There were over a hundred of those rogue soldiers. Through the night vision scope, Magnus spotted Sophia, Emily, and the others. Fortunately, they’d all activated their tal Crystal defense shields.
"Just cannon fodder..."
Abigail and Emma still had ti left on the tal Crystal armor from last ti. The trio jumped off the vehicle, dashed behind enemy lines, and opened up with automatic rifles. Under Magnus and the girls’ pincer attack, the rabble didn’t last five minutes - all wiped out.
As they cleared the spoils, Emily rushed up to Magnus the mont she saw him. She held back from throwing herself into his arms, just grabbed his arm tightly, her voice choked. "You... You’re finally back!" She didn’t know why, but a wave of grievance surged in her chest, so strong it made her want to cry.
"You girls really held it together. You’ve done well, Emily."
Magnus was stirred too. One arm held by her, he patted Emily’s shoulder with the other. But that single move - she thought he was pulling her into an embrace. Tears broke free like a landslide, and she collapsed against his chest, sobbing.
These days, she’d withstood imnse pressure, insisted on staying at the timber plant to wait for Magnus. Because of that choice, the plant was bombed, over 150 sisters had died. If he hadn’t co back, Emily would’ve really lost it.
"Magnus!"
"Commander!"
"Magnus, you’re here!"
Their vehicles had just linked up with the Ice Regint’s convoy, and the female squad mbers instantly sward Magnus, voices rising in excitent. To them, Magnus was more than a leader - he was their backbone. With him around, they felt safe.
In the distance, Sophia stood quietly in a corner, watching the gathered crowd around Magnus. She turned her face aside, blinking hard. Her nose tingled, her eyes rimd red.
After arranging the seven survivors from the bank and three girls rescued from Joshua, Magnus led Abigail and Emma onto the sleeper RV.
Given the bond between them, he couldn’t treat the sisters like regular team mbers. He had to bring them in personally and make introductions.
"Magnus!"
Sarah didn’t hesitate. She threw herself into his arms, crying hard. "Where the hell did you go? You said - ten days! Ten! Do you know how worried we were?!"
"I ran into so trouble... It delayed . I’m sorry," Magnus said, voice low, carrying guilt.
"Sorry? You think a sorry fixes everything?" Sophia burst in from behind, eyes red. "Do you even know how many lives we lost? For your damned ten-day promise?"
ntioning the dead brought silence to the RV. Magnus took a deep breath and finally spoke. "I got pulled into an Anomaly Zone. It felt like hours inside, but when I ca out, half a month had passed. I... couldn’t control it."
"Anomaly Zone? What is that?"
The won stared at him, confused, waiting for answers.
"I’ll explain when there’s ti," Magnus exhaled deeply, turning his head slightly to gesture toward the two won next to him. "This is Abigail and Emma. They’re sisters. The three of us escaped together from the Anomaly Zone."
Abigail and Emma, both country girls, looked uneasy, unsure of what to say. Their emotions were all over the place. They were happy to see a team like this - tight-knit, strong - gave them a sense of safety. But seeing so many won throwing themselves at Magnus, they couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. So this man was quite the womanizer after all.
Out of all those back safely, why were just the two of them brought in first and introduced like this? The other won picked up on it fast - eyes shifting, glancing at Abigail and Emma. Sizing them up, faces, bodies, everything.
Charlotte stepped forward with a bright smile, breaking the awkward tension. She greeted Abigail and Emma warmly, quickly arranging spots for them to rest. She knew Magnus would be getting all kinds of stares otherwise.
Morning light crept in. It was around six. None of the Ice Regint had really rested. Magnus sat down with Emily and Sophia to figure things out. After a short discussion, they agreed - rest a couple hours, then head for the Ironvale Bunker.
Cliff wasn’t the sa man this ti around - he had bombers now. That never happened before. But then, the Ice Regint was stronger than last ti, enough to draw attention they didn’t get before.
Ironvale Bunker wasn’t far - maybe two hours from Sunvale Village if the roads stayed clean. Problem was, running into rogue soldiers or survivor teams was near certain. And they didn’t know if the bunker was already taken.
With the strength of the tal Crystals, they’d be okay for about a week or two, even longer if they were careful. Rogue troops? Bring it on. Infantry vehicles, tanks - they had firepower, even rocket launchers. But survivor teams were trickier. Couldn’t justify killing them... but taking them might invite betrayal later.
And rescuing n would lead to complications. More n, less security - especially for the won in the team. A precedent like that’s dangerous.
After two hours, at 8 a.m., the convoy rolled out. Today’s goal: secure the bunker. Best shelter in the apocalypse - they might even make it their base long-term.
Thing is, this wasn’t before. To protect the convoy, Magnus drove the lead recon vehicle - two kiloters out front. Riding with him were Grace and the Doyle sisters. They were fast. If anything went wrong, they could warn the others in ti.
"Magnus, I think I hear sothing ahead," Grace said from the front seat.
He’d heard it too - no gunfire. Probably survivors fighting off apocalypse beasts. He pulled the vehicle off the road. "You three stay put. I’ll go check it out."
Lighting a torch and activating his tal Crystal, he stepped out. Gigantic centipedes lined the road, arching their bodies, launching themselves toward him. He struck them down as he moved forward, thoughts swirling.
Fire Crystals were great against beasts, but useless against bullets. tal Crystals resisted bullets, but the beasts still sward.
What if he activated tal Crystal, then doused himself in oil and lit up? Immune to monsters and bullets?
No... He shook his head. Breathing would be impossible.
Scrapping the idea, Magnus slipped up a hillside beside the road. First thing’s first - figure out who those survivors really were...
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