Chapter 307: It's Raining!

Naturally, Sierra Sullivan did not sleep well that night. She desperately wanted to sneak up and see if there was a chance to slip away. Even though she knew neither Nathan Thorne nor Hector Grant truly minded her presence, she still didn’t want to put them in danger. They were looking out for her, so of course, she had to look out for them.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Throughout the night, Sierra couldn’t find a single opportunity to leave. Every time she opened her eyes, before she could even sit up, she was spotted. In the dim light, her gaze would accurately meet Hector’s. Although Hector didn’t say a word and his expression remained indifferent, Sierra could clearly read the silent warning in his eyes: don’t even think about sneaking off. After trying several times throughout the night, not only had she failed to leave, but she also hadn’t slept well. It was completely counterproductive.

The next morning, when Sierra woke up, she looked rather sluggish. Ever since awakening her Superpower, she hadn’t experienced this kind of mental exhaustion; it just went to show how draining the entire night had been. She wasn’t the only one. Jayce and Nathan wore similar exhausted expressions. Hector, on the other hand, looked incredibly energetic despite having barely rested. Sierra had to admit that the man was naturally gifted in that regard.

At breakfast, Nathan yawned continuously, talking between bites. “Sierra, Jayce, if you guys want to sneak off in the future, don’t pick the nighttime. Look, not only did you fail to escape, but you also kept the rest of us from sleeping. That does none of us any good, don’t you agree?”

Sierra looked at Nathan speechlessly. “Do you hear what you’re saying?”

If they didn’t sneak away at night, were they supposed to do it in broad daylight? Realizing he had just uttered sheer nonsense, Nathan scratched his head in embarrassment.

Just as Nathan was about to say something else, a man came rushing over.

“Captain! Come look at this!”

His panicked demeanor made it obvious that something monumental had happened. Hector didn’t ask any questions. He simply stood up and strode toward the door, prompting Sierra and the others to quickly follow suit.

The door was wide open, offering a clear view of the outside. The sandstorm that had raged continuously since the apocalypse began had stopped at some unknown hour. Unlike before, when it had merely weakened, this time it had ceased entirely. The sky was no longer filled with flying yellow sand; it had revealed its original color. Blue.

Staring at the azure sky, Sierra’s eyes stung, and her vision gradually blurred. She had thought she would never have the chance to see a blue sky and white clouds again in this lifetime. She never expected this day would actually come.

“The sandstorm stopped. Is the apocalypse over?” someone voiced aloud.

Although only one person said it, it was exactly what everyone present was thinking. Sierra also wondered if the apocalypse had truly ended just like that, without any warning. It felt too sudden. But on second thought, it wasn’t that strange. If the end of the world could begin so abruptly, why couldn’t it end just as suddenly?

“The zombies and Aberrant Beasts have all disappeared, too.”

Hearing this, Sierra finally noticed that the monsters were indeed completely gone. Why was that? As she puzzled over it, a gust of wind swept by, and thick clouds rapidly gathered above. The heavy overcast made it look like it was going to rain at any second.

The crowd was utterly stunned by the sight. Not only was the sandstorm gone, but it was also about to rain. Things were actually getting better!

The weather changed fast. Before long, it began to pour. After the initial shock wore off, the survivors—who hadn’t seen rain in longer than they could remember—erupted into ecstatic cheers.

“It’s raining!”

“The apocalypse is over!”

“We can go back to our old lives!”

The excited shouts echoed one after another, laying bare just how thrilled they were. Having Superpowers was cool, but compared to the apocalyptic wasteland, they would much rather have their old lives back. Sierra was happy, too. If the apocalypse had truly ended, nothing could be better.

“Sierra, it’s raining. Can I go play outside?”

Candice Tate’s voice reached her ears just as Sierra felt a gentle tug on her arm. Looking down, she met Candice’s big, clear eyes. Seeing the sheer longing in the little girl’s gaze, Sierra couldn’t bear to say no. Yet, before she could even answer, someone else had already dashed out, running straight into the curtain of rain.

Candice was a child, and an obedient one at that, so naturally, she would ask for Sierra’s permission. The others, however, were adults fully capable of taking responsibility for their own actions. They had no need to ask. Sierra instinctively looked toward the men who had run out.

Hector also watched them with a hint of exasperation. “These brats…”

Before he could finish his sentence, his expression drastically changed.

The men standing in the rain, who had just been cheering with wide smiles, were now screaming in agony. Their happy expressions twisted into masks of pure torment. Their clothes were rapidly corroding away. Worse still, their exposed skin was blistering and rotting right off, revealing stark white bone underneath.

“Come back!” Hector roared at the top of his lungs, but it was too late.

The men collapsed to the ground. The corrosive rain had already eaten away almost all of their clothing and flesh. In just a matter of moments, several living, breathing people had been reduced to nothing but bones.

Sierra and the others had seen dead bodies before; they had witnessed all sorts of gruesome ends. Yet, watching this scene unfold before their very eyes turned everyone’s face deathly pale. They could accept dying of illness, and they could accept dying in battle, but they could not accept dying like this. It was simply too sudden and far too horrific to stomach.

Hector stared at the grisly scene, his eyes wide with raw devastation. A few squad members who were close to the victims tried to rush out into the storm, but Hector strictly held them back.

“Stop right there! No one takes another step!”

“Captain, if we don’t go out there, their bones will be completely corroded away! We can’t just watch them vanish without a trace!”

Hector stared fixedly outside, his eyes red, yet his tone remained unyielding. “You can see how highly corrosive this rain is. If they couldn’t withstand it, what makes you think you can? Are you made of steel and iron? Should I let you go out there just so you can die with them?”

Though Hector’s tone was harsh, there was no denying that every word he said was the truth. Stepping out there right now was no different from throwing their lives away.