It was the afternoon of the third day since his departure, and Sasuke had just finished emptying the Home Depot of its every last screw.
He looked up and whistled, lifting his hand by the side.
Seconds later a whooshing sound came from overhead as a flying animal cut through the sky, diving toward him at impressive speed before using its talons to anchor itself on his forearm.
Sasuke had found a good recording device and modified it to be strapped around its midsection; the falcon would take to the sky, and the device would keep record of the places.
And Sasuke would review them later at his own pace.
Because he discovered that sharing the vision while out wasn't always the best thing to do.
"Welcome back." Sasuke caressed the greyish falcon's head, unsealed a piece of raw meat, and tossed it up, assisting the falcon with a powerful arm swing to take off again with its prize for helping him find this place.
Its next destination is the prison, to watch over Daryl's current mission.
If time permits it, Sasuke figured he had to forge long, sharp claws from steel to work as weapons instead of its natural talons, at least until the falcon is strong enough to not need them.
Now finally, after three days of work straight without even a full 5 hours of accumulated sleep, Sasuke reached his goal to loot the necessary equipment to build a shelter and have enough resources to last them a very long time.
Though that amount would be unknown by most others, he feared them becoming lazy and reckless if they knew the real stock.
For now, he will share the necessary amount to keep them steady and comfortable in this world. Without indulgence.
101, he sighed at finally regaining his bloodline limit.
The Sharingan.
It felt as if a part of him was missing until this point.
The contract did siphon 10 threads permanently, plummeting his 92 threads back to 82 last night after he caught the falcon. But with all the mess he went through, it finally broke through the 100 milestone now, improving its quality and unlocking his Sharingan.
Sasuke, whose clothes were smeared and who was standing amidst an empty field littered with parts of bodies and dead walkers, swept a hand through his hair pushing it back.
His eyes' irises, which were black since he came to this world, suddenly changed into glowing red, with one black shape like an additional pupil swirling through it, rotating lazily around the center pupil.
The world around Sasuke shifted; it became much clearer, time seemed to slow around him, the leaves danced in slow motion whenever he wanted them to, his range of vision improved four times more than usual, and most importantly, there was an aura...
Something akin to black miasma seeping out from the bodies around, it looked...evil.
'It's faint and disappearing already. Is it because I had just recently killed them? Would it work on humans? The infected? ' He analyzed the aura closely, even trying to feel it, but it burned, literally to nothingness when it came into contact with his skin.
As if a flock of snow were meeting searing fire.
"Sharingan consumes chakra...but why is mine still unchanged?" That matter confused him even more.
100 threads sounds impressive, but in reality, it would be just the amount of chakra a civilian shinobi still in his last years of academy had.
Pitiful, enough for three D-rank jutsu maybe.
The lowest tier of C-rank if he pushed it all.
No way can that amount sustain his Sharingan, which has been activated for two minutes by now, and not even a drain of one thread has happened.
To make sure he wasn't wrong, Sasuke chose a jutsu that required a close amount of chakra that the Sharingan needed to be sustained for ten minutes.
His hands flashed through his seals; puffing his cheeks, he thought of the jutsu name, trying to activate it.
{Fire style: Great Fireball jutsu}
A flame tongue of almost two meters long escaped his lips, burning the air in front for two seconds, and then...nothing. It just dispersed as he felt the whole 101 threads being consumed, his sharingan deactivating along with it automatically.
The only use of what he did just now would be to light a damn fire pit or cause some heavy burns to someone close. Otherwise...an incomplete jutsu.
"Was I correct on my hypothesis? Is it because it's a part of me? A kekkai genkai (bloodline limit)?Is it kept activated by the original amount of chakra that is blocked?" There was one way to confirm it. Practice.
He waited around a minute to replenish his used chakra and activated his Sharingan again, glancing at a broken piece of a mirror on the ground and seeing the menacing view of his red eyes.
Sasuke thought for a second and retrieved black glasses, donning them to hide the unnatural glowness in his eyes, then walked to the road, unsealed his sports bike, and got into it, then drove in the way leading to Newnan County.
======
Back in the Greene family's farm, Daryl finished loading the last sack of crop with William and Jim's help.
The people around glared at him as if trying to burn him by sheer hatred.
'It's not even theirs, fucking sick parasites.' Daryl scoffed, seeing the looks.
The place here was 10 times messier than when they left.
From what he got yesterday, Hershel had left for the town alone to drown himself in liquor after Sasuke forced him to play the game on his terms.
It didn't even end there; Rick went with Glenn to bring him back home, just for them to be ambushed by some people at the bar, resulting in a skirmish at night in that place, which they got out from unscathed, bringing with them a young man whose leg was pierced through due to him falling atop a sharp metal piece.
What Daryl didn't know is that the young man and his group had actually attacked Rick, Hershel, and Glenn.
And amidst all that mess, seeing how Rick still didn't come back after going for Hershel for three hours.
Lori, who became worried, asked T-Dog to go look for him, which he refused, as he was in no condition to do so; his arm still hadn't fully healed back. She then asked another man and got the same objection.
The next thing everyone came to know when they were having dinner was that Lori had disappeared without telling anyone.
She took the keys of a car and went after Rick, alone.
Just for her to flip the car on an empty road due to her being distracted by the map on the passenger seat and panicking at seeing a walker in front of the car when she looked up and...fumbling with the wheel, resulting in the car flipping.
But in the end, she wasn't harmed that much, and Shane found her that night, bringing her back here.
Currently, Rick was discussing something with Hershel and Shane inside the house after Daryl said he was here to get the job done and leave, leaving no chance for them to... convince him to do something about the matter.
"What if we kept him hostage or something? No need to give them all those things, and that kid is just one; we can have someone watch. Make Daryl call him over. And snipe him from the RV; all things would be good then. We get the doctor back, other fighters, their Humvees and guns, and keep our food," one man whispered to another older one beside him.
They were outside sitting some place away from the trucks that were being loaded, it pained him seeing those people taking two trucks' worth of their food with just 6 bottles of serums that won't benefit anyone here.
They weren't even sure if that thing about airborne infection or the serum is real.
Who knows if what was traded is even the real cure? That Asian boy could've given them piss, and it's worth nothing.
Taking all those things practically for free.
"I heard he deflected a bullet, that sword kid. Sniping him may be ineffective."
"Tsk, how old are you? 5? You think he is some hero or something? They just used to spout anything glorifying when it came to him, like he was some fucking idol."
"But the bulletproof glass? You forgot what happened back then? And they said he killed the whole horde on the highway."
"It's that sword; it may be forged from something special. We can even take it too; maybe he stole it from the military or some secret place."
"I don't know, man; no one would agree to that plan anyway. You will be just under the radar if you suggest it."
"Then we do it ourse—" His brave words caught in his throat seeing Daryl glancing directly at their way. His eyes not leaving theirs.
Unbeknownst to both, a bird was perched right above the tree they were standing below. Its eyes locked on them with human awareness to them. And the device on its chest is blinking red.
"Thanks for that; I will deal with it accordingly." Daryl tapped at the earpiece, finishing the call with Sasuke.
Just now he got to know what the two men some distance away were planning, and he didn't like it.
Using him as a hostage? To lure Sasuke and kill him? Even thinking they would play that low by not trading the right cure?. Then why the heck did Jenner bother with sending the equipment and a way to verify it?
Something he said that Hershel would have understood, and the old man did.
And that's why he accepted the damn trade and retreated to his house with no more bullshit, even though he was the one most averse to Sasuke.
He was a breath away from taking his crossbow and ending the two idiots right there, but he calmed himself and told Jim and William to stay close.
If those people were already discussing shit like that concerning them...who had protected them just a week ago from all that shit out there?
He didn't need to imagine what was going to be happening next if things took a bad turn.
Daryl glanced sideways, seeing someone walking toward him, and frowned, already expecting the shit she is about to ask from miles away.
'As if those two morons aren't already enough,' he started regretting coming here.
Next time should be Morgan's turn, if there was any...
"I want to talk to him."
"Who is him?"
"Sasuke"
"I will tell him that when we are back at the prison."
"No, now."
"Alright." Daryl sighed in annoyance, switched to CB, activated the call, briefed Sasuke about who will be speaking to him, and tossed it to her.
"Just go speak somewhere else," he told her, not wanting to be a part of the coming dramatic discussion, that shit wasn't for him.
Maggie just took the CB, ignored the scoffy guy, and walked away hearing Sasuke inquiring what she wants.
"~zzz~ I need to meet you. ~zzz~"
{~zzz~ For what? ~zzz~}
"~zzz~ Why are you doing this? Is it your way to have revenge? We never harmed you. ~zzz~"
{~zzz~ And so do I, Maggie. I never harmed you; this is merely a trade. ~zzz~}
"~zzz~ A trade that took half of our supplies. ~zzz~"
{~zzz~ I won't go on and on about the price of the thing you received; if you are smart, you will understand what I'm about to say next. So listen and don't interrupt me if possible; I'm busy right now. ~zzz~}
Maggie felt a vein pop in her forehead about that "^if you are smart^" part.
She knew how Sasuke's look toward her had changed since the night he asked her about the barn.
{~zzz~ Consider you or one of the other five. Beth, Hershel, Otis, Jimmy, or Patricia. The ones without the cure.
One of them goes for a walk or went to relieve themself at night and unfortunately slipped on the stairs, head first, dead.
I'm not cursing anyone, so don't start throwing jabs here; just simulate that.
If not a slip, then a similar dangerous fall from the horse, a bad fever at night, or drowning in some place, maybe a heart attack, or... someone simply burying a knife into your chest at night.
You know what happens next? You turn.
As simple as that, every kind of death that isn't resulting in your brain being destroyed...will make you turn to one of them just the same way a bite from them does.
So back to the first example, the fall from stairs, everyone asleep, no one heard, that person turns after some time and walks around, and if your luck is good, you spot it; otherwise, someone or multiple will be the victim...who? How? That's up to fate.
And you guys are just a handful; you could ignore it altogether and give back the cure if you are sure you can prevent those accidents. I'm not forcing you guys to trade with me.
Now you think the groups surviving, reaching hundreds maybe, would find my price...unfair, as you are calling it? Revengeful?.
If I wanted revenge, I have dozens of other clean ways. I'm not in dire need of the pitiful amount of resources you guys have; I just hate being cheated on or played with.
Are we done here?. ~zzz~}
She didn't speak, Maggie turned and smashed the CB at the ground, stomped it for good measure, cursed with a heavy "fuck your price," and huffed, walking back to her house.
'Fucking arrogant cold son of a bitch, just say you are getting payback directly.'
'Glad I told her to flop away,' Daryl smirked, seeing the young lady storming away, practically fuming from whatever shit Sasuke said, and clapped his hands clean, ready to leave this freakish parasite nest.
"Go bring a new CB, this shit ain't falling from trees!" he called to her seeing how she flopped him the universal sign of the middle finger.
=====
A/N: Guys... I'm not hating on Maggie or anything, nor I am changing her personality, but the Maggie in her first...scenes. She was fiery and loyal to her family.
So yeah, of course she won't just smile, thanking Sasuke for what he did, according to her. It's unfair for her family; to her, he was the one who chose to leave. Thus the reactions of anger and frustration.
(That loyalty part is, of course, before forgiving Negan after what he did to her husband, which I can't understand why. And partially why my personal opinion of her isn't that great either... I didn't reach that part but saw scenes of her with him. So if someone can comment on the brief of why she forgave his actions, that would be great.)
But hey, I'm always happy to hear your opinion; if a character is acting way out of their template...do tell me so I can see what I need to change. (other than MC, as he isn't the real Sasuke, so please no one force me to make him the block of ice that Sasuke was)
Thanks for the awesome support.
And have a good day.