novelraw Chapter 730: Bad day.
Chapter 730: Bad day.
Hades didn’t move for a second. The contrast between the horrors in his head and the ketchup on her face was so ridiculous he felt a bubble of hysterical laughter threaten to rise. He walked over, his eyes scanning her for injuries. She looked exhausted, her hair matted with sweat and ash, but she was whole.
"You’re a terrible shadow," Hades said, his voice husky with relief. "I could hear you chewing from the hallway. You sound like a woodchipper."
She nearly choked on the chicken. In no way did she sound like a woodchipper! Her chewing was soft and graceful. But that didn’t matter much now.
"I haven’t eaten since.... I do not remember," she defended herself, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, only to smear the ketchup further. "And the world-to-world travel always makes me feel like my stomach is trying to exit through my ears."
"Sit," Hades commanded gently. He took the plate from her_ a chaotic mountain of leftovers_ and carried it all to the dining table. "Eat comfortably. I knew you’d come back starving. You always do when you’re off saving the world or trying not to let it explode."
He moved back to the stove, pulling out a small pot. Instead of just his milk, he started a second batch. He didn’t ask questions yet. He just let the silence of the house wrap around them while she worked her way through the rest of the chicken.
Once she finally slowed down, leaning back with a heavy sigh, the reality of the night began to settle in. Sunshine’s expression shifted, the light in her eyes dimming. She had left the Commander of the Repairman Council in a boat on a foreign world! Talk about bad decisions!
Hades walked to the table; eyes fixed on her. They had a question inside, and she had the answer.
"Hades," she said softly. She looked down at her greasy hands. "I didn’t bring back the solution we wanted. I begged the council, but it said no and tried to steal the prime core from me. Now we have to find other solutions for the rift problem."
Hades let out a long, heavy breath. It was the sound of a man watching a flickering candle finally go out. He placed a mug of warm milk in front of her. "I was hoping for a miracle," he admitted, his voice low. "But I suppose miracles are in short supply these days."
He pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, his large hand covering her smaller one. "I too have news, Suni. While you were gone... we completely took over Iron Wood City."
"Great!" Sunshine said, then quickly noticed the sadness in his eyes, "Or is it not?"
Hades told her the rest. He didn’t sugarcoat it. He described the mutated fish in the river, the dead toxin absorbers. He told her about the elixir that the watchers gave the mutated fish_ everything."
By the end of the story, Sunshine had pushed her plate away entirely. The hunger was gone, replaced by a hollow ache in her chest.
"This has been a shitty day," she whispered, her shoulders sagging. She looked at the ketchup-stained napkin on the table. "Why does it feel like everything is going out of control?"
"Because we can only control so much." He replied. "And you are trying to save the world on your own. But our opponents are stronger and much crueler. It has been a bad day, and all we can do is roll it off our backs and continue on tomorrow." They didn’t have time to feel sorry for themselves.
She sighed, a sound of pure exhaustion. "Well. Let us focus on the positive side, at least you saved some people. Do you know what kind of damage those fish would have done to us if they attacked unnoticed?"
"It would have been a blood bath," Hades said firmly.
Sunshine let out a massive, jaw-cracking yawn that made her eyes water. She looked like she was about to fall face-first into her milk.
"Alright, that’s enough," Hades stood up, gently tugging her arm. "Forget the rifts. Forget the Council. Forget the watchers for eight hours. Get to bed."
"I can’t sleep for eight hours maybe five, I have to start leveling up," she shared, though she didn’t resist as he led her toward the stairs. "Also, I smell like sulfur, old grease, and Commander Melvin’s bad attitude. I would love a shower first. If I lay on the sheets like this, I’ll probably never get a good rest. I don’t know if I will ever have good dreams again. I think I visited hell. The biblical one, but it was weird."
Hades looked at her_ really looked at her_ noticing the way her hands were trembling slightly from the adrenaline crash. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, right above the grime.
"Go on then," he said, his voice a warm, grounding rumble. "I’ll help you. I’ll get the water ready. You just worry about standing still."
Sunshine leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked, a small, tired smile finally breaking through the soot. "You’re a good man, Hades Quinn. I am lucky I married you."
"I am the lucky one, Mrs. Quinn," he teased softly. "Now, let’s get you clean before you continue hallucinating and I have to called Father Nicodemus and request for an exorcism."
********
Luck was on Cassius’ side_ or at least, he had used his silver tongue and the weight of the Quinn family name to manufacture his own fortune. With the help of a few desperate super-humans who saw him as a meal ticket, he had managed to be flown to Camp Zenith completely unharmed. The moment he reached the perimeter and identified himself as Cassius Quinn, the gates groaned open.
Orion, who had stepped up as the leader since Dominic’s departure, didn’t hesitate. The Quinns were the lifeblood of the camp; supplies were sent to Zenith every three months through superhumans on Dominic’s command. If not for that steady stream of food, weapons and medicine, the camp would have been a graveyard months ago.
However, Cassius’ entrance was far from celebratory. The air was thick with the sound of sobbing. Tears rolled down Denise’s face, her body shaking as she clutched a small bundle to her chest. Her child had been stung by a Stinger_ the giant, mutated mosquitoes that dominated the darkness of the apocalypse.
The survival brochures had warned everyone: Stingers don’t just bite; they hollow you out. The Quinns had even gifted the camp an artificial sun to keep the pests at bay, making the camp a literal beacon of safety.
But for Denise, the sun had come a little too late.