As the convoy of large trucks and a bus left the urban suburbs, Jason, who was inside the bus, looked at the group of six people sitting silently, watching him.
"Thank you so much for saving us. We all thought the shelter at the CDC facility had been overrun by the infected!" said Carlos with an unnatural expression, happy to have survived.
"I'm glad you all made it through the terrible experience you just went through. My name is Jason, leader of the S.C.T. community. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Kenneth and the others nodded at Jason's words. They had heard messages about a shelter calling itself S.C.T., but they all felt uneasy at the long silence that followed those words.
"It looks like you're from the special police unit. I'd like to request your services. Skilled people like you can help me keep the community safe from the infected." Jason removed the mask covering his face and smiled.
"Of course, we'd be ready to help in any way we can. My name is Kenneth, and this is my partner Jim. We're both from the S.W.A.T. special squad, and we're willing to assist in this crisis."
Hearing Kenneth's words, Jason nodded with a slight smile and pointed at some crates behind them, filled with weapons and ammunition. "It looks like you're out of gear. You can take whatever you need from the crates. We don't know what will happen next, so we all need to be prepared."
"Understood, sir!"
At the driver's seat, the man in charge was smiling slightly. He knew that, without exception, sooner or later, everyone would be willing to follow Jason. This was a rare skill—a natural leader who could handle any situation.
"We're heading to a shelter where former soldiers, police officers, and agents from other departments are protecting the survivors. Your value is important in building something new, but remember one thing—everyone is replaceable."
After saying this, Jason walked to a seat to observe the situation outside the convoy. However, his body was ready to move if any of these people tried to make a foolish move.
"If I may ask, what happened to the CDC shelter?" Lina asked in a soft voice.
Jason looked at the girl who had just spoken and said, "We're relocating the shelter to the outskirts of the city. Staying in this city is not optimal at all."
It seemed that these people had been heading to the CDC in search of refuge. Long before abandoning the facility, Jason had ordered that no more alerts about a shelter be sent out, knowing they would eventually leave that place.
Now that everything was in order, they were heading to the prison to establish a base and begin expanding according to their plans. As he thought about all of this, Jason remained silent.
...
As Jason's group continued rescuing more survivors and slowly approached the prison, Shane's group was desperately searching for Lori, who had left the prison.
"Over here! I see tracks left by cars."
At that moment, Shane and his group of five arrived at the crossroads where Lori had passed earlier. Daryl, being an excellent tracker, stepped out of the car to investigate. He examined the roads, trying to determine which direction Lori had taken.
Some people got out of the car to investigate. In the distance, Glenn spotted a pile of stacked items that appeared to be construction materials.
"Look, we need to mark this. Have you checked over there? Those things look like construction materials. We could use them later for the prison's remodeling and expansion."
Slowly, Glenn was being influenced by Jason. Now, everything he saw seemed like a resource for survival.
"Is this really the time to talk about that? I don't get what's going through your head. You're starting to sound more and more like Jason, searching every little spot for supplies," Daryl said, looking at Glenn, who seemed excited about his discovery. His voice was full of mockery.
"We have to take advantage of all the materials before someone else takes them!" Glenn stared at the distant supplies and secretly marked the location.
"Yeah, that's a good mindset."
...
Not long after, the group finally arrived at a small town. Richard, who was sitting in the back, pointed at a parked pickup truck on the side of the road and shouted, "That's the car! Mrs. Grimes was driving that car when she left the prison!"
However, Shane and Daryl's eyes were already locked on a residential house in front of them. They saw at least a dozen walkers surrounding the door, banging on it relentlessly.
"And she wanted to go to the city," Daryl muttered, understanding the situation.
Shane simply stepped on the gas, aggressively turning the wheel and crashing straight into the group of walkers ahead.
Bang! Crack!
After a series of loud noises, the car stopped with two walkers on top of it. Then, several people jumped out of the vehicle one after another, machetes in hand.
Daryl raised his crossbow and shot an arrow into a walker's head. With a swift movement of his dagger, he stabbed another walker in the skull. After clearing the nearby area, the rest of the group moved in to eliminate the remaining walkers.
There were more than a dozen walkers around, but the five of them swiftly dispatched them with ease. Shane immediately stepped up to the house's door.
Knock, knock!
"Lori, are you in there?"
Lori, who had been leaning against the door, stood up as soon as she heard the sound of a car. Through the keyhole, she saw everyone taking down the walkers outside.
The familiar faces made Lori's eyes well up with tears, and they began streaming down her face once again.
"She survived." At that moment, that was the only thought in her mind.
Hearing Shane call her name, Lori quickly wiped away her tears, straightened her clothes, and opened the door.
"Shane!"
Seeing the door open and Lori standing there unharmed, Shane finally let out a long sigh of relief. Then his tone turned harsh: "What the hell were you thinking? Do you know how dangerous it is to go out alone nowadays? If something had happened to you, how do you think I would explain it to Rick?"
"I'm so sorry! I was just trying..." The words wouldn't come out of her mouth. Lori didn't know how to explain the irrational decision she had made. Now she understood that this world was cruel and that everything was falling apart everywhere.
Shane sighed. He wanted to say more but stopped himself. That wasn't his role—Rick should be the one to handle it.
The rest of the group had no words to say. They simply looked at Lori in silence. They could understand and empathize with her actions, but they didn't agree with what she had done. However, there was no point in bringing it up now.
"Let's head back now. Glenn, take care of driving the truck that Lori brought." Shane signaled that it was time to leave, and everyone got into the cars.
A group of six people and two cars turned around and headed back.
However, things were not that simple. As they drove a few hundred meters out of town, a few walkers emerged from the forest by the roadside. Then another ten, followed by hundreds more, and even more walkers appeared in the distance, filling the area in an instant.
Cold sweat broke out on Shane's back immediately. He suddenly hit the brakes and stopped. Glenn, behind him, was startled, stuck his head out the window, and looked at Shane with a strange expression.
"Don't you know how to drive? Turn on the lights to let me know you're stopping. What if we crash and end up without a car? We can't..." Glenn's words trailed off as he turned his head back.
A massive crowd of walkers!
A walker horde!
These words flashed through everyone's minds at the same time. Shane quickly moved his hand, shifted gears, and turned around. He signaled Glenn behind him, indicating that they needed to move fast.
Glenn had already seen what was coming and knew what to do without Shane's reminder.
Turning around quickly, the two cars sped back through the town and kept moving forward.
Grabbing the radio, Shane reported the situation to Sam Valdez: "Zz... This is Shane. A massive horde of walkers is in the nearest town, not far from the prison!"
"Zz... Understood. How many walkers do you estimate?" Sam Valdez asked in a cold voice.
"Hundreds, maybe even thousands of walkers together," Shane said nervously. This was the first time he had seen such a large horde of walkers.
"Zz... Got it. We'll prepare in case the horde shifts toward the prison..."
"Understood!"
...
Hershel's farm.
Hershel, who was standing beside Patricia—Otis's wife—and his daughter Beth, feeding the horses, looked outside and saw two cars speeding down the road.
The two vehicles were driving so fast that dust was rising behind them. The sun was already setting in the west, painting the sky a deep red.
Hershel didn't know who was coming, so just in case, he signaled his daughter to run inside the house, grabbed a shotgun, and stood at the door.
"Hershel! It's me!"
As the two cars got closer, Shane stuck his hand out and shouted loudly.
Hershel let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was someone familiar. He lowered his gun and stepped out of the house.
"Shane! Why are you here? Where are Maggie and Otis?"
For some reason, Hershel always had a bad feeling whenever he saw Shane and the others, so he hurried to ask.
Seeing Shane's somewhat nervous expression, Hershel's heart sank. Before Shane could explain the situation, he anxiously asked again, "What happened? Where are Maggie and the others who went with you?"
Shane shook his head and didn't speak immediately. He was organizing his thoughts, but Glenn couldn't hold back anymore and stepped forward toward Hershel.
"Hershel! Everyone needs to pack their things and leave with us immediately! A massive horde of walkers is heading this way!"
"A horde of walkers? What do you mean by a horde of walkers?" Hershel hated when people called the sick "the undead" or "walkers." In his opinion, these people were just ill.
Glenn knew this from Maggie and quickly changed his wording.
"They're the sick people you mentioned—lots of them are coming this way. At least thousands of them! We need to get out of here immediately!"
"Heh... You're telling me to leave my farm just because of your worries?" Hershel didn't panic after hearing Glenn's words. To him, they sounded like the fears of a scared young man.
Glenn was speechless. He had heard Maggie say her father was incredibly stubborn, but he had never experienced it firsthand. He thought he would have the chance to convince Hershel to move to the prison in the future.
But this was a damn emergency!
Suddenly, Glenn had a thought. In this situation, he had no choice but to take a gamble. Maybe Hershel would hate him for it later, but that was better than Maggie hating him in the future!
With that in mind, Glenn didn't hesitate any longer and said loudly, "Hershel, don't you get it? These things are no longer human! They're already dead! You should think about your daughters—do you want them to die with you, or do you want them to suffer your death? Make a damn decision, and we'll stop bothering you. But don't decide for others—that's something I won't allow."