Full of Discoveries

"We didn't know each other before, but now are we nothing more than just simple friends?" Morgan frowned and looked at Jason. He really didn't want these people to be expelled from the prison.

"The security of this place is under my leadership. I can't assure you that I know these people well, but I truly believe that not all of them are bad. However, you'll soon realize that our future encounters with survivors will be different from what just happened."

Jason paused, his gaze sweeping over all those who refused to see the reality of their foolish decisions. Then he pointed out, "Guillermo's people took care of the elderly before bringing them to the shelter! You, Rick, and Shane were cops before. Morgan and his family were helping others before I met them. Glenn, long before we met, tried to help us. Hershel isn't part of our community, but his daughter and neighbor are here to help us clean the prison."

After saying that, Jason frowned slightly. He knew that the others didn't want to get their hands dirty, and now it wasn't his intention to do anything wrong. They simply didn't want to commit a dark act.

Jason paused, but still said, "I'm just trying to take care of our people. I've seen and experienced truly horrific things. I witnessed people committing inhuman acts long before the world ended. What kind of things do you think are happening out there today?"

Daryl, standing beside him, listened to Jason's words and suddenly felt that many weren't seeing the bigger picture. As a good leader, Jason was only thinking about everyone's safety. Thinking about this, Daryl also said, "Jason is right. Many of you don't understand what could happen if we let those people go. We can't leave those starving people outside the prison. I'd rather live as a villain than die as an innocent."

Everyone fell silent, and there was an inexplicable glimmer in their eyes. Jason didn't insist any further. He patted Daryl on the shoulder, signaling that they would move forward.

Just moments ago, Jason seemed to be going through many mood swings. But in reality, he wasn't angry at anyone. He had no problem letting those criminals go just so the others could learn from their mistakes. However, he knew there would be many more lessons for them to learn along the way.

Now, it seemed his words hadn't been in vain. At least Daryl understood what he really meant. In the end, he would make the final decision. If someone disagreed, they could consider taking measures to resolve those issues.

Some people entered the cafeteria, a very spacious place. The rows of seats had been moved to one side of the room, leaving a large open space in the center. There were blankets on the floor where people slept.

A bit further ahead, not far from where they had been sleeping, Daryl went in first and walked forward.

"Dammit, this group of people sure ate well!" He gestured to the others, and they all saw what looked like a storage room packed with all kinds of food.

"Look at all this food!"

"We hit the jackpot!"

Hearing the exclamations of joy, Jason kept walking forward and looked at all the food in front of him. Surprisingly, there was far more than he had imagined.

If he calculated the days, he had arrived at the prison much earlier than originally planned, and all those extra days had been rewarded with food.

Assuming three meals per person per day, considering they were five young and strong individuals, the amount of food they consumed was extravagant.

While everyone was looking at the food, Jason did some mental calculations and said, "Although this is nothing compared to what we already have, based on this amount of food and what was being distributed in the prison, it's estimated that they were feeding more than five hundred people. This entire storage room could sustain all of them for a week."

The fact was exactly as Jason said—this storage room alone could feed more than five hundred people for a full week without restocking. Considering the storage capacity of this food warehouse, more than five hundred people could live in this prison without a problem.

"That's incredible! Having a lot of people here would make us really strong, wouldn't it?" said Glenn, who had just entered the storage room with a big smile on his face.

Everyone looked at Glenn in disbelief. No one had considered building a shelter with more than five hundred people. In these times, that was unimaginable to lead. At the moment, everyone's thoughts were scattered because of what had just happened, but it seemed Jason didn't have time for that.

Jason, who had remained calm until now, suddenly remembered something and looked at Shane. "By the way, we're bringing Guillermo back tomorrow. We can't let him live in Hershel's house forever. Today, we'll clean out a cell block to prepare a place for the elderly and sick. We have doctors and nurses here, so it will be easy for them to recover."

Shane nodded to show he understood, then turned and left the cafeteria.

Rick walked to one side of the storage room and suddenly discovered a tightly sealed iron door behind him.

"What's this?" Rick approached the door handle with curiosity.

Boom!

Jason stepped forward to press against the iron door that Rick was about to open.

"It's best not to open it. Didn't you notice how clean this room is? Do you feel like something is missing?"

Everyone looked around and shook their heads. Rick asked, confused, "What?"

Jason smirked in boredom and said, "I'm guessing this is a bathroom, so there's no need to open it unless you want a truly unique experience."

Rick realized it after hearing that and lowered his hand.

"Is that really true?"

However, some curious young men still didn't believe it. One of them reached for the iron door handle. Jason's expression darkened, and he turned away.

"Oh my God!" As the door opened, the faces of those young men turned green, and Rick, who was standing in front of the door, quickly reached out to close it while covering his nose with his other hand.

"Shit!"

"Who the hell opened it?"

"Liam, you're dead!"

The corners of Jason's mouth lifted slightly, but he noticed that after everyone finished complaining, they all looked at him with that strange expression again!

"Dammit, I thought it would make good fertilizer!"

Daryl looked at Jason as if he were a monster. He was always thinking about how to use everything to his advantage—a true-born survivor.

…

While Jason and the others were clearing out the prison, the people from the CDC were also preparing for the transfer.

Everyone was busy packing supplies into the military trucks, even the researchers were moving the most important items from the laboratories.

Outside the CDC, Mike and Sam Valdez watched as all the soldiers transported crates of weapons and ammunition to the military trucks. Throughout this time, the most experienced individuals had been in charge of securing the perimeter of the facility.

"Mike, the first trip to the prison will be the most valuable because of the resources being transported. It will be escorted by tanks and the majority of our forces to protect it," Sam Valdez said with a calm expression.

"Won't it be dangerous to leave this place so unprotected?" Mike looked at Sam. If the transfer took place, more than half of the experienced soldiers would be moving along with the people.

"No, there are strategic points to defend the CDC. Those machine guns can wipe out a large group of enemies with ease," Sam Valdez replied, unfazed. The skills and experience of many of the civilians who had been trained were now on par with that of a soldier.

Some had been trained to operate tanks, others to use machine guns, and many more to handle higher-level weaponry. Considering the available resources, they would need to make at least three major trips like the one they were currently preparing.

"We have a massive amount of weapons. Is it really necessary to take them all?" Mike could swear that the building next to him was packed with all kinds of weapons, ammunition, and various tools.

From his perspective, who would need that many weapons? And who exactly were they supposed to fight? There were at least a hundred weapons for every refugee still in the S.C.T. community.

"You don't get it. Jason mentioned that there would be many communities that might consider us enemies. Who knows? But it's better for these weapons to be in our hands than in enemy hands. Don't you agree?" Sam Valdez shifted his gaze toward Mike.

"In our hands..."

…

In a dormitory, Lori was reading with Carl while thinking about what her husband was doing. She couldn't help but dwell on everything that had happened so far. She feared that her husband would become as cold-blooded as Shane.

At that moment, there was a knock at her door.

Knock, knock, knock!

Lori got up from the bed and walked to the door. She opened it and saw Candace standing on the other side. Candace, without hesitation, asked directly, "Lori, the first group will be ready to leave soon. Do you want to go with them, or will you wait?"

Lori looked at her son and said, "I want to leave with the first group if possible."

"Then get your things ready. But before that, we need to talk about what you asked me," Candace said in a serious tone.