Major Black looked at them somberly for a few moments and then sighed.
"If that is what you have decided then good. I am glad to have all of you on this expedition. Now that we're all on the same page, I would like to begin the meeting if you do not mind."
He placed the projector on a small circle in the middle of the table, it floated steady above it. He clapped his hands three times and all the lights in the underground compound went dim. A stable light protruded from the projector and the screen suddenly came alive. On the screen flashed dozens of pictures they have never seen before, even videos.
The situation in Australia was indeed horrible.
Major Black looked at the flashing screen and turned to them.
"What do you think of the situation?"
On the screen, a middle-aged woman could be seen struggling with a small baby in a vast body of water. The water was so vast that it seemed as if the woman had somehow ended up in the middle of the ocean and was not struggling to get out. The small baby was laying on a broken piece of cardboard that was floating around, while the mother was hanging on to it as the waters assaulted her relentlessly. There was a pained expression on her face. It was truly a disturbing sight.
All around her, dozens of buildings were destroyed and submerged under water. They looked truly demolished and devastated. The ones that remained standing were not in a better state themselves. The majority of those buildings were submerged in devastating fires, while some had already burnt into oblivion. On the roofs of the few surviving ones, dozens of surviving silhouettes could be seen watching over the body of water with fear and hopelessness...
As they watched their friends and families drown with no way to aid them.
Countless bodies could be seen floating and lifeless on the water. Some were still trying to swim their way to safety, but it would all be for naught. Even if they desperately asked for assistance on those on the safer side, they would still receive no aid. Benji clicked his jaw noiselessly and shook his head for a different reason the members of his cohort were.
Another photo appeared, no less disturbing than the previous one. This one seemed to have been taken from the other half of Australia, the half that is not submerged under water. Major Black was indeed right. The situation was no better on this side either. Countless more buildings were toppled and destroyed, with only a few of them still habitable. Here and there, large crates could be seen in the middle of roads and literally everywhere.
The streets themselves were painted red with blood. Countless more bodies laid dead, crushed by the collapsing buildings and infrastructure. The most harrowing thing is one cannot be sure anymore whether they were killed during the earthquake or during one of their riots. Since food and supplies were scarce, who knows what they did to each other in order to survive. Be9nji doubted that even the concept of friendship or family still existed in that twisted world.
Another slide appeared, a video this time.
Two camps were waging war on each other, or at least that's what it looked like. They weilded steel, wood and other pieces of rubble they picked up from the streets. They were screaming in bloodlust, greed and frenzy. The streets were quickly painted crimson with blood. Those who won would probably claim the supplies of the opposing party. Benji spat silent curses through gritted teeth. The sight of it all just offended him. The way humans acted like wild animals disgusted him. The way humans claimed to care about one another, while someone had the nerve to record all that bullshit.
He regretted his decision decision even more after seeing that video. He regretted agreeing to all that bullshit. He regretted agreeing to risk his life and save these animals. Why must he die for them. They don't deserve it. They deserve each other. They should die with each other and kill each other as well, it will make his cleansing much more easier. They deserve to die for their sins did they not? He was not their savior anyways and he certainly was not dying for these animals.
He had to survive, at all cost. He just had to survive.
After a long stretch of silence, Benji was the one who spoke first. He tried to suppress the anger boiling inside of him.
"I think it is dumb."
They all looked at him. Oliver raised an eyebrow and asked him the question they were all probably thinking.
"What do you mean?"
He turned to him and sighed, shaking his head dejectedly.
"It is all just dumb. I mean look at the last video. This Australia situation proves how selfish and vile humans truly are. Instead of working together and aiding each other, they resort to violence and bloodshed to feed their own greedy stomachs. Why can't they just share and wait until reinforcements arrive? And on the videos part, who is even taking them?"
Benji expected an answer from Jack Black or Oliver, probably even Madison, but it was James who spoke instead.
"It is just human nature. People feel alone and scared, and they react to those emotions in different ways. It is our duty to guide and nature them, even when they sometimes behave like animals. They trusted us for safety and security, and we in turn vowed to give our lives fulfilling that duty. We joined the military because we risk our lives everyday to keep them safe, and we do it with open hearts. That is the reason why you joined the military, Mr Walker, or is it not?"
'Yeah, this arrogant son of a bitch is definitely included in the list. Effective immediately!'
Benji was so mad and humiliated at that point. Who did that stuck up ass think he was? How dare he talk to Benji like that! He was so frustrated that he wanted to mutilate his body there and then, and feed him to stray dogs. He wanted to start a heated argument about all the horrible things humans have done to the planet and to even themselves, but he had to consider his next words carefully. Even though dying for those animals was out of the question, but he had to admit that James had a point. He had to look at this from a different perspective.
Every soldier in the military, no matter the facility or unit, had to be ready to risk their life on a daily basis, for people they do not even know. It did not matter whether those people included criminals and killers or not, when there is a threat looming over their country, they have to fight for them. No matter how absurd or ridiculous it sounded, it was true.
No matter how much Benji loathed humans, his life was still entitled to them.
Even though Benji was still one of them because of his title as a soldier, he enlisted in the military for a totally selfish reason. He counted on gaining more strength and knowledge, but for another completetely different reason. He wanted to get stronger so can enjoy crushing his enemies, which James has been added to by the way. Benji had to be very careful with his words from now. Although it is highly unlikely for anyone to suspect a weakling like him, but that also did not mean his plans were safe either.
Even though Jack Black had put a lot of trust and faith in Benji's skills, that did not mean he was not wary of him. He was wary of everyone actually, that was just how geniuses and psychopaths are. He knew it very well, simply because he was both. They are simply too paranoid. Jack would probably catch on Benji's true nature if he continued pressing on the matter. That alone would be enough to brew trouble in his life. He threw a menacing look at James and then turned Rose-Anne. Honestly he was wary of this woman for one simple reason, the way she remained quiet during this whole charade.
She seemed to notice that Benji was looking at her for too long, because she spoke without turning away from the screen.
"I will ask you for the last time soldier. Is there something on my face?"
Her tone was calm and subtle, yet sharp and harsh at the same time. Benji shivered slightly, cleared his throat and then turned away. There was something commanding in her tone, as if she was slowly instilling fear in her victim's heart. I did not matter whether she did or not, Benji certainly felt it, and he was sure that when push comes to shove, she would prove to be a difficult problem. He figured he should not overthink this. He probably will not even need to fight her in the end.
Yeah he was definitely afraid.
'Speaking of killing people...'
He turned to look at Oliver and frowned. The did not really look harmful, but not entirely harmless either. Underestimating a soldier would prove to be a fatal mistake in the not so far future. Just because he specialized in Research & Development did not mean he would not a thorn in his way. Not matter how small the thorn was, if poisonous enough, it could prove to be fatal. But Benji couldn't help it. He was just so sweet, and cute it almost made Benji vomit.
The Oliver in question looked back at Benji and scratched the back of his head.
"Uhm sorry buddy. I have to stick with James on this one. It is our duty to give our lives to the people and honestly... I'm quite fine with it."
'What the hell?! What do these people think I'm... oh I see now. I should probably contain this before it escalates any further that it has to. Oh and Oliver is definitely included in the naughty list as well.'
Benji shook his head dejectedly and regarded Oliver for a few moments.
"Oh I see what is going on here. I can assure you what you think is not what I meant to say at all. Major asked us what we thought about the situation and I was just saying that all that violence was not necessary. They could have just shared supplies by rationing them. Risking my life had nothing to do with this, I could put my life on the line for them on any day if that was what you were wondering."
Even saying that made him suppress a gag. He felt so sick to his stomach he wanted to throw up there and then, but obviously that was not an option. Now, he just had to wait and see whether they bought his act or not. Everything depended on how Major would react and surprisingly, he just remained quiet.
Instead it was Madison who spoke, and what she said made Benji's face turn red with embarrassment.
"I have to agree on little Benji on this one. Even though this has nothing to do with risking our lives and stuff, what he said still made a lot of sense and we cannot overlook those facts Major. Those people behave like unruly animals and criminals. All they do to survive is kill, fight, steal and kill even more. They do not united at all, the only way they work together is when they form alliances against one another. That is not at all how anyone should be behaving during the dire times."
She sighed and slowly shook her head.
"Look i am not saying that they do not deserve salvation, in fact, I am more that happy to offer them the solace they seek. I am more than happy to risk my life to save them, but we also cannot turn a blind eye to all the violence and bloodshed happening out there. We cannot keep condoning all these acts for the sake of survival. If this is what it takes for them to survive, then maybe they do not deserve our aid. Maybe they do really deserve to die like the animals they are."
The room was dead silent.
Major Black looked at the candidates in front of him and sighed.
He definitely had a lot to think about.