"My terms are simple. From this mont on, no one in Ice Regint leaves without permission. Anyone who does - I’ll find her no matter where she runs, and I’ll silence her. That’s the deal."
Plain as it gets - no word of the teor gets out. That was Magnus’s bottom line.
He paused, sweeping his gaze across the dim interior of the vehicle. "If there’s anyone who still wants to go ho, or has other plans, I won’t stop you. Tomorrow morning, you’ll get a week’s worth of food and a vehicle. But if you choose to stay, you obey what I just said. No exceptions."
Originally, he ant to announce this in the morning. But with Sophia and the others pushing him now, he figured it might as well be said.
Silence filled the vehicle.
Then Sophia stood up, her face flushed with anger. "Magnus, you’re unbelievable! We risked our lives for you, took down soldiers, even shot down a damn helicopter - and this is how you repay us? You think we can just walk away now, like it’s that easy?"
Charlotte, knowing how hot-headed Sophia could be, quickly got up and whispered sothing into her ear. Sophia snorted and fell silent, slumping back into her seat.
Both Emily and Charlotte picked up on it - whatever Magnus was hiding, it was serious. You don’t talk about killing your own unless the stakes are sky-high.
"This sothing to do with those teorites?" Charlotte asked quietly.
Magnus didn’t answer, but his eyes t hers. Calm, unreadable. She reminded him of an actress from the old world - clean lines, steady eyes.
"I get it," Charlotte said.
She stood up, swept a look around the group. "Let’s sleep. The commander’s got sothing big to say in the morning."
*****
The circular camp was quiet. Night watch was done from the outer SUVs - all that kept away were humans and giant rats. Other creatures - centipedes, spiders, worse - they were left alone.
All night long, the sleeper bus thumped now and then with things slamming into it - centipedes mostly. Thankfully, the whole vehicle was wrapped in iron sh, so the number of hits wasn’t too bad. The wire even sliced up a few of the things.
Magnus was the most worn out in the group - fighting, driving, escaping a gunship strike... he should’ve been dead asleep.
But he wasn’t.
His hand still felt like ice. The chill hadn’t faded one bit. Stranger than that, he couldn’t shake the feeling - familiar, sohow - but he didn’t know why.
And then there were the teorites. Tomorrow the digging would start. That haul - if it was as big as it looked - was a damn gold mine. But riches like that only brought death. He knew that truth too well.
For the next month, the secret could not get out. Absolutely not to the Sovereign Vanguard. Not to anyone. Not even to ordinary folk - it only took one slip, one rumor, and the world would co crashing down. Even if a month passed and the secret got out, the Ice Regint folk still couldn’t just leave on their own. Hell, they couldn’t even get caught. That part mattered even more.
Think about it - if the Seventh Vanguard found out Magnus’s team was hoarding a mountain of teor crystals, would they let that slide? Tanks and bombers might be rolling in within hours.
Classic case of "having treasure invites trouble."
Around one, two in the dead of night, Magnus finally dozed off, half-conscious. All night long, he seed to be dreaming - dream after dream, weird ones too.
One dream had him trapped among rat-type beasts, feeling utterly powerless.
Another? Sarah again. He was yelling at her, trying desperately to explain sothing, while she clutched her head and shouted back, refusing to listen.
Then the last one - he was drifting in a vast sea, or maybe it was just a gigantic swimming pool. Won filled the water: Emily, Sarah, Grace, Charlotte - even that little girl’s mother. Each one floating in a swim ring, splashing around like they were having the ti of their lives. Then they all swam toward him, each grabbing an arm, a leg, even his head - pulling him in every direction like they were ready to tear him apart.
"Let go of !"
He bolted upright with a shout - only to slam his forehead hard against the upper bunk. At 178 cm, that was bound to happen. A woman wouldn’t have that problem.
It was daylight now. The female mbers were already up. Liana was handing out breakfast and lunch rations. Seeing Magnus still asleep, Emily had told everyone to leave him be. Sophia wasn’t having it though. She was about to wake him with a good smack when she saw it all go down.
"Pfft!" she couldn’t hold back the laugh. It hit too suddenly, too damn funny.
Realizing she’d laughed out loud, Sophia quickly put on a stern face, "You know you snored all night in the car, right? I’m warning you - snore like that again, and you’re banned from the sleeper ride."
Magnus sat there, dazed from the hit. A goose egg had already ford dead center on his forehead. Emily rushed over to check on it, and Grace ca along too. At the sight of that swollen lump, she couldn’t help but chuckle, hand over her mouth, "Haha! With that bump, can you even wear your helt today?"
Hearing that, Sophia cracked a smile too, and even Emily, who’d been concerned a mont ago, burst out laughing.
Getting a bad bump on the head was one thing - being circled by giggling won made it worse. Magnus was stewing inside.
Leading the Ice Regint ant one thing he couldn’t lose: authority. Back in his college days, sure, he might’ve cracked a joke, played cute, maybe teased the ladies a bit. But not now. Not anymore.
Not yet.
Frustrated, he flopped back into bed, covering his head with his blanket - only for the laughter to hit harder.
*****
After a quick breakfast, Magnus gathered the bus leaders to his sleeper car. He had Charlotte and Emily help reinforce what he’d told them the night before - every person got one hour to decide.
Anyone wanting to leave? This was their last chance.
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