Chapter 17: The chosen ones

Chapter 17: The chosen ones

"Alright everyone, listen up! I'm lieutenant Frostbite and I'm tasked with explaining you how are we going to evacuate this place." He shouted making absolute silence in the crowd.

"Uh, mister Frostbite, can't we just go back in the armored vehicles?" A student asked.

"It's lieutenant Frostbite and no, we can't do that. We'll depart in two big groups." He said in the most kind, reassuring and confident smile he could muster, but it was nowhere near colonel Ethan's. Instead of calming the students, it only made them distrust the man in front of them even more.

People began complaining and asking more questions, but the lieutenant wasn't a patient man nor was he interested in replying to their questions. He had a job to do and that was all he cared about.

Before separating the two groups he needed to know how strong everyone was. They couldn't risk abandoning people with strong traits, not just because it would be a loss for the army, but also because they might have a chance at surviving on their own and they might seek for vengeance if they realized they've been abandoned.

The students were lined up into several rows and, one by one, they were asked to place their finger on a strange device that looked like a box with a small analog screen. It was a scanner that would measure the amount of energy emitted by the ones with traits, allowing them to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Uriel was almost at the end of his row which gave him a privileged look of what was going on. Most students would place their fingers on the machine and then curse at their luck, while others cheered loudly. Apparently, the amount of people unhappy with their traits, or they lack of one, was a lot higher than those who seemed pleased with theirs.

Medusa, Sam and Luna, coincidentally, were pretty content with their results and they were placed along with the strongest students, the ones who would be allowed to stay behind.

"What did that woman want?" Tina asked after coming back from colonel Ethan's tent.

"It's none of your business." Uriel said in a scoff.

"It's not even a month since we broke up and you're already flirting with other girls!?"

"I said it's none of your business. Anyway, why would you care, you've been going around with Mark all day."

The one good thing about Uriel's poor results was that it distracted them long enough to end their fight and now they were speaking normally again.

Since Uriel was almost at the end of the line it didn't take long for the soldiers to finish sorting the students and, just when lieutenant Frostbite was about to report to colonel Ethan Windfire that the preparations were finished the titanic beast was spotted in the distance by one of the soldiers.

The creature was the size of a building but it was so far it was impossible to see it with the naked eye and it was only thanks to old school binoculars that the watchmen were able to see it.

The appearance of the creature threatened to foil their plan to forsake the weaker students in order to give the rest a chance to survive and if the colonel didn't take any measures panic would ensue.

But what measures could he possibly take? What could he do?

There was absolutely nothing a medium ranking officer like him could possibly do in a situation like that. A creature so huge was bound to be too powerful for him, or for anyone for that matter. Never, since the arrival of the cryptids, a creature that size had been defeated.

The only reason why humanity was able to withstand the presence of such creatures was because they kept away from them, cowering behind concrete walls which did little to protect them but they were great for hiding the energy signature that came off from cities.

But in the case a creature like that was set on attacking a city, there was little the army, the government or all the big corporations together could do to stop it. Or maybe they could, but why bother.

Just when the colonel was about to lose hope, a new report came bringing much brighter news.

"Sir, there's an aircraft on its way here." The soldier said after performing an impeccable salute.

"An aircraft? But there's no plane available and even if there was, they wouldn't be able to land. Hang on a second, is it a helicopter?" Ethan asked in hopes of at least being able to escape along with the elite unite comprised of the wealthiest students.

"No sir, it's a... Zeppelin."