"Hey Shaker, why don't you show us your might now?" A male student mocked Jackson, but Jackson didn't think it was funny and he walked towards the unsuspecting student and picked him up by the the collar shaking him in the air like a cocktail.
"Like this?" Jackson smirked evilly, the rest of the group could only watch in despair as their young classmate was being roughed up. The soldiers stood idly, letting him do as he pleased and by the ti Jackson was finally done with the poor guy he was puking his guts in the ground, completely dizzy.
"Hey, why didn't you stop him?" The pretty female student complained at the solders, but the lieutenant shook her head.
"Why should we? He shouldn't have made fun of him if he wasn't planning on facing the consequences. I said this before, this isn't school and as long as no one gets hurt it's all in good fun."
The previous joyful mood suddenly turned grim. They were used to making fun and laughing at the expense of their classmates all the ti, but never did it cross their mind that soone could retaliate like that. Violence was strictly forbidden on campus and they assud it would be the sa during this trip, even though the lieutenant kept reminding them that they were off city walls, they didn't put two and two together until it was too late, and now one of them was brutally tornted by Jackson.
Now they were wondering if Uriel too was planing on exacting revenge on them and, even though he didn't look like much, there was no telling on what kind of trait he could eventually acquire.
The long walk towards the mysterious POI proved to be a challenge for Uriel who wasn't used to physical activity. When the alarm sounded marking that six hours had passed, the lieutenant turned towards the corporal with the flaregun, nodding at him to shoot it and, at the sa ti many other flares traversed the skies. This ti it didn't look like a circle but sothing that resembled an oval.
Thanks to the flares, every unit was able to pace themselves so they could all reach the center at more or less the sa ti. It was an effective way of communication considering that the presence of those creatures ssed up with electronics and they couldn't use cellphones or radios to speak.
"It seems we're lagging behind a bit, this ans we won't be able to rest unless we make up for the ti being." The lieutenant said with a disappointed expression on her face and everyone turned to glare towards Uriel, deeming him to be the cause of their misfortune.
Feeling dejected, Uriel shifted his gaze towards the ground. His legs were already shaky and if he didn't get so rest there was no way in hell for him to keep up with everyone.
"Are you ok?" The droopy eyed girl asked him worriedly.
"Yes, I'm just tired that's all." He replied with the nicest smile he could muster, which actually resembled a twitch on his face rather than a nice gesture.
"I'm Luna." She said extending her hand towards Uriel.
"I'm Uriel, it's nice eting you." He said shaking her hand.
"So, that's why they call you Urinal, because it sounds similar..." She lingered for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, I didn't an to bully you, I just realized the reason why, that's all." She quickly apologized for her blunt words, but that didn't stop the bitterness in his heart as his face cramped into a grimace.
In the afternoon the soldiers made a campfire and secured the area giving the students the ti to eat properly. All of them took out lunchboxes from their backpacks and started eating as they chatted rrily.
Uriel, though, didn't have enough money for a proper al. All he had for breakfast, lunch and dinner was instant noodles. Vegetables and at were a luxury most second class citizens like him couldn't afford, but he was content with his al as it had most of the nutrients a person should need.
After heating up so water he started slurping his cheap noodles, making a sound that seemingly bothered the pretty girl in front of him. Luna sat besides him despite his bad manners and she quickly attempted to start a conversation with him. Her droopy eyes and sleepy face gave the impression that she would prefer to keep to herself, but instead she was really talkative, sothing Uriel didn't appreciate much. Still, the young girl relentlessly talked to him receiving only monosyllables in reply until she finally ntioned sothing that piqued Uriel's interest.
"Do you know why are those creatures called cryptids and not monsters, aliens or beasts?" She asked in between bites of her al.
"No, why?" He replied.
"No one really knows where did they ca from, that's why they can't call them alien. For all we know they could have been always dwelling sowhere underground, in fact, there was extensive lore about them even before they appeared. Take the horned rabbits by example, there had been many sightings of them. I believe people around this area called them Jackalopes." She excitedly explained.
"Uh, I've heard about those, but I thought it was just sick rabbits with warts on their heads." Uriel replied.
"Well... that is... that's actually true, but that's precisely what's odd about it. You see, even though they found many of those cases, the existence of true horned rabbits could never be disproven."
"That's not how science work. You don't go disproving stuff that doesn't exist to begin with, you seek for an explanation and proof of existence, not the other way around." Uriel replied.
"That would be true in most cases, but in my line of work..."
"What's your line of work?" He interrupted her asking in honest curiosity.
"Well... I want to be a cryptozoologist."
"A what now?" his eyes widened at the sa ti the sun started to set.
"It's the study of the animals that remain undiscovered, like Nessie or the Kraken. The strange beasts that arrived are unknown animals too, hence why they call them cryptids." Her face remained sleepy as it was and only her tone of voice betrayed her excitent when ntioning those creatures.
"I rember now, isn't cryptozoology a pseudo science?" Uriel muttered placing his hand over his chin in deep thought.
"Pseudo science!?" For a brief second Uriel thought he caught a glimpse of anger in Luna's face under the dim light of the campfire. "How can you call the science that studies cryptids a pseudo science, when cryptids are now scourging the earth? Do you even understand why this operations are called incursions? It's because we're not on human territory anymore, this is their ho now and we are the ones intruding. These creatures aren't animals, they're supernatural beings with incredible powers and abilities and the only science that can provide any information about them is cryptozooly!" Her voice raised up to a volu and the rest of the group was able to hear her clearly.
The coward student ca near and sat besides Uriel and the pretty girl Uriel saw before followed suit and sat besides Luna.
"I heard that too, that those creatures took over the southern hemisphere. So even say they ca from the south pole and that's the only reason why we are still standing. I'm Sam by the way." He was friendly and he seed truly interested in the subject, but Uriel still felt awkward near so many people.
"I don't know about the south hemisphere. I do, however, know a lot about cryptids, both my parents were cryptozoologist back when cryptids were only a myth, a legend." Luna said, much to Uriel's surprise, she was as calm as before and it made him believe that maybe he was just imagining things.
"I still don't buy it. Just because there's so lore about these creatures doesn't an they're the sa things as the ones attacking humanity right now. It would an they were always present and there's no evidence to support that claim. The fact they're called cryptids is just because they're unknown, not because they're the sa ones from tales and legends." Uriel and Luna remained silent silent after that but both Sam and the pretty girl started chatting excitedly until sunset.
When the alarm sounded again the corporal shot his flaregun and flares lit up the night sky drawing a much smaller circle than before signalling that they every group was much closer to the POI. The students fell silent and watched the show with awe, flares looked a lot more impressive during night ti displaying the full extent of their brightness.
"There's sothing wrong..." Sam said watching the sa spectacle as the rest of them, but instead of awe, his face was stiff and his hands trembled. "There's a flare missing." He said after gulping down a clump of saliva.
Although his words seed grim, the group remained the sa. They didn't believe that soone would be able to count the flares in the sky in so little ti, and even if he was right, it could an a lot of different things.
"Anyway, I don't believe the governnt could keep sothing like the disappearance of cities hidden from the citizens." Uriel comnted.
"I disagree," Said Luna. "I an, I don't know about the southern hemisphere or other secrets, but there's a lot of secret information and lore about cryptids on the internet."
"Like what?" The cute girl nudged on Luna's side in a friendly manner, prompting her to speak again.
"Back then, there were a few sightings of a slender creature, tall and shadowy that crept around these places. Its height was fearso and it looked like a man, but its proportions were all wrong. With long fingers and a fashionable suit, the creature was called... the Slenderman." The shadow of the night seed even darker and Luna's sleepy face now seed creepy and distorted under the campfire light.
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