"Ordinary citizens? Arrange for them to take shelter…" Lister started to say instinctively, but he was cut off in mid-sentence by a commotion of yelling and fussing that rapidly approached from the corridor. Right after that, he heard the voice of a young girl outside, hollering—
"Move it, for the love of—Make way! Time is precious! What's the word… window, oh, the window of opportunity is just this friggin' moment!"
Lister lifted his head in surprise, and the next second, he saw two young girls break through the soldiers' blockade and forcefully barge into this crucial command center.
One was short and frail, dressed in a black cotton skirt, yet she single-handedly pushed two burly soldiers away from the doorway; the other was slightly taller, wearing a simple brown coat and skirt, her face seemingly a bit tense.
Both girls looked mere sixteen or seventeen years old, the frail one even younger.