The nature of the conversation changed quickly that Captain Ishida Hisashi could barely keep up. It was the language that made it difficult. Had it been a week ago during landfall, he would have been at a complete loss, but he had adapted fast enough that he could listen to conversations that went on speedily - emergency after emergency had made it a necessary skill. Then a man in spectacles, a seemingly unremarkable man (who Hisashi could empathise with) had pulled him sideways in the conversation by asking about his solar panels.

"They are not powerful. They are part of... Future soldier programme, rushed into service when Kyonshi ((translation:zombies)) came. Together with hinges in knees-" The Captain lifted a leg slightly and tapped on the knee portion of his riot gear, "they power our electronics enough for 3, 4 hours a day. Power must be rationed. We have a few extra fieldpacks in trucks. We could loan them to you for charging electronics."

Then the bespectacled man talked about a backup generator - which the School of Education actually had. The only problem was that...

"We found a backup generator." Sergeant Maiko said in place of the Captain; she was better at the local language than her superior though her accent was still strong, "but the basement is filled with Kyonshi. I instructed the men to block the door and leave it for last as we cleared the rest of the building. The six men we left in the Stiles School of Education should be clearing it anytime now."

By the time Sergeant Maiko had finished, the first objection to the scavenging mission proposed by one of the more prominent member of the group was getting voiced. Captain Hisashi had wanted to object as well; it seemed like an impulsive move without strategic consideration, and neither had he given his consent to it.

"This man is right. Magoko ((Translation: Sun Tzu)) would agree with him. We must... Gather intelligence first. To gather intelligence we recon." The medical officer said, though he didn't make it known that he objected based on his authority and lack of consent to the operation. He had always believed in the softer approach towards governance, "I and 4 others are conducting search and rescue mission soon." Before continuing he unlocked his forearm PDA and brought up his GPS map to show whoever in the council who could be bothered with it. On the map, several icons of infantrymen were blipping, indicating that at least a few of Hisashi's fellow unit mates were wandering not far away, "if you give directions to Wal-Mart, we recon for you."

Being in the civilian group worried him. Some of them appeared to resent he and his unit's presence. One of them had called them Japs, and Sergeant Maiko, sensitive to the term, in turn had given him a death stare. If it had not been for Captain Ishida Hisashi gesturing for her to ignore the man, a quarrel or even a fight would have broken out. Sergeant Maiko had lost most of her clan, extended family and her entire immediate family to the Coming of Hell, and like him, a huge number of colleagues in the UN US Mission to both the living and the dead. The ordeal had changed her. The medical officer had known her ever since she was a recruit freshly posted with him to a medical corp, and had become something of a daughter to him, yet it was becoming harder and harder to recognise her anymore.