Magnus had that dream again last night. Second ti now. So, co dawn, he shoved aside the urge to lounge in bed reading and got himself moving, heading out of the grain vault to personally oversee the prisoners modifying the vehicles.
His mind wasn’t at ease.
No more rebar. Last night, he’d told Emily they could cut up steel plates or strip down the useless vehicles to make rebar.
Early this morning, he sent out gan, Amber, and Ashton, each leading a hundred people, to scout for a steel factory.
Ashbrook Town was decent for a rural settlent - six gated communities stood scattered around, along with so random buildings and shops. Not much of a layout, but plenty of houses.
Around a thousand military vehicles now choked the streets of Ashbrook Town. They were mostly filled with scattered survivor groups. Ice Regint let them live in those seized vehicles for free, but the n in their teams still had to go out and collect items off Ice Regint’s trade list to exchange for food and water for their families.
Emily and Liana stayed by Magnus’s side. As he stared at the packed lines of transport trucks, then the won inside them, he turned to Liana and asked, "None of them willing to join us?"
"Not all of them refuse," Liana replied. "So want to, but none of them can fight. The ones with family still out there - they won’t leave their people behind. Not unless we let them bring their n, and... well, that’s not sothing they’re ready to give up."
Magnus gave a silent nod, eyes scanning the vehicles again. He turned aside. He knew the mont he made an exception for them and allowed n into the group, there’d be no going back. Break that rule once, and it’s no longer a rule.
Around noon, Abigail ca tearing back in an SUV with two female teammates. She jumped out and made straight for Magnus. "Magnus - Captain! Cliff’s people are on the move. They’re 30 kiloters out."
"How many?" Magnus asked.
"About three hundred."
Liana chid in, "They bring supplies? What are they saying?"
"They want to trade for the prisoners. But insists it has to be face-to-face with the captain."
Emily and Liana exchanged glances and looked toward Magnus. Charlotte was approaching from a distance too.
Magnus paused a breath, then glanced at Liana. "Liana, prep a hundred of our people. Give each of them a tal Crystal. We’re heading out. We’re taking the lot of them."
"We’re... capturing them?" Liana asked, surprise flashing in her eyes. "Wasn’t the deal to trade?"
"Who said that?" Magnus frowned. "Did they lay out terms before coming to attack us?"
An hour later, Magnus drove the armored Humvee out to the spot 30 kiloters from town. Behind him, ten infantry transport vehicles rolled up in neat formation.
He stepped down and strode ahead. From the passenger side, Sophia followed, half a step behind.
Across from them, three n climbed out. All wore combat gear. The leader’s shoulder patch showed two bars, two stars - must be a deputy regintal commander.
"What’s this supposed to an?" the man said, voice muffled inside his helt.
Magnus looked up. The Springvale team had only brought a dozen cargo trucks, none of them enclosed. Easy to tell vehicle supply was running low on their end - Ice Regint had taken too many from them last ti.
Magnus raised his pistol, muzzle pressed steady against the vice commander’s throat. His voice was calm, cold. "Tell your n to get off the trucks and follow us. Or I’ll take this as a declaration of war."
"We ca to negotiate for the hostages!" the vice commander snapped, voice tight with anger. But he didn’t get to finish - "Bang!" A clean shot. The bullet punched through his carotid. No scream. He collapsed, hands clutched at his neck, blood pouring.
The two n stepping down behind him froze, panic flashing across their faces. Their hands moved slightly, instinctively reaching for their weapons. But they stopped dead the mont they realized both Magnus and Sophia had them squarely in their sights.
Magnus didn’t flinch, pointing his gun at one, his tone still flat. "One more ti. Everyone off the trucks. Hands on your heads. Into the grain bunker."
The man obeyed imdiately, spinning around and signaling the others. One by one, hundreds of soldiers in camo began pouring out of the trucks - packed tight, stumbling over each other. Maybe two dozen held rifles. The rest gripped machetes or shovels, and a few had makeshift torches to keep bugs away.
They were already beaten. They’d heard the stories. Tens of thousands of soldiers had stord the grain bunker before - and got wiped out. Scattered survivors told of dozens, maybe hundreds of tal Crystals unleashed at once by the won defending the place. The assault failed. It was a bloodbath.
Now? Only 30 rifles among them. Three hundred n, strung out and tired. Who’d fight? Who even could?
One by one, over two hundred n dropped their weapons and raised their hands. From behind Magnus, the ten infantry vehicles opened up, hissing softly as dozens of ard won stepped out. They moved quick, no wasted motion, efficiently herding the prisoners back onto the trucks - each one packed with five captives.
Magnus and Sophia turned and headed back into their own armored vehicle, leading the convoy back to the grain bunker.
Inside, the two military officers were separated from the rest, while the remaining 297 got the usual treatnt - bound hands, gagged mouths, blindfolds. The holding area under the bunker swallowed them up.
Magnus hauled the two officers into his RV. He didn’t offer them chairs. Just dropped himself onto a seat, lit a cigarette, and looked up at them through the smoke. "Alright. Talk. What deals you trying to make?"
Truth was, there were no deals left. They wanted to haggle. ntion how their supplies only covered half the cost. Maybe drop a veiled threat or two about pushing Springvale’s army too far. But after tonight? After their vice commander was dropped in cold blood? Who still cared about bartering?
One of the officers gave a side glance, then stepped forward. "We’ll be honest. We - we were hoping we could settle for a lower price. We only brought half the goods this ti."
The other jumped in quickly. "That wasn’t our idea. Orders from above! We’re just following them."
Magnus gave a low grunt. He believed them. No need to waste ti. He stood, grabbed two bottles of mineral water from the bar, and tossed them their way. He pointed at one. "You. Take ten n and go back. Tell Cliff he can keep the goods - half supplies is fine. But those prisoners? He’s waiting three months before anyone gets out. That’s the deal."
The man nodded like his life depended on it. The other officer stamred, nervous. "W-what about ? You’re just letting him go? What happens to us?"
"You’re prisoners," Magnus said, pointing at the bottle in his hand. "Sa deal. Three months. Right alongside the rest."
Pause.
"Drink the water. You’ll be doing so work for us. Slack off, and there’s no dinner waiting for you tonight."
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