Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

The wind howling through the forest was growing fiercer with every passing minute.

Even long after the transmission had ended, Squad 11-D remained unusually quiet.

One after another, they sat down. No one seemed eager to speak.

Only Soraya remained standing.

She leaned against the wall beside the transmitter, arms folded across her chest.

After a while, Isaiah got to his feet and walked over to the supply crate.

There wasn’t much left.

He looked back at his classmates.

"Everyone, why don’t we have breakfast first?"

A few quiet murmurs came forth in reply.

"Yeah."

"Sure."

Several students rose to help him hand out the remaining food.

Soon, they gathered into a loose circle.

Crackers, dried meat from a few hunting catches and water.

As usual, no one complained.

Only Soraya stayed where she was. She turned toward the window instead.

The clouds were getting heavier, darker. Ominous.

The forest beyond swayed violently beneath the strengthening wind.

Isaiah noticed her standing alone and quietly walked over.

"Hey."

"I’m not hungry." Soraya said before he could say anything else.

Isaiah smiled faintly.

"I know." He scratched the back of his neck. "I just wanted to see if you’re okay, that’s all."

Soraya sighed.

"I thought I told you to stop worrying about me." She looked at him. "Worry about yourself instead."

Isaiah lowered his head.

"Uh... yeah. Okay."

The words came out much smaller than he intended.

Soraya watched him for a moment.

"You’ve been a good assistant."

Isaiah blinked.

She glanced toward the breakfast circle.

The atmosphere had lightened ever so slightly. Some students had begun talking again. Others were making terrible attempts at jokes.

A small smile found its way onto Soraya’s face.

"I don’t know how I would’ve managed to lead these big babies without you."

There was unmistakable fondness in her voice.

Isaiah looked toward the group too. A smile slowly spread across his face.

"They’re not that bad..."

Just then, he spotted three boys gambling with their crackers.

The winner swept every last cracker toward himself with a triumphant grin.

Isaiah laughed.

"... Well, most of them."

Soraya let out an amused snort then faced the window again.

Outside, the forest danced beneath the approaching storm.

Isaiah’s smile gradually faded.

"So," He looked at the sky as well. "What are we going to do now?"

Soraya never took her eyes off the trees.

"We’ll figure something out."

***

Around the breakfast circle, despite everyone’s efforts to act normally, the mood remained heavy.

Yesu quietly observed her squad mates.

Most still carried visible injuries from the battle over Vault Three against 12-B.

Others had acquired fresh ones during yesterday’s cat-and-mouse game with 11-A.

Farida, sitting beside her, noticed that she was watching. She leaned closer.

"You know," She smiled awkwardly. "Yesterday I had expected almost every one of us to get captured by 11-A. But when I heard only four people got captured..."

She rubbed the back of her neck.

"I was actually surprised." She laughed nervously. "Seems our class is pretty good at hiding after all."

"Lucky us." Yesu replied plainly.

Farida nodded then lowered her voice.

"I heard you tried kidnapping Apollo." She looked genuinely curious. "Is that true?"

Yesu turned to her.

"I would have." She answered without hesitation. "If Carrots hadn’t kidnapped me first."

She thought for a second.

"Or at the very least, I would’ve gotten the Scales."

Carrots let out a loud snort from across the circle.

"As if." She exclaimed. "You nearly got us killed yesterday. What were you even thinking?"

She groaned dramatically.

"And then you got yourself captured. We lost points because of that. I told you not to interfere with that fight. So why did you?"

Yesu opened her mouth.

"Hey, Yesu."

James interrupted before she could answer.

His shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages.

Sitting beside him was Grover, whose arm had previously received almost identical treatment

Together, they looked amusingly identical.

"If you’re ever grouped with me again..."

James raised his good arm and pointed a finger at her, waving it up and down rapidly.

"Could you please, kindly withdraw? I’m honestly not sure I would be able to survive another dose of your... willfulness."

"Willfulness?"

An edgy voice cut in.

Reggie stared directly at Yesu.

"More like crazy." His words came out sharp. Full of resentment. "It was your fault we lost so many points. All you’ve done since you came here is cause trouble."

He didn’t stop.

"It makes me wonder why you’re even here in the first place."

His harsh tone made the mood even heavier.

"Aren’t you tired?"

Every head turned.

Soraya was no longer looking out the window.

She was looking directly at Reggie.

"You’ve been going on about this for two weeks."

She paused.

"No. Three now." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Suck it up."

Several students suddenly found the cemented floor fascinating. Others took to the ceiling.

"Stop blaming other people for your own incompetence." Soraya’s voice remained perfectly calm. "It’s getting old."

Reggie glared at her.

Soraya pushed herself away from the wall.

She grabbed Isaiah’s wrist and glanced at his watch.

"I guess breakfast’s over." She said.

A few stomachs sank.

She looked around the room.

"Everyone, huddle."

***

The squad closed together until they formed a tight huddle.

Every face was tense.

Soraya swept her gaze across them once.

"I’ll go straight to the point. Despite how far we’ve come, our current aggregate is embarrassingly low."

No one argued.

"Today’s Directive is Extraction." She held up an open hand. "We have five Scales. And as we’ve learned, one Scale equals one point."

She lowered her hand.

"That means we have only five points to gain from relics, and ten points for successfully completing the Directive. That is a total of fifteen points. And if we earn all fifteen..."

She paused.

"Our final score will be sixty-two. Average."

Several heads nodded silently.

Reggie raised a hand.

"Miss Heaven already gave us points for the Scales earlier so I don’t think it’ll be added to today’s points."

Soraya nodded in realization.

"Right. That means our final score will be fifty-seven."

A few groans escaped from the squad.

"That is..." Soraya continued, "only if we successfully extract every single Scale without losing them."

Someone let out a long, weary breath.

"Which isn’t going to be easy." Isaiah said quietly.

Soraya nodded.

"No, it isn’t."

She looked around the circle.

"No boundaries. No jurisdictions. The entire purpose of today’s Directive is to create an all-out war. Theft. Robbery. Ambush. You name it."

She let the words hang.

The atmosphere seemed to be getting darker with each statement.

The world outside was no different. The clouds were the darkest shade of gray.

A few drops of rain had already begun to fall.

"Not every squad will make it to extraction." Soraya continued. "The strong will prey on the weak."

Her eyes settled briefly on each member.

Many quietly lowered theirs to the ground.

"What do we do now?" Farida asked.

Soraya didn’t answer immediately.

"To tell the truth," She inhaled slowly. "We don’t stand much of a chance."

Silence.

"So we have two options. Either we push forward anyway..."

Lightning flashed dangerously across the sky.

"...or we clock in, accept our attendance points, and sit this one out."

The thunder that followed was deafening.

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