Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again. - Chapter 322

Chapter 322: You relax, you die.
She noticed the questions in his eyes. They were louder than his silence, and that of his companions. So, she decided to put his mind at ease. “Staying here does not mean the end of your quest for vengeance. In fact, it gives you an advantage. Moon could be anywhere in the country. Are you just going to stumble around blindly with zero leads?”

“We are superhuman, we will do fine.” Festus chipped in.

Sunshine looked at him once and turned her eyes back to Dominic. “Being superhuman does not make you invincible. Leah is not in a good place emotionally or physically. The wise thing to do is stop and rest.

Moon has knowledge on the apocalypse; she knows where to hide and never be found. She knows which superhumans to find and trade her knowledge for safety. She knows what poisons to kill you with or maybe even your weaknesses. Stop and plan again, delaying your revenge does not mean forgetting it.”

Dominic cracked the knuckles of his right hand, clenching his jaw. He filtered through all that she had said. The physical and mental health of his wife mattered. Now that she was finally starting to grieve, he could not rip her away from here and put her back on the road.

Besides, Sunshine was also right about them hunting for Moon blindly. They did not have a single lead to follow. A wise man knew when to pause and reset the board.

“You should see the counselor too.” She advised Dominic. “We have many, just find any worker of the medic bay and they will point you in the right direction. Hadrian Quinn is outside, waiting to show you to your houses, take you for registration and officially make you members of our base.”

She handed a walkie-talkie to Dominic. “You can reach me, my husband or anyone on the management team. I hope that you will consider making this your new permanent home and joining the committee. Leah says she is never going back to Camp Zenith.”

Dominic nodded and said. “Thank you for everything.”

She smiled, turned and left.

When she was out of sight, Festus leaned towards Dominic and asked, “Are we really staying?”

“Whatever Leah wants.” He answered. “Go and see the houses. We should unpack and collect some information on this place.”

Sunshine went home from the hospital. She was not surprised to find most of the Quinns at her house that evening. They never needed much of an excuse to gather. Joy was contagious in the family, and every success or achievement was celebrated as though it might be the last.

Tonight, the occasion was her return from the hospital. Rori had gone all out at preparing the delicacies, and the children had filled the house with their restless laughter and games.

The moment they stepped in, Castiel launched into her arms, squealing her name as though she had been gone for months. The older boys followed, arms tight around her waist, pressing their faces into her coat.

“My mommy is back! My mommy is back!” Castiel shouted over and over.

Hades stretched his hand. “Take it easy on her guys.” He grabbed White before the bear could also jump into his wife’s full arms.

The Quinns could not help but smile especially when she looked their way. Sunshine put Castiel down, knelt and wrapped the children together in a hug including Leo.

The scent of home, soap and food made her happy, her heart felt full and grateful for having a loving family. Grandpa Quinn, who was seated at the corner chair, gave her a wave, calling her name loudly. He gestured at the food with impatience.

“It is time to eat.” Sunshine declared.

Everyone settled around the table, still chattering as their forks and plates were moved in place. The peace shattered in the next instant.

A series of sharp, distant gunshots cracked through the air, echoing faintly.

“Are those gunshots!?” Lisha asked, holding Bob closer to her chest.

Everyone froze. It wasn’t inside fortress four, the sound came from far off, muffled by the thick walls. But the pattern was unmistakable: rapid, relentless, and wrong.

The laughter died. Plates clattered as the adults rose from their seats.

Those on the security teams were already moving_ switching on walkies-talkies. The children pressed closer to Sunshine, frightened.

“Everyone should take precautions.” She said softly, pushing the children to towards their grandmother. “When you hear the alarms, you go to the panic room.”

“Suni,” Hades started, stepping in front of her, “you just came from the hospital, let the others handle _”

Sunshine raised her brow, holding her hammer. “You must be joking; there is no time to fall sick in the apocalypse. You relax; you die.”

Before he could argue further, Major Elio’s voice barked through the walkie-talkie. “Sir! Jon just called through the main line, he’s asking for help. Apparently, they are overwhelmed.”

That ended the argument.

Sunshine shoved past Hades, her tone all command. “We do not have time to chit chat. I am fine ….let’s move.”

They rushed to the command center, almost all the usual faces were there, those who were not were on the way.

Lisha’s voice was already coming through the speakers, urging residents to go in doors because there was trouble next door.

“Jon tell me what you told us.” Major Elio said.

Jon’s voice came through the speaker, stained and shaky. “They…..are inside the base, hundreds of them. We have some sort of rat invasion; it’s in all the bases. They are not normal rats, send help.”

Sunshine frowned deeply, her mind jumped to tone memory_ the mutant rats that she had encountered before. Please God, not those again. She thought.

“What do they look like?” She asked.

“Medium sized. Their teeth are big and sharp, one bite and you are done. They are fast….very fast.”

Before anyone can respond, a scream tore through the transmission.

“Get off me! Get the fuck off me!” Jon shouted. The line crackled, then went down.

“Jon, Jon, respond!” Hades shouted into the radio. Only static answered.

Sunshine slammed her palm against the table. “Damn it.”

She turned to Hadrian. “Call for squads, six of them. Send them over to help.”

A comms officer pulled up clear surveillance footage. They could see some light mist outside but no signs of danger.

Dominic who had been quietly studying the surveillance feed, finally spoke. “How did they get inside the base? I was told the bases on this mountain are impenetrable.”

Lisha stopped broadcasting. “Who let you in?”

Hades answered. “This is Dominic Steward, now one of us as of…..”

“Now.” Dominic declared.

“There,” Lisha shouted as they got a clear view of the inside of Jon’s base from a drone. Footage from other bases started coming in. Hundreds of rats, just running amok everywhere, jumping on residents and biting.

Sunshine’s loud voice sounded through the room. “These rodents are called earth rats; they can dig through the ground better than an excavator. If they are everywhere on the mountain, it means we are not safe from their attack. Sound the alarm.”

“This explains why Pink has been calm today. She knew something was coming.” Lisha muttered.

Sunshine pressed something on the console and the underground layers of fortress four appeared. “There are steel and mesh nets underground to trap such animals but even those may only hold them off for a while. They are easily killed, which is a good thing. But the trouble is what happens when they come together.”

“Why?” Hades asked.

Sunshine’s voice was calm but grim. “A rat king. They come together around it and become like Morris. One super giant rat that is harder to kill than a villain in the final season.”