Reunion

It was just past noon when they arrived at the colonel's position and it was already crowded with soldiers and students alike. Something that Uriel didn't miss was how the colonel's unit was the biggest, best equipped and, coincidentally, it was also the unit where all the rich students were assigned to.

Life wasn't fair, no matter how much the government propaganda claimed that everyone was equal in front of the flag, it was painfully obvious that there were those who thrived and those who barely survived. And Uriel belonged to the latter.

As resented as he was, he couldn't help but run towards Tina as soon as he laid eyes upon her. She was looking left and right with teary eyes, seemingly looking for something or someone.

"Uri! you made it! I'm so glad!" She sighed in relief.

"Tina, what about you? are you hurt somewhere?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine, Mark took good care of me the whole time and colonel Ethan too, he's really impressive, you should have seen him fighting against those things." She replied.

"I'm glad you're fine too." Uriel scowled trying to hide how jealous he felt, she had been his girlfriend for a short while, but after the breakup they never talked things over and he still secretly hoped to fix things somehow and go back to how things were before.

"Please tell me that you got a trait! If you didn't I can still convince colonel Ethan to give you a chance if you didn't." She said in a sweet tone of voice.

"I got a trait, but I don't know what it does or how to activate it."

She gave him an awkward look, everyone knew that people who got their traits knew instinctively how to use them and after getting her own she knew it from experience too. Still, she decided to remain silent and she limited herself to look at him.

"You look pale and you have bags under your eyes, what's that? why are your boots red?" She asked.

"This? I think we stepped on some blood."

Uriel didn't notice it, but people close by turned to look at him. Those from his group were the only ones whose boots were covered in blood. It happened during the night, when they walked blindly towards the abandoned campfire, and they didn't bother washing it off.

"Did you fight against those things?"

"Yeah, we killed a few... Actually I just killed one bunny, but the rest of my team did a little bit better." Uriel shrugged.

"Those things aren't bunnies! those are beasts! monsters! you really don't know the first thing about it... and you should clean the blood as soon as you can, some cryptids are attracted by blood."

In a normal situation, students would begin to mingle and chat about this and that, but in the huge crowd that gathered near the colonel's camp there was a grim mood and the only ones chatting were Uriel and Tina, but soon their conversation was interrupted by Uriel's annoying ringtone.

Tina looked upset, but she wasn't his girlfriend anymore and so, he took out his 'vintage' flip phone which screen wasn't even touch and it read 'unknown caller'.

"Am I speaking to mister Sage?" A seductive feminine voice came out of the speaker.

"What is it?" He grunted.

"Archaeologist Sage?"

"Just tell me what you have to say or I'm hanging up."

"Don't hang up, please."

****

It took a long while for every unit to be reunited but once they all arrived at the meeting point near colonel Windfire's tent all the higher ups were swiftly called in.

Some students murmured about feeling unsafe, especially because they were told that big crowds attracted bigger threats.

Inside the tent, every soldier present carried somber expressions on their faces.

"We need to find a solution, even if we started walking right now we wouldn't reach the city before nightfall."

"Can't they meet us along the road?" One of the soldiers proposed.

"What about an air evac?" Another asked.

"No, no, no! It's impossible! We are stuck in here, there's a huge FOD in between here and the city." Colonel Ethan replied to everyone.

"What if we call for reinforcements from the city and we make a two sided attack?" One of the lieutenants present put forward.

"That too would be impossible, there's a walking nightmare around, I don't even want to think how powerful it is. Even with the whole might of the army there's no certainty that it'll be enough to defeat it and we can't count on external help." Colonel Ethan's face reddened in anger.

"Shouldn't we scatter then? that way whatever creature is waiting for us there will have to choose between targets and it might allow some of us to sneak past it."

"That wouldn't work either. It's a known fact that cryptids can somehow detect energy signatures, now tell me, who do you think will stand out the most? of course the stronger groups. Only the weaker ones might survive." Ethan was being consumed by fear, anger and anxiety. So far everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong.

He knew he was safe from any consequences from the army because for once, it wasn't his fault, but a failure so big would hinder his career and would definitely look bad on his file. That is if he somehow managed to survive, which didn't seem likely.

Also, it didn't matter how strong he was or how many soldiers he had at his disposal, it was impossible for him to defeat a cryptid emitting a Field of disruption so strong.

Everyone's devices showed a huge disruption field on their only way back to the city, it was so strong that every drone they sent was shut off at a distance so huge it was impossible to determine how strong the creature actually was. But that alone didn't mean it was necessarily a strong enemy, it could have been a mass of weak cryptids, except for one thing.

One of the units, Lieutenan Dragonfang's to be more precise, reported the presence of a huge cryptid blocking the retreat path.

During the night, one of the students under her command acquired a trait that, among other things, allowed him to see as clear as day even during the night. That student was no other than Sam, that was the reason why he looked so disheartened when Uriel saw him and also why Lieutenant Dragonfang acted so mysterious.

"We could..." One of the lieutenants gulped down his saliva before continuing. "We could group the less important students and tell them to return on their own while we scatter into smaller units and try to take a roundabout. By hurdling enough weaklings together we could fake a strong signal and by scattering our stronger units we might go unnoticed"

"That would be the same as sending them to their deaths!" Lieutenant Dragonfang shouted.

"Yes, indeed... But that might give us a chance to return safely." Colonel Ethan formed a crooked smile, finally showing his true colors in front of everybody. Those who knew him, already knew about his twisted personality, but those who didn't were greatly surprised by the sudden change in his demeanor.

"Then it's settled, we'll do as lieutenant Frostbite proposed. Lieutenant Frostbite, since this was your idea It'll be your duty to make the arrangements." Colonel Ethan said in front of everyone, washing his hands from the responsibility that might come with that decision.

Soldiers didn't have much choice, they could put ideas on the table, but in the end everyone knew it was colonel Windfire the one who made the final call. That didn't mean they have to agree with it, and lieutenant Dragonfang was clearly against the use of students as cannon fodder but, as much as she would have liked to rebuke, after the command has been issued a soldier's duty was to follow it blindly.

"Needless to say you can't tell any of this to the students or they will refuse to play their part. This meeting is over." Ethan waved his hand dismissing everyone.

After the soldiers got outside, Mark entered the tent alongside Tina and the rest of their unit. Needless to say, everyone in that unit survived the night, they were better prepared and possessed a bigger team, better gear and stronger soldiers, but not even that was enough to face the cryptid blocking their retreat.