Chapter 8

The room stayed hushed as I briefed the situation outside the border of the safe zone. Once my briefing concluded, I asked the room if anyone would be willing to pick a class to prove that there was no danger involved in it aside from some pain during the process. I was shocked when the General was the first to volunteer.

"I'm not going to have soldiers risk themselves doing something that I myself am not willing to do." He said when I asked him if he was sure. He impressed me in this display of good leadership, but I kept that to myself. First, we discussed the different classes that we had been provided with, and each one of us described what our classes did, the stats he would start with, and then let him make his decision. The General landed on the two-handed warrior class, having been impressed by the SSG Underwoods portion of the story he'd just heard.

We got up on the stage that held the projector screen. We gave him a notepad to bite down on and got a couple of people to hold him down. As soon as he chose his class, the process started. The golden light shot through his nervous system, and his body seized for about 30 seconds. I remembered the pain, but I also knew that it wouldn't be forever. That didn't stop the entire room from surging forward to get a better view of what was going on, and worried shouts of "What did you do?" Shot towards us accusingly.

The process ended quickly, which was lucky because I had a feeling that if it hadn't, my group might have been in a bad way. The general shot straight up, now wielding the same type of sword SSG Underwood had. He took a couple of moments to get his bearings in order but held up a hand to the crowd as if to say, "I'm fine."

"How do you feel?" I asked. He moved around a little, then lifted one of his knees and rocked it back and forth.

"Better than I have in a long time, honestly, even my old knee injury is gone." The room fell into an excitedly hushed whisper as the officers discussed what this could mean. From the back of the room, a female lieutenant called out.

"So it's safe?" The general seemed to consider this for a moment as the crowd again hushed to hear his response.

"It... seems to be." He said tentatively. "We should observe me and the others that came with PFC-" He paused to look at the name tape sewn to my uniform before continuing. "Hayes for a few days before making an announcement to the public or continuing with any more 'class choosing.'" He used finger quotes, which to me, made him look a little silly. But after him saying that, my mind flashed back to the scorpions, how they had gained levels overnight, and how they grew in strength just like we did.

"With all due respect, sir-" I began. "I don't think we have time for an observation period. The longer we wait, the stronger those monsters out there are going to get." I could feel my intelligence filling in where I might have stopped considering the future in the past.

"Why?" He asked me.

"Well, sir, on our way back, my squad and I were able to level up quite a bit. But unfortunately, so were the monsters out there. They're already ahead of everyone here aside from my squad. If you ever want to consider leaving this base again. For supplies or communication, the people here will need to start leveling up immediately." The General scratched his chin, considering my words when another question rang out from the crowd.

"What level are you in comparison to the monsters you've fought?" It was a large dark-haired Major closer to the front of the room.

"Well, the scorpions were level three when we began fighting them at the edge of the forest. We quickly leveled up compared to them, but that was only because of the amount we fought. It only took one night for them to jump two levels, though. My squad and I are only level eight, and we're in here where we can't level up anymore." I tried to ask the system quietly if there was a level cap for the creatures in this area. Message.

"You are not authorized to have this information. Raise your intelligence to gain access to this information. I thought that we'd agreed you were going to stop being stupid." I looked back at the crowd after reading the information and continued talking.

"As much as I don't want to go back out there myself, the monsters are only going to get stronger, and they show no signs of stopping any time soon. We went out with a platoon-sized element, and the six of us were the only ones to make it back because a level one coyote decimated us."

"That's true!" SGT Turner interrupted. "If it weren't for Hayes quick-thinking telling us to choose classes and us listening to him, none of us would have escaped that first monster. It's important to work as a team as well!"

"Sergeant Turner is right." SSG Underwood chimed in. "If Hayes had been the only one to choose a class, even he would be dead, even at level one, any of us by ourselves would have stood no chance." The others nodded, and it was clear that we'd given the room a lot to think about, but without warning, another person in the back of the room fell to the ground and started glowing. It was the Lieutenant that had asked a question earlier. The crowd gathered around her and watched as she chose her class. She rose to her feet, and the General came bounding up.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, and she nodded. "Good now, what in the hell gave mad you think that you could disobey my order, Lieutenant." She was now holding a pair of knives, but she quickly sheathed them.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I think they're right. The longer we wait, the less chance there will be that we'll lose more people. I, for one, want to see my family one day again. If they're still alive, that is..." She trailed off at the end, and the General's eyes softened. A few seconds ticked by, and he threw his hands up in defeat before addressing the crowd.

"Alright! I understand the situation. I hope that you were all taking notes. Get this information to your soldiers. It will be your and their own decision if they want to take part in this." He turned to me. "PFC Hayes, once we have a few groups together, you and your squad will take one more squad out and train them up. Once you have done this, that squad will do the same with another one, and you will also take a new one out. Level up. Work as a team. Let's work together to figure out and survive this new world. HOOAH?!" He yelled the last word and was greeted with a round of "Hooah," The general ended by telling everyone to "Fall out." and the others in the room sprang to action to leave the room and get the information to their NCOs and soldiers.

"You may have done too good a job at convincing them." Bravo nudged me in the ribs and gave me a cheerful wink. I didn't know what he had to be cheerful about, but it did make me feel a little better. The General told us to meet at the road we came in on by 0600 the next day to take the first squad out for training. We were then dismissed, and we headed back to our own houses. It was easy to run almost the whole way back to the barracks, even with my ruck. It was a small base, and they were only about a mile away.

I rushed through the door and surprised the hell out of my roommate, who was kneeling next to his bed. I assumed praying he was pretty religious. I wasn't, but we still got along pretty well.

"You're alive! I thought for sure that you were going to die out there!" His shocked expression almost made me laugh, but not quite.

"Yeah, I made it back. I have to go back out here in a bit, though, so I'm gonna get some rest." He nodded his head, but it was clear that he had a thousand questions brimming in his eyes. "I promise I'll explain everything later." This seemed to appease him, and I walked over to my side of the room and closed the curtain. Falling into bed felt like I could fall forever. After the crap I'd just been through, I deserved the rest my little twin-sized barracks bed would provide.