Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 34 The Meteor Village

Sophia’s eyes were damp for a long while, her ears ringing, mind caught in a whirlwind of memories - images flashing like a reel.

Back when she’d snatched candy from her little sister, made her promise not to tell Mom.

When they were in school, her sister always wanted to wear matching hairstyles; Sophia hated that.

Later, her sister chose college, while she herself chose the army. That decision ended in a fierce fight.

Thinking back, a faint smile crept over Sophia’s face. Too bad no one could see it under the thick helmet of a special forces soldier.

Turns out Sophia could smile sweetly too - just like her sister.

The explosion had passed for ten full seconds before Sophia felt someone tugging at her arm. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

The WZ-10 in the sky was gone. Thick smoke filled the air, and giant clusters of mutated blood mosquitoes hovered like a black tide.

Gone? It flew away?

Wait, then what’s with all that smoke?

"Captain!"

Madison came running, while Megan used a flamethrower to torch the creatures around them, keeping the area clear.

"What happened?"

Charlotte helped Sophia to her feet. Sophia stared at Madison, unsure.

"Heh, chalk one up for me!" Madison grinned, pointing to her shoulder, then mimed a whoosh and a bang with her hands.

"You - you did that? You shot it down?" Sophia’s voice was full of disbelief.

"Damn right I did!" Madison sounded proud. "You think I shoot like you? Huh, your aim’s terrible."

Turns out, before the WZ-10 showed up, Madison had already scavenged a shoulder-launched rocket launcher from a cleared zone.

When the chopper attacked Magnus, Madison and a few others were untouched, but they understood it was serious. Sophia had fired first and missed. Madison’s second shot hit dead on.

Now she was fired up, ditching the launcher just to come brag about it.

Charlotte let out a long breath and chuckled. "You want first kill? Hell, I’ll give you a hundred merit points for this shot!"

"Hmph! Who cares?" Madison pouted but then her eyes lit up. "How about this? Instead of merit points, reward me by letting me sleep next to your darling Magnus?"

"What? Who? Whose Magnus? You asking for a beating?" Sophia raised her hand like she really would smack her.

Charlotte laughed. "Looks like little Madison’s reached that age where the spring breeze blows a bit too warm."

In this all-female special forces unit, except Sophia and Charlotte, most girls were around Magnus’ age - just over twenty, some under.

The last sweep of the battlefield confirmed the complete annihilation of the enemy force - eighty Emberleaf Legion soldiers killed, along with one of their attack helicopters shot down. Most of their weapons and ammunition remained intact.

The team recovered 51 assault rifles, 63 pistols, 144 rifle magazines, 171 pistol magazines, 72 military combat knives, and 31 grenades. Among the heavier equipment, there were 3 working flamethrowers, 2 shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, and 4 undamaged RPG rounds.

But the victory came at a cost.

Seventeen members of the team had fallen in the fight, and five SUVs were destroyed. In terms of expenditure, they had used up 42 grenades, 21 rifle magazines, 1 pistol magazine, and lost 3 assault rifles and 2 handguns during the engagement.

*****

By 12:33 p.m., the whole squad was ready again. The Emberleaf Legion would hit Springvale City at 5:00 p.m. - over four hours left. But more and more cleanup squads were already moving in. Magnus didn’t want to take any more chances. He led the convoy straight out the North Gate.

In his past life, Emily had taken Ice Regiment out through the North Gate too, but a day earlier, right after saving Grace. That timing had kept her squad from running into any enemies.

Now, everything had changed.

Still, Magnus knew the roads outside the North Gate like the back of his hand. He knew where the meteorites had landed and where they could hole up temporarily.

At 1:15 p.m., the convoy officially exited from the North Gate and hit the highway. Not too many wrecks out there, so they made good time.

He wasn’t sure why they’d seen cleanup teams near University Town - but what Magnus could be sure of: Emberleaf’s main force wouldn’t be coming from the North. Not a chance.

By 1:37 p.m., they reached a massive gas station for a break. Among their vehicles: five 20-ton tankers, two 5-ton tankers - two of those 20-ton barrels were already full.

They topped off both 5-ton tankers and half-filled another 20-ton one. They hit four more stations after that. By the time they were done, all tankers were maxed out - five 20-tons and two 5-tons. Plus, they’d filled 133 white gasoline drums to the brim.

But there was a catch. They couldn’t use flame barriers around gas stations - it had to be hand-to-hand cleanup with the post-apoc fiends. Magnus used that as a chance to train the 400-plus female students from Havencrest Medical Academy. He put them on cleanup duty.

By the end of that afternoon, they’d lost 7 students.

*****

"Where are we going now?"

During their final break, Magnus held a meeting in the sleeper bus. The med students had sent over four reps - Lucy and Molly among them.

"Dunwich Hollow."

Magnus answered without hesitation.

Dunwich Hollow. Survivors in his last life used to call it ’Meteorite Town’. Town was a bit generous - really it was just a large village, maybe 500 households.

But Dunwich Hollow had one thing nowhere else did - it was blanketed in meteorites. No exaggeration.

The first time the meteorites fell, none landed in Springvale - same for the surrounding counties, hills, or highways.

Every single one hit Dunwich Hollow.

No one ever figured out why.

Then came the second wave. That time, all of them landed in Springvale City, not one elsewhere.

It was like someone - or something - had aimed them.

From past-life intel that Ice Regiment had gotten off captured Emberleaf troops, most villages had two or three meteorites. The lucky ones had seven or eight.

Dunwich Hollow? Over fifty. All sizes. Just in one village.

Anomaly? Absolutely. But for Magnus, that was only part of why he’d chosen Dunwich Hollow.

There was another big reason.

He paused, then decided to tell them.