Everyone was waiting with Trinity by her nest, taking a look around at the environment and seeing what they'd be dealing with that they could use against the hunter. Everyone except for Grayson who was taking a dirt bath while his son watched

"Gray, can you come over here?" Odessa asked

"I'm busy right now." Grayson rolls over numerously and rubs his head against the ground, continuing with his work for a little while longer before standing and shaking out his feathers

Jack copied his father and laid down, rolling around like crazy in the dirt

"Good boy. Way to make papa proud." Grayson praises his son

Rosemary showed up shortly after which confused everyone since she was by herself

"Where's Ricky?" Lillian asked

"He said that he would catch up. Mickey wasn't feeling very well today and we were having trouble finding someone who could watch the chicks for us." Rosemary explains to them

"Sorry to hear that. Do you mind helping us move this log over by that boulder?" Ginger asks her daughter in law

"I'd be glad to help." Rosemary follows Ginger over to the others

Lillian drew a plan in the dirt with the stick and went over who would be doing what and how it needed to be executed in the end. However...

"I think the wasp nest should be a few feet from the foot hole." Isabella speaks up

"Yeah. And how do you know the honey will keep him occupied for a bit?" Amelia adds

"From experience." The tan hen simply tells them

"Don't remind me." Ava mutters

Masumi and Aria look at each other, shrugging their shoulders. They themselves didn't see any flaws with the plan and that it should do the trick with scaring off the pesky human. Jessica walked over to a fresh patch of dirt and started drawing out her own plan and went over it with her squad in which they all agreed to it, Ginger and Rocky not liking how divided everyone was and having disagreements

"Guys, we should be working together." Chelsea said

"Nobody asked you, Ms. Murderer." Aria glared harshly at the blue eyed hen

"Ladies, cool it. Let's just get to work and help Trinity get rid of this guy. The sooner the better." Rocky intervenes, standing in front of Chelsea

Jessica motions for her group to part ways so they could get the supplies they needed. Chelsea hoped that the poultry squad would be accepting of her but knew it wouldn't be anytime soon. The chickens worked well into the night though didn't get very far due to more disagreements and some hostility

Rosemary hums softly and began to slowly wake up at the crack of dawn, something familiar wafting over her nostrils. Ricky's scent. It was easy to recognize after being with him for so long and it was a smell she never got tired of. A light yet pleasant aroma of grass mixed with hay which was quite a heavenly scent for a chicken

"Ricky?" The short British hen glances over her shoulder

Ricky hums in response, opening one eye and looking at his mate

"When did you get here?" Rosemary turns over

"A few hours ago." Ricky yawns, starting to wake up. He had traveled through the last few hours of dusk which wasn't easy since he had to be vigilant as well as keep an eye out for signs of his family passing through

"Did you finally find someone who could watch the kids?" Rosemary moves a little closer to her husband

"Well..." Ricky trails off

Angel and Rose jumped onto their unsuspecting mother, Rosemary quickly sitting up and sending her daughters onto the ground beside her. She narrowed her eyes at the partial American rooster. "I can't believe you brought them along after we agreed they would be staying at home! Where's Mickey?"

Just then, she heard someone losing their breakfast

"Never mind." She sighs

"Are we in trouble?" Angel asked

"No but your father is." Rosemary pulled her two daughters in for a hug

"Hey, I couldn't find anyone to watch them for us so I had no choice." Ricky was now sitting up and fully awake

Rosemary lets out a broody growl at her mate, not in the mood to argue with him. She was getting beyond frustrated that her husband never listened to her in situations that they've agreed upon only for the rooster to do the exact opposite. It was getting to the breaking point

Jessica and several others woke up to the sound of distressed and aggressive clucking mixed with squawking and feathers flying, Ricky hurrying away from his wife, stopping to look back. Rosemary hissed at him while the rooster lowers his head and clucks softly into submission but she wasn't having it. Luckily Ginger got in between the fighting chickens before things got worse with the help of Aria

The feisty hen escorted her son over to his siblings who were sitting under a decent sized shaded tree, leaving the four be

"You look awful." Ava said

"I feel awful. She packs a wallop." Ricky ever so gently sits down

Grayson handed over Mickey who he had been holding for a short while, Ricky draping his son over his shoulder and patting him on the back, ceasing when he heard the chick vomit

"That's my boy." He sighs softly

Lillian, Ava and Grayson couldn't help but laugh at their brother and were mentally praising their nephew for doing what he did

"I'm not ready for today. I mean, those hens are just as stubborn as mom when it comes to trying to work together with them." Ava plucks a blade of grass and examined it

"Maybe they won't be as bad today." Lillian shrugs

"Wait, we're not working together at all?" Ricky asked

"Nope. They thought our plan was rubbish so they came up with a plan of their own. I've never met such a group of fruit loops." Grayson chuckled and shook his head

"That's not good. Did ma try talking to them about it?" Ricky shifted his son and glances back at him

"Yep. Her words went over their heads." Lillian sighs, leaning back against the trunk of the tree

"How about I try talking to Jessica about it?" Ricky suggested, his siblings giving him curious looks

"I mean, she is your girlfriend. Have at it." Ava said

"And don't be a wanker about it." Grayson adds

"How come no one ever trusts me? At least have a little faith." Ricky rolls his eyes. "Though...it does seem like everything is going against me lately...I'm going to wash off. If you need me, don't." He handed Mickey over to Ava and got to his feet, heading off to the lake to clean off his feathers and his bandanna

"He's not wrong." Lillian let's out a yawn

"To be fair he brought it upon himself." Grayson said before standing up to stretch

"That doesn't change the fact that he's our brother." Ava raises her voice, surprising Lillian and Grayson at the tone in her voice

Mickey woke up from dozing off and looked around in confusion. Ava glances at her nephew and carefully rubs him on the back after realizing he was awake. "You know I worry about him more than I should. He's been sleeping less and less, he's distancing himself from us again and he has a bad heart in which he could drop dead if he becomes too stressed out!"

Lillian and Grayson were silent since they didn't know how to answer their little sister

"Daddy?" Mickey slowly looked around

"He's busy. Let's go find your mom, ok?" Ava gets up and walked away

The ginger hens words lingered between the two chickens as they sat there in silence and tried to understand what their little brother was going through and the burden he had on his shoulders. Perhaps Ava had made a valid point

"You guys can finish up. I have to do something." Jessica dismisses herself from her friends as they tied together a bunch of twigs with some weeds

"We've become second priority ever since she first laid eyes on that boyfriend of hers." Aria huffs

"You have to remember that this is the first relationship she's been in." Masumi smiles over at the black hen

"Can we just finish this and worry about those love birds later?" Isabella asks impatiently

Until the next chapter