CHAPTER 113: NIMO’S PERSISTENT GUILT.

A part of Sunshine wanted to turn back and go back to the base. She was missing Castiel so much. Hades, Ariel and Earl too but mostly Castiel as they spent most of their time together. He was always attached to her hip at least two hours daily in different intervals.

But she was worried that if she did not accompany Nimo personally, her soft-hearted friend would end up dead like it was in her last life. She had not yet awakened so what protection did she have out here? Even awakened, she had died.

Maybe she needed to put her best friend in a personal protective bubble, if it existed.

What would they do out here without her? Sunshine could only imagine how much worse the situation with the wolves would have been if she did not tag along with the team.

She also had a feeling that even if they returned to the base now, Nimo would be back on the road in a week at most.

Anger swelled in Sunshine’s chest for some seconds. Why did Nimo’s mother have to openly cry for Alfred all the time and make Nimo feel some kind of way for being around? It was because of that reason that Nimo and her two uncles were out in the acid rain along with the rest of the team.

What if everyone died? Wouldn’t she cry even more if she lost another child?

As harsh as it was, losing one child in an apocalypse was better than losing all of your children.

Sunshine winced. "Erase, erase..." she whispered.

"What?" Nimo asked.

Sunshine shook her head. She did not want her friend to know that thoughts she was having. If she was a parent with a missing child in an apocalypse, Sunshine had a feeling that she would also be outside, searching for them no matter what.

The search would only end after she confirmed that the child had passed on or if she herself died. She had no doubt that Nimo would also search forever.

Sunshine made her mind up to tell Nimo the truth about Alfred’s fate in her past life after they searched for a few days and only if he was not at the location where his last coordinates indicated.

If Alfred was alive, fate would have to do the rest and lead him to Westbrook.

"I was just suggesting that we search for two or three days first before heading back." Sunshine told her.

Nimo’s shoulders fell forward and the frown lines on her face deepened.

"What worries you?" Sunshine asked her.

Nimo kept her eyes ahead and gripped the wheel with both hands. "Phillip has a sickly mother, old grandparents and a teenage brother. He is in charge of his family...it is my fault that he left the wall and now...." She paused as sobs burst from her mouth.

Guilt was eating at Nimo the way acid rain ate away at the roots of a tree in the soil.

"What do I do if he dies Suni?" She blurted through louder sobs. "What do I tell his brother Mark? How will I look at his mother again?"

Sunshine put down the stitchers and the under suit. She reached out with her hand and patted Nimo’s back. "Neems, honey first calm down."

She used her softest voice which was often saved for the children and also called Nimo by her nickname "Neems", which Nimo did not like because it was the name of a fruit she hated.

Nimo cried harder, her tears fell quickly like the drops of acid rain falling from the sky. No matter what anyone said, she was guilty. If they had not come out to help her search for her brother, they would all be safe with their families right now. Thoughts of how selfish she was run through Nimo’s mind. She should not have dragged the others into their family matter.

Sunshine just sighed. There was nothing she could do now except wait for her friend to cry it out.

Half an hour later, Elio alerted them to a villa area ahead where some people were living.

"Most of the houses are falling in and it doesn’t look like the meteors did it. Most of the villas were built with wood and glass so the acid rain got to them." He continued to report.

As Sunshine listened, she handed tissues to Nimo to wipe away her tears. She would have offered her some of that calming ice cream Cassius used to drug her with but there was no time for ice cream.

"Three stone villas survived, and they all appear to be occupied. The people inside have weapons." Major Elio reported from the first vehicle. His fingers were pointing out, counting the number of people he could see.

O’Toole frowned. How good were those special binoculars? Did they have ex-ray abilities?

"I count twenty-one in total." He declared. "Boss...this is a tactical kind of situation. We should plan before heading in or else we might end up taking on gun fire. Are the weather absorbent under suits bullet proof?"

"No...." Sunshine answered. "I don’t actually know because we have not tested that ability on them. Everyone should suit up when we park. Helmets, bullet proof vests.... the works."

"Aye aye captain." Siegfried answered.

Sunshine made a "tch" sound and she put the walkie-talkie down. Her attention went to Nimo. "Neems, you good?"

Nimo nodded. "I am a soldier, I know when to cry and when to get my head on straight for a mission. Don’t worry Suni, I am not fragile." She raised her eyes to meet those of her friend and forced herself to smile.

"Don’t smile. I am not just anyone, so you don’t have to pretend to be okay with me." Sunshine told her. "We can search here first and them drive to the area on the coordinates; it is not very far from here.

If Alfred is not there, we can drive back to the base while checking other houses that are still standing. We can also look into the caves on the mountain."

Nimo nodded. That was a plan she could get on board with. Frankly, she was feeling stupid for suggesting that they come out and search in the acid rain. If the cars were destroyed, everyone would die.

Nimo parked the car and reached in the back seat for her gear. She was thinking to herself that she had been too arrogant and that was what had caused this mess.

Nimo touched the cross pendant around her neck which had been given to her by her father on the day she was baptized at five years old. She sent up a silent prayer for Alfred and Philip.

Sunshine signaled the comms officer meanwhile and the drone was sent out to scout ahead. The teams split into three groups made up of five people each. Others remained back to guard the cars.

"If you see anything moving in the rain..."

O’Toole jumped in before she could finish her words. "Shoot. If we see anything moving in the rain, we are shooting."

He didn’t care what it was, he was going to shoot to kill because he did not want another person to end up like Phillip.