Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 442: Danger in Stone village.

"Don’t look away." Nimo told Sunshine. "You should smile and rejoice for what you have done for them. Look at these kids Suni. Without you ordering for the massive cleansing operation, they would have died down there, and their parents would never know."

Her words were meant to comfort Sunshine but somehow, they did the opposite. They were a reminder that on the list of forty children that were still missing, it was likely that some had died in that suffocating gun factory.

She gestured for Trey to move closer and said to him in a whisper. "Find the brightest kid in this group and find out which child was in the factory longest. Maybe that child can recall all the children that were held down there and any that died. Perhaps we can even find out which children Fifi took with her specifically."

Trey nodded.

Two soldiers rushed into the medic bay, carrying two children. On their heels were worried loved ones that were shouting the children’s names.

Nurses stopped the parents on the way.

"Where are these ones from?" She asked Trey.

Trey looked at his own list of missing children, wondering who the two girls were. "The cleansing operation is still ongoing. They must have been rescued from somewhere in the town. I will go find out."

Sunshine nodded. In the group of loved ones that had just stormed into the medic bay was the old woman that had asked her about her granddaughter, Daisy Cotton.

The old woman was so excited that she fainted.

As doctors rushed to attend to her and usher in a new wave of chaos. Sunshine pulled Nimo and they left. There was more to do. Standing here, they were useless.

"I will join those on cleansing duty." Nimo said, untangling her arm from Sunshine’s.

"Command center for me." Sunshine replied. "Be careful out there."

They took separate paths. Sunshine drove to the command center with her jaw clenched and her hands steady on the wheel only by force of will.

A drone entered the car and landed on the dashboard.

"Honey, are you good?" Hades’ voice came from the speakers.

"I am good." She replied in a hoarse voice. "I just feel like I have a stone sitting on my chest. Those poor parents. It is awful Hades."

"I know." He replied.

"Where are my babies?" she asked him. "Who is watching them? Fifi is on the loose. The base is being expanded. We are a bit vulnerable right now. Make sure that....."

"Suni." Hades said slowly. "Breathe, our boys are just fine. I have eyes on them right now. They are eating lunch in the conference room with their grandparents. Zulu is entertaining them. White is sulking for some reason but that is not stopping him from eating. And Ariel is wearing that silly bowtie again.

It doesn’t even match his swat uniform. Oh, and Ala is here too. She is wearing a bowtie too Suni. This is either creepy or the beginning of a very beautiful friendship."

Sunshine chuckled while parking the truck. "Later Hades, I am at command center in Westbrook."

The drone lifted and left through the window.

The Westbrook command center was a large tent outside a two storied building that was once a police station. The building was under renovation, which was why they were working from outside.

Dominic met Sunshine first, and then he led her inside. Comms officers and soldiers keeping guard were doing their jobs. Dominic continued to monitor the progress of other teams while Sunshine listened to audio reports of all the units in the other towns.

There was just one team they had not heard from. The one which had been sent to the stone village. Their silence was very worrisome.

She reached for her radio. "Hades, what is going on with Stone village? Where is their audio progress report?"

"I can’t reach them, it’s hard to see anything because the trees have grown so much over the area_ mutated of course," he said quietly, concern slipping through his usual calm. "Something is interfering with the signal of the drones we sent. I have already dispatched three squads to join them and a medic team just in case."

"I can help." Hunter said. The dog had followed Sunshine, and it was sitting at her feet. "My antennae can breakthrough all frequencies."

She nodded.

There was silence, some static and then a connection was established.

"Stone village squad, this is Sunshine, respond."

Static answered, a hiss like mocking laughter, then a crackle, then Commander Grayson’s voice cut through, distorted and rushed.

"Send more reinforcements," he shouted, breathless, "we...under attack, some... animal_"

The signal broke, static swallowing the rest. Sunshine shouted the commander’s name over and over but got no response.

All the soldiers in the tent looked at Sunshine She straightened her back, the softness she’d worn at the medic bay stripped away, replaced by something cold and focused. "Hunter," she said, turning sharply, "gear up we are heading to the stone village."

Hunter nodded without hesitation and was already moving.

"Alert all nearby squads that have cleared the territories they were assigned," she continued, voice carrying authority and urgency in equal measure, "Get Squad zero. They should get to Stone village now. Send in other superhumans."

Sunshine allowed herself one breath, one silent promise to her squads not to fail them, not today, not ever, even if the world seemed determined to take everything else.

She rushed to her truck and Hunter jumped in first. They waited for only a minute, giving Nimo time to arrive before setting off with three other trucks on their tail, matching their speed. As the trucks tore down the road toward the stone village, engines screaming against the wind, Nimo studied the red marks of danger Hunter had pinged.

Stone village had not stood out because there was just one red dot. Nimo’s face was tightly knitted as she glared at that single red dot. "Hunter marked only one thing in the Stone village," she said, voice tight, "Just one thing. It indicates the presence of a mutated beast. Just one. What the heck has gone wrong?"

Sunshine’s snapped, more to herself than anyone else, fingers gripping the wheel. "Could be a crocodylus. Or something else that is equally big." She hit a hump and kept going.

Nimo’s tab pinged and she glanced at it. "New update. A drone has made it through, but its cameras are not working. Only audio. Major Grayson says they have been pinned down by a mutated beast."

"That’s odd," Sunshine muttered.

The stone village had been abandoned for months, ever since all the villagers moved out. The empty stone houses had been reclaimed by moss and silence. The area was monitored by drones for the presence of mutated beasts daily.

There had been no indicators of humans or animals in the village.

Animal presence would not be unusual because the village bordered the forest, but this was off. It felt wrong, deeply wrong.

Hunter growled and climbed into Nimo’s lap, sticking his head out of the window.

Sunshine briefly stuck her own head out as well. Then she saw them. Watchers hovering above the distant village like patient vultures, unmoving, observing.

Her stomach twisted into a hard knot. "I have a bad feeling," Sunshine said quietly.