System Activated: Soldier's Returned

Chapter 9: Saving Yourself

Bruce and his friends were shocked by this. While preparing an immature plan, they all immediately rushed out of the classroom. Panicked students screamed as they again heard gunshots with increasing clarity.

Then they all ducked and took refuge in a small park close to the class.

"Don't panic, all of you. Form up immediately," shouted Bruce, who was trying to organise his friends.

Donna, who was also there, was also trying to help Bruce's plan succeed. They both tried to calm their friends down. Then quickly, they all formed a formation.

"You follow my signal. If I tell you to move forward, then you walk immediately. If I give the code to stop, you immediately look for the nearest hiding place to cover your body from bullets," Bruce said firmly.

Bruce realised that Donna didn't want to lose to him either, so he quickly gave the girl directions. Because controlling their panicked friends in large numbers is difficult. So, Bruce decided to assign Donna to help him. But he ensured she understood that Bruce's position was still superior to hers.

"Donna, I'll split us into two groups. You and I will direct them, but you still have to take orders from me."

Donna felt unhappy with Bruce's sentence, but the aura the man exuded was mesmerising and made her look weak.

A small object was seen rolling towards them in the middle of the formation. The system immediately notified Bruce, so he noticed it again.

This time Bruce took immediate action. He gave directions to his friends to move immediately. Because a few moments later, the small object rereleased smoke.

"Who threw the smoke bomb at us?" asked one of the students.

"Stay calm, and you move according to my directions. Be careful not to rush; I'm sure the person who threw it is in our neighbourhood," Bruce responded.

Bruce knew that there was no way the smoke bomb could have just been aimed at them. Someone had thrown it, but Bruce still needed to see who did it.

Bruce also felt that there was something odd about the attack. If the perpetrator planned to destroy their school, he should have thrown not only smoke bombs but several bombs that had a powerful explosive effect.

As they travelled down the hallway, the smog grew thicker and obscured everyone's view. Some of their friends started complaining that their eyes were stinging, while others began having trouble breathing.

Bruce then gave Donna the code to take the friends who couldn't stand it first to a safe zone. The place was in the corner of the school area, a bunker-shaped building built for emergencies.

"There's someone there. I saw someone there," said a student.

"Hush, don't shout. If we get excited, they'll notice us," said Bruce.

"Yes, Bruce is right. In the current situation, either he or we are at a disadvantage," Donna confirmed.

"But that figure appears to be wearing a mask," the student said in a quieter voice.

"Yes, he might not be affected by the smoke, but his vision is just as blurred as ours," Bruce responded.

Since some of the other friends were already feeling unbearable in the clumpy fog, Bruce immediately gave the code for them to walk one by one to trick the figure they had seen earlier.

Bruce tried to keep them from getting as involved with the battle scene as possible. He was trying to follow Bradford's orders properly. After all, they were unarmed, so confronting them would be a suicide mission.

As their friends passed by one by one towards the corridor, Bruce and Donna tried to outwit the figure they saw earlier. They made the man think that they were all travelling in the opposite direction from the way they had come.

But in the gathering fog, it was clear that the plan didn't always work out. One of the students crashed into a pot in the corner because he didn't have a good line of sight.

The black figure turned his head and started to aim for his weapon. But Bruce swiftly ran towards him with courage that came out of nowhere. He kicked the gun straight into the floor.

"All of you left, run," Bruce shouted for his friends to seize the moment.

"Watch out, Bruce is behind you!" said Donna when she saw the man trying to attack Bruce.

But with an instinct that came out of nowhere, Bruce reflexively directed his body backwards, throwing his leg into the air and kicking the man until it bounced towards the wall.

Donna immediately grabbed Bruce's hand to run away from there. The girl didn't usually care about others, but somehow Bruce's heroic action moved her to save Bruce.

Arriving at the ground floor, they were all shocked at the scene. The chaos seemed unstoppable. They could see several officers fighting each other on the field.

In the large side courtyard area, it was even clear that the firearms were going off endlessly. The situation was as chaotic as if they were on a battlefield.

As they were dumbfounded as if they couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing, a teacher named Zara soon realised.

"Why are you all just staying here? This isn't a theatre show that you can easily enjoy. Move towards the bunker immediately."

The sentence uttered by the woman seemed to wake them all up. Bruce immediately took command and led them towards the bunker location. Now they were moving stealthily again, ensuring that every nearby area they searched was safe.

Bruce also watched Zara, who appeared confident with the gun out of her pocket. The woman began to walk backwards while brandishing her weapon in the air, and her eyes began to look around every corner.

But unfortunately, there was one side that they didn't keep a close eye on, and there was already someone dressed in black hiding. The man looked ready to attack Bruce's group.

The small object rolled back between them, and then instantly, the smoke bomb returned. Most of Bruce's friends immediately started running in the opposite direction while Donna tried to catch up to guide them. It separated them because Bruce grabbed Zara's hand and hid in a different corner.

"Oh, shit. Not this again," Bruce muttered.