Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

At the clearing, an uneasy silence loomed.

Bryant stood with his arms folded.

Gwen leaned against a tree, one hand still pressed lightly against her temple.

The two members of 12-C holding Soraya hadn’t relaxed in the slightest.

Bryant glanced at his wristwatch.

Then he pressed the button on his walkie-talkie.

"Report."

Static crackled.

"Negative."

Another voice.

"Nothing here."

A third.

"No sign of them."

One after another, every report was the same.

Negative.

Soraya lowered her gaze, almost smiling.

If nothing else, her classmates were exceptionally good at running away.

Bryant looked thoroughly annoyed. He checked his watch again.

"It’s almost seventeen hundred." He looked around the forest. "Where are those juniors?"

Gwen finally pushed herself away from the tree and walked toward Soraya.

She crouched in front of her.

"Does your squad usually ignore your orders? It’s starting to look like it."

Soraya remained silent.

Gwen took the silence as confirmation.

"Some leader you are." She gave a small, mocking laugh. "You tell your squad to steal something that isn’t theirs, then they run away like cowards."

Her eyes narrowed.

"If they couldn’t fight for it, why take it in the first place?"

Soraya seemed affected by her words.

The walkie-talkie in Gwen’s hand screeched.

Bryant smiled. "Finally. It’s about time."

Gwen pressed the button.

Static.

Then—

"Everyone..."

Yesu’s voice came through. Clear and urgent.

"Don’t go back. It’s a trick."

The clearing froze.

A brief burst of static.

"That wasn’t Soraya."

Another crackle.

"12-C’s trying to lure everyone back."

Silence.

Bryant slowly looked at Gwen.

Gwen looked back.

So this was the anomaly. The one who had broken free from her Ability.

Soraya stared quietly.

So her suspicions had been right.

From Yesu’s performance during their spar at Ability training to the strange characteristics she exhibited.

Then there was yesterday’s extraction. The escape that obviously lacked details.

Miss Heaven hadn’t even followed up afterwards.

Yesu had never been an ordinary Zero forced into Echelon.

No wonder the school authorities—

Or even the Board of Trustees—

Had refused to publicly address either her transfer or her Classification for that matter.

Soraya almost smacked her own forehead suddenly.

The boys holding her noticed and stopped her before she could.

She nearly groaned aloud.

Since Yesu had just publicly broadcasted the information, Gwen and Bryant knew the deception had failed.

And if they alerted the rest of 12-C, what would happen to her squad?

Then another thought struck her.

Wait a minute...

None of her squad members had answered Yesu.

Normally, they would have started attempting to squabble over the channel like earlier.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

The surrounding trees suddenly rustled.

Once.

Twice.

Like something was weaving through them.

Bryant and Gwen instinctively looked toward the sound, trying to catch a glimpse of the cause of the movements.

At that exact moment—

Both walkie-talkies shot from their hands.

They vanished into the nearby bushes.

"What—?!"

The four seniors reacted instantly.

Too late.

A blur shot through the clearing.

One. Two. Three. Four.

In less than a second, Gwen, Bryant, and the guys pinning Soraya were knocked sprawling across the ground.

Soraya was free.

Isaiah stepped calmly from behind a cluster of bushes.

He planted his feet.

Took a deep breath.

Raised both hands.

Then thrust them forward as though tearing open the air itself.

The earth rumbled.

The ground beneath the seniors split apart.

Before any of them could escape—

It closed again.

Their bodies were buried from the shoulders downward. Only their heads remained exposed.

A stunned silence followed.

Then students emerged one after another from the surrounding bushes.

Squad 11-D.

Bryant’s eyes widened. So they were here.

Since when?

Isaiah blinked. Then looked at his own hands.

"...I actually did it." His voice was barely above a whisper.

His face lit up.

"I actually did it!"

Carrots laughed and punched him squarely on the shoulder.

"I had every faith in you, Skinny."

The punch landed with frightening force.

Isaiah folded over.

"Oww!"

Carrots kept laughing.

"Although for a second there, I thought you might crush them completely." She pointed at the trapped seniors, still laughing.

"Imagine the paperwork. How would you have explained yourself to Professor Wakefield?"

Isaiah gulped.

Farida shook her head in complete disapproval.

"Leave him alone Carrots."

Nearby, the boy who had stolen the walkie-talkies with telekinesis grinned proudly.

"Don’t worry." He said, twirled one of the devices before catching it again. "We’ll let your squad know where you are after we’re halfway back to Base."

Soraya walked over.

He handed her both walkie-talkies.

She slipped them into her pockets before looking directly at Gwen.

A small smirk appeared.

"Some squad leader I am." She echoed.

Before Gwen could answer, one of the confiscated walkie-talkies crackled.

"Bryant?"

A voice echoed through the speaker.

"Any news about the Scales?"

Soraya calmly shoved the device deeper into her pocket.

Then she turned to her squad.

"Let’s get going." She said.

No one argued. The squad immediately fell in behind her.

As they started disappearing into the forest, Gwen’s eyes suddenly locked onto one person.

"You." She said.

Yesu paused for only the briefest moment. She had been quiet throughout the whole encounter.

Recognition flickered across Gwen’s face.

Soraya noticed.

"Yesuin." She called. "Let’s go."

Yesu tore her gaze away.

Then followed the rest of Squad 11-D into the forest.

***

Squad 11-D finally returned to Base.

As they walked, the others filled Soraya in on everything she had missed.

Yesu had intercepted them in small groups while they were making their way back to the clearing.

They had gathered nearby and made a plan.

An ambush.

Exactly the same way 11-B had trapped them on the very first day.

The irony wasn’t lost on anyone.

Then Yesu had deliberately transmitted over the walkie-talkie, drawing Gwen and Bryant’s attention long enough for the others to strike.

Simple.

Effective.

Soraya had listened quietly.

Perhaps, her squad was finally learning to think rationally without depending entirely on her.

Some squad leader she was indeed.

Back inside Base, Isaiah powered up the attendance terminal.

One after another, students stepped forward and scanned their fingerprints.

Attendance marked.

Soraya held out a hand.

"The Scales."

The students she had entrusted with them stepped forward one by one and placed them into her palm.

Nine Scales were successfully submitted.

At the back, Yesu lowered her eyes.

The Scale in her hand was still coated in dried blood.

She stared at it briefly.

Then sighed.

And quietly slipped it into her pocket.

She walked up to Soraya.

"Sorry."

Soraya looked at her.

"I lost mine while a senior was after me."

Soraya’s eyes drifted over her appearance.

The burns. The cuts. The missing jacket. The smoke-blackened uniform.

She simply nodded.

"Don’t worry about it."

A small smile appeared on Yesu’s face.

"Thanks."

She stepped forward and scanned her fingerprint.

A soft beep sounded.

When the last student finished, Isaiah frowned at the attendance screen.

Incomplete.

Soraya looked over. "What is it?"

Isaiah stared at the display.

"Someone’s missing."

The squad immediately began looking around.

Counting heads. Calling names under their breath.

Yesu didn’t move. She didn’t need to count.

She already knew.

Finch.

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