[He can't argue with that and wouldn't want to even if he could, so he just offers a somewhat deflated smile.]

I still don't think that we don't have any hope at all, but... I do think that we're running out of time. If the deaths keep up at this rate...

[Even if they're all VIP deaths, where does that leave them? At almost a fourth of the number of people they had started out with, without any actual guarantee that they'll be allowed to leave?]