Tomorrow Will Come- A Hatchetfield Story

Chapter Nine: Monsters and Men

"Now, when we go in... do not make a big deal out of what happened to Ethan." Henry warned, parking his car. "Harriet will make a big enough deal out of it. Ethan, you will not have space to breathe for about five minutes if I am right."

"The chicks dig me." Ethan smirked, hopping out of the car.

"Harriet doesn't 'dig' anyone." Henry rolled his eyes, chuckling. "She's aro ace. I probably should have left that for her to tell you... but she gets very uncomfortable with romance as it relates to her, so... if I see any of you flirting with her, I will kick your ass. Understood?"

"Shit, Hen, why didn't you just tell me that when I was hot for her before?" Ted started to laugh.

"Once again... it really was her news to tell." Henry bit his lip. "She's going to kick my ass for telling you, but... I think it's something you should keep in mind."

"Damn." Ethan cursed.

"Uh... Ethan, you have a girlfriend." Deb reminded him.

"Nah, I know, but I wanted to set her up with Toby." Ethan told her.

"Ooooh, fair point. They'd work well together." Deb smirked. "It kinda makes sense she's ace."

"Yeah... yeah it does." Ethan chuckled. They walked into the house. Henry took the duffel from Peter, and they all walked down to the lab. On their way, they passed Alice and Paul working in an office-like room.

"We're idiots." Paul sighed, head in his hands.

"Yeah..." Alice bit her lip. "I mean we might as well show them to her though."

"Show her what?" Ethan asked, sauntering in, distracted.

"Our crappy idea for a weapon." Alice blushed.

"Whatever it is, it's likely workable. Especially by Harriet." Henry ducked in. intrigued. "What have you got?"

"Those are actually really smart." Holloway whistled, already knowing.

Alice showed them a sketchbook. Drawn on it was a crossbow with arrows with wooden tips, and a set of daggers with wooden blades alongside a few stakes. The daggers... may not be the most functional. But the stakes and crossbow had merit. They could do some genuine damage.

"I love the crossbow." Peter hummed, having snuck in there somehow. "Genius."

"Really?" Paul smirked.

"It's probably your best bet for precision and impact." Peter nodded.

"Have you considered making the stakes into spears?" Ted asked. "I mean, drawing off of the arrowhead concept."

"That's an excellent idea." Henry blinked, a bit shocked.

"I'm a sci-fi action buff." Ted reminded him.

"Fair." Henry considered.

"So like... this?" Alice hummed, sketching one out.

"That's workable." Ethan nodded. "That can be carved pretty easily."

"Okay." Hannah sighed. "Should we go in and show Harriet?"

"Absolutely." Henry nodded. "Then... she can tell us how much wood she needs, and we can get started on that.

"Peter, maybe you could come with me and we could get some wood. I pretty much know what we're going to need." Ethan offered.

"Nah, let Harriet tell us first. She'll have her own vision." Peter told him.