Standing at attention, not a single soldier allowed themselves to slouch even the slightest amount.
They controlled their breathing with every effort to minimize it completely, not allowing themselves to make any noticeable movements.
"You. Number 1. You. Number 2."
And as she walked down the line of soldiers, the Admiral called out to each one as she assigned them a place in line.
One by one, they each took their places in line, eventually lining up as she had intended.
"Now that you're all in line... it's time to begin the evaluation."
Taking her place in front of the first man, the woman stood with her hands behind her back, her demeanor that of a true military general.
"Do you know why you're the first in this line?"
The man stared straight at the woman, holding himself back from quivering as he answered in a straightforward manner.
"Why am I first in the line, Madame Admiral?"
With a light smile, the woman's expression softened.
"First... first first first... when you are first, it is of course because you were in first place. Isn't that correct?"
"If... that is what you say, Madame."
"Of course I say it. I placed you to be first in this line because I consider your efforts to be first among your peers."
"You... have my thanks."
The man spoke like a robot, constrained in his words as he barely managed to get them out of his mouth, yet the woman carried herself in an overarching manner as her demeanor quickly shifted from compassionate to cold.
"First to lose any chance at standing by my side, that is."
Her expression rotting, the woman notioned to the vehicle with her hand.
"Do you see that vehicle over there? There are five seats - two of which have already been claimed by myself and the Vice Admiral. And out of those three remaining seats, you are the least likely to obtain one."
Slamming these words on the man, his posture tightened as he froze, unsure if he should say anything.
"Now ask me. Why is that, Madame Admiral?"
And probing the man, the woman ordered the man with this question.
"Why is that, Madame Admiral?", he repeated.
"Why, the reason is simple!"
With a laugh, the woman seemed to turn around as she chuckled to herself.
"Simple, so simple. Can anyone tell me why he was last among everyone?"
Looking around, the woman glazed her eyes upon the frozen soldiers - however not a single one spoke up.
Out of fear of being wrong.
Then, turning to the man, the woman let out a sigh as if to say 'I suppose I'll have to tell him myself.'
And with thinned eyes, her tone lowered as she spoke with disgust.
"You fired so many shots just now that I couldn't even count them. Unfortunately, I could count how many times you hit. Zero."
As she spoke these harsh words, the man felt himself sinking into the ground, melted by his own lack of ability - yet also slammed by the brutal honesty of the woman who stood at the head of this unit.
And with this harsh appraisal, each and every person present realized that no bright future awaited them - for except for the three who stood at the very end, they all had come up short.
'What is she going to do to us?'
'Is she really going to make us guard that vehicle while she sits in comfort?'
'Are we truly going to have to fight against those things in the open... without anything to protect us?'
The soldiers began to have these thoughts, doubt and fear filling their minds as they wondered just what horrible fate was in store for them.
Yet each and every one of them knew one thing.
Whatever fate was in store for them, it would only lead to further death and destruction.
Thus... the evaluation began.
----
"You see, this is called the trigger. And when you pull it... the weapon fires."
"The last time I checked, spraying a load of bullets without any direction or purpose is the same as not firing at all. No. Worse, actually."
"Were you too scared of killing those monsters that you forgot they were attacking you?"
One by one, the woman destroyed each and every person.
"Look at you, fatso. Maybe you were too busy thinking about having a snack to bother fighting properly like everyone else?"
"You with the glasses. Do they even help you to see? Because based on your performance out there, you might be better off without them."
"Ah, you with the ponytail. Did you think I wouldn't notice you hiding behind those men? If they were in front of you, you couldn't have fired your weapon now, could you? AH!"
One by one, she unveiled the flaws of each and every person as she grabbed the weapon of one particular woman.
"Well would you look at that!"
Popping out the magazine, the woman dumped it out as numerous bullets fell from it.
"Not a single shot has been fired!"
The rampage continued - person to person as the Admiral exposed everyone of their flaws.
Ranging from the slightest mistakes to massive blunders, she seemed to have something on every person - however eventually she came to the end of the line.
"You two right there. You spent the entire time reloading the weapons of others. Perhaps you weren't able to shoot for yourselves?"
With a smirk, the woman brushed it off.
"However, at the very least you were able to make yourselves SOMEWHAT useful."
And with these words, the two men breathed sighs of relief - or they would have, however such a thing would only invoke the wrath of the woman before them.
"And finally... you."
And coming upon the last man, the woman looked at him with a smile.
"How wonderful. A model soldier, if I do say so myself. You fought well, killed many of those creatures, and didn't waste a moment. And when the time came to enter the building, you were the first to do so, putting yourself in the most dangerous spot. Truly... you are a man that everyone should aspire to be like."
With words of praise, the man - who stood perfectly still as he gulped his emotions down - seemed to nod stiffly.
For upon his arm was a scratch.
"Congratulations on failing the least out of everyone here. However, unfortunately... it looks like you've also failed."
Walking forward, the woman held out her hand with a smile.
"Please hand me your weapon."
And with this deadly smile, the woman made this order to the man.
Faced with this order, the man gripped the weapon on his back, slowly taking it into his hands as he prepared to hand it over.
However something stopped him.
'I can't.'
Closing his eyes as he clenched his teeth, the man looked to the ground with darkened eyes.
"What's wrong, soldier? Are you going to disobey me?"
'If I hand her this weapon... she will use it to kill me.'
Frozen in place by his own thoughts, the man stopped in his tracks.
He could do nothing.
"I'll give you three seconds."
'I... what should I do?'
"Three."
'Should I give it to her?'
"Two."
'Should I die for the sake of everyone else?'
"One."
'No.'
"Zero."
"Madame... with all the respect... forgive me. But I cannot give you this."
Aiming the gun at the woman, the man faced his fears as the other soldiers looked to him with eyes of shock as everything seemed to turn on its side.
'Eh?'
'He... is he going to go against her?'
'Does he know what he's doing?'
"I see. So that's how it is."
"Enough of this. I'm going to live... whether you let me or not."
"Wrong."
In the next instant, the woman seemed to disappear before the man.
With swift movements, the gun seemed to twist around in his hands, eventually turning to become aimed at his own head.
And caught in a lock, the woman seemed to snake herself around him with movements that seemed inhuman.
"Go ahead. Fire."
And with these words, she whispered into the man's ears.
However it was the next moment that surprised everyone.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets flew - however they were not from the rifle of the infected man - but rather from the pistol held by the Vice Admiral.
"I think that is quite enough. Madame Admiral... can you not see that your actions have created a rift in the soldiers?"
A sudden mood of complete shock overtook the room, and all eyes fell upon the man who had fired the weapon, just barely grazing the cheek, arm, and leg of the woman with such precision that even a sharpshooter would be impressed.
"You are no longer necessary. Please leave this warehouse immediately... or I will kill you myself."
And with these words, everything was flipped on it's head.
"A joke... no. This is very unlike you... yet you are serious."
The woman's expression turned sour as these words escaped her mouth, at which she stood forward to approach her attacker.
"But do you think that such a feeble thing can stop me?"
"Without question, this mere toy cannot. However... what if there were hundreds of them?"
Raising his hand up as he kept the pistol pointed at the woman, the man took control of the soldiers with a gesture.
"You see, Yelena, I've never exactly agreed with your methods. I've gone along with them for one simple reason - that you were a superior of mine. However the situation has changed."
"Has the situation changed? And what exactly about it has changed?", the woman pressed.
"Well, everything."
The man responded with a chuckle, lightly strolling as he kept the weapon focused on the woman, who he stayed a significant distance from.
"Those undead creatures have overtaken our headquarters... at the very least. Whether this is an attack or whether it is a Calamity, the fact of the matter is that everything has gone WRONG."
His words seemed to slam the woman to the ground, however even with the weight that they carried she seemed to only be irritated.
"What of it?", the woman spat as the man carried on with a smile.
"In such a situation, even assuming that our society and its leaders are still in power... it would not be strange in the slightest if our admiral were to be killed off by one of those creatures... now would it?"
And with this sentence, the eyes of the woman went wide in shock.
"You... do you truly believe you'll get away with such a thing?", she asked, as if it was inconceivable. "Hah... hahaha... you must be a greater fool than I imagined."
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"I've heard enough. Do you not see that it is my weapon that you are on the other end of?"
Even as the woman laughed, the man still maintained his superior position, pressing the woman into silence.
"Yelena Slausenricht... you have treated all the soldiers underneath you as nothing more than pawns. You slaughtered those who had only been slightly scratched without a second's hesitation, not even considering the lifetime of work that they had offered to you."
The man began to lecture the woman, listing off her offenses.
"You have used those around you, stepped on everyone all your life in order to maintain your position as Admiral, and you have punished those who have failed military operations in ways far worse than even the death and destruction that they had already experienced."
Continuing without cease, the man seemed to be letting out an entire lifetime worth of grievances.
"You have no sense of strategy... no... that is incorrect. You have an outstanding sense of strategy. And it is exactly because you are such an excellent General that you are willing to invite chaos to even your own lines in order to destroy the enemy."
The man spoke calmly, yet with a deep seated hatred in his tone, as if every word came from the very depths of his soul.
"You are short tempered and sadistic, using those traits to manipulate your subordinates into giving their all for you, and even when surrounded by armed soldiers who are terrified of you, you hold no fear of rebellion. Because to you... it is inconceivable."
And with this statement, the man pointed his gun at the leg of the woman.
BANG!
And he shot.
"Ngh..."
The woman suppressed a scream as she bent down to hold her wound, glaring up at the man with eyes that reeked of death as blood flowed from her thigh.
BANG!
And then again, this time to her right shoulder, the woman now gripped it with her left hand as more blood flowed - her gaze becoming all the more sinister.
BANG!
And finally, a shot grazed the size of her head - shooting straight through her ear while leaving a streak across the side of her head.
Blood sprayed from the wound in a line, and the woman let out a squeal at this final shot.
"Agh!!"
And with this, a sign of weakness showed itself.
Closing her eyes as she bit down the pain, the words of the man dug into her soul as she felt the gazes around her change from those of fear - to those of vengeance.
"You are a demoness... and I am here to banish you from your reign of terror."
----
It happened too quickly.
Everything seemed to be happening too quickly.
Yet the people present within this room were soldiers - and as such they understood very quickly just what was happening.
And with the single shout of pain that the woman who had filled their hearts with terror from the moment they enlisted in this cesspool of domination, something twisted within them.
A horrid desire awoke, one which had been suppressed behind layers upon layers of fear - fear for that woman known as the Admiral.
Yet it was exactly because of these many layers of fear, that so many layers of hatred were unleashed at that moment.
And in that instant, as if prompted by the words of the man who stood as the Vice Admiral, every single weapon within that room was aimed upon the woman.
They cared not about the man who had been infected, for such an issue was secondary in comparison to this woman.
And so, three bullets having wounded her already, the woman found herself faced with more muzzles than she could count.
"You... all of you... you're turning on me this easily?"
With these words, the woman's shock seemed to be overridden for just a moment as her fear was masked, and the next words - though coming from someone completely powerless - were enough to send chills down the spines of every person present.
"I will remember this."
"Enough of your talk. Stand."
Pressing the woman with a pistol to her head, the man with the glasses now stood next to her - within her attack range.
He understood well that if she wished, she could twist him about and grab his weapon, however this was exactly why he had directed every person present.
If they had her surrounded on all sides, then even if she armed herself and used him as a shield, she would still not be safe from the fire.
"Do you really think that you'll get out of this alive without me?", the woman asked as she stood up, to which the man pressed the weapon on her head with all the greater pressure.
"This is not a discussion anymore, Yelena. I am giving you an ORDER. Now then..."
Turning to the crowd, the man looked around as he spoke with pretension.
"I understand the feelings of those present very well... and I understand that this woman poses a threat to our Navy that must be eliminated. I can tell that each and every one of you wants to be the one to fire a bullet into her skull, but I ask that you all remain patient... for even this woman will have some use if we are patient and do not kill her immediately."
At the shove of the man, the woman bit down on her pride as she forced herself to stand, the wound in her leg eating away at her as she desperately attempted to keep balance.
Even someone as skilled in combat as she was had become useless.
"Kill her."
However speaking out with a cold voice was none other than the man who had been infected.
His skin was turning pale at this point, and he seemed to be having a tough time breathing.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be losing his sanity - yet as if fueled entirely by his own rage, the man was able to get out these words with calmness.
"Kill her... before she kills every one of you."
Silence followed, and for a few moments not a single word was spoken as each person mulled on the possibilities.
"Kill her."
And then, another spoke.
"Kill her."
"Kill her!"
"Kill her!!!"
"KILL HER!"
"KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER!"
And that one voice soon became a choir.
"KILL! KILL! KILL!"
"She can't be allowed to live!!!"
"There is no need for mercy on a woman like that!!!"
"She made us all suffer for so many years, but look at her now!!!"
"How many people died because of her highhanded decisions!?"
"How many innocents did we have to slaughter at her orders!?!?"
A mob of complaints erupted as the crowd seemed to throw off all shackles.
"My wife and kids... I haven't seen them in six years because she drives us like slaves, forcing us to remain stationed at this HQ without any leave!"
"I've got a little sister and a little brother to take care of, but I don't even know what they look like anymore!! They've been living on their own, and I'm nothing more than a ghost who sends a check - and it's because of this woman!"
"She dealt with that scientist, the head of the R&D Division, and some people who didn't follow her orders exactly were sent to him to become TEST SUBJECTS for the rest of their miserable lives!!!"
Accusation after accusation flooded in without cease as the woman merely glanced around at this Jury of hatred.
"Death is too easy for her, but I say we allow it."
And one particular somber man stood forward, making the final statement as he quieted the crowd.
"Because if we give her any chance, then surely she will slither her way out of it."
With these statements, all eyes fell upon the man with the glasses - the Vice Admiral.
"When you all become so heated about such a thing, it is difficult for me as a leader to disagree... yet even so, I will stand by my position. HOWEVER."
Holding up his index finger with a smirk, the man stepped forward as he closed his eyes with confidence, the men and women around him seething with anger.
"I see your point, and I do agree that she is too dangerous to be left alive. Therefore... we will slaughter her in a way that is useful."
And with twisted words, the man wrapped around the minds of the soldiers as he made a proposition.
"Therefore... I will instead demote her."
Turning around to face the woman, the man glanced at her, and then over to the exit.
"From the rank of Admiral... to a mere scout."
And with these words, the crowd understood well exactly what the man meant.
"Agreed."
The somber man made this statement, quietly yet firmly.
"Agreed.", the infected man repeated.
And then, like the wave before, another wave came.
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed. Agreed. Agreed."
Without hesitation, all the soldiers seemed to nod, looking to one another as they stated their opinion on the matter, at which James stood in front of the woman, merely two feet from her as he crossed his arms with confidence.
"It would seem that a decision has been made... Scout Yelena Slausenricht. Now then... please let us know as much as possible about the enemy outside."
And with the snap of his fingers, six men rushed forward, all pointing their weapons at the head of the woman.
"Go on. Walk."
"Are you really just going to force me out there like this?"
"Yes."
Not a shred of hesitation.
The woman, seemingly having accepted her own fate, was pushed forward towards that door as one woman stood by in preparation to shove her out.
At this point, the banging on the door had only become louder and louder from the numerous gunshots within the warehouse.
A couple more soldiers headed to the door as they removed the blockade, standing by as they readied to open it for just a few moments - just long enough to mow down the crowd with bullets before shoving their former leader out.
"Open it.", James commanded.
And with these words, as if practiced, the door was opened.
The undead seemed to flood in, however many soldiers were prepared for this - all aiming straight for the channel as they took out one after another with haste.
The bodies dropped, and the woman was pushed forward as the line cleared for a few moments.
"Go on. Find us some useful information.", James stated as the woman was pushed outside, tripping over bodies as she struggled to keep balance on her injured leg.
And as someone rushed to close the door, the final words of the Vice Admiral could be heard before she was cut off from her fellow humans.
"Or die trying."
----