend him.

She was right. I’d been watching him every day—he was always the same arrogant idiot. So then... how?

The panic continued. The hidden sides of the HealingCamp ultras began to resurface. Clara couldn’t stop it.

But then...

BANG

I fired a shot into the sky, silencing everyone.

I stepped up beside Clara, and now all eyes were on me.

“What’s going on? You’re seriously going to abandon your home because of a few tin cans?”

“You have no idea what you're talking about!!!” someone shouted angrily from the crowd.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said. “But there’s one thing I know very well—your mental strength.” I spoke with conviction, and everyone stared like I’d lost my mind. “Out there, it’s full of ultramutants who gave in to their monstrous urges. On my way here, I’ve seen degenerates, sadists, thieves, cannibals, manipulators, torturers, murderers, rapists—you name it. I always thought surviving meant just staying alive. But no. I let myself become one of them. I’ve done horrible things just to live another day. So have my nephews—because of me. But you... you’re different. Sure, maybe you’ve done bad things too. But you didn’t let them define you. You came here. You healed. You helped others. The need to survive isn’t just about staying alive—it’s about staying true to who you are. That’s why I’m asking you to protect this place. I’m not asking you to go back to who you were. Just do what you’ve been doing: use your powers carefully, don’t hurt them more than necessary. I’ll take care of their leader.”

“What about the Reapers?!” Peter asked, terrified.

“Relax, we’ve got a plan. Over the past few weeks, Melanie and I managed to steal Reaper data during our infiltrations. With that, we created a virus. Melanie has it on a flash drive. With it, we can disable each Reaper for up to one minute. She’ll teleport behind them one by one and plug it into their suits. At the same time, we need someone fast and strong enough to take them down within that minute. I think Peter’s the right man for the job.”

“Me?? No way, impossible!” he said, trying to back out like a coward.

But then Melanie put a hand on his shoulder and said:

“If you do it... and we make it through this... I might consider going out with you.”

Peter’s heart nearly exploded in his chest, and he blushed bright red.

“Well, if you put it like that... I guess I might be willing to help.”

Peter quickly agreed upon hearing the request and everyone laughed, lightening the atmosphere of the place.

"With that settled, the others would handle the ultramutants and cover me so I could reach Santos. I’m counting on all of you. Let this be the beginning of a new world!!!"

“OHHHHH!!!”

I screamed louder than ever before, and everyone followed my lead, fired up with excitement.

“Hope you didn’t mind me stealing your spotlight,” I said to Clara.

“No, you did well. Just… don’t do anything crazy.”

With that, she walked off, and the preparations began.

I went to Melanie and asked her to get me something.

After that, time passed until nightfall.

As our enemies' arrival drew near, I changed in my tent. That’s when my nephews came in.

“Uncle, we heard everything. Let us come with you!!” said Rick eagerly.

“Sorry, guys, but those days are over for you—and your mom would kill me,” I said, trying to calm them down.

“So... does that mean we’ll never kill ultramutants again?” Andrew asked, curious.

“Yeah. You still have time to go back to a normal life. I don’t. I’ve always been like this. But promise me something. If there ever is another ultramutant threatening your new home, use these. Only if absolutely necessary.”

I handed them my two revolvers—one each. Each loaded with a single bullet.

“One last bullet for each of you. Just don’t tell your mom.”

“We promise, Uncle!!”

“Yeah! I won’t let anyone hurt Mom. But how will you protect yourself out there without your guns?”

“I’ve got a few tricks,” I said with a confident smile. “How about a good luck hug?”

They ran up and hugged me tight.

“Please come back,” they both said, their voices heavy with emotion.

I broke the hug and just smiled, nodding.

I headed out to the camp entrance, ready, with everyone nervous behind me.

Melanie stood next to me and handed me what I’d asked her for earlier, wrapped in a small bag.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked, worried.

“It’s the only way. Before we begin, here—” I pulled a note from my pocket and gave it to her. “It’s a list of locations. There are people I’d like to bring here. People who really need this place. I meant to give it to you earlier, but... I didn’t trust the camp just yet.”

“Who’s on here?”

“Some ultras I met during my journey. If I were you, I’d make room for a bunch of kids… and for a pretty girl and her boyfriend. When you see her, tell her I forgive her.”

“I see. I promise they’ll be safe,” she said, tucking the note into her pocket.

In the distance, we saw a large group of ultramutants approaching, guarded by Reapers.

“Hey, do I get a reward like Peter will?” I joked.

I turned to catch her reaction, expecting annoyance—but instead, she grabbed my coat and pulled me into a kiss.

“Just kill that son of a bitch,” she said, breaking it.

“Count on it.”

With that, I looked ahead and pulled out the cigarette Johan gave me—the one that used to belong to Plumberg. I lit it and spotted Santos in the distance, signaling that he was going to cut off my head.

I just stuck my tongue out at him.

“Alright, folks!!! It’s time!!! For HealingCamp!!!”

“OHHHH!!!”

Everyone charged toward our enemies, who answered with a counterattack.

It’s midnight.

December 1st.

Officially, there’s one month left until the end of the world.

And the war for HealingCamp begins.