We're Running Out Of Time

~You want 'me' to protect them?~

He looked back at his classmates, at the hopeless situation they found themselves in. Most of them were standing around like statues, staring off into nothing; too shocked to even cry.

The ones that were crying couldn't see past all the blood around them, past their friends' mangled corpses. Their sobs were silent now, breaking it only to gasp for air when they had cried too much.

Ms. Dikinya was the only one looking at him. Funny that someone who seemed like such a villain only a moment ago could look so feeble.

~I can't protect these people. I can't even protect myself.~

He thought back on the champion screen from earlier. It had listed some stats, but no matter how he looked at it, only having three in each was too low. Especially if the 'system' expected him to fend off the flying monsters.

And despite his talent being ranked unique, the system hadn't explained anything to him. There were no skills listed either, meaning that as far as he was concerned, he was just like everybody else.

~How am I supposed to do this?~

However, a part of him knew worrying like this was useless.

He could spend the entire day making excuses, but the timer would only continue ticking down. And there was no telling what would happen once it reached zero.

He had no choice in the matter, and he didn't want one anyway.

It was too hard to think right now. He'd been planning for the eventuality of an apocalypse since the first novel he'd ever read. The first priority was always finding a safe place; but with monsters that could blow a hole through a class on a whim, was anywhere really safe?

"W-We have to find someplace safe," he said finally.

A few of his classmates turned to look at him, their expressions blank. They remained silent; it didn't seem like they'd registered what he said.

Gray felt like he was in over his head. Who was he to tell them where to go, what to do?

"Gray's right. We need to get to safety. There's a police station nearby, we should group up with the other classes and make our way there," Ms. Dikinya added. Her voice almost a whisper.

~The police won't be able to help us now. We need the military,~ Gray thought. As if on cue, he heard a thundering boom overhead.

Some of the more present members of the class rushed to the hole to see what was happening.

"It's the military," one of them whispered.

A squadron of tiny dots filled half the sky, leaving trails of white smoke behind them. They were in an arrowhead formation, approaching the massive alien ship on the other side.

A moment later, a series of flaming dots rushed ahead of the formation, crashing into one of the monstrous birds. It was engulfed in a cloud of fire, before spiraling to the ground in a trail of green light.

People cheered; from this class, the next, and even the one after. A few of his classmates started hugging each other; however, the crying did not stop.

Gray felt relieved as well, but the sense of dread was still there. Despite that one win, there were still so many monsters left, not to mention the goliath spaceship. It hadn't made a move yet. It was too early to be happy.

Just then, a green beacon of light shot from the spaceship with a sonic boom, causing the air around it to wobble.

 The class went silent.

"It… it missed," one of the boys behind him shouted.

"We can win this," another girl added between sobs. Everyone seemed to have forgotten the carnage around them.

Gray couldn't blame them, even he wanted to forget all the corpses around him. But he couldn't. The timer was still ticking down, and the quest notification kept blinking, reminding him of his new duty.

"I-I don't think it was aiming for the jets," Gray whispered. That beam had been directed towards where the monster had fallen.

But everyone ignored him.

The monsters began circling around the formation of jets. Beams of light and fiery dots lit the sky. Jets and monsters alike were engulfed in clouds of fire and smoke; like iron rain, they fell to the ground.

More and more beacons of light were shot from the ship with each kill.

~Is it collecting the corpses?~ he thought. However, there was no time to theorize. The number of monsters in the air had barely dwindled, on the other hand, he could count the number of jets still fighting on their side.

He pulled out his phone, searching his home screen for Google Maps. Just as he was about to click on the icon, a notification popped up.

[WEA Alert Message:

Alert: Evacuation Order Issued

Instructions: Due to imminent danger, evacuate immediately to Superdome stadium. Follow designated routes. Bring essential supplies. Stay tuned for updates.]

"Guys, check your phones," he announced; however everyone was too busy watching the battle.

After reading the notification, he navigated to Google Maps, and held it beside the map being displayed by the system.

~It's the stadium as well,~ he thought to himself.

It felt like too much of a coincidence that the system's evacuation point coincided with the military's.

~Did the military send out the system?~ he wondered, before quickly rubbishing the thought. The initial system notification had mentioned something about being a Vassal World to another planet. He doubted the military would've agreed to something like that. ~Or had they?~

"We should get moving while the monsters are distracted," he said, showing Ms. Dikinya his phone.

She stared at the screen, nodding her head. Her face was pale, and her movements slow. She remained silent for a few ragged breaths as she looked back to the skies. Things weren't going well; some of the jets were flying back home.

"Principal Hughes should be arranging something right now. I'll go talk to him," she said, before trying to get to her feet. Her face twisted in pain as she reached towards a nearby chunk of concrete for support.

Gray offered her a hand, only meaning to help her balance. To his surprise, he got her up with only a little bit of effort. He was not strong by any means, though it felt like she weighed nearly as much as a classmate —and Ms. Dikinya was a rather big-boned woman.

She looked at him with a startled expression, her eyes traveling from his face to his biceps; which were quite scrawny.

~Wait, am I…~ He quickly squatted down, before picking her up. She yelped in surprise, putting up a feeble resistance.

However, once she was completely off the ground, she allowed herself to be carried.

~Sure, she's a little heavy, but…~

His posture was straight, and his face did not betray any sign of effort.

The entire class was staring at him now, in a mix of shock and confusion.

"The rest of you should carry someone if you can as well. We're running out of time," he said finally, staring down at his legs in disbelief.