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Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 59: Being underestimated.
Chapter 59: Being underestimated.
"Hunting?" Sunshine quizzed. It was something she had thought about doing today but she planned to bring it up after lunch, when the soldiers were at ease, knowing their families were safe.
It seems like they had thought about the same thing she did. The forest behind the mountain was vast, and it was home to many animals, all wild. As the era had been peaceful, people did not really hunt as they could buy their meat in the supermarket.
So, the animal population in the forest was thriving. The trouble now was that each of those animals had the potential to become mutated and then they would attack the base.
Hunting them would lower the risk while providing food at the same time.
"The soldiers have arranged themselves in groups and they are itching to start hunting." Hades told Sunshine. "Most of them did not come with sizeable food supplies. Meat will go a long way in helping their families."
"I think I got a text about that but I did not respond because Sunshine and I were handling some urgent business first. By the way the base looks good, it is much better than what I expected." Nimo praised.
"Ah, credit goes to the missus on that one." Hades responded with a wide, proud grin. "She is amazing this woman your friend. Without her, I am pretty sure that I would be a sitting duck. Maybe I would be in my office right now wondering how I can capitalize on the situation currently."
Nimo playfully raised her hands, "Thank God for Sunshine."
"It’s yellow, warm and beautiful." Hades added in a humorous voice.
He laughed, and Nimo did the same. Sunshine rolled her eyes, she was not yellow. Warm, yes. Beautiful, yes. Yellow...no!
Hades was called away by Owen and he excused himself.
Playfully, Nimo nudged Sunshine with her shoulder, letting out a mischievous giggle. "Suni, I think he is really into you. And all those magazines were right about his eyes, steely gray."
Sunshine frowned. "You are seeing things that are non existent. His interest in me is only apocalypse related. He wants what’s in my brain and my skills."
"And if you are wrong." Nimo asked her.
Sunshine stared at the sky, it was drizzling softly now, like the rain was about to stop. She knew that it was just making room for something else.
"We should talk less about my marital life and get ready for the hunt. That mist did not just change humans, it changed the animals and plants as well. We should apply the more action and less gossip tactic."
Nimo touched her pockets. "I have my guns ready, just say when."
Sunshine inclined her head to the left and said, "When."
It meant now, and Nimo got the message. Sunshine called Dwayne and told him to bring the hunting weapons to the information center of the inner wall. Meanwhile, Nimo assembled the soldiers that were going on the hunt. Ten groups were going and in each group were twelve people.
The members of all the groups were familiar with each other, old military units once stationed together across boarders. They even had names for their teams, from zero to eleven. Nimo was part of group zero.
Then, there was Sunshine and Hades. They showed and joined the groups, distributing physical copies of a map of the forest and the mountain.
Sunshine said into a megaphone, "Attention soldiers, I am Sunshine Quinn and next to me is my husband Hades Quinn. You are all welcome to our base. I won’t waste your time and get right to it. The mission we are undertaking is only going to last for four hours. After four hours, whether you have enough prey or not, return to...."
"Sorry for the interruption Mrs. Quinn but are you planning to be the commander?" Major Elio asked. "I mean no disrespect because you are very good in the administration department we can all see that with what you have done here but hunting requires strength, stealth and precision. I think that perhaps you should leave such tasks to us experienced soldiers." He was treading lightly, wrapping his critique with layers of kind advise.
Some soldiers in the group folded their lips but stared at the major with agreement.
Hades started to come forward.
"Don’t." Sunshine moved her hand to stop Hades from defending her. She wanted to earn the soldiers’ respect and trust, to show them that she was skilled in fighting or defending herself and the base. "Do not worry about me Major Elio, I can handle myself and I promise that you will not need to defend this damsel. Now let’s move out."
She turned and left, not waiting for them decided whether they would be following her or not.
"You okay?" Hades asked her.
She nodded. "He is not the first man to underestimate me and he won’t be the last. I usually let my actions do all the talking for me."
They moved to their assigned trucks and set off. Hades sat in front with Dwayne and she sat in the back with Nimo.
Nimo was just as worried about Sunshine’s feelings being hurt. "Suni, ignore Major Elio, he still has that backward mentality that women are meant to be in the kitchen and not in leadership positions. I was in his platoon for a while and it was not heaven.
As sexist as he is, he made sure to train and push me as hard as he did with all the men. When I was injured in an ambush, he carried me on his back and run all the way back to the base. He is a good soldier all in all, just a jerk. Even his wife testifies to this. She says he is a good husband, good father and great provider but a jerk."
Sunshine let out a snort. "Who else should I expect traces of insubordination from?" she asked. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com
"Siegfried....he makes dirty jokes." Nimo shuddered. "All the time. There is no off switch with him. He is part of group nine. "And then, there is Philip Haig. He has no concept of personal space. As soon as your relationship is classified as friends, you are doomed. He will walk by you and wrap your head in his armpit while laughing like an annoying brother.
He is the kind to eat some of your chips and drink from your bottle. He can walk in when your dressing up and not even blink from embarrassment. He forgot his toothbrush once when we were on a mission and he used mine. I only found out when we returned to the base that we had been sharing a toothbrush."
"Gross." Sunshine said.
Hades looked back, brows arched in question.
Nimo shrugged. "The military has all kind of weird folks. But as long as they have your back and are good men, you accept their quirks because nobody is perfect."
The car stopped at the first gate. Other soldiers that had already got assignments to work at the gate peeked into the vehicles, took a head count and then gave them the go ahead and the gate was opened. The soldiers were already operating as if this was a military base.
"Your soldiers work fast." She told Nimo.
Hades looked back. "It is why the information centers are busy. They did not even settle in and flooded the help desks looking for jobs. I like these men, they have their priorities straight."
Nimo smiled. It felt like a direct compliment to her because she had personally approved of all the soldiers she had come with.
"Do you know if any of them awakened?" She asked Sunshine.
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