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Chapter 17: The chosen ones

"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."

"You! how dare you say something like that!? He was your friend to begin with and he\'s been comforting me after our breakup." Her beautiful face turned into a frown.

"Come on! He\'s been hitting on you like there\'s no tomorrow and you know it!"

Soon enough their lover\'s quarrel became the center of attention and it was much appreciated by all the people waiting bored in line, until it was finally Uriel\'s turn to be measured.

"Place your finger in the device and don\'t take it out until I tell you to do so." A masked soldier pointed at the device on the table in front of Uriel.

He placed his finger inside and the machine did its work. A light shone and then a beep sounded.

"Ok, you can take it out now." The soldier said as he studied the results. "Go over there and wait for instructions." The soldier continued.

"Wait, is it good? am I strong or something?" Uriel asked worriedly and the soldier stared at him with pity.

"Strong? not so much, it says you\'re just a bit above a regular person, I\'d say... you\'re average even considering people without traits."

"But, how is it possible!? I know I got a trait, I can feel it!" He said placing his hand over his heart.

"I didn\'t say you didn\'t have a trait, but my guess is you don\'t know what it does, am I correct?" After receiving a nod in reply the soldier continued. "This usually means that you did get a trait, but it\'s so weak it barely even modified your body. Let me put an example: If you were able to run one kilometer without getting tired, now you\'d be able to run about one kilometer and a half. Now go over there and stop wasting my time." The soldier sounded rude, but he was quite helpful. Little good it did to Uriel, though, who was left with a disappointed expression on his face. He lowered his gaze and did as commanded.

"Don\'t worry Uri, I\'ve been told that your group will go back first, it will be safer."

"What? That doesn\'t make any sense! Bigger groups are supposed to attract stronger cryptids!"

"I said don\'t worry, it\'s the army after all." Far from reassuring him, Tina\'s words worried him even more. He could smell something was off, but he couldn\'t put his finger on it.

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."