The sky was barely lighting up when the won of the Ice Regint were already geared up and ready. True to her stingy reputation, Liana ordered the removal of the two massive iron doors from the air-raid shelter, mounting them onto the rooftops of two trucks. Magnus glanced back at the shelter one last ti before stepping into the luxury RV without a word.
That decision had been made the previous night by group vote. Chloe and gan, acting in his stead, took the lead to scout ahead in two armored Humvees.
Eight APCs ford the front of the convoy, two flanked the RV in the center, while the rear guard had four more. The scout vehicles rolled out fifteen minutes ahead, and the convoy slowly followed.
Inside the luxurious RV, the five - Magnus, Emily, Liana, Sophia, and Charlotte - sat on the central couch in the lounge. Charlotte lit a cigarette. Liana let out a soft sigh, "We’re really leaving... feels a bit hard to part with it."
Emily nodded, glancing briefly at Magnus, who lay back with his eyes closed, clearly uninterested. She replied, "Yeah... let’s just hope this stretch goes smoothly."
*****
In the sleeper bus, things were dim despite it being dayti. To save power, interior lights were off, and only faint daylight squeezed in from the front windshield.
Isla had drawn her curtains on both sides and lay staring at the bunk above her. The vehicle rocked ever so slightly as it moved, making her feel nauseous. She grabbed her canteen from beside the pillow and took a sip. From underneath the pillow, she retrieved a small bag of hawthorn slices - snuck to her by her bodyguard, Flick.
She quietly chewed one, savoring the tangy sweetness. If she really was pregnant, she’d probably want even more of these.
The convoy crawled along sluggishly, six hours in and they’d barely cleared Ironvale County. Survivors occasionally tried to stop them, hoping for a way in.
Magnus had already laid down the rules with the others the previous night - female survivors were allowed in, no matter the age. n were given two bottles of water and a cold rice ball before being turned away.
So far, the convoy kept that policy. Even the eleven male APC drivers they’d captured days ago had already been released by Liana.
"At this speed, it’ll take us eight days to reach Ashbrook Town," Emily frowned, tapping at the map on the table.
"If it goes smooth, then let it be eight days," Liana responded. "We can only hope for no more trouble..."
Right on cue, the convoy halted again. Magnus sat up from the couch and got ready to step out, but Sophia beat him to it, standing up.
"I’ll check. Probably more survivors."
Ten minutes later, she returned, a bit winded. "Two giant rats," she reported plainly.
"Anyone hurt?" Magnus asked.
"Nothing serious. One truck got knocked over, that’s all." She took a swig of water and sat down again. The convoy kept moving. That day was full of little hiccups, but nothing serious. By nightfall, the convoy stopped right on the highway.
On the sleeper trucks, soone was using gas cylinders to cook rice. The side dishes? Just so pickled vegetables, chili sauce, and a few sausages. Every three people shared a can of at.
After dinner, Magnus stepped out for so air. When he got back into the RV, Sophia and the others all looked beat. After a whole day of bumpy travel, no one was in high spirits.
Charlotte, done eating, glanced at the map on the coffee table and let out a sigh. "We’ve been moving all day, and only covered a bit over a hundred kiloters."
"Yeah," Sophia stretched with a groan. "Too many vehicles, can’t get up to speed."
Magnus lit a cigarette and paced the RV’s small lounge for a while. Suddenly, he asked, "Miss Jabbar, what if we turned a bus into a mobile kitchen?"
"A mobile kitchen?" Liana paused, a little surprised. "It’s doable. Not a bad idea at all..."
Magnus nodded, then added, "And maybe even another one for showers."
"Showers?" Sophia shot him a look. "You crazy? You know how much water it’d take for a thousand people to shower?"
"Would five liters be enough per shower for you girls?" Magnus asked calmly.
Sophia mulled it over, muttering, "If it’s just a basin wash, maybe. Just enough to wipe down."
Liana chid in, "Even if it’s just five liters each, for the whole group that’s still five tons of water."
"Then five tons it is," Magnus replied. "At least once a month, everyone should get a chance to wash. Tomorrow, if we pass a town, we try to get so buses or coaches. Convert a few for showers and als."
"No way! I don’t agree!" Liana cut him off sharply. "A kitchen truck might be okay, but using water for showers? That’s wasteful! Sure, we’ve got plenty of Water Crystals now, but what about later? When they’re all used up? Then what? What do we drink? Magnus, this idea’s no good. I’m against it."
"I’m against it too," Charlotte echoed.
Emily shot Magnus a glance. "Liana’s right. I back her on this."
Seeing all of them against it, Magnus had no choice but to explain. "We won’t run out of water."
"Won’t run out?" Sophia looked at him, stunned. The others waited silently, eyes fixed on Magnus.
He gave a slight nod. "In a few months, teors will fall again."
"You’re saying there’ll be another teor shower?" The won all stared at him, disbelief written on their faces. Sophia quickly followed up, "How would you know that? That’s impossible! You can predict that too?"
Was he so kind of prophet? That’s what they were all thinking.
Magnus had lived through it in his past life - it was the second teor storm that killed him. Of course, he knew. But he couldn’t say that now. So he just went with sothing vague. "It’s like rain. It won’t just happen once. I’m sure it’ll co again."
The group went quiet, each lost in thought, until Charlotte frowned and turned to him. "If there’s another teor fall... does that an more centipedes and spiders will co too?"
More centipedes and spiders?
That made Magnus pause. First teor shower - the bugs showed up five hours after. Giant centipedes, spiders, even those nasty sky mosquitoes.
By the ti of the second teor shower, he hadn’t even survived two hours. He had no idea what new terrors might co.
But Charlotte’s guess made a lot of sense. Real sense. This - this was sothing Magnus had never thought about. The more he dwelled on it, the colder his spine felt... like a chill crawling straight into his bones.
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