Chapter 10 — The Expedition (2)

So they needed one more team member. The four of them got up at once.

"You'll probably have the easier time recruiting," he said to Evelyn, since she was the highest level of them all. Others would be more likely to follow her.

She nodded in acknowledgement.

William followed loosely behind her. Luke Brightsteel had a group of roughly ten students around him, and they were in a heated argument about how to spilt up their group, although by the looks of it it was clear that Jared Pain would definitely be on Luke's team.

Besides them, it was clear that most teams were formed around friend groups and proximity. There just wasn't enough time to shop around for the best group, and now that he thought about it this was probably the intention of the time limit.

"Thirty seconds left!"

The courtyard was starting to get chaotic with students trying to talk over each other. Eventually William nudged Evelyn. "We have to find someone, anybody at this point."

He grabbed a lost looking male student who looked big and strong, whose eyes were barely visible on his face due to his fair skinned plump cheeks. "Join our team?"

The big student was surprised, but nobody wanted to end up on cleaning duty on the first day of the expedition, so his answer was natural. "Okay."

"What's your name?"

"Mantou Da. I'm from the Baoshan region."

"William Blackwood. This is Finn Mutton, Evelyn Moon, and Isa—"

"Time's up! Your team numbers will be displayed on your locator sticks!"

"I'm Isabella Isadore," Isabella said, shaking Mantou's rotund hand. "Nice to have you on our team."

"Assemble by your designated guide!"

Their team number was twelve, and lined up by the other side of the rather large concrete courtyard were their guides, each waving a numbered sign. They headed over to the guides and found their guide, a scruffy, somewhat disheveled soldier in his mid thirties with an unserious air about him. Behind each guide was a tan four wheel drive painted armored car armed with a light machine gun in the front and an antenna in the back.

"The name's Barty Speel," their guide said, lighting a cigarette before offering one to William, Finn, and Mantou, all three of them refusing. William never liked smoking. Barty wore short tan shorts, a matching uniform, and a colonial style tan safari hat. A medal swung loosely around his neck. "Been doin' this for five years, so you're in good hands. They tell you how the mission works?"

"No."

"Well, we take a big ol' spin around the perimeter and see if there's anywhat out of the ordinary. Then we head back and tell the commander what he wants to hear, that nothing is wrong."

"So a patrol?"

"Exactly. If you're lucky we'll come across some ol' monsters or animals you can beat up, but there haven't been many around lately. We've been cleaning them up day by day."

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Isabella frowned, apparently disturbed by the mental image William had planted earlier of soldiers sweeping past the plains shooting all the innocent animals in the area.

"C'mon, I'll show you around the ve-hi-cle before we head out."

Barty Speel smacked the hood of the armored car affectionately. "This vehicle's a fine piece of work, military's always got the best—Bohr's latest, state of the art—this one here can withstand two tons of pressure. Doesn't matter if it's a bite, a ram, or what, this baby will keep you safe from anything from this world, I can guarantee you that."

"What if we run into something that can generate more than two tons of pressure?" William asked carefully.

"Ha! In this world? Not possible, no way, no prendo. The worst we've seen in this area is a devil hound, and those are a nasty bit of work alright, but they're well out of the area we marked and even they can't get past this armor. As we told you in your little instruction packets, as long as you stay within our mapped area you'll be fine as a drop o' sunshine."

He slid open the rear door and waved them in. The interior of the Bohr vehicle was spacious, with nine seats in the back arranged with four facing each other horizontally and one detached by itself by the trunk of the car. Beyond that, there was a table with storage space underneath in the middle of the seating area. All sorts of wires and other electronic and military equipment stuck out from underneath the table and their seats, including what looked like gas grenades, nets, rope, and all sorts of other miscellaneous equipment. On the table, and also on the driver's dashboard, were radar displays showing green dots that represented all the other cars in the vicinity, the display refreshing every five second with a ping that reminded William of the ripple effect caused by a drop of water falling onto a pond.

The black pintle mounted light machine gun was built into the car, and could be operated from the driver's seat as well as the passenger seat. A sealed extra belt of ammunition lay to the side.

Barty slapped the butt of the light machine gun. "We don't touch this unless it's an emergency, got it? They've been on our ass lately about saving ammunition, seems like there's been some trouble in the Pain-Gammon factories down south. I heard the one of the Pain boys is on this expedition?"

"Yeah, Jared Pain."

Barty let out a whistle. "Your school has got some real famous kids, eh?"

He leaned back out of the armored car, dismounting, then opened the driver's seat door. "Get in, kids. Let's get this patrol over before it gets dark."

Barty jumped into the driver's seat as all five members of the team filed into the seats. The girls sat across, and Mantou's great bulk meant that he spilled over to a second seat. Finn was in the center, his legs not touching the floor of the car. Despite their size differences, the gray uniforms still equalized the aesthetic between them all.

With a great rev of the engine, their armored vehicle began to move. They were one of the first teams to head out, as some of the other guides were still busy explaining things to their teams.

The overgrown plains were mostly flat, but William lurched up and down constantly due to the speed at which Barty throttled across the land. Evelyn clutched her stomach, and Isabella gripped the handle above herself tightly. Only Mantou seemed unaffected.

"Three hundred horsepower, whoooo!" Barty shouted with the window rolled down. He had his arm hanging out of the window, his cigarette barely hanging on for dear life.

"Do you mind going a bit slower!" Evelyn snapped.

"Alright, alright, if the lady requests it."

The armored car came down to a more normal speed, and in good time too, as several members of the team looked like they were about to hurl. As the journey began to normalize, they finally had a moment to converse.

"Thanks for inviting me to your team," said Mantou. "Let's work together."

"You're welcome," Isabella said. "What's your ability?"

Mantou puffed up proudly. "Fire breath, level three. My family are famous chefs."

"What a coincidence, I'm a level three fire user too."

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"So do you know why there's a rule about getting back to the outpost before it gets dark?"

"Listen," Barty Speel said, lowering his voice. "If you do happen to run into a devil hound or something along those lines, get in the car. You'll be safe in the car, got it? And under no circumstance are you going to leave the car if there's a real threat outside. We stay put and radio for help. Got it?"

"We're not here to teach you how to use your abilities and all that junk. That's for the guilds to do. We're just here to whip you into shape so you'll be useful in an emergency, and also to get some otherworld air into your lungs. Helps you grow faster."