"Captain, there are no civilians here, don't brush us off with lies we both know are false!" Colonel Seber suddenly stood up: "Where on earth did Winters Montagne go? When can he return?"
"How would I know?" Mason, heart full of sorrow, said to no one: "I don't know either!"
"Then what do we do? What about the soldiers at the settlement?"
"This... Winters must make the decision; no one else can call the shots."
"When can Captain Montagne return?"
"Don't know."
Colonel Seber stared at Mason for a while, and after confirming that the latter was not lying, he slumped back down, wearily propping his forehead: "Forget it. My apologies if I spoke out of line."
Mason looked at Colonel Seber, then at the other alumni who had just returned from the wasteland in the corridor, and couldn't help but feel a lot of sympathy.
