By showing that he wanted to be transparent about who he was and why he was there, Lazar had created a weak sense of trust between him and the survivors.
However, he wanted this trust to be stronger, and for this he turned to Amandla who hadn't yet been joined by Francis.
"Hey! You can remove that thing!" He demanded, yelling to make sure that she understood what he was saying despite her exhaustion, which was maybe affecting her perception of the sound.
However, contrary to what he thought, Amandla had heard what he said perfectly, and it would still have been the case if he had whispered his request instead...
It had been a little while now that she had been waiting impatiently for him to utter the words that would allow her to stop her ordeal, so she was hanging on his lips.
'FUCK! FINALLY!' She rejoiced inwardly, since with the energy drain she was experiencing, breathing was the only thing she could afford to do... and still, with difficulty.
Amandla then closed her eyes for optimal concentration.
It was the first time she had used this skill on such a large scale and she didn't have a very good control over it as shown by the state she was in because she had underestimated the energy it would take to lock everyone up; so just as she needed time to use this skill, she also needed time to stop it.
After 10 seconds of intense concentration, during which Amandla didn't even have any spare strength left to breathe, the walls and pillars began to disintegrate little by little until the only things left were the arrows she had shot.
'I'll thank her later.' Lazar noted in his mind before refocusing entirely on the crowd since he had to see if he was right to bet on this move so that the survivors will have more faith in him.
'Good.' For once, the most favorable scenario happened; no one was trying to run away even though there were no more walls to hold them back.
Lazar therefore deduced that they were ready to hear him, "Before getting to the heart of the matter, it would be good if I explained the context..." Since the mission consisted in evacuating some people rather than others, it was necessary to be delicate and to lie to make the survivors who were going to be left to themselves accept it gently.
However, Lazar didn't want them to accept it gently, "Right now Boston is entirely infested with monsters different from the ones at your feet. An operation has been organized to clear the city of these monsters entirely, but..."
He wanted them to cooperate while accepting the truth, "...some people have used their influence to delay this operation in favor of another consisting of evacuating their children who are students here." He said in a firm tone.
Reactions were violent and mixed when he dropped the bomb.
With so many people, there was no chance that everyone would blindly believe him and the least we could say was that those who didn't believe him and showed it were real daring verbally speaking.
"FUCKING LIAR!!!"
"OUR COUNTRY WOULD NEVER ABANDON US!!!"
As if now that they knew that Lazar was a soldier they were considering that he wouldn't hurt them no matter what.
But...
"LET HIM TALK FOR FUCK SAKE!"
"YOU CAN OPEN YOUR MOUTHS AFTER HE'S SAID EVERYTHING!"
The majority wasn't as naive as them and when those who had disputed Lazar's claims realized this, they finally shut up.
On this impulse, Lazar resumed his explanations, "I must complete this mission as quickly as possible, even though I'm not pleased about it, I..."
"YET YOU DON'T SEEM TO MIND IT!" Shouted a middle-aged woman located in the most forward part of the crowd.
Lazar gazed at the her with hostility before showing her with his index finger Katelyn's still motionless body, "I wouldn't have knocked out one of the people I have to take with me if it was the case." He told her in a dry tone before paying no further attention to her.
His tolerance threshold with the survivors wasn't yet reached, but he was starting to think more and more about something as he got closer to it since his annoyance was making it harder to bear, 'I might as well take care of it now and delay the mission a little.'
By 'it', Lazar was refering to something that had been bothering him since he had arrived...
...
2 minutes before
...
Francis was in no hurry to approach Amandla even though she was weakened and looked vulnerable head down and sat on the grass. He had developed a fear of her after seeing what she was capable of and it was going to be difficult to get rid of it.
As he was walking towards her, he couldn't shake off the feeling of being an antelope daring a lioness of eating her.
And at the same time... he knew that it wasn't the reason why his heart was punching his thoracic cage, 'She's even more beautiful up close.' He thought, staring at her with a gaze as passionate as fearful.
When he was about 5 meters away from her, she suddenly raised her head and gave him a weary smile before extending her left hand.
'After all, just because she's with Lazar doesn't mean I have to be suspicious of her.' His fears being immediately shattered by this smile, he shyly smiled back and shook her hand, "N-Nice to meeet y-you. I'm F-Franciis. A f-friend of L-Lazar. A-and you?"
Considering the direct contact he was having with this woman, he was rather happy with his introduction. Or rather, he expected worse from him.
However, when he saw that she had lost her smile after he introduced himself, he realized that he had done something wrong without understanding what.
"Could you please help me to stand up?" She asked him with a faint voice, making him understand that she had stretched out her hand to him for that reason from the beginning.
Seeing that Francis still hadn't reacted, she became impatient, "If I wasn't seeing that your eyes aren't turned towards my chest, I could believe that you were trying to enjoy the view down there." She added with an annoyed tone and expression while placing her right hand above her breasts to hide them since she had anticipate that Francis was going to look at them by reflex.