Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 78 He Didn’t Pull Her Hand

"Don’t be like that, sis..." Grace stepped in to smooth things over. "Magnus wasn’t trying to be rude. He meant you’re pretty."

Sophia had just thrown a fit, but Magnus wasn’t about to stoop to that level.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just his vehicle that had issues - on the other sleeper trucks, some of the female members had lost it and killed people. Henry, Eric, and Daniel - the three main instigators - were all dead.

Their caravan had 153 people: 91 men and 62 women. Out of the women, 60 wanted to join the Ice Regiment, but Liana only accepted 47. The remaining 13 had acted terribly earlier. The group also took 12 of their modified vehicles. As for the rest - more than 20 vehicles - they were allowed to leave untouched.

After the dust settled, the Ice Regiment moved on without further trouble until they reached the base of the Ironvale Bunker.

Built in the eighties, Ironvale Bunker came about when Sinovar had just completed its first nuclear weapons test. It was one of many bunkers and tunnels created nationwide to store nukes - some real, some just decoys.

Ironvale was one of the latter, a diversion. But as Sinovar advanced militarily, the bunker’s role faded. By the early 2000s, military handed it over to the local government, which leased it to a large slaughterhouse.

Because of that, it was far from cities and built on a hillside - not ideal for civilian evacuation during a disaster.

When the convoy arrived at the base road, the mountain path was flat and clear - no wrecked cars in sight, barely any mutated creatures. As usual, Magnus motioned to slow down, then drove alone toward the mid-slope. Things looked too calm, and that in itself was suspicious.

What the hell... all these buses?

Once Magnus’s military vehicle hit the last incline about 100 meters from the bunker gate, the first thing he saw through the windshield was a lineup of buses - over a dozen.

What’s going on here?

From the look of it, the buses hadn’t seen him. Magnus threw the vehicle into reverse, backed it to a safer stretch on the slope, and cut the engine. Abigail, Emma, and Grace all climbed down with puzzled looks.

"This far from a county center?" Abigail squinted. "It doesn’t make sense for buses to be parked here."

"Think someone beat us to it and took the place?" Abigail asked.

Lighting a smoke, Magnus shook his head. "Doesn’t look like it. Not that simple either. Did you notice those windows? Covered up. I think there’re people inside. And if they really controlled the bunker, they’d be inside it. Not parked out front."

Why would they leave the buses outside rather than move in? That’s what Magnus couldn’t get past.

"So what now?" Emma asked quietly. "Why don’t you toss me and my sister a Metal Crystal each? We’ll go check. You went last time - it’s our turn now."

"No," Magnus said, shaking his head. "I’ll handle it. You wait here with the rest when the convoy arrives. Have them halt and stand by for my update."

He flicked aside his cigarette, armored up with a Metal Crystal defense, and stepped out of the vehicle. Something was off. He couldn’t afford to be careless - not after surviving nine months of hell in his previous life.

This narrow mountain road barely accommodated three buses side by side. Guardrails lined the left side, beyond which was a steep slope tumbling down the mountainside. To the right, the incline was gentler - locals used to climb it for wild herbs.

Magnus made his way along the right slope, carefully picking his steps. He moved past the peak above the air-raid shelter, closing in on the parked bus group. Finding a spot out of sight, he crouched down and raised his binoculars.

Seventeen buses. Six cars. Some windows sealed with blankets, others with wooden boards or planks. Impossible to tell what was going on inside from the side view. But a few vehicles were swaying slightly - there were people in there.

A while later, the small side door in the heavy steel gate of the arched shelter creaked open. A dozen men stumbled out, wrapped in bedsheets and rags. As they ran toward the buses, they slashed wildly at centipedes closing in on them.

*****

Inside one of the buses.

A man in his twenties had a fistful of an older, balding man’s collar, shouting, "Mike! Say another damn word and I swear I’ll gut you right here!"

"Scott, easy, easy! Let me go! Don’t lose your head! I didn’t mean it!" Mike Carter stammered out, eyes wide with fear.

With a grunt, Scott shoved him back. Mike tripped, sprawling onto the floor, then scrambled to his feet. Everyone else in the bus was glaring at him like he was dirt. Mike let out a bitter sigh and forced a smile.

"You think I want this?" His voice cracked. "Yelling at me won’t change anything."

After a moment’s pause, Mike dragged his finger across his sweaty forehead as if to wipe away guilt. "There’re over thirty armed paramilitary inside. Even if we had guts, we’ve got nothing to fight them with. And they’re only picking ten. They’re not taking all our women. There are more than a hundred women here... Let them choose one out of ten... the rest come back safe. Diane..."

Seemed like Mike figured he’d set an example. He turned to an elderly woman hunched in her seat.

"It’s come to this. Who’s got pride to spare? Go in there, show them what we’ve got. If they don’t want us, we come back out. But if they do... we get pork, dammit. Otherwise, we’ll starve to death out here!"

"Bullshit!" Scott bellowed, tightening his grip on a kitchen knife. His eyes were bloodshot. "Your wife’s old enough to not worry about it, so it’s easy for you to offer someone else up! But my wife? She’s in her twenties! You trying to trade her for meat?! I’ll kill you!"

"Scott!!" Mike’s face twisted as he shouted back. "Then what the hell do you suggest?! It’s been three days! Three full days without food or water! You think we’ll just miraculously survive? They promised - give them ten women, they give us ten pigs. They’ll let us go down the mountain, find a village, draw some water... and we live!"

He paused, then threw out a jab. "And tell me, Scott - whose idea was it to come here in the first place, huh? Who insisted we avoid villages and head to this damned slaughterhouse?"

"Yeah, it was my idea!" Scott snapped. "But I never agreed to use women as barter! What now? They won’t let us leave unless we give them girls? I don’t buy it! Fiona!"

He spun around and grabbed his wife’s arm.

"Come on, Fiona! We’re leaving. I’ll find us a safe place. We’re not - "

He stopped cold. Mid-sentence.

Because when he pulled Fiona Martin’s arm, she didn’t budge. Not one bit.