Thoughts on the Road

Three days had passed since the hospital had been taken as a support point, moving closer to the shelter north of Atlanta. During this time, not only had Jason's group helped Squad A-1 clear the streets around the hospital and secure the place, but they had also cleaned out some nearby buildings.

The police officers, on the other hand, were sent to a special prison where they would be evaluated and classified into different types according to their crimes and usefulness. For now, the outposts were not shelters, but rather support points for exploring and receiving refugees when the time came.

Shane had now been establishing several outposts, some in special factories and others in key buildings to keep updated information about what was happening around the shelter.

Jason had also decided to bring along a tanker truck to be able to travel long distances over land. If he wanted to find special people and eliminate troublesome enemies while also training important individuals, there was no better way than to do it on the road.

With enough gasoline, Jason wasn't worried about finding fuel along the way, though they always took advantage of any opportunity that came up.

After Jason's group experienced what life was like inside the hospital, their perspective on people had changed. They had learned not to be fooled by mere words or appearances.

For now, it was time to adjust the course of their destination while thinking about what lay ahead. At that moment, Jason was sitting on a couch, writing in his notebook. The rest of the group was playing a boring board game.

Poor Glenn had already lost several rounds and had nothing left to offer. It's worth mentioning that they were betting with candies they'd collected during stops along the way. Seeing that Glenn had nothing left, he was trying to find an excuse to quit, but Daryl kept him in place by force.

"Glenn, if you bail on the game now, I'm gonna beat your ass! I'm sure you've got the candy stuffed in your balls—we just have to look for it," Merle said with a grin, looking at Glenn.

Maggie, meanwhile, sat next to him with an amused expression. She couldn't help but notice how Glenn had lost it all just before nearly winning everything.

Jason watched this cozy scene with a wry smile, but he didn't have time to get distracted—he was thinking about their next moves.

Dealing with the police at the hospital had been surprisingly easy. Originally, Jason had planned to exchange fire with those people, but he hadn't expected them to surrender, so things turned out much better than anticipated.

Right now, Atlanta was free of groups that could threaten the growth of his organization. Jason was looking for natural-born leaders to quickly strengthen his people.

In the coming years, without a doubt, a particular community would eventually come knocking, and when that happened, Jason wanted to have a large territory and at least one hundred thousand people in his community.

Compared to other communities, Jason was aiming for something on another level—a united community, ready for anything at any time.

In fact, the story told in this narrative is very simple. The plot, aside from the ending, shows how different people grow and how the changes in them lead them to make good or bad decisions. Some become lethal, others dangerous, and many can no longer be considered human.

An example of a community that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible is "Terminus." Terminus was originally a shelter that offered support to survivors, but they later discovered its dark truth. Nowadays, the dumbest thing you can do is trust people; the ideal is to take relationships slowly.

Let's not even mention cannibalism. Terminus met a terrible end at the hands of Rick's group—no wonder they call him the destroyer of communities, whether allied or enemy.

Observation is also crucial. Small things can give you clues about what's happening in the place you're in. For example, at the hospital, when Jason encountered that woman with bruises and injuries on her face… Who, in a supposedly safe shelter, is that badly hurt? Clearly, she had been abused. The fake attitude of the police and others was a sign that something was wrong.

"Still thinking about what's next? Stop torturing yourself—what's the rush?"

Seeing Jason sitting silently, Merle turned his head and looked at him with a somewhat serious expression. He knew Jason was a good leader but thought he worried too much about the future, always looking for different paths to avoid mistakes.

Suddenly, Daryl's voice came from the side: "Are you two in a relationship? Now that's a big surprise—I win!"

After winning the last round, Daryl took the candies and walked toward the back of the modified RV. His motorcycle was hanging on the rear of the truck, and he originally planned to get some rest now.

Jason, on the other hand, continued thinking about how long it would take to deal with the people from Terminus. After all, he wasn't sure if they had already turned to cannibalism—but he had no intention of ignoring that group!

However, considering that Terminus might not yet have become a cannibal settlement, Jason now wanted to clear out the enemies around the prison and throughout Georgia. He didn't want any surprises later on and hoped things could develop quietly.

As for the others, Jason knew he had to wait a bit longer before finding them and determining whether they would be a threat to his plans. In this case, the best move was to continue exploring while the bases kept developing, then return and focus on Terminus before deciding whether to meet up with Abraham and the others. That way, he could make the most of his time and might even gather a powerful community ahead of schedule.

The next step, already underway, was to expand the base, then head to military bases to gather resources. Jason knew that even if he wasn't present, the base would continue to grow without any problems.

Thinking about what was to come, Jason finally lifted his head from his notebook, looked at the people still playing the board game, and then spoke:

"Listen up—I've carefully considered our next moves!"

Upon hearing Jason's words, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to look at him.

Jason stood up and pointed to a real-time updated map of the S.C.T. community's territory. There were question marks on some areas with important notes. "Do you remember those elderly folks we took in? The ones you cared for, Bob?"

Seeing everyone nod, Jason pointed to a spot on the map and said, "That elderly couple told me about a place located here. They said there was a shelter called Alexandria, established by a former official, and it's home to a large number of survivors."

"They mentioned that it was being built in a gated residential area. If we go there, it's likely we'll find survivors and valuable information. I suggest it's important to go to that location and gather intel. If we can make contact with that community, it would be easy to set up a support point from there and explore the surroundings."

Michonne asked with some hesitation, "Why go to Virginia first? Shouldn't we fully scout Georgia first?"

Jason shook his head at her words and replied, "Atlanta is in the hands of Sam, Shane, and Rick. They're more than capable of taking control of the city without much trouble. We'll move forward slowly, and it's only a matter of time before the city belongs to our community."

"We have other tasks. We need to look for shelters we can support in exchange for their allegiance to our community. And we also need to find Noah's shelter. After that, we'll travel to different places."