Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 203: They're Back

The news of Mariella's successful strike on Black Bear ignited a fervor that went well beyond just the Celestine Ridge residents.

Matthew was in the residents' group chat too, and he forwarded the video Mariella had uploaded directly to the rest of the team.

Every single teammate watched their boss take down Black Bear, and the pride they felt on her behalf was immense.

"Black Bear and Goldilocks are both in the ground now, and all five brothers are finished. What's left belongs to the Hancocks and the residents to clean up. We'll hear the victory news soon enough, so let's sit tight." Mariella answered with a smile.

She slipped off her heavy pack and, under the cover of rummaging through it, pulled a large bag of blueberries and a large bag of strawberries out of the storage space. Over a dozen pounds of each.

Matthew took them, opened one up, and stared. "Freshly picked, aren't they? I can feel it!"

Both the blueberries and strawberries had gone straight into the static storage space the moment she and Chandler picked them, which meant they were exactly as fresh as the second they'd been harvested.

Mariella smiled and kept her voice easy. "I pulled them from Black Bear's stash. Fresh find for everyone."

The whole team lit up at once. It had been a long time since any of them had tasted fruit this fresh.

When she thought about it, they were already luckier than most.

After the catastrophe hit, plenty of people out there probably hadn't touched a single piece of fruit. Their boss, on the other hand, kept finding ways to bring fresh produce back for them.

Last time, Mariella had come back with over a dozen pounds of blueberries, supposedly traded for supplies from Denton.

What a boss. She'd gone out, accomplished all of that, and still remembered to bring something back for them.

Number One asked Number Five to help Matthew wash the berries.

Mariella kept pulling things out of the pack.

This time, out came two fresh lamb's heads and eight fresh oxtails, each one wrapped tightly in black plastic bags.

Matthew had just finished washing the berries and handed them off to Number Five and Serena to divide evenly among the team.

Then he caught sight of what Mariella had pulled out and went still. "This also came from Black Bear's stash?"

"Yeah. No idea where he sourced it, but it's genuinely fresh." Mariella grinned.

Where Black Bear had gotten it was anyone's guess. He'd taken that answer with him to the grave.

"Perfect. We can slow-cook the lamb's heads and get a rich oxtail stew going. Extra meal tonight." Matthew had the entire menu planned before the words were out.

Mariella reached for Chandler's pack next and, using the same cover of rummaging through it, drew out a full pork leg and a fresh length of sausages from the storage space.

She and Chandler had hunted both up in Hillcrest Range, and they'd already been cleaned and dressed. Fresh meat, in the truest sense.

Matthew took it all immediately and disappeared into the kitchen to get started.

The team gathered around, happily working through the fresh strawberries and blueberries while peppering their boss and Chandler with questions about the fight, all of them waiting for the promised victory news.

Number One brought it up first. "Since Celestine Ridge mobilized everything they had to lay siege to No. 101, shouldn't we also..."

"Chandler and I already represented No. 98 in full!" Mariella said without a trace of apology. "The strike was a total success. Let them handle the rest."

...

At dinnertime, the residents' group chat finally delivered what they'd all been waiting for.

Kieran had led several hundred fighters and wiped out the remaining condemned raider remnants entirely.

What was left of the raiders had been killed, wounded, or scattered into nothing. They weren't a threat to anyone anymore.

Kieran had taken a bullet to the leg, though.

He posted a string of close-up photos: one of the wound still bleeding freely, one of the doctor extracting the round, and one of the leg after it'd been bandaged up.

The last photo had his bandaged leg propped up at a triumphant angle, like a flag planted in conquered ground.

He uploaded them all to the group chat and tagged Mariella directly.

Mariella gave him a thumbs-up without hesitation, then slid into his DMs to ask how he'd gotten hit.

Kieran called her almost instantly, which made her strongly suspect he'd been holding his phone the entire time just waiting for her to respond.

"Thank goodness you took out Black Bear and Goldilocks first. The raiders barely put up a real fight after that. My leg looks worse than it is, honestly. And I saw Goldilocks's skull up close, split exactly the same way as Black Bear's, wide open, just like that. Mariella, you split skulls like other people cut fruit! You just keep getting stronger! I'm genuinely in awe!"

Mariella waited patiently through the full tribute before getting to the point. "Did you take back Imperial Crest Plaza and Greenfield Organic Farm?"

Those two properties were Celestine Ridge's food supply and general store. The farm supplied meat, eggs, dairy, fresh vegetables, and some fruit to the entire community.

Imperial Crest Plaza's retail floors held massive quantities of dry goods, oil, food, condiments, frozen products, and household essentials that kept the residents' daily needs covered.

And the dozen-plus floors of brand-name retail in Imperial Crest Plaza stocked all-season clothing, shoes, and everyday household goods in sizes that fit practically everyone.