Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 471: A gamble.

Sunshine smiled. "Then lead the way... show me the feed reserves."

Majorie showed her more than that. The feed reserves were well maintained and guarded. Breeding cycles tracked faithfully.

Birth and death charts were kept.

There were more births than deaths and for each death, there was an explanation and an autopsy report. Or crime scene pictures if one animal had killed another.

Then Majorie took her to the taming section where stubborn mutated beasts were trained. It was a former wrestling arena. Which was either hilarious or ironic.

Sunshine watched workers laugh while dodging a charging calf.

In another area, an angry chicken was pecking at the holes glass box in which it was kept.

Elsewhere, two sheep were fighting two superhumans. And some boars were doing the same.

"You run a tight ship here." Sunshine commented. "I did not know there was a disciplining section." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"It cannot be helped. Sometimes, they try to act like they are in charge, but I always make sure to show them how wrong they are. I am the boss " She declared.

One of the boars slammed into the fence and grunted as if to disagree.

"Be wise Taylor!" Marjorie shouted

Sunshine’s brow raised. "Taylor? Do they all have names?"

Billie winced. "Only the ones that stand out the most."

They stepped out and paused by the silo next to the wrestling arena. Majorie told comic tales of the mutated beasts. Sunshine laughed despite herself, a warm, unexpected sound, and as she looked around at the organized chaos, the living proof of survival being built piece by piece, she felt it settle in her chest_ Silverdale was the right place to put the animals. It was home for them, and somehow, a seventeen-year-old had become its steady heartbeat.

Workers paused in their tasks to nod, smile, or offer a quiet thank-you as she passed.

Children ran between paddocks, boots muddy, laughter loud.

"So..." Majorie asked at the end of tour. "Do you feel confident in making me the overseer of Silverdale farms? Because I have heard rumors that a certain group of rich folks are looking to kick me to the curb."

Sunshine had heard about those rumors from Day. They were nonsense. She would be happy to let any of the billionaires start an independent farm of their own, but she would never give them power over the base farm. Like the gold, it was meant to help all the people that lived off of Fortress four’s resources.

"I would never do that in a million years." She assured Majorie. "But if you let me down, I do not mind replacing you. A lot of grownups were not too pleased to see someone your age being put in charge."

Majorie let out a snort. "Age and responsibility do not necessarily go hand in hand. Ariel Quinn is the perfect example of this fact. Many of us may...complain...about his iron fist over the supplies. But, at the end of the day, we know that he is making the best decisions after putting many things into consideration.

Nobody dares to say it to his face that he is not doing a good job. And so far, nobody has dared to say it to my face either. As for what they say in private, I could care less. The only opinion that matters is yours and Mr. Quinn’s. Maybe Nimo too because they say you value her immensely."

Just as she finished speaking, the ground shook. From the ground, eight feet from then, emerged a mole. Not just any mole, a mole that was the size of a bear. With claws like shovels and teeth like chisels.

"Another one!" Majorie said in exasperation. "I am tired of those damn things."

Sunshine arched her brows. "Well, that’s new to me. I had no idea you were experiencing trouble with moles."

Majorie shrugged. "We have handled it well so far. Like I said, you have your job and we have ours. We don’t need you to babysit."

The mole charged. So did Majorie. So did three other superhumans.

Majorie grabbed a shovel out of Billie’s hands. She swung it at the beast. It bent, utterly useless. The mole snarled.

A pyrokinetic set its fur on fire while Sunshine sprinted to join the battle. She swung her hammer, slamming the beast into the wrestling arena.

"Oh no!" Majorie groaned.

"What?" Sunshine asked.

"Taylor..." Majorie screamed.

They sprinted toward the arena, to save Taylor, or so Sunshine thought. But when they reached inside, the mole was on the ground, thrashing, squealing and bloody. Three workers were holding a wild Taylor back whose hooves were dyed red.

"Now he is going to be more insufferable than ever." Majorie put her hands on her waist and sighed.

The mole was dragged away to be chopped up and added to the sheep food.

Sunshine eyed the boar curiously. "I sense a story here. Why will Taylor become insufferable?"

"Because..." Majorie said, "Every time Taylor wins a fight, he becomes more dominant. He thinks he runs this town, like he is the boar king of the area, and we are all his servants. So, we try to keep him out of fights, as much as we can." She gestured for Sunshine to walk ahead of her, and they left the arena which was filled with Taylor’s deep victory grunts.

Day had been following Sunshine silently, and so had Carson. It was Carson that notified her of the time. The inspection had run a little longer than inspected.

She looked at her watch and then Majorie. "Four hours and a half. I have to leave and inspect Busker next. You are doing a wonderful job here, but I have noticed a few weaknesses that you should work on.

One is the wooden fences in mutated beast zones. I have seen some rabbits gnawing on the wooden ones. Sooner or later, they will break through. Have them replaced with steel.

Tell the vets to check on the mutated chicken. I noticed that three were coughing. Just because they are mutated does not mean they don’t fall ill.

Bury electric nets in the ground, it will help reduce the mole attacks." She shared more observations that she had made, one by one and Majorie listened attentively.

Along with three other workers, they walked Sunshine back to her car. A car that was loaded with farm fresh products like milk and eggs.

As the car drove away from the town, Carson said, "This existence of this town is a wonderful and a dreadful idea." He turned around to face Sunshine in the backseat. "It is a gamble--a living arsenal or a ticking time bomb."

Sunshine looked back at the newly raised gate which was the only way into Silverdale. The animals were food. Food that they needed.

The entire world was a ticking time bomb. What was one farm in comparison to that?

*****

The wall around Westbrook was rising steadily. Its alien steel plates gleaming under a bright sun. It separated Westbrook from Ferry Island completely. Outside, more ragged survivors trickled over pressing against the unfinished sections of that wall.

Some came with faces hollow with hunger. Others, voices that were hoarse from begging.

Some had bleeding feet, having walked for miles, drawn by rumors of a base in the Westbrook mountain with food and shelter. But they found all routes to the mountain blocked.

Only Westbrook town had a direct path there and that path was blocked by a wall and oversized gate.

On one of the walls, Linda Chan was leading a group of civilians and soldiers that were offering aid to the survivors outside. With the help of drones, they were distributing food and medicine while directing the survivors to an empty factory outside the town where they could settle down temporarily.

But within that group providing aid, not all agreed. Whispers had already spread of survivors carrying an infection. One that could seep through the walls. Among the discontented was Timothy Lewis, a soldier hardened by fear.

While other loaded their drones with water, medicines and sandwiches, he loaded his with acid grenades.