Chapter 180 Call For Help

Ritsuka forced himself up in a sitting position. The rubble spilled around him as he made sure Liz wouldn't be hit by any of it. He sighed and pulled his legs out of the rubble and stood up. He stumbled for a bit, forcing himself to not hit Liz and turned to grab her.

"C'mon, Liz…!" Ritsuka grunted. He pulled her out of the rubble and watched as they began tumbled around them. Ritsuka pulled Liz's legs up into his arms and carried her over to flat ground. "Lee Seng must've fought hard… There's so much damage here…" He stumbled over the rubble and almost tripped. He landed on his knees and gritted his teeth.

'That's gonna bruise.' He thought as he set Liz down. He put his finger up to her nose and checked for signs of life. He could barely feel air, so he checked her pulse. He put a finger onto her neck like he was taught and recognized a pulse. He nodded and stood up. He looked around and noticed the golden hound guy from the armor. His helmet had come off and showed long locks of blonde hair and pale skin. The dude's armor was dinked up and falling apart.

His eyes scanned over to the black mass lying a couple feet to the right. He trudged forward, wondering where Lee Seng went and found him unconscious in the black mass.

"I.. Just saw you earlier…" Ritsuka whispered. He kneeled down and watched as the black mass pulsing about sank into Lee Seng's body. Lee Seng had torn clothing and Ritsuka could see bruise marks. "Did I just imagine you naked with two tails or something?" He shook at the thought. "N-no… I couldn't have… I must be imagining things, right...?"

Ritsuka moved his hand to check Lee Seng's pulse. He felt a faint pulse and nodded.

'I'm going to have to get help… I wonder if there's a cell connection.' Ritsuka pulled his phone out and sat down. His body was aching and he could feel the scorch marks on the side of his body.

"There's service!" He tapped his phone and immediately called the Academy. The phone rang for quite awhile until he heard a click. "Hello?"

"H-hello. This is an AI system speaking. Due to the large number of calls we're getting, if your situation isn't serious please head back to the nearest Academy Academic building for help. If you need help, please hold." The AI spoke.

"Dammit." Ritsuka muttered. He held the phone in his hand and forced himself up. "Let's check on the others first then. He clicked the speaker button and stuffed his phone into his jacket pocket. The phone began to play elevator music as he noticed Olivia and Manny in the rubble near Lee Seng.

"Oh god." Ritsuka covered his mouth. He could see heavy burn marks on Manny and Olivia. He moved over and started to dig them out. Manny was on top of Olivia and his back and arms were scorched, badly. Ritsuka pulled Manny off of Olivia and powered through the pain as he lifted Manny up.

'God, he's heavier than he looks!' Ritsuka started to strain. He moved him over and placed him next to Lee Seng and went back for Olivia. Ritsuka pulled Olivia out as a voice spoke through his phone.

"Hello? Anyone there?" The female voice asked.

"O-oh!" Ritsuka exclaimed loudly. He quickly moved Olivia over and set her down across from the rubble pile he had pulled her out from. He fished for his phone, almost dropping it and held it up to his ear.

"Hello, anyone there?" The female voice asked, again.

"H-hello?!?" Ritsuka's anxious voice spoke out.

"Who am I talking to?" The woman asked.

"Ri-Ritsuka Yamada. M-my friends and I went through the sewers because th-those hounds got into the tunnels and w-we got ambushed."

"What's the status of you and your friends, Ritsuka?"

"W-w-well…" Ritsuka started to gasp.

"Take a moment to breathe, dear. Everything will be alright, okay? You've done well to stick to procedures as best as you can. Breathe in and out for me, okay? I need you to tell me as <strong>best</strong> as you can what happened." The woman reassured Ritsuka. Ritsuka's anxiousness and emotions were spilling. He took a moment to catch himself and wipe that tears away. He didn't even realize he was shaken up from the whole thing.

"My friends and I followed procedures. Most of us are new and we had two Third Year students tell us what to do. We followed the pro-procedure but the hounds blocked most of the students from going north to the mansion." Ritsuka started. He moved towards Liz, scanning the area for his last friend. "We had to go into the sewers towards the west and found a map to get out. Thankfully we didn't hit an infected place, but someone in the tunnel must've been in an infected zone because they ignited the place and exploded the toxins around.

"We've all breathed some toxins in and got ambushed shortly afterwards too. A golden hound found us with the red hounds. We managed to clear the red hounds but all of my friends and I sustained injuries from the golden hound."

"How are you friends doing?" The woman asked.

"The-they're all…" Ritsuka took another breath and stopped in his tracks next to Liz. "They're all unconscious. Damage to the sewer tunnels and there seems to be about three holes to the surface."

"Alright, your friends are all unconscious. I've located where you are through our phone call, alright? I am dispatching people to you now, but can you give me all of your names, Ritsuka?"

"Besides me, there's Manny Va-Valentin, L-Liz, er, Elizabeth Walt… Um, O-Olivia Ok. Le-Lee Seng Chang and E-Evan Trainor… I-I can't find Evan." Ritsuka frantically looked around.

"Okay, dear. Breathe. Breathe for me."

Ritsuka took in more deep breaths and started to move past Liz.

"Your friend couldn't have gone far. If you can't find him, please do not wander far from your friends, alright?" The woman instructed him. Ritsuka nodded as he moved back the way they came. The sewer tunnel had sustained heavy damage and he could see the cracking from the walls all the way over here.

Evan coughed as he tried to move. He screamed in pain as his head fell back. Evan's screams had alerted Ritsuka and Ritsuka rushed over to Evan.

"E-Evan!" Ritsuka nervously called out. He slid over onto his knees and looked at Evan.

"Did you find Evan?" The woman asked. Ritsuka nodded and moved the phone from his right hand to his left. Ritsuka's hand hovered over Evan as he stared at the large burnt wound on Evan's torso.

"H-he's really hurt. P-Please send help now!"

"I got people coming your way, okay? People are on their way. Just make sure your friend stays awake, alright?"

"E-Evan are you okay?" Ritsuka asked. Evan nodded weakly and gave him a smile.

"D-don't p-panic, R-Ritsuka. I'll b-be fine… I-I managed to deflect… as much of the hit as I could." Evan explained. Ritsuka shuddered and nodded. He breathed in and out as Evan struggled to lift his hand up to Ritsuka. Ritsuka was crying and Evan felt bad for his friend. He didn't want to see his old friend like this.

"E-Evan help is coming, okay? J-just stay with me, 'kay? Everything's going to be fine, okay?" Ritsuka's voice broke. Evan nodded and kept his calm smile on for the both of them.

"We will be fine."

"R-right."

"H-how about the o-others?" Evan asked. Ritsuka turned away and looked behind him. The others laid unconscious and the golden hound wasn't moving.

"They're f-fine… I-I think the golden h-hound dude's o-out." Ritsuka answered.

"Good, good…" Evan nodded.

"Help is nearing you. They'll be there in a minute. I got word that a Number was dispatched with them. You have nothing to fear, alright?" The woman told Ritsuka. Ritsuka nodded.

"T-thank you, m-m-ma'am."

"I'll stay on the line with you until help arrives. Everything will be fine."

Ritsuka continued to stay near Evan. His panic had stirred his emotions and Evan fought hard to keep himself together for Ritsuka.

'Ritsuka's endured a lot to find me and the others…' Evan thought. 'I must be strong for him, too.' Voices called from above. Ritsuka and Evan glanced up. The voices were distant.

"They're on your point. They're coming down right now, okay?" The woman told Ritsuka. Ritsuka nodded.

"A-alright…" Ritsuka answered. He stood up and looked at Evan.

"Down here! Ropes down now!" A male voice commanded. Ropes flew down and in seconds, people came down the three holes. Ritsuka turned to look around. "T-they did come…!" Ritsuka's legs buckled beneath him as a built man quickly grabbed Ritsuka.

"Hey, kid. Everything's alright, now." The bulky man reassured Ritsuka. Ritsuka's eyes watered and the bulky man hugged the kid. "It's alright. We're gonna get you guys outta here and to the hospitals as soon as possible." The man turned and motioned at the soldiers. "Get the students to medbay ASAP!"

"Yes, Number 3!" The soldiers shouted. Ritsuka watched as one of the soldiers began to heal Evan. When they healed most of his injuries for removal, they put him on a stretcher and moved him over to the opening where Earth users were widening the hole. Two soldiers grabbed and lifted the stretcher up. They both nodded at each other and disappeared.

"W-will they be alright?" Ritsuka looked at Number 3. Alex was looking over at the distance and quickly snapped out and looked at Ritsuka and nodded.

"They'll be fine, kid. Let's get you hooked up for removal, huh?" Number 3 nodded. Number 3 lifted Ritsuka up and helped him onto his feet. He used himself to guide Ritsuka over to the soldiers and removed Ritsuka's arm from him.

"This one's awake, too. Heal him enough and get him some liquids." A female soldier spoke. She guided Ritsuka over to the hole above as two soldiers appeared in front of him.

"We'll take it from here. Come with us, kid."