I went back to my modest team, thinking about the task at hand. Indeed, we're going to play sacrifice. And relaying the mission will be tricky since most of us are cowards that would instead run away along a path than clean it.
I found them in a very awkward situation. From the looks of it, Yetti is having an argument with Osprey, both of them scowling at each other.
"We will fail if we include the others with the plan. They'd just be excess baggage," said Osprey, who appeared to be in the same league as Marlo and Sedano. He reminded me of how Bee thinks.
"As far as I remember, this is just a class activity advising awareness," Yetti answered. "We came here to learn not to weed out the weak."
"Coming from the weaker group yourself, I can see why you're so frenzied," Osprey said, and the three boys laughed.
I clapped my hands, and they all turned to me. Osprey was about to say something, but I waved him off casually.
"Huddle up, everyone," I said, and they went closer. "Our job is quite easy. All we have to do is keep on infiltrating the enemy territory until we're wiped out. And we're going in first."
Every single jaw dropped in disbelief. They're too stunned to make an intelligent comment.
"What's the use of the vanguard?" Yetti asked. "I mean, that's their job, isn't it?"
I couldn't agree more, girl.
"Gear up guys, once Private Stiles sends the signal, we're off," I said. There were just about to pick up their gears and weapons when a loud bang echoed throughout the forest. Their eyes widened, and as fast as we could, we approached the front and gave the others the shield they so desperately needed.
I saw Minnie give the thumbs up and mouthed 'thirty' with hand gestures, signifying that they'd be giving us a thirty-minute head start. We dashed off to the enemy territory without further ado. The last thing I want is for them to view my team as invalid. We crossed the forest running in a pillar formation.
"Guys, our job is to protect Ogress, for she holds the most firepower. Reyna and Kaye, try your best to try and blend in with the surrounding. You're human traps. We need you to be as close as possible to the enemy. Osprey and I will take the front, followed by Sedano and Marlo.
"Yetti, Fren, and Jonas, you will be trailing us from behind, so if ever we'll be ambushed, you will be there to support or save us. It's up to you to decide whether to retreat or go for a salvage. Thorn and Arley will be responsible for Ogress's rearguard.
They all nodded, contemplating their positions and assignment. Osprey raised a hand.
"What's our assignment aside from being in the front?"
I gave them the rock paper scissor gestures and started. "I'll use paper to signal all of you to hide. Rock to halt, and I'd give scissors to brace for attack."
"How about us?" Yetti asked. "We wouldn't see your signal if we're too far apart."
"Wouldn't you be able to hear our steps?" I asked, perplexed.
All of them looked at me as if I had just swallowed a slug.
"Uh? We're not dogs?" Yetti said reluctantly. And the realization came; next, they don't have sharp ears.
"If you hear an exchange of gunshots, then that's already some sort of signal. If you hear silence, then proceed."
"But then what if--- "
"You'll turn bait if the situation deems like it," I told them, running a simulation inside my head. Can't help it. We don't have any sort of communication device. "But we will leave you signs. I'll be writing instructions on the trees. Please be mindful of them."
She nodded, and slowly we fell into formation. We're traveling faster than I thought. I looked at the foliage in question and continued. I just hope that Minnie will consider my team's help enough to save us from an ambush or trap.
At last, we've passed the boundary and are now inside the two-kilometer neutral zone. Suppose we're successful enough to clear this zone without any encounters. In that case, we will be at the enemy territory in sixteen minutes. If we fail, then we'd be reuniting with the vanguard in a jiffy.
That will render us a failure.
My eyes narrowed at the first sign of a presence. I raised a hand, and everyone halted. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sound. I signaled them to continue, and we dashed off. Our job is to clean the path as far as we can. In other words…
We are not entitled to avoid an encounter. The best we could do was to prepare for it and wipe out the enemy.
Ace is the biggest jerk in the universe for assigning us this mission. He didn't even think of my team's welfare.
I remembered what the lieutenant said on our first day.
Disposable. Indeed, the best way to describe each and every one of us.
I dropped the thought and concentrated on our immediate environment. I can hear the natural rustle of wind, and now that we've traveled almost half of the neutral zone, I asked them to halt.
"Kaye," I called, and she approached. I asked her to climb a tree and scout if there was an enemy troop approaching. Every one of them slumped down on the meadow, panting. Even I had to wait for my breathing to subside. We had been running at a constant speed for a while. If we didn't rest now, we'd be exhausted to even survive a collision.
Kaye climbed down and slid her binocular into her bag. "A small enemy troop had just entered the neutral zone. Eleven o clock."
Yetti, Jonas with a pale-looking Fren arrived. I told them the plan and asked them for a three-minute rest before following our trail again.
I nodded, and without further ado. We proceeded towards ten o clock, simulating a collision along the path. I asked them to speed things up a notch, and they obliged without protests.
The first problem occurred three minutes after our first stop. If it hadn't been to the wind, I wouldn't have heard the careful steps approaching us from nearby.
I stopped dead on my toes. Sedano bumped into me, and just before he could say so much as an 'ouch,' I covered his mouth with a hand. I quietly raised a finger to my mouth to hush them down.
I gave them the rock then a paper sign. They frowned and went to hide behind the pile of big trunked trees. I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds, willing myself to find the source of the footsteps offered to me by the wind. I heard them approaching, and I bit my lip when I realized that they halted as well.
Did they realize we took a halt, or it's just a coincidence?
I told everyone to wait there and asked Kaye to come with me. I asked her to step in my footsteps as quietly as she could. I stepped on the spaces that would less likely produce a noise. The least we want is to alert the nearby enemy of our scheme. I also tried my best to hide from prying eyes. Kaye managed to scout the enemy's location simply by climbing a tree. If we can do it, so can they.
She complied and followed me slowly. At last, we've arrived at the predicted point of collision. I quietly gave Kaye two grenades and asked her to climb and conceal herself on a tree. I mouthed' A trap' at her, and she nodded, grinning. The thing about this tree is it's a coconut tree. It's tall, and it doesn't have branches. She started climbing, and I watched in awe at her speed and dexterity. It's abnormal. When she finally arrived and positioned herself over some of the tree's huge leaves, she sent me the thumbs up. I nodded at her and went back to the others.
"Reyna, stay and tell the other's what's going on. Halt for five minutes, then proceed."
Reyna nodded eagerly.
I asked everyone to follow me as loud as they could. We need to draw the enemy's attention and lure them to the trap.
"Speed up in," I raised a hand and started the countdown.
Three, two, one… "Now."
We ran as fast as we could. We're now breaking formation, but it's tolerable. Ogress is the only one slowing us down and is the largest source of sound. Annoyed that she's a slowpoke, I fell back and ran beside her.
"Thorn," I called. "Help Ogress with the Vulcan. We need to run faster."
Thorn nodded, and Ogress unstrapped the machine and pushed the other side towards Thorn. I ran to the front and raised a brow. I gauged our speed. Acceptable enough.
The enemy is now approaching the trap at their previous speed. After a whole fat minute, I asked them all to halt. I crouched down, and all of them ducked. I trotted out a binocular and watched the location of the trap. There's an approximate twenty-five-meter distance between Kaye and us. She's quietly sitting on top of the tree.
A couple of seconds later, I watched the enemies' silhouette just behind the trees. There are about ten of them. I concentrated on the surroundings and frowned when I realized that the other party, arriving further at four o clock, had made a detour. And by the sound of the footsteps, they are a whole lot of them. Their number is more than ours.
This is bad.