(Sweet Tooth #20-22) - Walter cut them down, saying the snare trap was probably laid by Haggarty, the ruler of a group of scavengers that plagued the woods. Lucy drew her gun on him, and he protested that she could she he was crippled and no threat to them. He offered to let them stay in his camp overnight so they could find their way back to their friends in the morning. The women cautiously agreed, and he led them to Project Evergreen, a self-sustaining community build within a dam. Evergreen ran on electricity generated by the dam, had a number of greenhouses, large stocks of canned food, and numerous lodgings. Fish said Evergreen was created by a group of environmentalists before the sickness, and when he and his family were starving and on the run, they miraculously found it. He said the environmentalists were long gone by then, and his family were safe for a time before they passed away from the sickness. Fish said he was thrilled to have company after such a long time alone, and offered them tea. Walter Fish told the women more about his family over tea, and said he sensed they didn’t believe his story. They assured him they did, and they knew he’d taken a huge risk in bringing them in if violent raiders, which Fish suspected may have been behind the disappearance of the Evergreen staff, were on the loose. Fish suggested they talk more in the morning, and when Lucy asked to freshen up he directed her to a bathroom. Lucy washed her face and stared in the mirror in horror, seeing blood begin to pour out her nose, a sign of the sickness. Jepperd and Sweet Tooth found Project Evergreen and barged their way in. Lucy and the others filled Jepperd in, and he said there was no way they could trust Fish, and that Evergreen looked far too good to be true. Fish acted insulted, but said it was imperative they return to their camp and save the others before Haggarty’s raiders got to them. Back at camp a group of men from Project Evergreen pulled up on snowmobiles, warning Johnny, Bobby and Singh that they weren’t safe. Fish, Sweet Tooth and the others arrived at the same time and Fish accused the men of being raiders about to execute their friends, begging Jepperd and Lucy to save them. Jepperd and Lucy shot the men down, even though Singh and Johnny objected that they were having a civil conversation. Fish offered them all places to stay at Evergreen, but Jepperd, Singh and Sweet Tooth were resistant and wanted to keep heading north. After a vote they agreed to return to Evergreen to rest and heal up for a few days.

(Sweet Tooth #23-25) - Everyone started settling in for the night at Evergreen, and Fish showed Becky and Johnny around the library, where Lucy found a book her mother read to her as a child. Johnny went to the bathroom, and Fish started creeping Becky out by comparing her to his daughter who he said died of the sickness, and pressing her on what her age was. When Johnny finished his business and said he was going to check on the kids Becky insisted on going with him. Jepperd and Sweet Tooth, too troubled to sleep, went outside to cut firewood when a shot rang out. Sweet Tooth was shot through the stomach and crumpled to the ground.  The shooter kept firing, and Jepperd scooped Sweet Tooth up in his arms and ran to Evergreen. He saw Fish at the entrance, and accused him of being the shooter. Fish said he’d been watching his monitors and claimed it was Haggarty’s men that shot Sweet Tooth and he was just coming to help. Singh ran outside, and Jepperd begged him to save Sweet Tooth’s life, but Singh said he’d already lost a lot of blood. Sweet Tooth had a vision of sailing a raft into the jaws of death, which appeared to him as a gigantic deer skull. Singh, with the assistance of Lucy, performed emergency surgery on Sweet Tooth, removing the bullet lodged in his gut, but they ran out of plasma from Evergreen’s infirmary. They needed a universal donor since they didn’t know Sweet Tooth’s blood type, and Walter, who said he was O Negative, volunteered. Sweet Tooth’s hybrid body rejected Fish’s blood, and he started convulsing. Wendy volunteered to give him her blood, and another transfusion began. Wendy’s transfusion did the trick, and Sweet Tooth stabilized. As Sweet Tooth was in recovery Lucy told Jepperd and Singh they’d all talked, and come to the conclusion that they’d all stay at Evergreen. Jepperd accused Fish of manipulating them all to get rid of him, and promising them there was something wrong with Fish. Lucy said he was mad, and his quest for Alaska was mad. Lucy said they were all living on borrowed time, and they had a responsibility to keep the hybrid children safe, so they were staying. Jepperd wrapped his hand’s around Fish’s throat, demanding he confess to shooting Sweet Tooth. Lucy pointed a gun at Jepperd, forcing him to back down and leave. Lucy said he was a violent man who corrupted everything around him. Singh met Jepperd outside, telling him to stay at their old camp, and when Sweet Tooth was well enough he’d sneak him out and they could resume their journey north.

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