Chris snorted awake at the sound of his phone vibrating on the bedside table, reaching for it sleepily as he checked the time on the screen. It was just after midnight, and Ryan was calling him, the man answering the call tiredly.
“Hey Ryan, what’s up?”
“Get ready to move in ten minutes,” the man’s voice said on the other end of the call, sounding frantic, “We have a major emergency!”
“What?” Chris yawned as he sat up, Ayla blinking awake beside him, “What’s going on?”
“I can’t say over the phone,” the man barked, “Just get ready and get to the roof as soon as possible!”
“Right!” Chris nodded, now fully awake as he jumped out of the bed, grabbing his Carry-All-Bag and pulling his armor out of it.
It had been five days since they had returned from China, and he’d handed over his damaged armor to his father for repairs. The man had done his level best, but the gear was still in rough shape. Chris just hoped it would be enough to withstand whatever emergency this was.
“What’s going on?” Ayla asked as she helped him attach his chest plate, already awake and mostly dressed.
“No idea, Ryan said it was an emergency though, we have five more minutes to get to the roof.”
“Right,” the woman nodded as he handed her the tiara, putting it on her head.
The two raced out of their apartment, Elizabeth joining them from her room as they shot out the front door. They rushed towards the elevators, blinking in surprise as they saw the mass of people already gathered there, many wearing armor or robes and carrying various weapons.
“Make way!” someone shouted, the crowd parting for them as the other Divers whispered to each other, staring at Chris as he rushed past them, the three of them entering an elevator as one of the suited men that worked for the Association waved them in.
“Thanks,” Chris said as the man slammed his hand against the buttons, the doors to the elevator almost slamming shut before the box started rising quickly, “What’s going on?”
“The Director will explain on the way over,” the suited man said flatly, even though he looked just as worried as they felt.
“Chris!” Ryan shouted as they arrived on the roof, the three pausing to stare at the literal fleet of helicopters circling the building, Ryan waving for them to get into the one on the roof, “Get in, we don’t have much time!”
“What’s going on?” Chris shouted over the noise as they climbed into the helicopter, Alan and Jessica nodding to them as they were handed headsets.
“I don’t rightly know,” Ryan sighed as he put his own headset on, “Something’s happened to one of the Dungeons. The door opened and…”
“Isn’t that normal?” Elizabeth asked, “I mean, the doors open every time we go into a Dungeon, right?”
“Not this time,” Ryan shook his head, “This time…monsters came out.”
“What?” the entire group gasped, staring at him in shock as he nodded.
“Yes,” he replied, “And they’ve broken out of the facility around the Dungeon already. There are already reports of civilian casualties.”
“What kind of monsters?” Chris asked, looking over to Ayla as she gripped his hand worriedly.
“From what we can tell?” Ryan said, “Large humanoids with pig-like faces and tusks.”
“Hmmm,” Chris mumbled as he thought, feeling the knowledge enter his head, “Sounds like Orcs.”
“Orcs?” Elizabeth muttered, “Are they green?”
“No,” Ryan shook his head, “Well, some of them are, but most are pink or grey, with a few of other colors.”
“Where are we going?” Chris asked, “Where did this happen?
“Florida,” Ryan answered, “This helicopter is only taking us to the airport, then we’ll have a jet fly you down the rest of the way. Your ETA is two hours from when you take off.”
“What about the other helicopters?” Alan asked, looking out the window at the other choppers following them.
“Those are for the other Divers,” the man explained, “Anyone Rank D or higher is being brought in to assist.”
“Oh,” the man breathed a sigh of relief, “Good, Becca is only Rank E.”
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“Don’t relax just yet,” Ryan sighed, “If things get any worse, we’ll be forced to call in everyone available, regardless of Rank.”
------
Dylan fidgeted in the seat of the jet as he looked around the tight cabin, the other Divers talking quietly.
“Don’t worry,” the man beside him said, Dylan looking up at his combined Parole Officer and mentor, a man named Andre, “You’re only Rank D, your job will just be to help civilians escape and evacuate. You shouldn’t need to fight.”
“It was an A Rank Dungeon, though, right?” Dylan whispered, “How strong are the monsters from it going to be?”
“I don’t know,” Andre shook his head, grinning as he tried to joke, “But remember, staying alive is your number two priority, after saving civilians, alright?”
“Y-yes sir,” the teen mumbled, looking down at his lap as he wrung his hands.
------
“Everyone ready?” Chris said as the jet touched down, the party nodding as they jumped out of their seats the moment the vehicle stopped, the door being flung open by the soldier with them as he shouted for them to go. They rushed down the stairs to the army vehicles waiting for them, piling into the back of an armored Hummer as it sped off.
“How are we looking?” Chris asked the driver, the man glancing back at them as they seated themselves, “What’s the death toll like?”
“We aren’t exactly sure, sir!” the soldier shouted over the roaring of the engine, cringing slightly as he continued, “But it’s estimated to already be in the thousands.”
“Fuck,” Elizabeth gasped, looking at her brother in fear as he sat back in his seat, a worried expression on his face, “Chris…”
“It’s okay,” he said quietly, almost drowned out by the car’s engine, “We’ll stop this. We’ll stop this and save as many people as we can along the way.”
------
“Go!” the soldier shouted as he fired at the group of monsters approaching the crowd, “Get inside the Diver’s Association building! They’ll protect you!”
A loud grunt made him look back at the pig-faced creatures as they stomped forwards, seemingly shrugging off his bullets like he was shooting ping pong balls. One reached out with its unnaturally long arms and grabbed his head before he could react, picking him up and sniffing him.
“Hrgh,” it grunted, “Male.”
The soldier screamed as he was flung aside, slamming into a wall as he felt his bones break, collapsing to the floor as the monsters continued to approach the crowd of screaming civilians. He could only watch as one grabbed a woman, staring into her eyes and sniffing her.
“Female,” it grinned, handing her back to the other monsters as it looked at the other screaming civilians, grabbing another from the crowd as the rest descended on the sobbing woman, the sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bone quickly drowning out her cries.
The soldier wanted to scream out, to urge them to run away faster, but he could only sob as darkness closed in around him.
------
“There!” Alan shouted as they raced through the streets, pointing to a crowd of monsters standing around a crashed bus, “Stop here!”
The party leapt from the Hummer as it skidded to a halt, the orcs turning to look at the sound of squealing tires. The humans immediately blanched at what they saw, multiple orcs holding various body parts as they bit into the flesh. One ripped free a chunk of what looked like a woman’s thigh, swallowing it noisily as it turned to face them.
“Beth, Jess,” Chris suddenly growled as they watched the orcs start to walk towards them, “Get back in the car.”
“What?” his sister gasped, “No! We’re going to help you!”
“Go help evacuate the civilians,” he replied softly, the girl blinking at the anger in his voice, “The rest of us will take care of this.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, Chris just nodding, before the two girls jumped back into the Hummer as it sped away.
“So,” Ayla asked, her face slightly pale at the sight in front of them, “What’s the plan?”
“Kill,” Chris said flatly, “Kill each and every last one of them.”
------
“Run!”
The shout barely reached Dylan’s ears over the sound of gunfire and magic flying through the air, the monsters behind them steadily advancing even as their numbers were being slowly cut down. He shut his eyes as he heard yet another gut-wrenching crunch from the horde of monsters eating someone, their screams of pain mixed in with those of fear from the survivors. He shoved forwards, forcing the crowd in front of him onwards, praying that the soldiers and higher Ranked Divers would be able to hold off the creatures long enough for them to escape.
“I don’t want to die!” someone wailed beside him, Dylan looking down at the sobbing man as he curled up on the floor, “I don’t want to die!”
Dylan tried to say something, his tongue feeling like lead in his mouth as he just continued pushing the crowd forwards, his sword bouncing painfully against his thigh as he was jostled around. He glanced back, seeing someone else drag the man to his feet and shove him back towards the crowd, urging him onwards.
He didn’t deserve this.
Dylan knew he’d been a brat before, relying on his father’s position as a powerful man to get away with more than he should have been able to, but he didn’t deserve something like this. His legs shook as his breath rattled in his throat, his chest burning as he continued to silently shove the people in front of him forwards. Suddenly, the crowd stopped, Dylan finding himself being bounced back as he shoved, trying to shout at them to keep moving.
“Hrph,” the grunt caught him off guard as he looked up, the massive monster picking him up by the shirt as it sniffed him, “Male.”
Dylan shrieked as he was tossed aside, landing painfully on the ground as he watched the horde of orcs that had somehow gotten in front of the crowd start sorting through the civilians, killing the men and devouring the women. He tried to move, the pain lancing up his leg as he looked down at the piece of metal jutting out of his thigh, a length of rebar from a broken building. Swearing, he forced himself upright, sobbing at the pain of pulling the piece of iron from his flesh.
“Help!” someone screamed just as he managed to free himself, his hand going for his sword as he watched the orc snatch the woman by the arm, lifting her up and biting off her head as she reached out to him, “You’re a Diver, right? Save m-!”
Dylan felt the hot tears run down his cheeks as he turned away, hobbling up the road as fast as he could, praying that the other monsters would be too preoccupied with their meals to notice him. Pain shot up his leg again, making him gasp as he fell to the floor, continuing to crawl as fast as he could, before he felt a pressure on his back.
He looked up, watching as the orc that was eating the guts of some poor person continued stepping down on him, not even paying attention as its massive bulk crushed his rib cage. Dylan tried to scream, but nothing came out. And then he was dead.
