Chapter 285: One success for Ceasar.
Pah!
A sound startled everyone. By the time they realized what was happening, Earl’s mouth was wide open, ready to let out a scream. Ariel was rubbing his palm which had spanked his younger brother on the ass.
"I told you not to call mom a witch." Ariel said sternly to Earl.
"Both of you, separate like oil and water." Sunshine rushed in, pushing the brothers apart. "Why can’t we all just get along smoothly?"
Hades pinched Ariel’s ear gently and warned him not to spank Earl again. Ariel looked back at his father with defiance. Like he had a list of reasons why Earl deserved a spanking.
To distract the young ones, Sunshine slipped a chocolate in Earl’s mouth and began to rain kisses on his head and Castiel’s. "What is all this?" She asked between kisses.
Castiel puffed his chest proudly. "We are building a castle."
Sunshine raised her eyebrows. "Ooh, a castle, that seems interesting. I guess we don’t need to look hard for the queen of that castle because I am right here." Waving her hand over head, she formed a crown of ice.
The kids giggled. Castiel and Earl even clapped.
Ariel frowned. "Mom What do you think is best for the windows? Square ones are better, right?"
Hades standing behind them, folded his arms. "As the king of that castle, I declare square ones the best, but I recommend an arch. Now, I demand to know why my youngest subjects have not completed their homework. You were supposed to be done with it before dinner."
"Mom said we are not doing tests." Earl shrugged.
"Uncle Warren said no homework in the apocalypse." Castiel piped in.
"I did mine." Ariel raised his hand.
Tank raised a finger, defending the boys. "Work without play makes children dull, Foreman Hades. There has to be a balance."
Sunshine grinned tiredly. "He is right, they are just children after all, and Earl is taking my words out of context. But I do think daily homework in an apocalypse is not a necessity."
Earl and Castiel circled Sunshine, celebrating her words. Ariel watched them with mild judgement.
Hades sighed in defeat, but the corner of his mouth lifted out of joy for seeing his family happy.
After thirty minutes of playing and arguing about the right color for the castle doors, Sunshine excused herself briefly. She disappeared into the bedroom, stripped off her gear and stepped under the shower.
The cold water felt like heaven on her skin. She let the dirt and fatigue wash away, her mind wandering back to the forest. Had that witch Fifi really died? Such evil people had high chances of survival, whatever the case is will still be on the lookout.
Sunshine grimaced. She had forgotten to pass by the decontamination center! "Dammit, dammit!" She mumbled her breath. It wasn’t compulsory but she preferred it that way because some toxins and poisons were transported by people on clothes. All she wanted to do was ensure that nothing made its way into the base.
When she was done with her shower, she returned to the living room, fresh and dressed in a soft cotton dress. Homework was back on the table! Tank was helping Ariel with arithmetic while Hades helped Earl with geography using a map. Even Castiel was coloring his pictures.
Sunshine laughed at the kids whose faces showed misery. She fetched sleepy White from the children’s bedroom and gave him his bottle which declaring that it was time for dinner.
Homework was abandoned immediately.
Dinner that night was very lively. The table was full of steam rising from bowls, spoons chattering, laughter bouncing off the walls. Castiel, the chatterbox told a long dramatic story about the kindergarten, ending with a grand revelation.
"And then she asked me to be her boyfriend and I said yes."
Hades nearly choked on his drink, while his siblings stared at him in disbelief.
"You cannot!" Earl shouted. "Mom, tell him he cannot."
Ariel nodded. "And you are only five!"
Even White looked shocked with his purple eyes widened. But in his defense, it was because Sunshine accidentally pinched him.
Castiel pouted. "Mom...." He looked at Sunshine, bottom lip trembling. The joy he had when sharing the story was gone.
Sunshine wiped her mouth to hide her smile. "Sweetheart, you do not even know what you are saying."
"Sure, I do, Milka is a girl that is my friend, so she is my girlfriend!" Castiel answered.
Ariel scoffed. "That....."
Hades shook his head at his oldest son before smiling gently at Castiel. "Okay pal we get it."
Just like that, the matter was swept under the rug. But Sunshine had a feeling that her husband was going to resurrect it later on. Conversation went on until the children yawned and rubbed their eyes and she declared that it was time for bed.
Sunshine tucked them into bed, one by one, humming softly while the wind whispered through the window. After turning off the light, she returned to the living room. Hades was there, standing with two mugs of coffee he had just taken from the kitchen.
He handed her one. The warmth of the drink filled the air between them as they sat close.
"So." Hades said quietly. "Tell me about the forest. I need to know who killed Scorpion between you and Elio because there is a debate going around about it."
Sunshine smiled, she looked into the cup, her reflection trembling in the dark liquid as she started the tale of the snake hunt.
******
The air at the state house now reeked of burnt iron, oil and fear. President Ceaser smacked the console, jaw clenched as he watched the chains being pulled out of the mist with another dead body that was festering. His face was pale, haunted. Another failure.
"Sir," Lugard spoke through the communication device. "That is the sixth group today, should we keep going?"
Ceaser hissed into the walkie-talkie. "The mist is not here every day. We have to take advantage of the opportunity whenever it comes. Keep going until you get me a superhuman!"
Another groups of captives was brought out, chains tied to their feet. The white house had turned into a holding ground for hostages, experimental subjects for Ceasar.
Death reeked on its grounds and the number of watchers around had multiplied. They seemed to be more curious about the mist experiment than Ceasar himself.
The soldiers exchanged gazes, one leaned to the side and whispered. "At this rate that mad man will force us into the mist, we better leave this place as soon as possible."
The other nodded, worry marred deep his face. He already planned to run during the night with five others. Both of them kept quiet when Lugard passed them.
"Walk or die." Lugard commanded the captives.
Like all the others they hesitated at first but finally walked into the mist. For thirty-five minutes, there was nothing, but then a woman stumbled out of the mist, hair tangled, eyes half open.
Ceaser let out a victorious laugh, running out of the bunker. He wore a mask over his nose and helmet on his head. With a gun in his hand, he stepped out of the white house.
"I knew that someday all this work would not be in vain! A superhuman at last." He said, voice muffled. "Unchain her." He ordered.
The soldiers were hesitant but obeyed the orders and stepped back, afraid.
Ceaser talked to her like he would a new pet. "Girl, what is your name?" He asked.
The woman stood still for a moment. "You do not know our names.....you sent my family into the mist, yet you even didn’t take the courtesy of at least knowing their names." Her lips trembled.
It should have been the first sign that all would not go as planned, but Ceasar was riding a cloud and ignored all his instincts. "That is all the past....lives will be lost for the sake of the greater good. It happens my dear." Ceaser said to her. "You are now special my dear, and it is all thanks to me. What power have you awakened?" Ceaser softened his voice.
The woman’s eyes focused on him, dark, hollow yet burning. Her mouth curved into a slow, twisted smile.
Whoosh!
Flames bloomed from her palms, licking up her arms like serpents. She smiled like a demon, and the soldiers trembled.
Ceaser’s bravado cracked. "Take cover!" He shouted, spinning on his heel.