Harem academy 2 the apoc.., p.1
Harem Academy 2: The Apocalypse Project, page 1
Harem Academy 2
The Apocalypse Project
Written by J. R. Hogan
Copyright © 2023 Locksmith Books
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty -Five
Chapter Forty -Six
Chapter Forty -Seven
Chapter Forty -Eight
Chapter Forty -Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Epilogue
Legal Notes
Chapter One
TOC
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I watched her blue eyes creep down to my waist before slowly crawling back up to my face. She took in a noticeable breath. “Who are you?” she asked in a buttery voice.
“I’m Matt. Now would you please explain who you are, and how you appeared in this room out of nowhere?”
“I’m Ella,” she answered brightly, “and I can travel through time.”
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again. I found myself immediately drawn in to her impossibly curvaceous chest. Her figure was so alluring, so perfect, that I had to force myself to look away in order to regain my concentration.
“You’re Ella,” I repeated, “and you can travel through time.” I sighed. “I hate how much sense that actually makes.”
“So you’ll work with us,” Dr. Wiggum answered. Relief was evident in her voice.
I raised an eyebrow as I looked her over. She knew that I stole the occasional glance at a figure that even a fresh lab coat couldn’t hide; I hated how much she understood about me. “All of this comes back to knowing exactly where Laura is,” I answered, my words carefully measured.
“You mean when she is,” Dr. Stringer interrupted, his voice gurgling in delight.
I tried, and failed to force myself to unclench my teeth. Looking around the room, I took stock of the environment.
Dr. Stringer’s disgusting office reflected the situational hell in which we found ourselves. He had just revealed that Laura, my beautiful, redheaded – girlfriend? That much was unclear – had been captured and imprisoned in an unknown location. Just to my side stood Kristen, the gorgeous sophomore with ivory skin and raven hair, who put the question mark in my relationship with Laura. The two were best friends, and Kristen had gotten to me first – but that didn’t stop Laura from staking her own claim with me. Things had gotten messy before we could get any definitive answers.
I gazed at Kristen’s scantily clad frame; she wore shorts and a t-shirt, looking ready to go out for a run if it weren’t for the fact that she only wore ankle socks on her feet.
Moving to Ella, I once again felt struck by her appearance. Delicate blonde hair encircled her soft, round face. A long, blue silk ribbon held her locks. Her big, azure eyes darted around the room in curiosity. A tight blouse was inadequate to contain her chest, and a short, blue skirt covered just enough of her ass to make me wonder what it looked like beneath. Her Mary Janes paired with knee-high socks to complete the picture.
My eyes roamed over Dr. Wiggum; though an older woman in her thirties, she was no less attractive than I’m sure she’d been a decade earlier. She was the type of woman whose insight was so sharp, she let me know that she knew I’d been staring at her without so much as moving a single perfectly-groomed eyebrow.
“And that’s why we’re in the same boat,” Dr. Stringer continued.
Turning to face him after the three women was like snorting expired onions after tasting perfectly seasoned Wagyu beef. Greasy, gray hair melted to his forehead, which glistened with oil. The smile on his face only brought out his ugliness more; the broken, yellow and brown teeth marked a face that could have been whole if it had been treated with regular hygiene. The disgusting older man wheezed as he glared at me, waiting for my next move.
“You kidnap my girl,” I huffed, “give me this cryptic bullshit about moving through time, nearly kill me with a fucking dinosaur, and have the audacity to say that we’re in the same boat?”
“You want to see her alive again, don’t you?” He cocked his greasy head. “Finding her will serve both of our needs, no matter how divergent they may seem.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly, trying to control the fact that I actually felt my blood increase in temperature. “How?”
Dr. Stinger licked his lips. His try tongue scraped along drier flesh, creating the most unpleasant squelch. “Chastity?”
Dr. Wiggum’s nostrils flared. “Laura has been taken to a different time as well as a different place. It will require both Kristen’s and Ella’s talents, combined with your own, to locate her.” She folded her arms. “This task should be accomplished easily with the three of you.”
Kristen’s dark eyes shot back and forth between Ella and me. The blonde woman blinked rapidly as she looked around the room.
I narrowed my vision at Dr. Stringer. “Why?”
“Why not?” he scoffed. “The greatest of abilities has been distributed unevenly amongst the least of minds,” he sneered, gazing at Kristen, Ella, and me. “Pursuit of greater knowledge is the only valid endeavor of human existence,” Stringer continued, eying Dr. Wiggum’s chest without any pretense of subtlety. “The best of minds will pursue such knowledge at every expense.” He shot his eyes toward me. “Far too much time and energy is spent trying to teach the dullards amongst us concepts that they have no hope of grasping. The truly advanced mind knows that the needs of the greatest outweigh the needs of the few, and they achieve results by manipulating the unwilling into causes bigger than themselves.”
I struggled to pick apart the different levels of anger that he’d forced me to experience in those few seconds, then decided to focus on the cooler academic part of my mind. “I need you to teach me something,” I explained in a quiet voice as I approached him.
Dr. Stringer had just enough time to lift his hand before my left cross found his face for the second time in five minutes. I felt my skin tear with the impact, but was running on far too high a voltage to feel any pain.
He staggered back to his chair, collapsing in it and flopping against the desk. I was lunging toward him when he bounced back, leaning forward with his arm outstretched.
“No, no no!” he scolded, aiming a pistol at my face. “That was a very poor choice, Mr. Cooper, and you just made life much more dangerous for you and you stupid girlfriends!”
Chapter Two
TOC
I stared at the gun barrel. Despite the fragility of his body, Dr. Stringer held it steady as he aimed it between my eyes.
“Matt,” Kristen breathed, her voiced unusually timid, “please back down.”
“She’s right,” Dr. Wiggum deadpanned. “Despite the knocks you received on the gridiron, you’re not half so dumb as most undergrads on this campus. Only an average mind would be stupid enough to push this situation.”
I held still, flexing and unflexing my fist.
Dr. Stringer smiled. His teeth were red with blood.
I heaved, then stepped back, retreating slowly toward the women.
“There’s a good boy,” Stringer cooed. “Every game of chess needs its loyal pawns.”
The rage flared up again, but I kept it on a leash. This was third and ten; I had no room for error. “What do I need to do?” I asked Dr. Wiggum. Directing my question toward her had the double effect of soliciting the person who understood the situation best while simultaneously pissing off the man I wanted to murder.
“You need to save Laura,” she answered, her arms folded.
“And where is she?” I shot back, moving one step closer to her.
She returned a sad look. “Lost in time and space.”
My mind swirled for a moment before settling into a certain calm. “You planned all of this so that Ella, Kristen and I would have to combine our efforts to find her.” I shook my head in disgust. “You knew we wouldn’t
I turned toward Kristen and Ella, looking for any contradiction. Kristen just stared at me, fear etched on her pretty face. Ella gazed at the ceiling, twirling a lock of hair, lost deep in her own thoughts.
“But I need to know that you’ll leave us the fuck alone after we get her back. Your test will be done. That finishes things for us,” I seethed.
“Impossible,” Dr. Stringer answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’ve got too much riding on this to release my subjects after a single trial. Besides,” he pressed, flashing his disgusting teeth at me, “I’ve got the gun.”
I couldn’t restrain myself from flexing both fists. “You said that we’re in the same boat,” I pressed. “Tell me how the fuck that could possibly be true.”
“Manners, manners!” Dr. Stringer gushed as he once again leered at Dr. Wiggum’s breasts. “You’re talking to a superior. In most circumstances, that would earn a punishment, but time is of the essence.” He licked the dried spittle from his lips. “On the off-chance that information will be converted into wisdom, I’ll have you know that several unsavory actors are involved in this performance.” He slid fingers through greasy hair, never lowering the gun. “No everyone is quite so refined as myself.” A glob of snot pinwheeled out of his nose and affixed itself to the nearby wall, where it hung like quivering jelly.
I closed my eyes and focused on the task at hand. “What additional unsavory characters are involved?” I demanded.
“Kto sprashivayet?” he shot back with a smile.
“Do you want to save Laura?” Dr. Wiggum interrupted.
I glanced over my shoulder. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking serious.
“Whatever it takes,” I responded.
“Well,” she answered, turning her head to the side as a cascade of auburn hair caressed her shoulders, “your most important piece of information is that we’re dealing with men who will kill all of us – Dr. Stringer included – if the plan goes awry. Said plan involves you and these two lovely ladies rescuing Laura from her current predicament.” Dr. Wiggum folded her arms. “Which puts everyone in this room squarely into one boat. Capiche?”
I looked from her, to the grinning Dr. Stringer, across to Ella, and finally to Kristen. I ground my teeth. “Yeah,” I answered. “Capiche.”
“Of course,” Dr. Stringer added, the gun still pointed at me. “I knew you would eventually see reason, even if the journey was especially long in your case.” He stood. “Chastity will tell you everything you need to know. Don’t bother me again until you’ve accomplished this small task.”
I didn’t appreciate how powerful the odor had been until I was back in the hallway outside of Dr. Stringer’s office, once again breathing fresh air. It smelled like a garden outside of a bakery in comparison.
I pulled Kristen close to me; my anxiety abated as she molded her form close to mine. With my other hand, I reached for Ella; I didn’t know her, and we hadn’t yet truly spoken, but deep instinct told me that I needed to protect this woman. She squeaked in surprise as I grabbed her elbow, then stepped closer to me as I drew her in.
“We’ve played all our cards,” I breathed, looking up at Dr. Wiggum. “You know we’ll do whatever you ask in order to keep Laura safe.” My nostrils flared. “So just tell us: how do we get her back before she’s exposed to any more danger?”
Dr. Wiggum pulled her lips in and glanced aside, refusing to make eye contact with me. “You haven’t figured that part out yet?” she asked, irritation evident in her voice.
I gawked at her. “No, I haven’t figured out the thing that you haven’t told me,” I shot back. “Don’t you think I would have saved my kidnapped girlfriend if I knew where she was?”
Kristen squeezed my arm at the word “girlfriend.”
Dr. Wiggum looked up at the ceiling, then down to the floor, nodded, and finally faced me. “Neither do we. That’s the point of this exercise. We need you to find and retrieve someone from a time and place that we have no way of understanding. No one has ever done what we’re asking of you, which is why this task is crucial enough to risk Laura’s life.”
Chapter Three
TOC
It felt like the floor and the ceiling had switched places.
“So let me get this straight,” Kristen interrupted. “The whole purpose of recruiting us is that you don’t know how to save her without us?”
Dr. Wiggum folded her arms, wrinkled her brow, and sighed.
“But you were the ones who captured Laura in the first place!” she continued, raising her thin arms. “How the hell do you not know where she is?”
“Or when she is?” Ella added in an airy voice.
Dr. Wiggum looked carefully around at the three of us. “To be clear, I wasn’t the one who took her,” she explained, choosing her words delicately.
“No, you just aided and abetted,” I countered. My organs seemed to be wrapping themselves tighter together. “She was fine half an hour ago, Dr. Wiggum, so you don’t get to walk away from this without any guilt!”
Her eyes bulged as she stared at me. “You want to blame me, Mr. Cooper? Fine – I blame myself, too. But I’ll point out two things: you now also know what it’s like to be in over your head with Melvin Stringer, only to find out too late that you can’t walk away. I’m certainly no angel, but that leads directly to my second point: there are many people who deserve the blame for Laura’s disappearance, but I’m the only one that cares about trying to help you get her back.”
The pressure in my head built so strong that I felt like I was underwater. But angry as I was, I still saw clearly enough to understand that she had a point.
“Chastity Wiggum,” I breathed, my voice quiet, “if you want any credit for doing the right thing, you’ll walk us through every step until Laura is safely home.”
She stared at me with an odd gaze. It took several seconds to realize that, for the first time, she was looking at me with respect.
• • •
“After you helped us escape the raptor, I actually thought that you were a decent person,” I huffed as Dr. Wiggum closed the door behind us. “In hindsight, I should have considered that you only knew about the danger because you played a role in creating it.”
