Before leaving the nest, I took one last look back.
The old queen ant and the young warriors all stood at the entrance of the nest, silently watching us leave, as if they saw hope.
There was also a broken leg, and her expression was softer than ever before.
This warrior was born around the same time as me. She is astute and intelligent. We have always regarded each other as our biggest competitor. I even thought that if she had not been injured, maybe she would be the "chief warrior" of the tribe instead of me.
Although she has never been a "chief warrior", now, she can act like a true "chief warrior" and die bravely to protect the tribe, but I have to run away.
A sense of humiliation enveloped me, but I still followed the old male ant firmly. There is no way. The honor of the warrior is important, but the continuation of the tribe is always the first priority. I deeply understand this truth.
The old male ant took me, the young queen and two soldiers to climb high along the thick trunk of the jujube tree.
This makes me very confused. If I want to escape, shouldn't I go down below.
Although there is a blockade formed by enemy troops under the tree trunk, before the main force of outsiders arrives from the giant tribe, there may still be a glimmer of hope for a breakout, a glimmer of hope.
However, the old male ant vowed that he had a way, and no matter how doubtful I was, I could only follow him, because I had no other ideas but to believe in him.
I suddenly discovered that after encountering successive failures, I seemed to have lost the wisdom that a "chief warrior" should have. I could not think of any solution and could only watch my fellow tribe members die.
Could it be that I and our tribe have been abandoned by God! ?
I quickly gave up this shuddering thought and looked back at the young queen - as long as she is still here, our tribe will be here.
The young queen ant felt my gaze and looked at me. Her antennae twitched in response to me. Seeing her look like this made me full of fighting spirit again.
We climbed over the thick trunks, then climbed up the twisting branches of the jujube trees, and climbed over the long and round blue-red jujubes.
These dates taste a little sweet, but not the sweetness of aphid honeydew that our tribe likes, so they are not likely to whet our appetite.
But this kind of jujube attracts all kinds of sweet-loving bugs. Sometimes some big ones will lay eggs inside. We often catch some maggots that dig holes in the jujube and eat them.
Why come here? Now is the time to escape, not to hunt. The enemy is under the tree, and their army will soon be assembled to attack. We can't waste any more time.
Not only me, other ants also started to get a little anxious. Two young warriors came to me and asked me questions, but I couldn't answer them.
At this time, the old male ant stopped, waving his tentacles and pointing to the opposite side.
I took a closer look and saw that opposite the heavy falling branch where the date we climbed was, there was a very thin branch extending over.
This branch is from the mulberry tree next to it. It seems to have only grown this year. The bark is still very green and tender, which is completely different from the old gray color of the main trunk. It is also covered with fine hairs.
This mulberry tree branch is diagonally below us, a little far away in a straight line.
In an instant, I understood the old male ant's intention.
This straight-line distance is theoretically incapable of being jumped by the warriors of our clan, but the wonderful thing now is that this mulberry tree branch is a little bit diagonally below, and you can always jump farther by jumping from top to bottom.
I made a rough estimate, and if I jump with all my strength, ordinary warriors should be able to cross this distance.
When I communicated with the old male ant, he really meant this. He told us that he discovered this place while hunting in the trees. When he was young, he had this kind of jumping experience. He knew that it was easy to jump to other trees, so he made a note of it. Unexpectedly, it came into play today.
I was a little embarrassed at this time. I knew why the old male ant came here.
The old male ant was not welcomed in the tribe before, and the soldiers were unwilling to provide him with food. Apart from finding some leftovers in the tribe's granary, he had to eat fresh food by himself. Go out and search.
There are many sweet-loving bugs on the jujube trees, and tribe members like the old male ants who are not good at hunting can easily pick them up and eat them. No wonder he often hangs around the jujube trees.
Because of this, he found this "secret escape" that none of our other tribe members had discovered.
So, we started preparing to jump to the other side.
As warriors, the two young warriors and I are very confident, but the young queen ant is a little timid. She rarely jumps at full strength like this, and her belly is now relatively large, which will affect her movement.
I comforted her, and soon she realized the urgency of the situation.
So, I was in front, the young ant queen was in second, and then the two young warriors jumped to the opposite side one after another.
It was a success. Everyone successfully jumped this distance. Although the young queen ant's take-off speed was a little slow, she managed to grab the leaves of the mulberry tree without any risk, and then joined us.
Finally, the old male ant was left. We were waiting for him. He also lowered his body, began to accumulate strength in his four middle limbs and hind limbs, and then jumped suddenly.
"Oops!"
The moment he took off, I realized something was wrong. He was jumping too slowly and too weakly.
The old male ant's physical strength was not as good as that of the most ordinary warriors. Even though he pushed hard, he was still limp.
I saw his body drawing a weak curve in the air, still a short distance away from the nearest mulberry leaf... He danced and tried to catch something, but couldn't catch anything. His body rotated at an angle in the air, and then he carried it on his back. The downward one fell straight down.
The old male ant fell down and quickly disappeared from my sight. Our position was too high, and I could not clearly see the scene on the ground, nor could I clearly see what would happen to the old male ants after they fell.
I wish him good luck. If he falls in this position, he may not be discovered by outsiders.
But I also know that it is difficult to see the old male ant again. Even if he can survive temporarily, he will not be able to hunt prey after losing the protection of the tribe. Even if he was lucky enough to find a new tribe, no tribe would be willing to take in such an old male ant.
But even if my impression of him has changed, he did help us. But now, I have to protect the young queen, not save him.
So, we ignored the fallen old male ants, climbed down the mulberry tree, and began our escape.
