Requesting a Location

At dawn, the sun was slowly rising, illuminating the green fields where Jason's group had arrived purely by coincidence.

Inside a room in a house, Jason slowly opened his eyes, but his breathing was unnatural. This unfamiliar environment triggered a momentary stress reaction, but then he remembered what had happened yesterday and calmed down. After a few minutes of steadying the heavy sensation in his body, he walked to the bathroom to wash his face and then stepped out of the room.

Standing in the completely empty living room, Jason looked at the framed photos while thinking about everything he had done to get here.

The feeling of being in the countryside was entirely different from that of the city. Here, he could understand Hershel's attitude toward life and death when it came to the walkers.

If Jason hadn't had the skills to do what he had done so far, the idea of staying on a farm on the outskirts of the city would have been his choice. After all, protecting a farm with enough preparation shouldn't be much of a problem.

As Jason observed the curiosities in the living room, he heard sudden noises coming from the kitchen. That must have been Mrs. Patricia, Otis's wife, who was now preparing breakfast. A pleasant smell filled the air.

The small community that had formed in this place was good, at least it allowed them to survive the outside world. Too bad things were about to change.

Jason ignored this thought and walked toward the room where Guillermo was resting.

After a brief inspection, Jason sighed in relief.

At first glance, Guillermo's condition seemed good, and his wound showed no signs of infection. It seemed the medicine they had was enough to keep Guillermo stable. After a few more checks, Jason left the room and stepped outside the house.

"You're finally awake, Jason! Did you get a good rest?"

As soon as he walked through the door, Glenn's voice sounded beside him. When he turned, he saw Glenn sitting alone on a bench, looking a little exhausted.

Noticing Glenn's condition, Jason didn't hesitate to ask, "Why are you here at this hour? It looks like you haven't slept all night, have you?"

Glenn blinked a few times, yawned, and replied with a reassuring smile, "I was on watch last night to keep an eye on the place. We didn't wake you because you were exhausted. You should consider getting more sleep from now on instead of just waiting until you get the chance."

"Yeah, I'd like to have that privilege too." Jason carried a mental burden that couldn't compare to those around him, but now wasn't the time to make comparisons, so he asked, "Is everyone here?"

"Shane and Rick slept in tents along with the others since there wasn't enough space in the house, and they didn't feel comfortable inside the RV either."

After speaking, Glenn pointed to a tree not far away, and indeed, there were two tents beneath it, right where the RV was parked.

"Hey, guys! Did we wake you up?"

Jason stood next to the tents and called out loudly. Soon, a few people emerged from the tents, looking groggy while holding shotguns. Seeing this, he spoke with a concerned expression, "Sorry, it looks like you weren't up yet. Let's get something to eat, and then we should explore the surroundings."

"How could we not wake up when you're yelling so loudly?" T-Dog couldn't help but complain, thinking they were being attacked by walkers. This was the first time in a long while that he had slept outdoors.

Rick stretched his back. He was tired of living in the open these past days and missed his bed at the CDC, but he understood that such comforts weren't something he could have all the time, so he didn't complain.

"I get that you're not used to sleeping outside, but you need to understand that our stronghold at the CDC isn't permanent. We have to consider relocating most of the group due to the high maintenance costs. Until we find a suitable place, we should embrace nature like true primitive men."

Morgan also nodded and said enthusiastically, "Jason is right. It's not just us—everyone in the future will have to get used to living like this. After all, we don't know what's going to happen next."

After breakfast, Jason told Glenn to catch up on sleep while he went to find Hershel to ask him some questions.

Inside the house, Jason explained their situation and where they had come from in greater detail. He needed to make them aware of what was happening in the outside world.

"Hershel, as I mentioned, we're from the CDC. We went out this time to look for a secondary shelter because we can't afford to keep the facility operational for much longer. So I wanted to ask you—does anyone here know the surrounding area well?"

Hershel thought for a moment and then nodded. "Otis is very familiar with the area. He helped us transport a lot of things from the city before. You can ask him directly—he shouldn't have any problem helping you."

When Jason found Otis, the man was repairing a truck in the yard. After hearing Jason's request, he agreed without hesitation.

After what had happened, he regretted the situation with Guillermo, but there was nothing he could do to help. However, when he heard Jason's request, he willingly accepted.

...

"There are several pharmacies and warehouses nearby. As for the things you mentioned, I'm not entirely sure."

Otis had taken Jason and the others to a pharmacy a bit of a distance from the farm, where there was actually a small town.

Jason didn't really expect to find warehouses in perfect condition to store supplies, but it was a shame that Otis didn't know about these places. Now, they would have to check them one by one in order.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

On the street outside the pharmacy, the place was eerily deserted, and the silence of the air was broken by loud banging on the door, making Glenn and the others tense up.

Immediately, the walkers inside the pharmacy were drawn to the door by the sudden noise.

After making some noise to draw the walkers' attention and ensure they wouldn't be taken by surprise later, Jason had no intention of going in directly.

At his side, Shane and Rick stood guard on both sides. Neither of them intended to go in, so they decided to break the glass by force. With a single strike, the pharmacy window shattered, and the ugly faces of two walkers appeared immediately.

Puff! Puff!

The sound of two sharp objects piercing rotten flesh echoed. Rick and Shane's daggers sank into the walkers' heads almost simultaneously, and Jason also slashed one of the walkers behind them to death as it followed him.

"Go in and be careful!" Rick reminded everyone to enter the pharmacy slowly.

It was a relatively large pharmacy, about 100 square meters, with shelves full of various medicines that were still usable. The expressions of those who had initially been hesitant about large-scale scavenging quickly turned into ones of joy.

"Ha ha ha, honey, we hit the jackpot!" Shane ran his hand over the boxes of medicine on the shelves with excitement. No one had expected this pharmacy to have such a complete collection of essential supplies.

"Everyone, pack as many medicines as possible. Start with the most important ones, then move on to the rest," Jason instructed, pointing to some shelves containing the most crucial medications.

He himself didn't bother with the medicine on the shelves but went straight to the storage room in the back. He knocked lightly on the door, pressed his ear against it, and listened carefully for a few seconds. There was no familiar groaning of a walker, so Jason slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

The storage room wasn't big, only about forty square meters. Several shelves lined the interior.

Jason wasn't one to wait for others to take action, so he went in directly.

There were only five rows of shelves in total.

Walking down the middle aisle, Jason finally found a corpse on the innermost shelf. However, he wasn't on guard because it was obviously a survivor who had taken their own life by swallowing a bullet through their throat.

Understanding what had happened here and recalling the walkers trapped inside the pharmacy, Jason figured that the person in the storage room had likely been chased by some walkers from outside. Trapped in this storage space, where there was nothing but medicine and no other exits, they had chosen the easiest way out—ending their own life rather than being eaten alive.

Jason shook his head at the heartbreaking scene. Every time he saw something like this—which was more common than it seemed—he felt anger. Most people had firearms in their hands, and there were only a few walkers around them.

It should have been easy to fight their way out!

"Jason, are you okay?" Rick's voice came from the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Rick walked up to Jason, looked at what he was silently staring at, and sighed at the sight. He patted Jason on the shoulder as if to comfort him and said in a slightly somber tone, "You don't have to think too much about it. Some people simply choose a quick end to avoid suffering. In many cases, it's the best choice, honestly..."

Where there are those who fight, there will always be those who give up.

Jason took two steps forward, slowly bent down, picked up the corpse's gun, handed it to Rick, and said, "Look at that, another good weapon! We shouldn't let it go to waste!"

Not long after, the group left the pharmacy, their hands full of medicine.

Otis happily drove the truck, grateful that Jason's team had given him some common-use medications. His home's supplies needed restocking, and he couldn't have felt better about receiving a batch of medicine without having to risk his life.

Seeing Otis so happy, Jason suddenly thought that this man seemed familiar with the area, so he asked a question.

"By the way, Otis, do you know where the prison west of Georgia is?"

"Georgia Prison? What are you planning to do there? It's completely inaccessible!" Otis's astonished look suddenly became very appealing to Jason. Sitting up straight, Jason pressed on.

"You know the place? Take us there, now!" Jason was secretly pleased that he had finally found someone so useful. He planned to head there immediately.