"You three - wait - they’ve got guns!"
The thirty-sothing ard guards instantly tensed up when they saw Magnus and the Sophia sisters marching in with automatic rifles. Over thirty gun barrels locked onto them in a heartbeat.
"Don’t move!"
"Drop your weapons now, or I’ll shoot!"
The guards barked their threats, voices sharp and panicked.
But Magnus didn’t care. He kept walking forward with long strides. "Who’s in charge here?"
"Stop! Don’t move!"
"One more step and we shoot!"
Gunfire rang out. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The shots cracked through the air, and a chorus of screams erupted from the won huddled against the wall. But not a single bullet touched Magnus and the sisters. They walked forward like nothing happened - like thirty ard n had all gone blind at once.
"Who the hell are you people?! Stay where you are!" The guards were already showing fear.
"I’m only gonna ask one more ti. Who’s in charge?"
By now, Magnus was face-to-face with the guards. A few still fired in panic, but the bullets just bounced off him - clinking to the ground like they hit stone.
"H... he is! He’s our officer!"
"It’s him!"
Terrified, the guards scrambled to point out their commanding officer.
Magnus didn’t even bother raising the rifle. He drew a sidearm and put a bullet straight through the man’s skull. The guy dropped on the spot.
Sophia’s voice cut through the room like a whip. "You’ve got ten seconds to drop your weapons, and one minute to strip your gear. Stall even a second - I’ll kill one of you!"
They didn’t make it thirty seconds. Every last one of them dropped their guns, peeled off their gear, and hit their knees.
Magnus turned to the terrified won on the side, eyes scanning. "Whose bright idea was it to make them strip?"
"It wasn’t ! It wasn’t !" a guard in front of Magnus blurted out, face pale. "It was Deputy Lee! Swear to God, it was him!"
"Bullshit! You dirty bastard!" another kneeling guard exploded with rage.
Magnus strode up to the shouting one, didn’t hesitate - gun up, one more shot. Another body hit the ground, silent.
He turned back to the rest. "You’ve got one minute. Either get out and take a bus, or call in backup to co fight us - I don’t care. But if you’re still here after that, I swear, I’ll start dropping bodies."
He raised his pistol again. Another shot. Another man fell.
That did it.
In under a minute, the remaining guards scrambled out like rats. Three minutes later, their bus was nothing more than dust on the road down the mountain.
Magnus stood at the entrance, watching until the vehicles vanished over the horizon. Then he exhaled through his nose, quiet as a whisper, and turned back.
He pulled open the heavy iron door of the bunker, letting the Ice Regint’s convoy in - along with the group of n from the bus.
Once the story was out, the Ice Regint won looked at those n like they were filth. The more they heard, the deeper their disgust. n might feel anger, but for won, it hit the bone.
In the wide-open underground hall, Sophia pointed straight at the crowd of over a hundred n, voice like a blade.
"All of you, still calling yourselves n? You handed over your wives for so pork? That’s what your lives are worth? You make sick!"Hearing that, Sophia’s face twisted in fury. She reached for her gun, but Charlotte quickly grabbed her arm to stop her. At the sa ti, cries rang out from the crowd - over a hundred won stirred, so in panic, so rushing forward to plead.
Maybe those n weren’t evil. Maybe they were just forced into a corner. But regardless, what they’d done had shattered the values of the Ice Regint’s female mbers - at least to Sophia, it was outright filthy.
With the bus convoy out of pork, Liana led the logistics girls in handing out what was left. Their eyes full of disdain, they still passed each man a water bottle and so food.
Out of the 119 won, 71 had surviving family among those very n - the sa ones who’d handed them over like goods. The remaining 48 had lost their loved ones long ago, during the chaos. So, like Fiona, were just alone from the start.
Co afternoon, the bus convoy departed. Of all the won, 61 chose to stay with the Ice Regint. Aside from the 48 loners, only 13 of the 71 with family stayed behind. In the face of death, most clung to blood ties. So of the Ice Regint girls didn’t quite get it, but they still felt moved.
Those 13 - yeah, they held nothing but hatred for their n or even their fathers.
With that ss behind them, the Ice Regint got to work setting up the base.
The Ironvale bunker, originally built for nuclear storage, had space to spare. It was as wide as a highway - could fit three buses side by side - and 50 ters deep. At the end were two branches. One led to a cold storage room, the other to a slaughterhouse.
Miraculously, the bunker still had power. A heavy-duty diesel generator kept the place humming - essential for preserving at in the cold room.
Liana did a quick count with her team: over 200 live pigs, cows, and goats remained, along with thousands of chickens, ducks, and geese.
While daylight still lit the hills, Sophia led a team up the mountain to chop firewood and haul it back. The slaughterhouse had a canteen with working exhaust systems - the pipes vented smoke straight out of the tunnel.
They worked all through the daylight until golden sunlight bathed the canyon. The logistics girls rushed around the kitchen, prepping dinner.
Electricity. Water. No infected threats. The won wandered the bunker in small groups, feeling like they’d stepped into so dream.
Since leaving the Anomaly Zone, Magnus hadn’t slept much. Now that everything settled, he slipped back to the sleeper coach to rest. For once, every muscle relaxed.
When night fell, Liana boarded the vehicle to call him for dinner. Magnus cracked his eyes open - and felt sothing warm in his arms. He glanced down.
Sarah.
She curled up by his side, head resting right on his arm - just like she used to.
Magnus let a faint smile tug at his lips, then nodded at Liana. But then he spotted more figures behind her.
On the opposite bed, Abigail and Emma sat silently, eyes fixed on him. Their expressions were anything but pleasant.
Magnus stiffened. He looked away, cleared his throat, and gently nudged Sarah awake, telling her to go eat with Liana. Once they climbed down -
Before he could speak a word, Abigail sounded off. "Magnus, we need to talk. And we’re not holding back this ti."
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