The Wolves

"W?"

The group next to Jason looked at Ravi with somewhat confused expressions; some didn't quite understand what he meant.

Ravi nodded as he noticed the others' doubts. He gestured toward his forehead and explained, "Right here, the letter W was carved as if made with a knife. When we found our missing companions, all of them had that mark on their foreheads and appeared to have been badly beaten before they even died. What we all assumed was that they had been ambushed by bandits—a vicious group attacked them. Fortunately, one of the attackers died as well."

Upon hearing this, Michonne couldn't help but ask, "You said someone outside the group died. How could your people manage that without being able to escape?"

Hearing her question, Ravi shook his head and pointed out, "We don't have many weapons, and of the few we do, only one person in the scavenging group goes out armed. I suppose the person carrying the gun resisted and managed to kill one of the attackers."

After Ravi finished speaking, everyone fell silent. They had no idea who these mysterious people belonged to or how many there were, which stirred unease.

"A signature..." Daryl muttered hoarsely.

"A signature?" Glenn asked, puzzled.

"If all the corpses and walkers have a W carved on their foreheads, it means they mark both their enemies and their own," Daryl concluded after thinking it over.

"Well, running into that bunch of lunatics these days is never a good sign..." Jason wasn't surprised by the details. It was obvious who was behind the W marks on the victims.

Yes, the infamous group known as The Wolves! A wild band of killers who had completely lost their humanity. They were known for slaughtering anyone they encountered, and their motto was "Wolves Not Far." They were the ones who had destroyed this very shelter.

It was known that they attacked anyone in their path. They believed the first humans descended from wolves. The members of this group interpreted the rise of the undead as a sign that the world was returning to its natural state.

Much later on, they would be the ones to attack the Alexandria safe zone, where many died—including themselves. And long before that, they were the ones who destroyed the very shelter they were standing in now. This could be seen in the original story, where their marks were visible.

And when they fled from this community after Tyreese was bitten, they came across a walker with a W on its forehead, which made it obvious who had ravaged Noah's shelter.

As for the timing of the attack, Jason didn't know much about it. Right now, the weather was turning cold, and walkers would freeze and become harmless outside. So Jason wasn't certain. One thing was clear: now that they had made contact with that group, the Wolves could appear at any moment. This place was now dangerous.

Although Jason wanted to take down the Wolves immediately, they had no fixed location, making them hard to track. The best idea he had was to leave this place with the current residents.

But there was a small detail to consider—Jason didn't yet know what these people thought, so it was better to find out before speaking further. One thing was certain: if the Wolves attacked this shelter, everyone would die.

With that in mind, Jason knew he couldn't waste time. After making eye contact with Daryl, they reached an agreement. Jason ordered Merle to drive the vehicles into the shelter.

The modified RV slowly entered the settlement. In this way, they could better secure the place and stop leaving their people exposed outside. During those days, they had also found a caravan in good condition and a bus-type truck where they could store a much larger amount of supplies after removing the rear seats.

Once Jason took care of the security issue, Noah finally brought his brothers and mother to the square, where they met up with Ravi.

"Hello, Mr. Jason! I'm Noah's mother. Thank you for taking the trouble to save my son and bring him to this place," Noah's mother said with tearful eyes. It was clear that the family reunion had been incredible.

Noah's mother hugged Jason and expressed their gratitude. The younger children, Noah's little brothers, watched from a distance. Then one asked, "Jason, how many people will stay behind to guard this place tonight?"

After seeing the armed individuals walking around the shelter, Ravi Kapoor couldn't help but ask with a doubtful expression. When Jason turned, he replied casually, "My people and I will split into two groups. We'll take turns providing security in two shifts."

"That many?" Ravi was a bit surprised.

"That many?"

When Jason heard the question, he was taken aback. No wonder this place had been destroyed. From what he'd seen, it was neither stronger nor weaker than Alexandria, but these people couldn't withstand a Wolf attack, so he said, "Some points of this place need repair. I want the braziers filled with wood and lit to stay warm throughout the night."

Ravi and Noah's family smiled slightly, thinking this soldier was overly cautious. They had lived here for a long time with no more than two guards at a time. They'd never had a problem before, but Jason only cared about everyone's safety. Out of respect, no one questioned his decisions.

Once the security was set up, Jason's group began preparing dinner. Jason had initially planned to use this place as a base of operations, but the Wolves were a real problem to consider. The next step was to speak with Ravi Kapoor about evacuation and try to do it as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary losses.

That night, the security team organized by Jason was already in position, patrolling the community. After discussing it with Daryl, everyone understood the huge risk this place was facing, so they were well-prepared.

At that very moment, Ravi called the remaining survivors to gather at the small church in the community. After speaking with Jason, he intended to discuss a few things with the entire shelter.

As he looked at all the familiar faces gathered together, Ravi sighed, emotions heavy in his chest. He loved this place as much as everyone else did, and if it weren't for the current situation, he wouldn't have brought this up.

But now he knew they had a better opportunity—a safer and more stable future alongside the people who had arrived with Noah.

"There's something important I need to tell you all. I believe everyone is aware that since the last group didn't return, our food supplies have been rapidly depleting. In just a few more days, we'll run out. Our best scavengers are gone, and as of now, we only have enough food for three to four more days."

When everyone heard that, they weren't surprised at all; they knew it well and didn't need Ravi Kapoor to tell them. A man stood up and said, "Ravi, we all live together and already know that. We know that's not why you called this meeting so urgently. If I'm not mistaken, this must be about the group that just arrived, right?"

Ravi nodded without denying it. He didn't want to lie to anyone, so since it had been brought up, he spoke directly: "You're right, my friend. Everyone should know that Noah was rescued and cared for by those soldiers until he made it back home. He and I can both vouch that they're not bad people. So they offered us a chance—to follow them to another, much bigger and safer settlement. If we let this chance slip away, there might not be another. What do you all think?"

After Ravi finished speaking, people began to murmur. More than a dozen had their own ideas. With the group gathered, no one could convince the others that their opinion was the right one.

Ravi moved into the crowd and listened. After a while, many opinions emerged, each different from the others. One opinion was that Noah was too young to judge people and couldn't be trusted to vouch for the military.

Others believed that leaving with them was the right move; this group didn't seem bad.

A third group didn't want to leave at all. There were very few with that mindset, but they were extremely firm in their stance.

Seeing the deadlock, Ravi had no choice but to stop everyone and reassess the situation.

"Listen to me. I've spoken with Jason, and I heard they have a large shelter in Atlanta. Of course, I agree with following them, but that's just my personal view. Secondly, consider that they're armed and experienced soldiers. Their large shelters house thousands of people."

"If they have such a large shelter, why aren't they there?"

"Yeah, that doesn't add up."

"Something's fishy."

Ravi looked at the crowd and realized he was losing control. Just as he was about to calm things down, a loud knock came from the church door.