Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.
Chapter 65: Collecting superhumans.

Chapter 65: Collecting superhumans.

The Rainhounds base was even busier than Fortress Four. During this time, under the instructions of Pastor Salem, bunkers had been expanded underground. A stone wall was also being constructed but it was not finished.

With some advise from Moon, sectors on the base were created. The largest area was the prayer, and it was also where Pastor Salem and the VIP’s were living.

He had pressed Moon for information on superhumans and she made him a list of the ones she could remember. Teams had been formed and sent out to search for these people. Those that were found were brought to Pastor Salem and he went ahead to offer them free residence, food and all they would need to survive the apocalypse.

Those that turned him down had families kidnapped and kept on the base, which forced them to stay or they were killed on their way back home.

Pastor Salem’s method of work was simple, if he could not use them then they had to die. Moon had already told him that he awakened as a superhuman as well and he wanted to be the most powerful one.

To him, the less superhumans were in existence, the more special he would be. Special things had to be rare or else they would be mistaken for ordinary.

Pastor Salem was getting a massage from a beautiful young woman in his bedroom. On a small table by the head of the bed was a bottle of wine, a batch of grapes and some cheese.

The pastor had a dog that he dotted on that was named Bozo. It was laying down beside the table, eating a whole roasted chicken.

One of the soldiers of the church was giving the pastor an update on where they stood with the list of future superhumans.

"Pastor, we have located three more."

Pastor Salem, gestured for the young woman to step out. She climbed off his back, bowed her head in respect, picked up her white robes and left the room. After the door slammed shut behind her, the pastor sat up.

His boring gaze shifted to his most trusted man, Zadok Grimes "And you have confirmed their identities with the information Moon gave us?" He asked

Zadok nodded to confirm. "They will be brought in at night and handled according to your instructions. There were two more names on the list but these people are untouchable or unreachable.

One is Hadrian Quinn, his brother is a billionaire and the Quinn family is no longer in the city. The other is Nusra Sharif. Her mother is a politician and prominent figure in her community. If we touch her, I am afraid that we will give Secretary Ceasar the reason he has been looking for to invade the base and take Moon Raine."

"Are you watching her movements?" Pastor Salem drank some wine, watching Zadok from the rim of the glass. "I do not trust that bitch, she has been caught twice trying to leave this place without informing me. There has to be a reason why she is trying to run." He sipped wine again, twisting his face like the drink was too bitter.

He held the glass up and Zadok refilled it while sharing his thoughts on the matter. "I think that Moon is not loyal and she is not a believer. She will side with whoever grants her some benefits. Perhaps she got a better offer to join secretary Ceaser’s side. He seemed to know about the mist and I have found out from my sources that he is on a hunt for a man that came out of this mystery mist with burn wounds that healed miraculously."

Pastor Salem pulled his brows together. "He came from the mist and healed, it must be a superhuman that awakened as Moon said. Why else would a whole Secretary of Defense be so intrigued by this person. We need to find this person first, we can use him to strengthen the faith of the believers." A bitter smile tugged on his lips. "If I have someone like him, I won’t have to worry about death before I get my opportunity to awaken."

"I am already hunting for him and I also placed a bounty on his head as long as he is brought here alive." Zadok answered.

Pushing himself off the bed, Pastor Salem walked to the window_watching the workers and new residents toiling in the rain, pushing things. "Are we prepared for meteor shower? The announcement brought in desperate believers that are surrendering their all to the church. The population is too big, some of them have got to be sacrificed for the greater good."

He did not have food to feed a population that had gone from three hundred to five thousand. He needed to halve it and quickly. These people were surrendering houses, keys, land and assets like that. Of what use were they in an apocalypse?

"90% ready." Zadok confirmed. "The praise ceremony to welcome the angels on earth is ready. Those that will be outside will perish in the meteor rain. We have prepared holograms of angels descending and everything will be filmed."

"Good but I want to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Go and keep a close eye on everything." Pr. Salem flickered his fingers dismissively.

*****

So far, all of Moon’s plans to escape had failed and she was stuck. With the knowledge of the future that was embedded in her memories there were many influential people that would hold her like an egg if she played her cards right.

If she had known that Pastor Salem was a monster, she never would have gone to him in the first place. She blamed Sunshine for this mess. Why wasn’t the stupid good luck charm bringing good luck?

Why were things not working out as they should have been? Cassius was useless and she was a prisoner. Where was her good life that she was supposed to be living?

"That damn bastard!" She cursed as she massaged the swelling on her stomach where Pastor Salem had ruthlessly kicked over and over upon learning about her escape.

His attitude had changed after she revealed the information about the mist during the interrogation and when he told her about superhumans, he nearly bashed her head in for hiding it from him. He would never let her go now--not willingly.

Denise placed an ice pack on the right side of Moon’s ribs. She was also at the Rainhounds base, having been invited by Moon. Like her friend, she had been expecting to live lavishly, not turned into Moon’s servant, a cook for the Raine’s and Cassius’s doodoo wiper.

She detested Moon’s anger. If anyone was supposed to be angry, it should have been her. But, she remained calm because she was still counting on Moon to survive the apocalypse.

"What happens now, I can feel that we are not welcome here." Denise asked.

The older Raine’s stood next to each other, nervous. These days they never left their daughter’s side, not even for a minute. They had to protect her and run away together when the chance came.

Moon flipped her hair. "We wait, it’s a dangerous time to be out there, this is the safest place we can stay at the moment. We cannot escape during the meteor shower or the acid rain. When the winter comes, after Salem lets his guard down. That’s when we will make our move. If we cannot escape, we have to kill him before he awakens."