Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 719: Brewing dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile in Cross Town, the search party for Cassius shuffled back into the main camp, looking like kicked puppies. They were empty-handed, sweaty, and honestly, a little embarrassed especially Garrison. He had praised his army but so far, they were not impressing the only woman he wanted them to impress.

"Forgive me my prophetess, Cassius seems to have managed to leave this place but, we will keep looking. All of his women and children have been rounded up. The one called Denise is missing, along with her child." Garrison told Moon.

"Forget it," Moon snapped, waving a hand as if swatting away a fly. "He’s a fool. Even with what he stole from me, he’s too useless to turn it on. He will not survive for long out there. In the dark, with a baby and weak Denise, they will be lucky not to be eaten by some mutated beast." Besides, she had a feeling that Cassius would be making the run for the fortress. They would meet out on the road, if that was his plan.

Sooner or later, her bracelet would return to her. And when they took fortress four, she would make Sunshine unlock it, even if it meant bleeding that bitch dry.

Moon didn’t waste another second. She started barking orders at the pyrokinetic army_ men twice her size who could melt a car with a sneeze_ and she didn’t even check to see if they liked it. She had declared herself in charge, and that was that.

Garrison just stood there. He didn’t argue. He didn’t even blink. He followed her every word like a well-trained golden retriever, which was... weird.

To the men, this was a total brain-breaker. They figured the apocalypse had reset the world to the "Stone Age," where guys with big muscles made the rules and women stayed in the back to cook the charred remains of whatever they found. Seeing their terrifying leader turn into a silent bodyguard suddenly was not in the manual.

And this was exactly what one of his captains said to him, directly. The man was worried about shifting alliances in an army that had been comparable to a single celled organism.

"Listen up!" Garrison roared, his voice cracking like a whip. "Moon Raine isn’t just some woman. She’s a prophetess. Her word is law, just like mine. With her guiding our path, our survival has multiplied. If any of you so much as roll your eyes at her, you’ll have to deal with me."

The men shuffled their feet quietly, staring at the ground. They were terrified of Garrison. His fire wasn’t normal; it was a lethal, searing blue-hot flame that could turn blood to hot ash before someone could scream. He could also burn you, and leave you alive somehow, but forever in pain!

It was why he was the leader, because he was stronger than all of them and he had a plan. So far, he had not let them down.

Garrison reached up and subconsciously patted the small leather pouch hanging around his neck. Hidden inside was a small bluish stone he’d found a year ago. Ever since he started carrying it, his fire had tripled in strength, and his luck had turned around as he was able to create his own army. He called it his "lucky charm," but he never told a soul that he was only strong because of the stone.

"You heard the Boss," whispered Vexi, one of the younger soldiers, leaning toward his buddy, Pete. "The lady says jump, we ask how high."

Pete spat on the dusty ground, his eyes narrowing as he watched Moon boss around the elite pyrokinetics. "I don’t like it, Vexi. She treats us like we’re her personal interns. Since when do we take orders from someone whom we just met?"

"The fire King told us to, and I suspect he is banging the shit out of her," Vex whispered back.

"I’m serious," Pete grumbled, though he kept his voice low. "Prophetess? Please. I bet she’s just got him under some kind of spell. I do not like this. We’re supposed to be conquering the wastes, not doing her bidding."

Moon turned her sharp gaze toward them. "You two! Are those bodies going to move themselves, or do I need to find men who actually have muscles?"

Garrison took a step forward, his hand beginning to glow with a faint, threatening heat.

"Moving them now, Ma’am! Right away!" Pete squeaked, grabbing a heavy dead man.

As they hurried off, the tension in the camp remained thick. Garrison’s men followed the rules, but the grumbling had started. Moon was in charge for now, and some of the men were already wondering just how long the Fire King’s leash really was.

********

Back at the fortress, Vicente’s team was the first to kick things into gear. Sunshine had left a "to-do" list and Hades emphasized that at the top of that list was cleaning the river.

Vicente gathered his crew in a yard, about 180 of them. These weren’t just any workers; they were toxin absorbing_ superhumans whose bodies treated radioactive sludge like a protein shake.

"Alright, listen up, you beautiful freaks," Vicente shouted, adjusting his sunglasses. "We’re headed to Kingsbridge. Our job is to clean the river. That means you dive in, you soak up the ugly gunk, and you try not to burp too much near the rest of us. It’s a simple soak-and-scrub job that is probably going to take us a month. Any questions?"

"You have not spoken about the rewards; I am not doing this for free! Who knows if we could get sick? This is my first time doing this." one of them said. The whole team nodded.

Hades stepped forward, "Of course you will be paid handsomely, and more food rations will be given to you. After the job is done, we plan to construct some river view apartment buildings. All the people here will get first priority if they apply for a change of housing to that area."

"Whoa! now that sounds like a good deal," someone said.

Vicente’s jaw dropped. Kingsbridge used to be a town for the rich, and now, the not so rich would be moving in, thanks to the apocalypse. Some of the billionaires would not be too pleased.

The superhumans were pumped. Someone mentioned something about turning it into a pool party. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Hades gave them a stiff nod of approval. "As soon as the squad clears the first area and declares it monster free, you are cleared to go. We do not expect anything bad to happen while you are doing your jobs but still....."

"Be careful!" Emmet shouted_ interrupting Hades, he was accompanying the twins that were part of the team. Even though Hades had refused, strongly, the children had insisted on going.

With that glowing enthusiasm, they headed out.