"I lost my wife and daughter," he said matter of factly though he couldn't meet her gaze. Instead he was very interested in his chili for a while before they were approached by one of the few remaining military officers.

"King, think you can round up a partner for some perimeter scouting? It's making us all a little uneasy that we haven't seen the Grey. Considering your experience with them I figured you'd be the best man for the job." The officer didn't so much as acknowledge Jess. His eyes were bloodshot and his uniform looked like he'd been wearing it for days, smelled like it too.

"Yeah," David grunted. "I'll finish my meal and see if I can get a volunteer to go with me. Any particular spot you want me to check out first?"

The officer shook his head no before walking away briskly, undoubtedly having a million other things on his mind.

David finished his chili with no added haste, he wasn't looking forward to asking these people to volunteer to go looking for the Grey with him. He looked around the room, the men and women around looked like the pictures he had seen in old history books of Holocaust survivors - haunted. Permanent circles were forming under everyone's eyes, no one able to sleep soundly after what they had been through. He made a mental note to suggest they outfit everyone with the surplus of uniforms the base had, it would be better suited to the weather and might save lives in the coming days if they had to leave the base for any reason.

His gaze finally returned to his dining companion. He gave her a calculating once over, noting the shotgun she carried. "Any good with that thing?" he asked. "I don't suppose you'd want to go on a scouting run. You look like you can move quick and quiet but if you don't want to for any reason, I can find someone else."