When Brandon entered the room, it had turned somewhat quiet. The people who were practicing hard, letting out yells and grunts, had also come to a halt. This was because of their instructors.
They had noticed Brandon and lifted their hands as a sign of silence. There was a reason for this, inside of the Museum, there were technically two leaders, Ryan, the smart and caring businessman who was in charge of electronic companies in the past, and Brandon, the captain of his previous swat team that was protecting the building.
The two of them had different roles in the place. To the public, they saw Ryan more as their leader. He was the one that gave them orders and gave them food and Shelter. He would also be the public speaker at times to calm down their worries.
Then there was Brandon, the one with combat experience and who protected the place from outside threats. Along with instructors, who were part of SWAT, he taught the others how to fight and survive in the current world.
Inside the Museum, many people were more in line with one leader compared to the other, and it was also why they all showed great respect to Brandon as he entered the room. However, what surprised them, even more, were the words that came out of Brandon's mouth when he stepped into the room.
"Our Leader Ryan is happy to meet you." He had said.
Almost everyone in the hall was shocked and was looking at each other in surprise. Ryan didn't just meet up with anyone, he seemed to be a busy man, and the way the group worked was that only certain people could approach Ryan for requests. Everything else would have to be moved up the chain of people.
This was to stop people from bombarding Ryan. Of course, there were still times when he would go around the place, wave hello, and make conversation with the people, but they too knew that if they wanted to speak to him, they would have to report it to their group leader, who would then send the message upwards in the chain of command.
When the group was initially created, and more people started to join, this was just something that had to be implemented, and now with more than a hundred people and non-stop growth, the hierarchy had become essential within the group.
"Oh?" Brandon said, noticing the look on the instructor's face. "It seems there are some people that aren't exactly happy about the decision I made. Stu, Max, Tod, guys, feel free to speak your mind. You know I will always listen to you."
The three instructors had been called out, and there was a guilty look on their faces. Stu was a thin man with light blond hair, he was one of the instructors for the weapons class and also one of the higher ranking people in the group who could talk freely to Ryan.
This was the same for the other two. They had the same privileges to make decisions and form their current groups and squads if need be. Then there was Max, a larger gentleman who stood at 6'6". His figure reminded Zain a bit of Buke. Only this man looked quite a bit older with a rough gray beard over his chin. He was in charge of the hand-to-hand combat classes.
Then there was Stu, a fairly round-faced man with small eyes and short hair. He looked more like the silent type and was the weapons instructor. He himself currently had two short swords by his side as well.
All three of the instructors walked forward, stepping away from their students, and looked at each other because it seemed like they all had the same opinion, and Max was the first one to speak.
"We don't like it," Max stated with his arms folded as he looked down at three. "We have all been protecting this base for a while now, and not just us, but the people that have been here every day as well.
"There are many in our groups who have requested to meet up with Ryan, and each time it has been denied. There has even been a plea put in for a fifth squad on top of our four to help with the current situation.
"Ryan decides to ignore everything and then suddenly has a meeting with these new guys? There will be people who complain. If they are going to join the group, then they should just join the normal way like everyone else."
Brandon let out a smiling sigh and decided to lift his sunglasses to the top of his head as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers showing how stressful the situation was. These were his people, but at the same time, he understood what Ryan was doing.
"Look, the situation isn't the same as it was in the past. We can't just keep making squads willy-nilly. We have to trust the people, and before you say anything, trust me, I don't trust these guys.
"They might not even join us in the first place, but they did save one of the scouting groups, and they had the power just with three of them to defeat that giant Armored Zombie. Is that not a good enough reason for them being here?" Brandon asked.
Whispers started from behind the instructors. Everyone in the room knew what giant Zombie they were talking about, but to hear that just three of them were able to take it out seemed like a bit of an exaggeration.
"These three? I can't believe it. Most of them just look like students," Max replied. "Did you see them beat the thing with your own eyes?"
Brandon hadn't done it, he had only seen the Zombie down and out for the count, as well as the words for the others, but it seemed too hard to fake such a situation. Besides, what else could have happened even if he didn't see it?
"What, are you saying we're liars?" Pink asked out of frustration because it had taken a lot of effort for her and Kun to defeat it. It wasn't a walk in the park, and they were proud of this fact, so for someone to deny them, just infuriated them.
"Then prove it," Stu commented. "If you really were able to defeat such a thing, surely you can prove your skills to all of us here."
Pink looked at Zain, wondering how they could exactly prove their skills, it was then though that Kun was the first one to act, as he went ahead and picked up a pistol from one of the tables.
The weapons were not loaded, just in case there was a misfire by accident in the place, but that's when Kun started to strip down the weapon bit by bit. He released the slide on the weapon, the slide spring, and the barrel, taking apart each of the weapons bit by bit, completely stripping them down, and laying them out on the table.
It was then that he put it back together again, bit by bit. It was smooth, with no trouble at all, as if a person had done this for years.
"You… you're trained," Stu was surprised. It was without a doubt that Kun was trained.
"Still, just knowing how to use weapons wouldn't work against the Armored Zombie, what about the rest of you?" Todd asked. "The bullets can't pierce the zombie, so you had to have used weapons of some sort. I see you have a sword. Do you know how to use it?"
The question was directed at Zain, and the thing was, Zain wasn't so sure how skilful a level 2 mastery in sword actually was. In the first place, it was due to his strength that he had taken out such a thing.
"Hey, you don't have to test him," Pink said, "He's the strongest out of all of us. If you really want to test someone, then big guy, why don't you take me on in a one-on-one fight?"
The students were excited by the proposal, and at the same time, Max didn't think he would lose to a small girl like so in front of him.
"Fine, if you can't even take me out, then I doubt that you would have taken the Armored Titan out. If you can beat me, then I will not stop you from meeting Ryan." Max declared.
The two of them stood side by side, around five meters apart, and everyone around was watching. Brandon didn't stop it because he, too, was interested in what was going to happen and their skill, but before the fight started, Zain whispered something in her ear.
"Seriously…alright," Pink replied, somewhat disappointed.
When Zain went to join the crowd, Brandon stood next to him.
"What did you tell your friend over there, some tips to win?" Brandon asked.
"No, there was no need to. I just told her to hold back a little." Zain smiled.
*****
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