Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 521: To Ferryland.

During the night, eight super humans from Kingsbridge were captured while attempting to breach Fortress Four, some had far sight abilities that went as far as fifty meters away from the outside walls. By dawn they were already locked away in the prison, stripped of weapons, abilities, bravado, and excuses.

Warden Townsend was beyond thrilled to show off his fire abilities and make threats on all the painful things that would happen if they misbehaved. One of the men that had been arrested from Deron’s group had a scar to prove that the warden meant his words.

For Carson, it was a long night. Interrogations had to be carried out. Whatever they knew about Emily, he squeezed out of them.

Major Grayson was proud of the work the guards and soldiers were doing under his command. He doubled the numbers, reinforced the walls with level two security protocols, and ordered rotating patrols so tight that even the rats would need clearance to scurry by.

Sunshine was woken up during the night and informed about the happenings. After one long look at the security reports, she cancelled the market until Emily, and her group were dealt with. People would complain, of course_ especially the rich folks_ but she refused to risk a crowded marketplace when spies were clearly sniffing around like hungry dogs.

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The convoy to Ferry Island rolled out around four in the morning, engines humming softly in the dark. Sunshine insisted they leave early such that they arrive by ten at the latest. On one hand, they would take the residents of the town by surprise and on the other, they could finish their business quickly and leave before noon.

She sat in the back seat of a reinforced military hummer with Nimo and a small, thin boy whose knees barely reached the edge of the seat, Oliver_ the second oldest of the children rescued from Fifi’s hideout_ and though the weather was hot, he trembled as if winter had crawled into his bones. His tiny hands kept pinching his solar suit as if it was all he had to rely on for safety in the world.

He was afraid of being returned to the old broken house near the mist. His mind was still fresh with memories of when he last lived there. Oliver never wanted to leave home again. Since his return, he had not left the house, not until today.

"You’re safe," Sunshine told him gently, her voice steady, practiced, the same tone she used with panicked civilians or her children at home. "You have an entire squad with you that will stand between you and anything that tries to harm you. I think you are brave for accepting to come on this mission with us. You just might be the bravest little boy I have ever met."

All the parents of the rescued children had politely declined from having their children return to Ferry Island despite the fact that she had promised rewards. The biggest reward being a lifetime of supplies to the family of any child that accepted to go with them and show them where Fifi had buried the children that died or dumped them. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Even though Amber was offering to escort the squad free of charge, no one wanted her on the team_ no one trusted her. So, her offer was rejected.

Finally, Oliver whose only remaining living relative was a sick grandmother came forward and accepted to go back. He needed the supplies to take better care of his grandmother and himself. She would not need to work at construction sites in order for them to eat.

Nimo glanced at the boy from the driver’s seat. "Oliver did you see the robot dog back there? She was given specific instructions to look out for you. She will put you on her back and deliver you to your grandmother in case of danger. Right Hunter?"

Hunter barked and gave him a salute. "I am at your service young sir."

Oliver tried to smile, but his eyes stayed wide, glassy, haunted, and when he finally spoke, his voice cracked like old glass. He told them about Fifi, about the rooms that smelled of blood, about how she smiled while hurting them whenever she was bored. It was like it was a game or a hobby she was proud of, and how she would hum sometimes while counting the money she got from selling them off, soft little tunes that made the pain worse because they sounded happy.

Sunshine felt her jaw tighten as the boy described being tied down, being punished for crying, being rewarded for silence, not eating for days and every word felt like someone pressing a thumb into an old bruise she didn’t know she still had.

"She was a monster," Oliver whispered, then said it again, louder, angrier. "A monster. Monsters aren’t supposed to be real, but she was."

Nimo’s hands tightened on the wheel, knuckles pale, and she muttered something very unladylike under her breath about wishing that she made Fifi suffer before the angry mob killed her.

When Oliver’s tears finally spilled over, Nimo passed him a handkerchief without taking her eyes off the road, and Sunshine rummaged in her pocket and handed him a small, wrapped candy from the food court stash. "This helps with the sadness," she said softly. "Not magic, but close enough."

He took it with shaking fingers, and when she told him Fifi couldn’t hurt him anymore because she was dead, he believed her. He knew she was dead. But then he looked straight at her and said the thing that made the air go heavy.

"There are others," he said. "People who are just like her. That woman had customers, they were equally monsters.....just like her."

Sunshine didn’t interrupt, didn’t soften her expression, just nodded for him to continue, and Oliver told them about Mrs. Krotchner, a woman with a sharp voice and expensive shoes, who owned a restaurant in Ferry Island. She had visited Westbrook three times when Fifi and Derone were still partners. On each trip, she left with children.

Nimo slapped the wheel of the car. "A restaurant," she said. "Because she needed cheap labor, so she bought children. In the apocalypse, nobody thinks about such things like the age of the person cooking."

Sunshine nodded slowly, filing the name away, already seeing the path ahead, already calculating what it would take to burn that particular rot out. "You did good telling me," she said to Oliver. "That means we can save the others."

She asked if he remembered any more names, any other faces, but the boy shook his head, exhaustion finally winning. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and was asleep within seconds.

Sunshine and Nimo exchanged a brief look_ one of those looks that carried a thousand words and a shared promise of violence wrapped in justice_ then drove on.

The road to Ferry Island was strangely kind to them, no ambushes, no mutated beasts lunging out of the mist, not even a suspicious animal growl, and Nimo joked that maybe the monsters had taken the day off or unionized. "Even the horrors need work-life balance," she said. "Shocking, really."

Sunshine snorted. "Maybe they are waiting for the watchers to return."

Somewhere at distance, they were being watched and followed.