Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 465: Mist walkers.

The mist was a mystery. Sometimes it was cold. Sometimes it hot.

Sometimes it was both.

Sometimes it had teeth. Not literal ones that could bite but anyone that had been in the mist could swear that there were shapes in the mist which chewed through lungs, flesh and sanity.

It clung to one half of Ferry Island like a jealous lover, refusing to let go while coming and going in other places.

The mist was feared. Most people did not dare go close to it. And yet, twelve figures moved through it, heads low, masks and scarves wrapped tight over their nostrils, eyes darting. The team had twenty originally, twelve had already been swallowed by the mist.

The rest walked in silence, afraid that they would share the fate of the twelve if they breathed or looked the wrong way.

At the front strode Vicente, the superhuman who could resist toxins. Where others feared to breathe, he took in the mist, raw and unfiltered. The more he breathed it in, the stronger his ability grew. He had earned his position as leader of Ferry Island not because he wanted to be, but because he was the only one who could walk into the mist and come out alive without coughing blood, emaciated or a corpse.

And the mist, it was rich in resources. Mutated foods that could feed the people. In a time of scarcity, it is what they needed the most.

Beside him, the team of superhumans shuffled like mismatched chess pieces. The most protected among them was Hayashi Fuyuki, the "space boy." His ability was invaluable to the team. The fifteen year old had an invisible space or pocket dimension which he called a vault. In that vault, he could store anything. Bread, mangoes, beer, leaves, even a rotten piece of meat.

He was their pantry, their lifeline.

Naturally, everyone guarded him like he was the last beer at a party.

Amidst the ruins in the mist stood buildings that were still standing. Completely untouched by the acid rain and snow storms. Vicente saw one and stopped.

"Building ahead," He said, his voice cutting through the mist. "Eyes sharp. First we observe the surroundings. We are looking for anything edible. If it moves in the mist, don’t eat or grab it. If it doesn’t move, still don’t eat or grab until I say so."

"Captain obvious strikes again," muttered Veronica, the team’s sarcastic scout. Also, their strongest pyrokinetic. She poked at a pile of mushrooms sprouted from the path leading to the building. "More mushrooms. They look edible to me."

Vicente marched over, plucked one and tossed it into the mist. It hissed like a snake. "Are you the toxin expert or am I?" He asked her. "If I walked past the mushrooms, that means there is a problem with them. These ones look white, fluffy, thick and juicy but actually want to kill you."

"Got it." Veronica grumbled. "But one day, I will identify an edible mushroom without you bragging about your expertise." She sniffed. "You used to be a plumber, not some kind of food biologist."

Vicente clenched his jaw. "Then I hope you will eat it first and I will write on your tombstone. She died as she lived--foolishly trying to prove to everyone that I was wrong."

The group chuckled.

They moved ahead and actually discovered real edible mushrooms. The mutated kind that was sold in every market on Ferry Island.

Veronica made a puking sound. "I am sick of these brown mushrooms. I want meat."

Almond, their tracker noticed something. His superpower was his vision. "Company." he whispered.

Something lunged at them, swinging a pipe. Vicente stepped forward, inhaling deeply. The toxins inside him surged, his immunity twisting it into fuel. He exhaled a cloud of pure toxin into the creature’s face.

It staggered, choking, collapsing into the thick mist.

"Remind me never to ask you for a breath mint." Veronica said, holding tightly onto the mask over her nose. Inside, her nose was wrinkled.

"Remind me why I married you?" Vicente shot back.

The group laughed again, but their nerves were frayed. Every fight brought one or all of them closer to death. It cost them energy. It cost them time. Every joke was a bandage over fear.

They made their way into the building, a single story house with a deep crack in the wall.

"All clear." Almond told them.

For a moment, they let their guard down and foraged through every inch of the house. In addition to human bones and rotten food in the refrigerator, they found some canned beans, boxes of cereal, frozen pizza that was suspiciously still frozen.

Everything that was edible or usable floated into Fuyuki’s vault.

"Done." he declared simply.

The others formed a protective ring around him. He was their treasure chest. If he died, they would starve. So, anyone could die but not him.

They left the house, it was time to return to the city. They had been away for a fortnight. Long enough for ambitious people to start making assumptions and running around like they were in charged.

They walked for hours. The mist thickened, pressing against their minds. They stumbled through alleys, abandoned buildings and a wall that protected what was once a high school.

On the wall was graffiti that read, WE ARE STILL HERE--although there was nobody there anymore. Not even whoever wrote it.

The group had long emptied out all the supplies that had been left in the school. Now, they used it to store some equipment and a few supplies because nobody dared to walk into the mist and steal.

Finally, they reached the edge of the mist. The air thinned, the stars were twinkling down and the moon welcomed them with its pale light.

They collapsed onto the rubble where a large dairy plant once stood. Some coughed, some laughed, some cried.

Vicente was the only one that remained standing. "Roll call." He said.

Veronica read off names, and one by one, voices answered.

Eight names were crossed out of her small notebook. "As confirmed, only superhumans made it back."

Many sighed in relief, glad to be among the lucky that had made it.

Three cars drove up to them and out of the first one, Renzo and Stefano hopped out. They carried a special brand of water to the group.

Renzo immediately pointed to a mark on the bottle. "Welcome back cousin, but I have news that you are not going to like. See this logo, Quinn group." He shoved the bottle at Stefano. "Westbrook, Hunkerville, Silverdale, they have all been occupied. Everything from the broken bridge to the damn mountain and forest."

Everyone became alert.

"Occupied?" Vicente frowned. "By who?"

Renzo provided a flyer. "Superhuman. They say she makes ice out of thin air and walks with some kind of huge hammer. Not just her but the Quinn group."

"The ones who went bankrupt." Veronica said with a frown.

Stefano jumped in. "I don’t think they went bankrupt boss. They have thirty million to dish out as a bounty to find Moon Raine and Fifi Quinn. They have guns we have never seen and a pink bubble that covers all of Westbrook and beyond. It is time to think of how we will handle things when they do extend their reach into Ferry Island because it is just a matter of when."