I really have stop working on this at school. I own nothing except my character, Alex Ambrose.

"An American Marine?" Hirano asked.

"No I'm one of the Royal British Marines" I replied sarcastically as I put my knife away.

"Prove it," he asked leveling the gun.

"Can't you read the shirt? It says 'First Recon'"

"Good enough I guess."

I have a teenager's seal of approval. Great.

"You know the layout of the school, any ideas where we should go?" I asked.

The girl decided to cut in. "I think we should go to the teacher's lounge."

Don't know if it's the best idea but it's not like I have a plan either.

"Which way?" I asked.

"Not too far. Just down the hall," Hirano replied pointing to my right.

I was starting to get concerned about his nail gun.

"Any idea how to use that?"

"I trained at Black Water under an ex-Delta force Sergeant."

What is this a comic? This kid has to be bs-ing me.

"Let's go then. You take point. Try not to shoot yourself, okay?"

Hirano started out the door first. I had to admit I was impressed that he held his gun properly.

Now if he knows how to shoot, then we'll be in business.

Thinking about Hirano just made me miss my guns more. I turned to Takagi.

"Stay close."

I heard a –tchh- sound coming from her.

Ah to be young.

Luckily, I didn't have to worry about Hirano. He really did know what he was doing. He got headshots and these THINGS just dropped.

Time for a change of pace.

I grabbed the nearest one of THEM by the neck and pushed my knife right underneath the jaw strait into the skull cavity. Right away, ITbecame heavy and stopped moving. I pulled the Ka-Bar out and it dropped to the floor, motionless.

Marines: 1 Freaks of nature: 0.

Now I had a way to fight. Before I could grab another one of THEM, Hirano stopped.

"We there yet?" I asked.

Takagi took some initiative.

"In here quickly", She said.

And I thought I would take my time.

She didn't notice my disdain. Maybe I was getting better at my poker face. As I entered, I saw a figure move. I quickly moved to take care of it when…

"Miss Shizuka!" I heard Hirano gasp.

That was when I noticed that the figure wasn't one of THEM, it was a woman. I also noticed several other kids in the room. One was a boy, tall and black haired armed with a bloody baseball bat. One of the girls was had golden brown hair and armed with a makeshift spear. The last girl appeared to be a little older. Her hair was black, almost purple, and she carried a wooden Bokken.

I can't believe I didn't notice them.

It was at that moment I realized my age was catching up with me. It had been far too long since I'd had a combat high. I needed too cool down and think about the situation.

"I am Miss Shizuka. Who are you?" the woman asked.

I snapped out of my thought and answered.

"Alex Ambrose, USMC retired" I replied.

By the look on her face, I judged that she had never heard of the Corps.

"I'm an American soldier", I clarified.

I noticed the boy's faces show relief, but then quickly turn to suspicion.

"Before you ask for proof, please note that my knife has the Marine Corps symbol on it."

I held out the knife for them to see. They still didn't seem satisfied.

Figures that they'd question the guy with the most combat experience.

"Look, we need a plan before we all end up dead", I said.

"Let's focus on getting out of here first", Hirano replied.

The kid seemed calm. I could count on him. I nodded and started for the door.

"Show of hands, who's coming?" I asked.

Silently, they all filed out one by one. I didn't even know why I was in this situation. If I had to face this with some random strangers, I figured we needed a place to rest and think.

And my guns.