Clentine:
We didn’t even get enough ti to rest. We rushed into our rooms, dropped off our bags, took showers, and quickly changed into our uniforms. That’s when I realized I had brought my own shoes for no reason, since we were supposed to wear the standard ones. They were actually pretty comfortable.
Once we were ready, we headed to Main Hall to et the other crusaders and hear about the next mission. Ms. Lenora, Mr. Rick, and Miss Rue stood at the front with two others. They looked serious, but their faces gave away just how bad the situation was.
"We weren’t planning to send you to the North again so soon, but sothing’s co up," Ms. Lenora began. I didn’t like how she always took the lead. Maybe it was because she was the oldest, or more experienced, but I still felt bad for Miss Rue. She had real potential to lead.
"You must have felt the earthquake earlier. And then the sky turned red for a few seconds. That happened because innocent lives were taken in the North," she continued.
As soon as Lenora said that, I looked at Haiden and saw his fists clench. He was worried about Sadie, and I could feel it.
"No matter how many crusaders or lurkers we’ve sent back to the North, we haven’t found anyone alive," Miss Rue said.
That was her way of letting us know they had searched, but hadn’t found Sadie. My heart sank. Haiden lowered his head, and now that I understood why he was so concerned, it felt even worse.
"So what’s going on in the North now? What’s this new mission about?" Joshua asked, leaning against the window in the corner. I had almost forgotten he existed. When I left the academy to go ho, I’d completely forgotten about all the other crusaders, except for my own squad.
"We got drone footage of a small village that was still alive," Ms. Lenora said. "They were planning to rebuild their population. Their mates were impregnated, and now many of the won have given birth. But the babies are being eaten alive by monsters. And the mothers, needing rest, can’t defend them."
The way she said it gave chills. Everyone looked around, confused.
"So there’s no one specific monster this ti?" I asked.
Lenora looked straight at with a cold stare. I could already tell she held grudges. Our own ringleader had forgiven us for wanting to quit once, but Lenora? She was a bad apple. So was Mr. Rick. I felt bad for the people on their squads.
"This village is right between the woods and the largest city. So I hope you can carry out this mission without failure, because failure ans losing lives," Lenora added.
I was still trying to process everything, and so was everyone else.
"So what exactly is our mission?" Oriana asked. Then she turned to and gave a small head nod. I nodded back to say hi.
"Actually, you do have a mission," Lenora said. "We’ve confird there are twenty six babies in that village. Their mothers tied black threads with white pearls around their wrists. That ans each crusader has to carry one baby. The Red Team has only four mbers, Blue has five, Green has five, White has six, and Black also has five. Altogether, that’s twenty-six crusaders—and twenty-six babies. Each of you is responsible for one," Lenora announced, making it clear that this was a solo task.
"And if you fail to do so, unfortunately, you’ll be punished for the whole week by being sent to the North alone with no mission, just forced to survive on your own," Mr. Rick added, as if it were sohow our fault the babies were dying.
The punishnt felt far too harsh.
I started anxiously fidgeting with my fingers and looked around at everyone’s faces. Everyone seed deeply worried about the task. The White Squad, though, had already started to huddle together and make a plan.
"It’s supposed to be an individual task, and yet they’re forming a group," I said, pointing out the obvious. They had a higher chance of surviving simply because of how well they worked together, and how organized they always were.
"If you’re expecting us to make a team and listen to you, then you’re wrong," Ian comnted. He had always been negative. He walked off to stand in line, looking completely unfazed, like he didn’t care at all.
"It’s okay, we can all focus on each other’s targets," Haiden added, referring to the mothers and their children as targets. I gave him a nod, and then we joined the other crusaders.
Soon, we were at the train station. It felt awful. The idea of going back there, where the monsters were, was already draining. And this ti, innocent lives depended on us.
"Just rember, we’re going to co face to face with even scarier monsters this ti," Yorick reminded us. I was glad he spoke up. At least he was taking the task seriously instead of just standing to the side, pouting like he usually did.
We boarded the train in silence. Everyone was worried. No one wanted to be the reason a child died. But the real shock hit us once we reached the North. It was the sa old station, but the weather was awful.
"I hope they don’t kill the babies before we get there," Oriana said, glancing at each squad. "Because then it’ll be like fighting your own squadmates to secure the package."
I hated that she brought it up. Now everyone was staring at each other’s faces. Sotis she could be so careless.
"That ans each to their own," Ian said, walking away as expected of him.
"Now what? What are we supposed to do?" I asked Haiden and Troy, since Yorick didn’t even look at . He was too focused on scanning the area.
"I think we should head this way," Troy said. And finally, Yorick spoke up, letting us know what he’d been doing trying to navigate the surroundings.
"Why? What’s over there?" I asked, walking behind him.
"Nothing. I just want you to follow ," he said, making roll my eyes.
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