Chapter 150: Acid rain’s end.
In the morning, the first Quinn family breakfast on the base was held. The family came together to discuss the new changes on the base and there implications.
Sunshine was like the white lion in the zoo. She was the attraction which nobody could keep their eyes off of. As they ate their bread, savored their smoked salmon, drunk their milk or coffee, scuffed down avocado and bacon omelettes, they spared secret glances for Sunshine.
Lisha asked her twice to help her cool her coffee with a finger. It was a simple trick and yet they all applauded every time she did it.
It was cute.
It was annoying.
Earl was sulking because he wanted black hole donuts. Castiel was smiling because he had never drunk milk as delicious as the new milk powder which was being distributed for children under five specifically.
Ariel was eating and making notes at the same time.
Sunshine was about to get her first taste of the salmon when Lisha extended her cup for the third time.
"No." Sunshine said pushed the cup away. "If you want iced coffee, find a refrigerator."
Lisha joined Earl on the sulking team.
Sunshine cleared her throat. "We should discuss what everyone wanted to talk about." She peeked at the cup Lisha was slowly trying to extend in her direction with a hopeful look in her eyes. "Did you all come here just to see my powers?"
A lot of heads bobbed up and down.
Sunshine released a a misty breath and the table fogged up.
Some of the children clapped.
"I did not do that on purpose." She said and huffed.
Two small pebbles of ice fell from her nose.
Everyone gasped.
Even Sunshine gasped. She did not think she was capable of breathing out ice!!!
"Well that’s new." Ariel commented thoughtfully.
Hades placed his hand over Sunshine’s. "Suni, darling...you have added a new meaning to the words, "I have a cold."
Some people sniggered.
Sunshine waved her hand, gesturing dramatically, "Really, I did not mean to do that."
Snowflakes fell from the air and landed on the table, covering the food. One fell on Ariel’s nose.
"Dad’s a robot and mom’s a witch." Earl said.
Warren realized that all the food at the table was now frozen.
"Can you make big ice sculptures?" Someone asked.
Sunshine tapped her fork on the table, clearing her throat as well. "Is this all you people want to know?"
She was waiting for accusations, some harsh glances, maybe suggestions that the children were not safe around her. Her eyes roamed around the table waiting for any signs of aggression..
"We just wanted to eat breakfast with you dear." Rori said. "Since we moved to the base, you and Hades keep to yourselves most of the time. When we used to live together, we ate all meals together like one big family. I miss that."
Sunshine blinked. "Oh."
If Rori put it that way then she told the truth. Sunshine was not sure about the rest of them but the last time she ate with everyone was when they moved to the base. After, she was busy repairing things in her space, apartment or putting out fires on the base.
Grandpa Quinn stretched his voice and said, "Sunshine, you are part of our family. I understand that family is something complicated for you and maybe you need to take it slow with us. But, I hope that you don’t treat us like strangers or passers by."
Many of them nodded or smiled.
Sunshine had no idea how to react so she smiled too.
Rori raised her glass. "To our Quinn family. Our breakfast may be cold but our hearts are warm."
"How cliche." Lisha whispered.
None the less, she joined everyone in raising their glass to toast to their family.
*****
Five days passed and then, without warning, the sun which had not showed its presence for a long time suddenly made an appearance. It came out brightly as if to indicate the beginning of a new era.
Hope was finally returning to those that had lost it.
After the rain stopped, silence ruled. The quiet was worse than the the rain, because no one trusted it. For two days, people stayed in hiding, waiting for the skies to betray them again.
On the third day, the bold ones stepped out, ready to face the new world.
The world they saw was unrecognizable. Houses sitting in holes, streets warped and split open, rivers slick with a grayish shimmer. Trees stood black and skeletal, their branches reaching like charred fingers. The smell of decay clung to everything, sharp and choking.
But the real horror was not the landscape, it was the people that crawled out of hiding.
Months of confinement had stripped away civility. Hunger, fear and suspicion had gnawed worse than the rain ever could.
They also knew that it was not end because Moon and Pastor Salem had announced that the apocalypse would last five years. So, when the survivors stepped into the light again, many were no longer survivors_they were predators.
Looters stormed through the pockets of corpses and those that were still alive. Neighbors attacked each other for supplies. Mass migrations started and the weak were abandoned by the heartless.
From this chaos rose new centers of power. Shelters started being raised out of the rubble; territories marked with fire and steel. Most were led by either president Ceaser’s people or superhumans. Their power making them kings in a world where the powerful made the law.
A new age had emerged; this was the age of the strong and survival was for the fittest.
At the white house, President Ceaser was strolling through the compound, soaking in the sun. The acid rain had kept him indoors for months, for too long Janet had been his umbrella.
But now, in his mind, she had outlived her usefulness. He dismissed her from his closest circle in the politest way ordering her to concentrate on strengthening her abilities.
In her place stood Elina. She was not a confidant, merely a human shield. Her body’s resistance to bullets, was her only value.
Wherever he went, she followed. Her sharp eyes scanning the silence while the president arranged his true concern, a dinner with Cassius Quinn in the gardens.
The gardens were a little more than ruins. Where roses once bloomed, blackened stamps remained. The fountain once filled with clear water, was now a basin of stagnant filth.
On the table lay a meager meal: bread dry as stone, brittle vegetables, some spaghetti and a handful of preserved meat.
Ceasar sat down and Elina stood behind him.
"Could you not do any better?" He asked Lugard.
"Sir the population is too big, and the supplies have run out. That is the best the chef could come up with." Lugard answered.
Ceaser let out a loud growl. It was a poor feast, but food was not the purpose of the meeting. He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on Cassius with a predator’s focus and went directly to what he wanted to know. "You said that you knew about Moon’s apocalypse prophesies. " His voice smooth but sharp. "What is it that you know exactly? I want details."
Cassius’ expression did not change. He knew that Ceaser was interested in this matter, and he wanted to draw it out until his position rose. He planned to share only what was necessary and nothing more. "She spoke of the great cold. A harsh winter is coming, and it will last three to four months." He answered simply.
Cassius had no loyalty to Ceaser, his thoughts stretched far to Crosstown where his bunker was, now that the rain was gone, he had to visit it.
He also needed to find Moon and squeeze out all that she knew about the apocalypse including the bracelet before putting a bullet in her head and then finally reuniting with Sunshine.
"That’s it!? That is in the apocalypse guideline brochures. I need details or new information that I don’t already know." Ceaser clenched his fingers.
If he did not hear something useful from Cassius, he would not mind tossing him in the mist.