Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.

The flash from the phone cut across the darkness like lightning streaking across the sky.

Everyone got the feeling that something really bad was about to happen. Everything that happened next almost seemed to happen in slow motion. Like something out of a movie.

Pink screamed, an enraged shriek that made the ice crack. The bird jerked back as though struck by a bullet or something heavy. Its feathers moved up to cover its eyes like the flash was blinding. It raised its wings far up and they reflected in the moonlight.

Some people closed their eyes and the bird swooped down with the wing spread out like a fan and it sliced off the hand that held the phone.

Then the air split with another sound, a human cry this time: Sheldon's. It echoed raw and broken through the forest and snow.

"My hand!" He cried, stumbling backwards suddenly afraid of the creature. His phone which was still clutched in the hand of his mutilated arm lay on the crimson snow.

His remaining hand clawed at what remained where his right hand used to be. Blood was spurting from there, shooting like small bursts from a fountain and falling on the snow which was already burying his arm.

His high-pitched screams dragged into a long shattering wail and plea for help.

But nobody dared to approach him carelessly.

They were all frozen in horror out of surprise or fear. Those that could move were afraid of Pink who was hovering in the air above Sheldon.

For ten more breaths, the watcher circled the air continually and then returned to the branch of the tree where it had been perched before being disturbed.

"Now." Sunshine said.

"That ducking idiot." Hadrian stated as he rushed to Sheldon. He dragged him backwards, apologizing to the birds like they understood what he was said.

"He is not one of us." Sunshine added, looking at Pink.

As if pleased with the apology or disdainful of it and suddenly bored, Pink looked the other way with arrogance before flying off. The other watchers followed.

Everyone breathed easier. It was the sign that everything was over, and they could finally return home.

"My hand....." Sheldon continued to cry.

Sunshine marched forward, scanned the snow and discovered the hand. She picked it up and breathed over it, hoping that her ice abilities would keep it alive until they reached a medic bay and it was re-attached.

"Thank your lucky stars that Pink didn't not slice you in half." She screamed at Sheldon, waving the arm in the air like a stick. "What kind of moron taunts the watchers? How many times did I say leave the watchers alone. I was very specific about that. Can't you read body language? Couldn't you see that they were already angry?" She groaned and kicked the snow.

"Oh, I know the moron's name." Elio raised his hand. "It is Sheldon." He pointed at the man that was now sniveling, pale and about to pass out.

Hadrian was giving him first aid, and he was using all of his strength to ask if the doctors would be able to save his arm.

"As you can see, none of us here have deep medical knowledge." Hadrian told him. "You only have yourself to blame in the end moron. We don't even have social media anymore so what were you recording yourself for?"

Dwayne scoffed. They came out to handle serious business, and the rich man was treating it like a walk through some animal park in the safari. Maybe now the billionaires would wake up to the reality of the apocalypse.

Sunshine clapped loudly. "Alright people let's move. Staying out here is not very safe for us. With the beetles gone, things in hiding will be waking up."

One soldier slung Sheldon over his shoulder, and they rearranged themselves on every side to cover the front, back and sides. Snow crunched beneath their boots as the team began the short trudge back through the forest.

Maybe it was because the job was done now but the air seemed lighter in the masks than it had been during their arrival. Tommy limped slightly, his shoulders hunched with exhaustion.

Two men were limping, and they were being helped by others. No one said it aloud but almost the whole team was fraying after the intense battle. Even Sunshine, walking around the front, felt the icy pull of fatigue tugging at her muscles.

They came across familiar looking boots which resembled their own. Everyone knew who they belonged to, it was the man that turned back and run away, abandoning them.

Nobody said anything.

Finally, they reached the point where they left the dead man. A mound of snow now covered the spot, and the body could not be seen. Sunshine waved her hands to see if his frozen body could be retrieved.

There was nothing, the body was gone.

Shock cracked across the group like lightning, several voices overlapped.

"Wasn't he here?"

"Why isn't he here?"

"Did something drag him off?"

Sunshine let out a short sigh. "That or he awakened and made his way into the tunnel. He did breathe in mist after all."

"Shouldn't we search for him?" One man asked.

Sunshine shook her head. "No. We keep moving. If he is dead, we are wasting our time and if he is awakened and alive, he knows where to find us."

They moved on, the mutated moss reacting to their footsteps like a dance beat it was nodding to.

Then one of the men, stepped on something slippery and fell down. Two hurried to help him up, thinking he had slipped because of the snow.

"Hold up." Elio's voice cut low. "What the hell is this?" He squatted over the area where the man had slipped.

Sheldon let out a whine. "What now!? I am worn out and....."

"Shush moron." Hadrian silenced him.

The others lowered their gazes out of curiosity.

"What the hell is that?" One man asked.

It looked a piece of cloth or skin.

Elio touched it, it seemed slimy and wet. "This is freshly shed skin of something." He stated, uncertain of what he was seeing.

The man that had slipped on it gasped. "This big! Something like what, a snake?"

Their eyes darted around in fear, as if searching for it.

Sunshine had a terrible feeling about this, if this was a snake it was not a small one. If it was mutated, she did not have enough juice to fight it.

"We cannot stay here, move." She ordered them.

They obeyed, putting her orders into action. Tommy stumbled once for fear gnawed at him, but he was saved by Hadrian.

Sunshine was the last to follow, she took the skin into her space, only Elio who was next to her saw.

He paused mid step and looked back.

"What is it?" Sunshine asked.

His eyes darted through the trees, scanning for movement. "I cannot help but feel that something is watching us."

Sunshine tilted her head, trying for a faint smile. "To be fair, you always feel that way."

"No." His voice was harder now. "This feeling I am getting is the same one I got as we left the Majestic Pearl hotel in Wescott."

Sunshine's stomach tightened, if Elio was right then maybe it was possible that something had followed them all the way to the mountain and settled in the forest.

It was definitely mutated.

"Run!" She shouted.