"Damn it!"
Seeing the blood and the bullets flying at high speed toward his vehicle, Martínez was so shocked that he instinctively turned the steering wheel to avoid the shrapnel piercing his car. With the roar of the engine, the speed increased and Martínez drove down the roadside slope.
The people in the cars behind him were also startled, slamming on the brakes. Those in the vehicle directly behind were instantly thrown forward due to the heavy impact and inertia, inevitably crashing into Martínez's car ahead.
Martínez's car, which had just been hit from behind, immediately slowed down to regain control and avoid veering off the road.
However, the people in the cars behind were in a far worse situation. They didn't have time to slow down or react to the bullets piercing through their windows—many died instantly.
Martínez's vehicle sped toward the edge of the roadside and flipped over in an instant. After rolling multiple times on the ground, the entire structure of the vehicle was overturned!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets struck the first car in front of the SUV driven by Merle, instantly killing the remaining survivors. The driver, unable to control the vehicle, swerved to the side and flipped over as well.
In the overturned car ahead, except for Martínez—who was wearing a seatbelt and left hanging upside down in the driver's seat—everyone else was crumpled inside the vehicle in various awkward positions, and some were even ejected through the windows.
Martínez felt his consciousness gradually fade. He vaguely saw some people being thrown out the window beside him and then passed out, unable to do anything.
Merle slowly drove up to the overturned vehicles. With one glance, Jason could see that the condition of the people in the second car was better than those in the first. Without saying a word, he stepped out of the car.
Jason admitted to himself that he could've done things differently, but he didn't want the people of Woodbury to see how cruelly these people—who had once been part of their group—were being treated. Thinking about the future and what was best for his people, he considered this the best decision he could make.
After getting out of the SUV, several people exited and scanned the surroundings. Shane and Merle wasted no time heading to one of the overturned vehicles to make sure no one had survived, while Jason and Michonne cautiously approached the car Martínez had been in.
When Jason and Michonne arrived, they found that, except for Martínez, everyone else had died. Jason, not wanting any surprises, pulled out his silenced pistol and shot each person in the head—except for Martínez.
When he saw Michonne's expression, Jason didn't hesitate. He dragged Martínez out and threw him in front of her.
"He's all yours, Michonne," Jason said, pointing at the unconscious Martínez.
Nodding in gratitude, Michonne reached for the hilt of her sword behind her. With a metallic sound, the blade paused at Martínez's chest.
Michonne wore a complicated expression. She stared at the bastard who had killed Janet—this face had haunted her dreams almost every night since arriving at the prison.
Although she was fully aware that the man before her had killed countless people, her sword still hesitated in the air.
Jason, seeing Michonne's trembling body, understood the inner struggle she was going through. After a brief silence, he reached out and gripped the hilt of her sword. "I'm with you this time. There's no turning back once your sword is soaked in his blood."
Without further delay, Jason helped push the hilt while Michonne held it tightly as well. With one strong, swift thrust, the sword pierced Martínez's heart.
Not far away, Daryl was on guard, watching the surroundings. During that time, he had taken out two walkers drawn by the sound of the crash. He glanced at the group and reminded them to hurry up.
Michonne stood silently in front of Martínez's now lifeless body, staring at his face. After a long moment, as if finally releasing the burden in her heart, she spat on Martínez's corpse and then walked toward the nearby car.
As Jason watched her pass by, he quietly heard her say thank you.
Bang!
A bullet pierced Martínez's head to prevent him from turning into a walker.
After eliminating the enemies, Jason's group returned to the prison.
…
The next day, all of the people from Woodbury had settled into the prison. The busiest person that day was Nara, who had to assess each and every one of them.
In total, there were about ninety people in the group, including those who had chosen to stay. After eating, they got settled in, and the only instructions were to slowly get used to life inside the facility.
Now that the major issue of the Governor had been resolved, Jason finally had a bit of free time. Over the next few days, he barely left the main entrance and immersed himself in a sea of knowledge.
There were many documents on his desk at the time, and beside him, Tyler was helping to organize them all.
Ever since he had returned, every time Jason had some free time, he would lay down at his desk and write quickly—sometimes even sketching.
Aside from the leadership, not many knew that Jason was working overtime every night, and even fewer knew what he was working on.
The busy days before had left him no time to finish the last pages of information. Now that he finally had some peace, he began returning to his previous plans.
Tyler took one of the reports Jason had written and reviewed it slowly. On the cover of the booklet were titles like "How to Face a Horde of Walkers Outside the Base" and "What to Do to Escape from Walkers and Their Types."
Indeed, Jason had poured all of his knowledge about walkers and how lethal they could be into these documents—wisdom he had been collecting from his mind.
This would serve to properly train his people and ensure continuous growth within the prison, which was essential to continue expanding the community's power.
Rubbing his dry eyes, Jason closed them. But suddenly, he heard Tyler's voice: "Is it true there's a shelter in Atlanta with more than a thousand people?"
"That's right..." Jason replied slowly, then asked, "Don't you receive reports from that shelter daily? Is there anything new I should know, Tyler?"
"No, just that much of the city was destroyed during the early days of the apocalypse, so it's hard to find suitable locations to settle and keep sealing off the streets. As you said, they're being discreet and cautious with all refugees entering the prison."
Hearing Tyler's words, Jason silently reflected. He knew that the more people in a shelter, the higher the risk of an internal outbreak. He was aware that most shelters and communities fell due to this issue and also due to the problem of intelligent infected. That's why he had already prepared a containment operation to deal with these problems. All that was left was to wait for the expected results.
"Are you planning to leave the prison?" Tyler asked suddenly.
"Well, this place is now on the right track. Most survivors from the surrounding area have already come here. I plan to head out and find other gathering points to lay the foundation for our community's future growth."
Tyler nodded slightly and said nothing more.
Hearing the silence, Jason opened his eyes and asked with a smile, "Don't tell me you want to go out on an expedition?"
Tyler simply smiled and said, "Not at all. You know I'm no good at taking out walkers."
"Hahaha…"
The next day, in the prison's general meeting room.
All the leaders in charge gathered once again. Jason sat at the table in the center of the room with a massive stack of reports and files.
Many had a vague idea of why Jason had called this meeting, but they quickly found seats and waited.
Jason didn't waste time and got straight to the point: "There are two important reasons why you were all gathered today, and they both have to do with our future. The first is these reports on the table."
After saying that, he picked up one of the files next to him. Everyone's eyes focused on the documents as they listened to his explanation.
"You can all read some of these files first. I'll speak once you have the information in hand."
Later, he signaled to Nara, who was also participating in this meeting since she had been one of the key people responsible for making all of this possible. These files didn't just contain information about the people in the prison and their abilities according to their evaluations.
Now that Jason had two secure shelters, he needed things to run as smoothly here as they did in Atlanta so he wouldn't have to worry about issues like this anymore.
In addition to the reports, there were books that covered weapon manufacturing, ammunition, machinery operation, and mechanics.
Ultimately, when it came to weapon production, the most important aspect was making bullets and ammunition. After all, the more bullets you use today and tomorrow, the fewer casualties you'll suffer in the days to come.
Therefore, if he wanted to establish his own weapons production facility here, he needed to assign the right people with the right knowledge and have them handle the production of all essentials in the prison. Jason was confident the Atlanta base would manage its own weapons and ammunition production.