Chapter 46: Winter is Coming
Before the apocalypse began, the thing Rhayra wanted most was to turn 18 and move to SC12 with her older brother Rick...
Her brother had only moved to the city for 2 years, but he was now a completely different person... Not only was he mysteriously the strongest of the group of survivors, knowing how to use the new power that few were still learning, but there was a much greater maturity that was not there before...
Her brother had always been a figure of admiration and example for her, who was very young when their father died, and since Rick was a child, he had always been much more mature for his age... But Rhayra thought there was something there beyond maturity... Was there something in his gaze, a kind of tiredness and sadness? Maybe that was the gaze of someone with a lot of experience? Or was it the gaze of someone who could see the future?
His brother was known by everyone at Pineview Base as the one who had information about the future, and he constantly proved it. He predicted the beginning of the apocalypse, he knew about the crystals, he prepared the base’s defenses and reinforcements for winter... And it wasn’t just about things related to survival... Rick knew almost everything I was going to do in advance, as if he knew me even better than before he left for the city...
At that moment, winter had begun, and my brother was giving a lecture in a room for all of us who were level 3 mutants.
Oh yes... I was now a level 3 mutant too, before I could even ask, Rick had read my thoughts and given me the crystals needed to increase my power... There were many hunters older and more experienced than I who could have received these quite limited crystals... But he gave them to me without me even asking.
I had prepared a huge speech to explain why I, a 16-year-old girl, should be chosen among the other hunters and trusted men who protect our walls and go out every day to work and collect resources... But Rick simply placed the crystals in my hands, leaving me speechless.
After that, I just focused on trying to master my new powers. After all, if Maya got two of them in less than a month, I saw no reason why I couldn’t get at least one in a few weeks... But to my surprise, I released my first power within the first week, but I still hadn’t told Rick, because this power couldn’t help at all now...
While Rick explained his new plans and requirements for creating new Bases, all I saw was him and all the students in the room moving in slow motion... It was as if it took forever for my brother to finish a single sentence, and when someone asked a question, I got frustrated because it seemed like this tedious lecture would never end...
My eyes moved around observing everyone in this room watching my brother’s lecture. Everyone here was the only level 3 mutant at Pineview Base. There was Ethan and Vanessa, who had recently become mutants along with me, there was also a military man who was part of the base where Ethan worked, Maya, Joe, and I.
The only one who wasn’t here was Captain Gustav, who was in SC01... But he was watching this meeting from a distance through a camera that Ethan installed in the room.