Chapter 28: Scavengers

Chapter 28: Scavengers

"Wait a moment please!" Luna interrupted.

"Now that's what I call a spoilsport." Miss Dragonfang said in a reproachful tone after having her moment ruined.

"I'm sorry, but, how do we win? What do we get if we do so? or what happens if we take longer than two minutes?" Luna asked.

"Uh, let's see... If you take longer than two minutes that would mean you're dead, at least that's in this hypothetical scenario. So, if you take longer than two minutes you won't get a share in our earnings."

Suddenly, the students were not so eager to participate and the mood became sour.

"But, if you do find something useful you get to keep it." With just those words, the tables were turned and now their morale was sky high. Now it wasn't just an exercise, but also a friendly competition to get the best possible loot.

Even Phlox seemed eager to participate and started walking to the same position the students were, but Miss Dragonfang stopped her with a glare.

As soon as their leader gave the go, everyone hurried up towards the building making quick work of the boards covering its entrance.

Except, of course, for Uriel who struggled to remove even one of the boards because his strength was nowhere near his companions. When he realized this, he gave up and entered by the door that had been previously busted open by Medusa.

It was dark inside and there was no electricity, giving Sam, who had enhanced sight, a huge advantage.

Uriel paid no mind to what everyone else was doing and hurried inside, he had lost a few valuable seconds and couldn't afford to waste time hesitating. When he saw that most of the shelves were almost empty and only a few items in poor condition were left behind He made up his mind and hurried to the register machine.

Just when he was about to reach his objective, he bumped into Medusa who was already on her way back. She had searched the register machine in hopes of finding some credits and had taken all its contents with her, then hurried outside. No matter what, nothing would be worth the risk of being denied the profit share of the hunting party.

Uriel too wanted to get something from the register, but Medusa was quicker and, by the time he arrived there was nothing left for him. There was, however, a small old safe with a key lock right beneath the counter.

'There's no time to find the key and it looks to heavy to carry it outside.' He thought and turned his back on it, only to remember that he had just the tool for that kind of situation.

He opened his palm and the swiss army knife appeared instantly. Hurriedly, he pulled out the lockpick and started to work on the safe.

"One minute!" A woman's voice could be heard from outside, making Luna twist on her feet and run outside empty handed.

Now the only ones left inside were the male hunters. The geeky student walked outside calmly carrying a plastic bag and after a few seconds Sam followed with his arms filled with stuff he picked from who knows where.

Uriel, though, remained inside still struggling to pick the lock. Sweat trickled down his forehead and his hand became shaky as he attempted to pick the lock over and over.

The tool twisted inside the lock many times, but Uriel wasn't experienced enough to pick it in a hurry. He had practiced picking old locks when he was a child, but that wasn't a memory he wanted to bring up right now.

What they found left them speechless, it even took Medusa a few seconds to find her words, because Uriel held his gaze in a suspicious direction.

"Were you... just... staring at my ass?" She said blushingly, not knowing if she should feel angry or flattered.

"I... uh... uh... no?" He stuttered, a bit startled by everyone's reaction.

"You bastard!" Sam said, offended that his friend was trying to make a move on Medusa after knowing his feelings for her and despite saying there was nothing in between them.

"It's actually... I was just spacing out." Uriel rebuked when things were starting to get out of hand.

That explanation seemed to be enough for everyone even for Sam who realized it was just a misunderstanding.

Just like Luna's annoyingly slow manner of speech, Uriel was known for spacing out from time to time.

"Ah! It's so good to be young!" Miss Dragonfang chuckled jokingly.

"It's not like that! I wasn't staring, I swear!" Uriel said in a futile attempt to preserve his honor.

"Listen kid, we are currently in a dangerous incursion, a single bad move might be your last and you need to be careful." Phlox said sternly. "But... if you're really that desperate you can stare at my ass all you want." She slapped her butt trying to look seductive, but failing miserably because of the chunky armor she was wearing, triggering the laughter of the whole group.

"Come on! Can't you guys act like adults!?" Uriel, who couldn't blush any harder, said embarrassed.

Although both Miss Dragonfang and Phlox were joking around cheerfully, it wasn't without reason. Remaining calm and collected was the top priority during incursions and walking around with a bunch of stressed students was nowhere near an ideal scenario.

As they walked, Phlox started picking up some trash she found on the way and placing it in a strange device she was wearing instead of a backpack. Uriel wanted to ask about what she was doing, but because of his past blunder he decided to remain silent and try to figure it out by himself.

He watched as she pierced an empty plastic bottle with a long stick, then she waved it behind her back and the bottle fell directly on the device. The machine then buzzed and a thin plastic filament came out and was immediately rolled on its side. When the whole process was finished a small clump of waste fell to the asphalt.

By watching her, Uriel noticed that Phlox was gathering not only plastic bottles, but pretty much anything made of plastic or tin.

The machine was able to recycle materials and store them conveniently rolled on the side.

There was one small question he couldn't keep to himself, though.

"Miss Phlox, why are you recycling now? isn't it better to pick up garbage on the way back?"

"You would think that, but that's not the case. This machine doesn't just recycle materials, it also feeds my rifle." She said patting the weapon hanging on her chest. "And I have the feeling I'll be needing a lot of ammo in the following two days." She said with a somber expression.