Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

"And now they’re chasing us. "The words had barely left Finch’s mouth when a furious roar exploded through the forest behind them.

"YOU LITTLE THIEVES!"

The shout was so loud it drowned out every other voice accompanying it.

Branches snapped.

Bushes shook.

The thunder of approaching footsteps grew rapidly louder.

Squad 11-D instantly erupted.

"What?!"

"You stole from seniors?!"

"Are you both crazy?"

Reggie opened his mouth to defend himself. Then his eyes landed on the severed black mamba lying on the ground.

"Aaah!" He screamed in terror, jumping backwards.

Finch followed his gaze.

"Aaah!"

The second scream was somehow louder.

Soraya snapped.

She grabbed both boys by their collars.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?!" she barked. "Have you completely lost your minds?!"

Then she shook them violently.

"Stealing from 12-C?!"

Reggie flopped helplessly.

Finch looked one shake away from becoming unconscious.

Behind them, the trees swayed violently.

Until now, 12-C had probably only been following traces.

And now, the screams had practically sent them a written invitation.

They knew exactly where to come.

And they were coming.

Fast.

Soraya released both boys with a growl and threw them backwards.

"Idiots." She seethed.

The word dripped with genuine disgust.

Isaiah was breathing shakily. "What do we do now?"

Farida stared at him.

"What do you mean what do we do?" She gestured towards the incoming mob. "Obviously we’re going to give them back."

Nobody answered.

Farida blinked.

She slowly looked around.

The hesitation on everyone’s faces made her stomach drop.

She snapped her gaze to Soraya.

"Right?"

Soraya remained silent.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the approaching disturbance.

Farida’s eyes widened.

"Right?"

This time there was far more emphasis behind the question.

"We have to return them." she said desperately. "We don’t have a choice."

"Yes, we do."

Everyone turned.

Reggie had climbed back to his feet. His expression was stubborn.

"We finally found Scales." He pointed at the forest behind. "And now we’re just supposed to hand them over?"

Farida looked at him like he was crazy.

"12-C will crush us!"

A low tremor suddenly passed through the ground.

The squad fell silent.

Another tremor followed.

Stronger.

The approaching footsteps were becoming ridiculous.

Soraya finally moved.

"The Scales." She said.

Finch immediately reached into his jacket. He produced a small pouch.

Everything that followed happened so quickly nobody had time to process it.

Soraya snatched it.

Opened it.

Dumped the contents into her palm. Then strode through the squad.

"One."

A Scale landed in Yesu’s hand.

"Two."

Carrots caught another.

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

One by one. Until all ten had been distributed.

The squad stared at the metallic relics in shock.

Their hearts hammered.

The ground shook harder. Now it felt like a miniature earthquake.

Students struggled to remain steady.

The footsteps were only meters away.

Soraya turned toward them.

"Head back to Base." She ordered.

Nobody moved.

"Now!"

The command cracked like a whip.

And the squad exploded into motion.

Students scattered immediately, running in different directions.

Vanishing between trees.

Leaping over roots.

Crashing through undergrowth.

But despite their different paths, they all knew where they were going.

Home base.

And behind them—

The fury of Squad 12-C finally burst into the clearing.

***

Yesu was running through the forest. Taking unmarked routes.

Shrubs slapped against her legs.

Branches scraped across her sleeves.

The Scale remained clutched tightly in her hand.

She had lost sight of the others several minutes ago.

That didn’t bother her.

Everyone knew the way back to Base.

Ahead, a low branch stretched across her path at the same level as her head.

Yesu ducked.

And just as she did–

A huge fireball screamed through the space where her head had been a fraction of a second earlier.

It slammed into a tree ahead.

Fire exploded across the bark.

Yesu bent sharply to avoid running into the burning trunk.

Another attack followed.

Too soon.

She didn’t even have time to turn around.

She felt heat brush past her right ear.

Instinct took over.

She spun left.

Footsteps pounded behind her.

More fire blasts followed.

Precise.

Efficient.

Relentless.

Yet Yesu avoided every single one without looking back.

The attacker was growing frustrated.

"Get back here, you second-year scum!"

Yesu ignored him. Instead, she noticed something else.

He was herding her.

Deliberately burning trees.

Blocking routes.

Obviously trying to drive her farther away from Base.

A fork appeared ahead.

The left path led toward Base.

The right descended in a hill toward the far side of the Zone that wasn’t in her squad’s jurisdiction for the day.

Yesu knew if she missed the left route now, she would be led far from the base.

Too far.

She would definitely be caught before she could make it back.

As expected, flames shot forward.

One blast struck a tree.

Another followed.

Then another.

And another.

The trees lining the path ignited.

Branches came crashing down.

Fire spread rapidly.

And soon the entire route was burning.

There was no visible way through.

Yet Yesu kept running.

Behind her, the Senior came to an abrupt stop.

"She’ll change route." He said, assuring himself.

She didn’t.

His eyes widened.

"Change routes, damn it!" He yelled.

The first obstacle came. A massive burning log.

Yesu launched herself sideways over it. She glanced back mid air.

The Senior was gaping at her.

Yesu landed and kept moving.

Flames crackled beneath her feet. She was surrounded by thick smoke all around.

Despite that, she didn’t feel the usual burning in the lungs smoke naturally caused.

She stopped.

A gigantic burning branch blocked the path.

Too high to clear from the short distance.

Too wide to go around quickly.

But beneath it—

There was a gap.

Small.

Barely enough.

Yesu shrugged off her jacket.

Swung it over her hair. Dropped to the ground.

And crawled.

The branch was already breaking apart. A burning twig snapped loose.

It struck the exposed part of her arm.

A groan barely escaped from her.

And that was all.

She kept crawling.

Another twig fell.

It hit the same hand.

Yesu didn’t even react.

The branch groaned overhead. Then it began collapsing.

Yesu immediately threw herself forward.

The branch crashed down behind her.

She scrambled to her feet. Her foot struck a stone. Hard.

Her ankle twisted.

She fell and pushed herself up instantly.

Just then—

A loud cracking echoed through the path.

A huge flaming tree had just given way. It was falling straight down.

And Yesu was directly under it.

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