Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 26 Burned, Chased, and Still Alive

If anyone was still alive, they’d be reloading by now, Magnus guessed in silence. He crouched low, moving forward carefully. Just then, a shadow slipped out from under a burning car three meters behind him.

The man had been blasted away by a grenade, landing near that vehicle. Fearing another burst of rifle fire, he crawled under the chassis. Now, seeing someone pass by, he quietly rolled out. His gun was gone - blasted to pieces - so he pulled a military knife from his gear and crept up behind Magnus. When he thought the time was right, the soldier sprang forward, blade aimed straight for Magnus’s back.

But just as he thought the kill was his, a sudden, icy sting pierced his body. He tried to use strength, but his body was already giving out. In his last breath, he turned his head and saw her - a woman in black, helmet on, aiming a nail gun.

He collapsed, landing against Magnus’s back. Magnus jolted, elbowing the weight off him by instinct. The body slumped aside, and he finally saw what had happened.

Grace.

"You shouldn’t be here!" he rushed over and pulled her behind cover.

Leaning against the side of a car, Grace was panting hard. Her hands were shaking, her body weak - her first kill.

"I... I was scared for you..." she said, her voice muffled under her helmet. She pressed a gloved hand lightly against his chest. "When you’re not around, I get anxious. But now, I feel calmer..."

The fight had ended. All forty soldiers of the Seventh Legion were dead. Megan and Amber combed through the loot: 25 intact automatic rifles, 33 full-auto pistols, 78 rifle mags, 137 pistol mags, 62 grenades, 35 military knives, and 4 02C flamethrowers.

It was a dangerous job, but the rewards matched the risk. They packed the gear onto trucks. It was barely past three in the afternoon. There was still over a day before the Emberleaf Legion was due to make their move, but Magnus wasn’t in the mood to scavenge more. He had something more urgent - making sure every team sent out today got back safely.

Each squad had picked up key missions - food, medicine, refrigerated trucks, fuel tankers, fire engines - none could be missed. Especially the tankers; those fed the entire convoy.

Fuel wasn’t the problem - plenty of stations outside the city. Ten, twenty miles out, they’d always find a pump.

On the drive back to their base camp, Magnus, worn to the bone, finally let himself rest. Madison Yates, a former special forces soldier, took the wheel without question. He trusted her.

He told everyone to get some rest. Finding a bunk, he collapsed into sleep. But not even an hour later, a female voice was shaking his arm. Half-awake, he blinked and saw one of the Springvale University girls who’d helped him that morning.

"Magnus..."

Jessica Hall, an Awakened. She looked anxious. "Just ahead is Springvale’s main grain depot," she said quickly. "It supplies every major market in the city. Think we should check it out?"

"Grain store?" Magnus was still groggy. "Is it far?"

"Not far, just up ahead," Jessica said anxiously.

"Alright." Magnus sat up quickly, put on his shoes, and said, "You lead the way. We’ll check it out."

Following her directions, the truck turned off after two minutes, headed toward a funeral home, then drove another ten before Magnus spotted a row of "Grain & Oil Wholesale" signs through the windshield.

"That’s it!" Jessica shouted, thrilled. She was excited - felt like she finally contributed something useful.

At this point, 7 out of their 10 box trucks were packed full. Magnus led the 60-strong team to sweep the grain stores one by one. The process went smoothly. Each shop had its storage room. Moving sacks of grain wasn’t easy - only Awakened girls could carry a 50-pound sack alone; the others had to team up.

It took them 90 minutes to fill the last two and a half trucks. They lost count of how many sacks they loaded. Magnus had a clear rule: take all the oil available, and for every thirty bags of rice, just one bag of flour - flour’s a hassle to cook with. As for lesser grains, they only took a bit of high-calorie millet.

By 5 p.m., the sun was leaning westward as the convoy rolled back into the base at Sophie’s warehouse. The road hadn’t seen much destruction - no burnt-out cars in sight. That eased Magnus’ nerves a bit.

Inside, the sleeper bus and ten cargo trucks were neatly backed into the large warehouse. It had been cleaned so thoroughly, there wasn’t even a mosquito in sight. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"How are the other teams? All back yet?"

First thing off the truck, Magnus saw Emily. She relaxed the moment she saw him - finally safe.

"Liana came back this morning. Found two 20-ton tanker trucks at a nearby station - one of them full. She headed off again, said she’d try her luck on the highway. Still not back."

"And the others?" Magnus pressed.

"Luxe’s team found three fire engines. Chloe’s team came back around noon, brought back a sleeper bus and three regular long-distance coaches. Headed out again too. Charlotte’s team got back this afternoon - all five box trucks crammed full of bottled water. Roughly over a thousand crates..." Emily frowned slightly at the end. "Sophia’s team, though - they were out collecting medicine. They should’ve been back by now, but there’s been no sign."

Among all the teams that already returned, Emily’s team had the biggest haul. They’d taken fuel to the refrigerated truck market and hit the jackpot - over twenty brand-new trucks, though they only had enough drivers to bring back fifteen large ones.

Then they searched six cold storage warehouses - lucky again. All in a row, untouched by the apocalypse. Thirteen trucks filled with whole, gutted fresh pork, beef, and lamb. Two more packed with fresh produce.

Just as their conversation ended, the warehouse’s big door creaked open again. Magnus looked over - and there they were. Sophia’s team, finally back.