"Any questions?" The Sergeant asked through the megaphone as he scanned his eyes around the crowd. Then lots of people began raising their hands, and the Sergeant blinked in alarm when he saw the concerning number of people with questions.
"I will limit the questions I'd be answering. Let's start from the one over there." He said as a solution, knowing he has to conserve their energies and his. The people, on the other hand, complained, saying they deserve to be provided with answers and assurance.
"I understand your anxieties and troubles, but as much as I want to give you all the answers, I am not well informed at the moment. Additionally, we are in dire need to be prudent with our resources as well as energies. If we want to last more than a month." The sergeant added as he motioned to the person who was raising their hand to the nearest officer to him and handed the megaphone to them.
"From what you said, Mr. Officer, does that mean the whole police force and the government have no idea why we were evacuated to the shelter?" The person asked as they used the megaphone, sitting back down as the police handed the loudspeaker back to the Sergeant.
"Yes. As for now, I have not been informed. The higher ups are still trying to obtain information about the threat, our country is not the only one affected but every continent on the Earth as you heard from the Emergency Siren." The Sergeant replied as he chose another person to ask their question, ignoring the whispers occurring amongst the people.
"Sir, does that mean the supply we would be given is gonna be extremely limited? If so, how much would we receive if we have a family with us? What about us with babies?" A female who seemed to be a mother asked as she was handed the megaphone, her question slowly riling up fellow mothers as the officers blew their whistle to reinstill silence.
"Ma'am, I can only give limited reserves. The warehouse barely has any food appropriate for infants and toddlers below 5 years old. I'm afraid as the mother of the child falling in that age, you ought to think of a solution based on the ration you receive. And since pregnant women, and mothers with children below 5 are basically providing in such a difficult situation, we will be giving you a ration worth for 2 people. However, that is as much as I could do." The Sergeant responded as he made the police on the post to reinforce silence when half of the pregnant women and mothers tried to protest to the idea, demanding more.
The question and answers went on for half an hour more to try and calm the refugees, reassure their worries by giving them the information they demand. But instead of calming down, most of them got even more annoyed.
"Sergeant. So far there isn't much retaliation and disruption in the main area, however, there are few people who have complaints for what they have received. What should we do?" An officer asked as he looked at John who was at the warehouse, portioning the rations to make sure that it'll last them, making changes with the arrangements according to their resources and information. It has barely been a week since they were stuck in the shelter, too much had happened already.
Upon hearing that there are still people complaining about what they get, people demanding more accommodations, and some even accused him and his officers of monopolizing the rations, it all made his head ache. He didn't want to use drastic measures but the people's protestation was getting out of hand, he needed to execute the order again if they wanted to survive with minimum to no casualties.
So without wasting any more time, the Sergeant went to the main area again. When he arrived, he saw the citizens clamoring against the officers. The Sergeant had to intervene personally by immobilizing the leader of the protestants, taking him into custody to avoid further escalation in the clamor with the people.
"That is enough! Anyone who protests will have their rations confiscated and removed from the distribution list! I have done what I can to accommodate all of us, my men and I aren't monopolizing the resources, we are trying to make it last!" The Sergeant roared in fury as he pulled his injured men behind him, telling the other officers to tend to those who received a beating because of his orders not to retaliate against the citizens.
The people were divided into obedient ones and resentful bunch, though both sides were cooperating like the first few days, the resentful group was secretly planning to take over the evacuation center, to hold authority over the people inside because of how unfair they think the Sergeant and his men are being.
For a whole week, the people in the emergency shelter were already going mad with boredom and hunger. There was little to no entertainment in the shelter as well as scarce resources that barely made them survive albeit with hunger, it was making them both demotivated and anxious.
The tense atmosphere in the center was palpable as the Sergeant tried to think of a solution for their boredom and demotivated state, but there was barely anything to do other than wait for news from the higher ups.
Another half week had passed and the people were at the tethering brink of edge. Just as the citizens were about to hold another wave of protest against the situation, a blue screen appeared in front of everyone.
DING!
"Papapapum! We greet the living creatures of mankind! My name is Jum!" A cheery voice erupted from the mysterious screen, a line of message can be read.
"And I am Cham!" Another chirpy voice added as a second line of message appeared on the blue screen, confusing the people from all around the globe.