In the infirmary, patients lay on their beds arguing with each other. The solemn atmosphere of the hospital was diffused by the loud noises of the ward.
"Who the hell are you trying to brag about? See our boss? He fought a monster bigger than an elephant. did he say something No, your TCF members always like to pretend. Htwe..."
A security forces fighter, his body covered in bandages, sat on the bed with his back against the wall and waved his reasonably delicate right hand in the air as he tried to denounce the TCF member who was facing him and spitting out the imaginary saliva.
"What are you so proud of? We, the members of the TCF, protected the survivors in the capital and rescued the survivors in the surrounding villages.
We fought not only with the Cravers but also with wolves and hyenas while protecting the civilian population.
It's easier said than done when you can't fight without distraction, hmmm... those kinds of injuries? It's 10 years too early for these monsters. "
"Who doesn't know how to brag? See here? These wounds were the trophies I received for fighting this abomination.
This monster was far superior to the ants you fought with. If you don't believe it, check out Dr.Ray's lab." He shows his injuries and sniffles at the TCF member.
"Oh…I have to remind you to wear a diaper when you're going to see or you're going to poop in front of that thing."
"Ha... ha... ha...." Amused by his own words, slamming his hand on the bed and laughing non-stop.
Henry, also on the ward, closes his eyes and tries to ignore the spat. But the twitch in the corner of his eye gave it away when you looked closely.
Shake his head slightly and collect his thoughts of him. He looked beside his bed at the new TCF recruit Juan, who was lying on the bed completely forgotten.
He wasn't that different from the security guard, every muscle in his body except his head was damaged. He still can't find an answer to what happened that night.
He's sure Juan was right behind him when he was attacked, but he can't understand how the wolves died suddenly or when Juan was next to him. Touching the scars on his face, it's a miracle the eye wasn't damaged by the claws. Is it too weak?
※※※
Kai taps his fingers on the conference table and stares at the mayor.
"Who invited you?"
There is a dead silence in the meeting room and the mayor's face becomes rather sullen.
"Kai, I told him to come. General Daka sank into the armchair and sighed with fatigue.
" Why?" Kai doesn't give up and follows him to the end. "Enough is enough, Kai, no matter how you solve the problem. You can't kick out all the innocent people just because you can't stand some of them."
General Daka rose from his chair and yelled at Kai.
"Kai? Ray looked at Kai and shouted:
Kai closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. "Mister Mayor, do you have something to say?" Ray asked.
Doyke took a deep breath, banishing the feeling of unease that was rising in his chest. He was so angry and frustrated that he wanted to vomit.
"What I have to say is the same: we needed time. It is first necessary to dispel the dissatisfaction and incomprehension of the townspeople. "
"Fuck time, why don't you go ask those monsters for more time?"
Kai picks up a file and throws it in Doyke's face.
Doyke was also seething and took the file and threw it in Kai's face.
General Daka holds Doyke's hand and shakes his head slightly.
"Why don't you watch the news first?"
Doyke grumbled a little about the general and looked at the file. After a while, the hand holding the file begins to shake. Has the situation become bad enough to be so close to the city?
The information of the villages within 50 kilometers of the municipality of Bram. 8 were completely infested by Cravers and in the other two villages, only 1/3 survived thanks to timely assistance from TCF.
"Here are two more cases."
The photo of the meatball, the information about the champions of the Henika mountains. Doyke can't help but grab his hair and pull him. "Ahhhhh..."
His head hits the table. He wanted to wake up quickly from this nightmare.
Ray waved at one of the guards with his hand, the guard aimed for the equalizer and shot Doyke.
The TCF bodyguards behind General Daka notice this and get their hands on their guns.
"No need to be alarmed, it's just some medicine I gave Kai yesterday. He's quite unstable now and seems so stressed." He waved his hand and explained without haste.
"Bring the Mayor to the Lab"
The TCF members looked at General Daka, who then nodded. That's how much he can trust them. After watching the mayor being dragged out of the TCF, Ray shook his head. These guys were pretty rude to everyone except their officers.
"What do you think Kai?"
Kai frowned and didn't answer.
"The truth is that we should solve problems, but not invest so much emotion. It is quite harmful and unproductive.
From the data we can forget about those monsters from the Henika Mountains for now, they were quite territorial and if nothing went wrong they wouldn't have come out for a while.
Only some monsters that have lost their territory will emerge. We can handle so much.
We have time to finish the fortress. And the survivors of the capital can come in handy."
"But the Cravers," General Daka said.
"Yes, they are constantly on the lookout for food or prey. We can see this from the results from the surrounding villages. They spread from those cities and attacked nearby villages and towns.
Even among them, there are signs of cannibalism."
"What do you say?
We'll leave the research on the Henika Range for now. Even knowing the information, there's not much we can do right now."
If their strength is rather thin, they cannot get the desired result from both sides. And the monsters in those woods weren't something they can handle now.
Ray doesn't say it out loud and just thinks to himself.
"And we can't always rely on existing resources such as metals, medicines, or fuel. Sooner or later we have to clean up other cities and clear mining areas."
"How long can we hold out?" Kai asked.
"About 6 months? If we assume the current consumption."
"Why don't we clean up those 10 villages, isn't it deserted yet?" Ryths raised his hand and asked.
"Yes, we can, but not now" Ray can't say or doesn't like to admit it. If they took over villages with their current strength, it was like trading resources for lives. It's not worth it.
They badly need violence to crush them, not to trade the lives of an already nearly extinct human race. This is also the reason why they cannot abandon the city of Bram and its survivors. Every life of people today was important.
If they want to achieve their goals, they need the people.
"We need to improve our combat power. I have something in mind.
※※※
Toa wasn't happy at all these days. His chance to become a werewolf had gone up in smoke.
And to add insult to injury, he was forcibly chipped. He looked at the life signal on SW and sighed.
The reason he was rejected is that Ray hasn't allowed Ryths to increase pack members yet.
He hated the small-eyed bastard so much that his intensity was rolling when he thought of him. That's why he tried to make things as difficult as possible for the Bernett group with like-minded people from the city.
Things like slandering the mayor, denouncing the current situation, urging young people not to go to Bernett group job postings, and gaslighting older groups here and there.
Only after thinking of his masterpieces can he curb his anger and jealousy of his to some extent.