Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

The moon shone brightly in the sky. Although it was unable to penetrate into the heart of the forest as a result of the thick canopy above.

Once again, Yesu had to make her way through the darkness.

Only this time, she wasn’t fortunate enough to have gotten a flashlight.

She had safely tucked the one she borrowed from Olwen into her backpack and had left it since.

She didn’t want to end up losing it or worse, getting it broken.

Yesu wondered if the other freed captives might have been able to make it back to base.

Her eyes could no longer make out anything in the darkness.

If she went on blindly, she would get lost.

Then Yesu remembered.

She smacked the side of her head with a palm.

"Yesuin." She scolded herself. "How could you be so foolish?"

She brought out her walkie talkie and pressed the button.

No sound.

She shook it lightly and tried it again.

Nothing.

She hit it repeatedly against her palm.

The way she had seen Gerald smack the old microwave and TV back to life at Gerry’s Pizza.

Still nothing.

Yesu stared at the black figure of the device in the dark.

"Maybe there’s no signal."

She stood on her toes, raised it to the canopy above and moved in a circle. All the while pressing the button.

No response.

She stopped.

The device felt lighter than usual.

She instinctively turned it over, felt for the back cover and pried it open. She touched the battery compartment.

Empty.

"What?"

Yesu stood quietly for a moment.

Squad 11-A.

Who amongst them could have done this?

The walkie-talkies of the four unfortunate members of 11-D had been seized up on capture.

And they all had been submitted to Seth at the Base. No one had come forward to touch them.

Seth had returned it all when he escorted them out.

So it couldn’t have been him.

Why would anyone do such a thing anyway? Trials had ended for the day.

Unless someone had planned for her to get lost.

Yesu made a face.

The smooth stalker.

***

Yesu had been sitting under a tree for up to an hour.

A cold breeze had started blowing through the forest.

The breeze smelt a lot like rain.

Yesu inhaled deeply.

A far off thunder rumbled. The rain was indeed coming.

Tomorrow was day five. The final day.

Yesu imagined what the last Directive would be like. It would definitely be dreadful, she was sure.

They couldn’t have given them all these troublesome Directives only to finish it off with something simple now, would they?

"Harriet!"

Yesu jerked.

Harriet. That was the name of one of her classmates. The girl among the three who had been captured.

The voice was distant.

"Tyler!"

"Patrick!"

Several voices gradually came through all at once.

Calling. Searching.

"Yesu!"

On cue, Yesu sprang to her feet. As if that was what her limbs had been waiting for.

She began sprinting towards the voices. It was still too dark. It was possible that they were far away.

She followed.

And stumbled multiple times.

Eventually, a flashlight beamed through the night.

Yesu smiled.

"Over here!"

She waved a hand above her head.

The beam found her seconds later.

A few laughs rang out from the bushes. More flashlights joined. More squad members came together.

Yesu saw someone herding the girl called Harriet.

Then Tyler. And Patrick.

They were all soon lost in chatter, stories spilling out.

For the first time since arriving at Echelon, Yesu felt a strange sense of belonging.

***

The rain came in the middle of the night.

Without warning.

One moment the forest was silent.

The next, the heavens burst open.

Rain hammered the canopy with relentless force.

Thunder rolled overhead, so loud it seemed the earth itself was cracking apart.

Lightning slashed across the sky, throwing ghostly flashes through the Base every few moments before darkness swallowed everything again.

Several members of Squad 11-D were jolted awake.

Others merely shifted beneath their blankets and slept even deeper, exhausted beyond caring.

A handful of students laughed as they ran outside.

"What are you doing?" someone shouted.

"Taking a shower!"

They stood beneath the downpour, scrubbing dirt from their hair and clothes, splashing one another until the cold finally chased them back inside.

***

By dawn, the rain had eased.

The forest dripped from every branch. The ground squelched beneath every step.

Those who had slept through the storm made do with what bottled water remained, rinsing quickly before it ran out.

Grey clouds hung low across the sky.

It was obvious the storm would definitely be returning soon.

Yesu brushed her teeth quietly before tipping a bottle of water over her head.

Cold water ran down her face.

Her thoughts drifted.

Day Two.

Finch dragging her into the woods, only to offer her poisonous berries.

She shook her head.

"Weirdo."

Absentmindedly, her fingers reached the back of her head.

The place that had been injured on Day one.

She pressed gently against her skull.

Nothing.

No tenderness. No swelling. Not even the faintest dent.

Her hand lingered there.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to her.

Grover was nearby, splashing water onto his face.

Yesu walked up to him.

"Hey, you have a knife, don’t you?"

Grover frowned. "Yeah, I—"

"Could you lend it to me?"

He blinked."For what?"

Yesu only stared at him.

Grover searched her face for any trace of mischief.

He got nothing.

Just Yesu being... Yesu.

"Okay."

He pulled a camping knife from inside his jacket and handed it over.

"Don’t lose it."

Yesu accepted the knife with a smile.

"I won’t."

She grabbed a full bottle of water from a nearby crate and immediately broke into a sprint.

Grover watched her disappear between the dripping trees.

***

Yesu stopped when she had gotten a bit far from Base.

The forest was quiet.

Rainwater dripped steadily from the leaves.

She looked down at the knife resting in her hand.

For a long time, she simply stared.

Then drew a slow breath.

"This is crazy."

She tucked the knife into her trousers, turned around and walked straight back.

As the Base came into view, she frowned.

Everyone was rushing inside. That was odd.

Could it be—

"Attention, Squad 11-D."

Miss Heaven’s cold, ominous voice echoed through the Base.

Yesu quickened her pace, slipping inside with the last group.

The room fell silent.

Every pair of eyes was fixed on the transmitter.

Surprised.

Wary.

It was barely eight in the morning.

Whatever had prompted an announcement this early...

Couldn’t be good.

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