Chapter 12

Carl and his party arrive at a looted bugbear settlement after their explosion in Zockau. They regroup with Katia, Louis, Firas, Britney, and others at a saferoom styled like a Whataburger, while Mordecai confronts Carl about his reckless actions. Donut preemptively defuses the conversation, and Mordecai urges them to move on quickly as hunters will soon be released in pursuit.

Carl, Donut, Miriam, and Prepotente arrive at a small bugbear settlement that has already been thoroughly looted by the aliens. The town's funeral bell mushroom guards patrol at night. Miriam confirms they passed through earlier and that there are no traps within town proper. The party exchanges goodbyes with Miriam and Prepotente, with Carl noting he still wants information about Club Vanquisher but finds Prepotente too unstable for regular conversation. They enter a saferoom styled as a Whataburger where they find Katia, Very Sullen, Louis, Firas, and Britney waiting. Chris and Clay-ton are outside with team Meadow Lark. Mordecai confronts them about Carl's reckless actions, but Donut preemptively shuts down the conflict, refusing to have a drawn-out breakup storyline and insisting Carl will inform her of plans ahead of time. Mordecai accepts this and instructs them to reset their buffs, watch the recap, and create distance from the town. Carl reveals he only destroyed one or two blocks with intentionally weakened barrel bombs and hints at plans for a much larger explosion. Mordecai warns that hunters will be released in just over 13 hours.