"A lot of people thought the same thing, and injured themselves because of it. Proper maintenance of a gun used frequently is hard enough to understand and controlling the recoil of one to prevent yourself from taking out an eye or something took a lot more effort than people want to put in." Brennan himself was still wary around guns, even if he was the one wielding it. Firearms packed a lot of power in something explosive and it was so easy to hurt yourself or others if you're not focused enough. Brennan never let himself get distracted, but he still wasn't comfortable with the weapon, and preferred the hand-to-hand weapons that he used on a regular basis because they were easier to control. Brennan grabbed his personal notebook out of his bag and took down a reminder to find a blade with more range before putting the book away again.
He hoped he didn't shock her with what he had said, but it was in his nature to just want to protect the people he felt he was in charge of. He was like a sheepdog keeping the herd all together; a stray sheep was dangerous because it was near impossible to abandon the entire flock for one lone stray, but losing one was enough to dishearten him.
"If this is handled properly, it won't end up a waste of time." He took up the binoculars, having spent enough time neglecting the reason he was up here, though nothing of note was happening outside. Even the Shufflers that had been moving stopped. "You're right about that though. It's impossible to carry on the way we are and expect that we can overcome this infection." Brennan turned back to her, holding the binoculars at his side, flicking off the night-vision as habit. "If we can understand the infected, and communicate that knowledge to the others, we can effectively start gaining ground." He glanced out the window again, all the way out to the horizon. There was a time when he looked out of his window in his office and saw himself putting buildings and bridges on that horizon. Now he sees something more practical; the survival of the human race, they just needed the tools to get there. "Eventually they'll understand why we put this effort in, but I don't want to hold out for others to take up the research. Maybe someday, but most of them, the Army especially, are focusing their sights on what's right in front of them."
Brennan set the binoculars down on the windowsill, shuffling around some of the papers in the process.
"Until they take up the torch, we certainly have enough determination to take this on." Her smile brought a small one to his face, and he took a seat again. He wasn't sure what to say now, though there was still a lot of time left to the patrol. Brennan actually remembered that he needed to shift to another spot. He gathered up the files and everything moving over to a window facing east, taking the opportunity to check the area. At the moment, nothing.
"How did you get interested in researching the infected?" Brennan inquired as he flicked the night vision on, checking for movement in any of the abandoned buildings.