University Under Siege...!

-- Chapter 2: University Under Siege…! --

"Al…"

"Lec…"

"Alec…you…there!"

"Can…hear…me?!"

'Huh…?'

'Who's calling me…?'

"Alec…Wake up…"

"The time is nearing, for you to return to us…"

"You can't run forever…the Black Horizon…will find you…!"

"Alec…you promised…to come…when I needed you…you liar…!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH *CRASH* *BOOM* AAAALLLEEECCCC SSSAAAAVVVVEEE MMMEEEE…!"

*Gasp*

I woke up with a startled and pained expression on my face, my whole back and forehead was covered in sweat.

*Thud* *Crack*

I punched the wooden head rest and caused it to crack slightly. I gritted my teeth and growled dangerously while some veins appeared on my forehead and sweat dripped onto the bedsheets, I gripped the bedsheets tightly with my left hand and raised my right hand to stare at it for a few minutes.

'Again and again, when will this nightmare end and why do I have to suffer through it, I don't even know who they are…!'

A few seconds later I climbed out of my bed and glanced towards the opposite side of the bed at a picture and my gaze lingered there for a second before moving away and I went on to do my morning routine.

x250 Sit Ups

x250 Push Ups

x250 Squats

x200 Jumping Jacks

x150 Hand Stand Push Ups

Once those were completed, I left my room and made my way to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Fifteen minutes later, I finished up and dried my body while changing into some casual clothes and headed for the kitchen to grab something for breakfast before heading to university. When I got there I noticed that there was water in the sink and that the place smelled like omelets, indicating that someone had been in there using my kitchen and the only other person besides me was Alicia so she must've made herself some breakfast.

I got a banana and apple from the fruit basket and walked to the front entrance, but on my way there I passed the living room where I could see that the TV was on the National Geographical channel and a deer was running from a pack of wolves.

'Well now would you look at that, she made herself at home real fast, it hasn't even been a full day yet'

"I'm heading out for university so you'll be alone for the next 4 hours or so, there's some chicken curry in the fridge if you get hungry again, later…" I said as I informed her of the available dish ready to eat after being heated up.

Without another word I left the house and locked the front door, got into my car with my stuff and pulled out onto the kerb while looking at my side view mirrors, only to find her looking at me from behind the living room blinds…

'Creepy Lady…' I thought while turning my blinker on and pulling out to the right and driving out of the block towards university…

[…Initiating the DC Embodiment System…73%]

-- On Route To University --

As I drove towards the university, I started to think back on that 'dream' I had an hour prior to my awakening.

'What is Black Horizon and what do they have to do with me? Most importantly, do they have something to do with this system I received from that duck? If so then why me and not anyone else? Is it because of him? What's his involvement in all this insanity?'

These were some of the many questions that popped up into my mind starting from the day I met that damn duck.

-- At University --

As I made my way to class I took out my phone to see if I got any new mail and just as I was about to walk around a corner I heard a few light footsteps heading my way from around the corner so I looked ahead as I turned and sidestepped as a small figure ran pass me shouting…

"SOORRRYYY!"

'Female judging by the high pitch voice and the feminine figure, about 5'2 to 5'3 in height, red hair with black highlights, hazelnut eyes' I thought as I analysed her unique figure and features…along with the other aspects of her body…which I will not name…

I turned back around and continued my way to my class while continuing my observation of her within my mind.

'She was heading towards the left of the hallway, which means that she either had maths, needed to go to the restroom or the library…'

A few seconds later I saw my classroom door, but as I got to the door I saw a note attached to it.

~ Hi class I just have to say that this mornings class will be in the library as you will be using the computers to upload some work and continue your work from yesterday ~

~ From Mrs. Alhurst ~

*Sigh*

'What a drag…'

*Sigh*

'That wasn't me…'

Turning around I saw a girl with a height of 5'8, dirty blonde hair with some white streaks in it, a mature looking face with dark blue eyes and lips covered in light pink lip gloss. She was wearing a business shirt, a black blazer and a black short skirt with black tight leggings and leprechaun like shoes.

"Haaahhh really mom, you should've told me yesterday or this morning" she said in a exasperated tone.

She turned to the right and walked to the library as I followed along after her…

'If I remember correctly she's Lily Alhurst, daughter of Mrs. Lana Alhurst and Mr Tyrone Alhurst, age 23, height 5'6, 5'8 because of her heels, likes donkey's and ferrets, hates cats, rats and junk food, dreams of becoming a successful air pilot…father died in a drug trafficking incident leaving her mother scared and afraid of blood after seeing her husbands blood for the first time in his last moments…she was only 5 at the time so she doesn't remember him well…'

I recalled all I had gathered on her in the short amount of time I had spent around her and her mother in class.

I also knew a lot about the rest of my class mates who thought I was just the quiet and introverted guy that had social anxiety.

When we got to the library I entered after her and found a seat for myself and took it while waiting for class to begin, to which it did a few minutes later…

10 minutes into the class a sound was heard outside the campus as a scream reverberated across the hallways and then silence.

We all remained seated and silent while Mrs. Alhurst walked towards the library door and peeked outside only to see something that frightened her to the point that I saw her soul leave her body.

She quickly closed the door while everyone looked at her confused but cautious. I looked towards the door and back towards her and quickly came to a few conclusions as to what she had seen…

1. This just became a school shooting judging by the loud bang noise we all heard..

2. Someone fell down the stairs and their bleeding thus making it so that her phobia of blood would kick in and she decided to lock the door…

3. Zombies are real…

4. It was a animal, seeing as how close this university is to the local zoo so it's possible that a frantic lion or guerrilla broke out and is going on a frenzy kill…

The most probable out of those 4 situations was number 1 and 2 with 4 being close as well and 3 being improbable but not impossible due to modern science and technology, I had a few other ideas but…

*Bang*

'Number 1 it is then…'

I got out of my seat while everyone looked at the door with scared looks on their faces and some of them were trembling while whispering incoherently.

Two girls looked like they peed themselves but I didn't want to ask them if they did, so I just looked through the door to assess the situation outside.

As soon as I peaked outside, I saw the body of a teacher lying on the ground a few metres away from the library entrance, blood was leaking from their right leg and liver area and there seemed to be a few students around the hall hiding in corners or on the sides while crouching down with their hands on their heads. Two men in military gear were talking to a third who looked like their superior judging by how they didn't look into his eyes directly and spoke respectfully. Probably out of fear of something…

I strained my hearing slightly as I could barely make out what they were saying…

"The girl…not here…get scheduled…meet back…police arriving…has red hair…black highlights…report…entrance…hostages…security"

I closed the door just as their superior looked in the direction of the hallway leading to the library.

I walked to a chair and grabbed it and placed it in front of the door momentarily as I planned on leaving the library. I walked to the right of the library door and started analysing and memorising the campus map that was put there in case a student got lost.

After memorising the map, I walked towards Mrs. Alhurst and waved my hand out in front of her face while verbally calling her name, respectfully of course…

When I didn't receive any form of acknowledgement from her I placed my hands on her shoulders and calmly spoke.

"Mrs. Alhurst, can you hear me? If so then look at me and nod…"

After getting confirmation that she heard me I spoke once again.

"I'm going to go and clear the floor of those guys so I need you to fortify the room and block the entrance until I come back and say its safe to get out, okay?"

That seemed to snap her out her trance and she started reprimanding me about my choice.

"Are you mad, young man there's no possibility of us getting out here safely, especially when they have guns and we also don't know how many of them there are!" she exclaimed quietly as to not arouse suspicion to us.

"Even so, we can't sit here and wait for the police to arrive as we both have seen the situation outside this room, at any moment it can turn even more dangerous especially with all those students sprawled around the hallways, their in risk of becoming hostages to those men. We, and by we I mean I, will clear the floor and then you'll all evacuate to the roof from the fire escape and signal the cops of our whereabouts, while I scout out the rest of the building and take out the rest of their friends on the lower levels"

She silently stared at me and whimpered pathetically in defeat.

"You really thought this through haven't you…?" she said sadly with an inquisitive look on her face.

After that she took a few seconds to calm down and then turned to the class, who were whispering among themselves quietly.

"Alright class we're leaving the library and evacuating the premises to the rooftop while Alec forges ahead and clears the path for us"

The only reason she trusted me enough to clear a path was because almost everyone on campus knew that I was ex-military and a expert martial artists along with a few other things they don't know about…thanks to my training from 'him', from when I was younger…

Listening to her, they all gathered up to the front of the library door but got down on the ground just in case someone started shooting through the door.

I walked to my seat to grab my phone and check the news to see if this was already a phenomenon, unfortunately I couldn't do so as I had no Internet or service.

I brought my phone over to Mrs. Alhurst and showed her the escalating situation to which she gasped and quickly withdrew her phone and checked it.

Seeing this the other students did so too and found the same problem.

"What's going on, why can't I call my brother?"

"Same I can't call my family…"

"Me neither…"

As they spoke all at once I quickly hushed them while speaking up.

"Most likely the men outside brought a connection jammer and its interfering with all electronics that's why the light went out earlier even though you guys didn't notice in the commotion, same thing can be said for the computers, laptops, phones, and tablets"

"Damn it!" said some unimportant guy.

"This also means that they would have some form of communication as all other communications are blocked temporarily, most likely they are using walkie talkies to exchange messages and report to their boss, I'll get a couple walkie talkies while I'm out there and then I'll set the frequency and channel to a different one than the one they use so we can use that to communicate safely"

"Once I've taken out the jammer and the scouts, then I'll message you to signal the cops just in case some of them are sneaking around or in the case of them having control of the security cameras, then they'll know our every move, however I have a way to counter that if they do"

After finishing my monologue I headed for the door while grabbing a scarf from one of the girls. Covering my face with the scarf I reached for the door handle and paused, turned around slightly and saw Mrs. Alhurst staring at me with a conflicted look alongside her daughter Lily who had a look that was hard to describe because it looked torn between admiration, worry and regret, of what?, I had no idea…

I looked towards Mason and enquired.

"Hey Mason, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't your dad a retired officer…?"

He looked slightly startled but answered.

"Yeah he is, why…?"

"Good, then as soon as I confirm that the jammer is offline I need you to phone him and let Mrs. Alhurst inform him of the situation and the plan but make sure you leave out my involvement in it please, take the credit or do whatever you want but don't mention me, you got it…?"

I spoke in a threatening tone with a dark shadow cast over my eyes making me look pretty damn scary in his eyes.

"G-Got I-It…!" he squeaked out but quickly regained his bearings and coughed so as to not look weak.

I turned back towards the door, opened it and left…

[…Initiating the DC Embodiment System... 75%]

-- Outside the Library: Hallway --

I walked in the opposite direction of the men and made my way to the right of the library as they had gone to the left.

I made it to the next classroom as I read the directional notice board hanging from the ceiling.

{Maths}

I glanced through the inside of the classroom window and saw a few students hiding under the tables and saw the teacher hiding behind his desk while reassuring the students 'calmly'.

"Tch...a futile effort" I said quietly to myself.

Reassurance isn't what they need right now, but guidance to somewhere safe and away from the problem...which is probably everywhere, so it's better if they stay there and out of sight.

I grimaced slightly as a moment from this very morning came back and resurfaced to the front of my mind.

'AAAAAAHHHHH *CRASH* *BOOM* AAAALLLEEECCCC SSSAAAAVVVVEEE MMMEEEE…!'

As I tried to regain my bearings and take a step forward I stopped and paused in doing so as a feeling within me started to bloom its buds.

Guilt.

'Damnit!'

I gritted my teeth and took a deep breathe in and out.

I turned towards the window and looked inside again, only to see that some of the students had caught sight of my figure in the window and squealed in fear while the tutor whimpered and told everyone to settle down and remain calm, despite not being all that calm himself.

I knocked on the window causing some students to look at me and quickly look away.

*Sigh* I sighed in annoyance.

'First making me feel slightly guilty and now this nonsense'.

I walked towards the door and picked the lock with a lockpick I always kept on me and opened the door successfully making some of the females cry and boys to stand up with some of them slightly hunched over, ready to hit the ground incase I had a gun or something.

The tutor came out of his hiding place to confront me nervously and cautiously.

I raised my hands to show that I meant no harm and spoke out.

"I'm a student, there's no need to be cautious and nervous as I am currently unarmed". I spoke out calmly and impassively.

I pulled out my ID badge and handed it over to the tutor, who looked it over and released a breathe he didn't realise he was holding in.

He told the rest of the students that it was alright to come out and they did as they were told.

I counted at most 17 students, with 7 females and 10 males, 11 if you count the tutor as well.

I closed the door and spoke to the teacher.

"I've come from the library, down the hallway, I had business with Mrs. Alhurst but we heard some gunshots coming from the hallway so Mrs. Alhurst decided to look and confirm the noise but froze up because of her hemophobia, we devised a plan to escape and make it to the roof from the fire exits at the end of the hallway and signal the cops from there."

I told him about the plan I had come up with but twisted it so that I wouldn't get all the credit and attention for making it all up by myself.

His face lit up slightly after hearing our plan and asked if they could accompany us.

I told him that they could but they had to do it in groups of 3 as having too many people would cause a commotion and bring attention to us.

Doing as he was told, he gathered the students in groups of 3 and joined the last two himself.

I guided the first group back to the library and and continued to do so until all the students and the teacher were safely escorted. I also made sure to explain the situation to Mrs. Alhurst before leaving again, towards the left side of the library.

I made my way to the direction of the men while making no noise and watching where I step so I don't make any squeaky sounds with my shoes.

Once I got to the corner of the next hallway I heard some chattering and quickly got my back to the wall while slightly peaking my head out to see who it was.

'Three men in military uniform, two of them being the same ones as before with a third new one, their superior isn't here so he must've left to handle some other business some where else'

I looked towards the far end of the hallway as they were closer to my end then the other end.

I saw a few students huddled together around a body on the floor with some of the females crying and males gritting their teeth, one of them looked as though he was ready to jump the military men.

Having finished their conversation two of the men walked towards the hostages and one of them walked in my direction. I moved from my position into the men's restroom and waited for him to walk past the door.

I removed the scarf from my head and compressed it by twisting it and 4 seconds later he walked by the door causing me to spring into action and quickly but silently walk behind him, wrapped the scarf around his neck and squeezed while pulling the ends of the scarf, causing him to slowly lose consciousness and not allowing him to breathe to warn the other two.

After gently grabbing him and removing the scarf I picked him up on my shoulder and took him into the restroom, while stripping him of all his gear and equipping them onto myself because ordinary clothes aren't going to protect me from bullets.

It took me four to five minutes to fully equip myself and check what I had.

Armour plates…

3 grenades…

Military Grade Pistol…

Military Grade Rifle…

2 Flashbangs…

Bandages…

Binoculars…

2 Combat Knives…

Walkie Talkie…

Small Notepad and Pen…

A Flashlight…

Most of this stuff was useless as the guns didn't have any silencers and would weigh me down since I like moving in the shadows more than head on battles…

The only useful things were the Flashbangs, Armour Plates, Binoculars, Bandages, the 2 Combat Knives, Walkie Talkie and the notepad and pen…

Analysing the items and weapons on me, I quickly formed a plan along with a couple of contingency plans within it, should I ever make a mistake or miscalculated my steps.

I rewrapped the scarf around my face and walked back out silently and got back to the wall at the end of the hallway.

I peaked around the corner and saw the 2 men talking about something while one of the students was under one of their boots.

'What did that idiot do…?' My eyebrows twitched as I lightly groaned in annoyance.

After finishing their chat, one of the men hauled the student up and made him face the students on his knee's while the other one began speaking as he walked behind him.

Realising what was about to happen I made my way around the corner and moved along the wall, out of their eyesight.

As soon as I was a few meters away from them, I peaked my head out from behind some lockers and saw the guy behind the student start to lift his pistol, while the other guy stood in front of the student and to the right, watching the other frightened students.

Seeing my chance I moved to intercept the execution and got behind the gun guy and quickly got him in a choke hold and snapped his neck to the left.

Hearing the snap noise and not the sound of a gunshot, the other guy quickly turned around but I already grabbed my combat knife and sprung towards him while sidestepping quickly by watching the gun's trajectory as he shot a round towards me.

Once in arms length I aimed my knife at his jugular and slashed as he reached for his knife but by the time he got it, it was already over

Blood spilled from his neck as he grasped it and tried to stop the bleeding, only for him to fall over slowly and shortly thereafter he stopped breathing.

After that I removed their gear as well as grabbed whatever was useful while discarding the guns inside a classroom, so no one would get them later, I'll notify the authorities about them later…

I looked at the students that were staring at me in shock and fear, to which I just ignored and looked towards the student who was about to be executed.

"Do you need any medical attention?" I questioned while pulling out the bandages.

He slowly refocused back into reality and robotically nodded his head left to right. I glanced to the other students just as they snapped out their trance and started cheering quietly.

'How Naive…' I thought coldly as I remained stoic on the outside.

"Leave your stuff here and follow me" I ordered them to leave their stuff as it would just weigh them down and slow us down if they dropped something or got tired.

They immediately went silent and did as I told, except for that one idiot with a high ego and superiority complex…

"Why the hell should we listen to you huh…for all we know you could be with them and leading us into a trap!" he exclaimed while trying to bare his eyes down on me questioningly and arrogantly.

I just silently turned around towards the dead men and picked one up on my shoulder and dragged the other one by the arm into a classroom and dumped them in a corner out of visual observation range, walked back out while grabbing some tape from the teachers desk.

I looked towards the group of former hostages but more specifically at the antagonist wannabe.

"Why would I lead you to an ambush or trap when I could make it so that you don't leave this hallway…at least not breathing that is…" I said coldly and unflinchingly without hesitation.

He started to sweat slightly under my gaze and silently retreated to the back of the group and averted his eyes from me.

I looked away from him and towards the pile of blood on the floor from the guy I stabbed with my knife.

'Nothing I could do about it now…just have to hope no one comes this way'

"Follow or don't, it's your survival at stake not mine and if you want medical attention for whoever that is on the floor over there then feel free to follow, if not then you'll only have yourselves to blame for their death" I said as I walked off towards the library.

A few seconds I heard a pair of shoes sound out from behind me and then a few more followed a couple of seconds later.

'Stealth is overrated for them apparently…what else did I expect from a bunch of university student's who probably seen as much action as I've had joy…so nothing at all…'

As we reached the library door I knocked on it lightly and spoke quietly.

"Mrs. Alhurst its Alec, open up"

A few seconds later the door opened slightly and a head peaked out slightly from the crack and gazed at me for a second and then the door swung open widely as a body tried to jump me but I dodged to the side as my instincts kicked in.

*thud*

*squeak*

I ignored the body on the floor and walked inside the library and towards a table, the students followed along and got in as Mrs. Alhurst got off the floor and quickly followed as to not be left outside.

I went to the tissue dispenser and pulled out all the tissues and brought them to the table, then I got another table and placed it next to that table to form one big table. I then grabbed the bacteria spray and sprayed the table to sanitise it and laid out the tissues and made a make shift operation table.

"Lay her down on the tissues"

The two girls carrying the injured girl did as told. I handed a couple of tissues to one of them and guided her hand to the girls gunshot wound.

"Press down and hold it there firmly" she shakily followed my instructions.

I left her there and walked around the room to look for things I could operate with.

Once I found everything I walked back to the make shift operation table.

I placed the tools down and sprayed some bacteria hand sanitizer on my hands all the way up to my elbows and then wore some rubber gloves that one of the girls had. I also sanitised the tools and her wound with bacteria spray.

I then got to work by giving the flashlight to one girl and telling her to point it at the wound. I started by making a small incision on the wounded area causing the girl to shout in pain to which one of the smarter girls instantly placed a hand on her mouth to quiet her down.

After cutting a small incision, I picked up a ruler and moved the destroyed skin tissue away for a better look and spotted the bullet stuck just above her spleen.

I looked towards the girl opposite of me and spoke.

"Hold the ruler and make sure the skin doesn't move back in place accidentally" she looked at me and nodded hesitantly while gently grabbing the ruler.

Once she did that I got some eyebrow pluckers and carefully proceeded to make my way to the bullet and once I grasped it with the pluckers I slowly removed it and placed it in a cup of water.

Finally I dabbed the wound and cleaned it while proceeding to sow it shut with some thread and a needle I got from Mrs. Alhursts purse. The girl was screaming during the whole process but calmed down and passed out at the end of it. Strong one isn't she…most people would have passed out in the first few seconds but she retained consciousness for nearly the whole procedure. Impressive indeed…

After that I took my gloves off and placed them on the table and walked up to Mrs. Alhurst to discuss the next step in the plan more thoroughly…

[…Initiating the DC Embodiment System…77%]