Clark’s squadmates escaped in different directions, as Captain Briggs ordered them to scatter to different places to have a better chance of surviving the state-wide pursuit.
Clark and Sonia still decided to stick together as they escaped. They intended to get as far away as possible from the State’s capital city before the reinforcement finally converged here.
What made all the soldiers’ despair was that the main attack force of the operation, led by the General, have not escaped yet. So they had no specific direction to escape to.
Their warship, G-14, would only come for them after retrieving the soldiers in the General’s squad. That was the most important task that was designated to it, so they had to fend for themselves for this period.
This uncertainty on where to escape to hung above their heads like a summoned veil of death, bringing them more pressure than predicted.