The next morning:
"Why are you doing this!! Who are you people?!"
"Release them, you fucking asshole; we took you in."
"Ungrateful, you don't deserve what we gave you, you animal..."
Billy stood there, keeping a blank face, in all honesty? He didn't give two fucks what they were shouting, but he was concerned seeing Martha aside with her daughter gripping her hands.
*CLAP*
A sudden loud sound shattered the chorus, and people stared in surprise at the young man; that clap was louder than a car crash.
"Before you regret your words, and I mean by this the guilt after you know the truth, give us a chance to explain ourselves, alright?" Sasuke spoke to the people gathering in front of them.
The governor, Martinez, and two other men were bound under his feet, kneeling and gagged, looking in fear. Only they know what happened and how traumatizing the events that led to this were.
Sasuke didn't waste time, nor did he choose to play the puppeteer; those were merely 40 people, normal people, and only the bitter truth will solve this in one strike.
"Thank you, my friend here. His real name is Billy Butcher. Like I said, we have our reasons for all of this, and if you give me the chance now, I'll take some time to explain everything."
"Go on!! Say why you are doing this to our governor; we never harmed you," a young man shouted at him. Many here attacked at first when they saw him dragging their people here to the road but were all ^deflected^ literally, in a harmless way by that single man with the sword.
"Alright, first, my name is Uchiha Sasuke. We have no enmity with you, but approximately two weeks ago, when I and my people were traveling in search of a shelter, something happened that led to me being separated from them.
5 men attacked me, and yes, they are from here.
Now you would say you would never do that, maybe, but this man, he isn't what you think he is.
And I know mere words won't be believable, this..." He showed them a small bottle filled with pills.
"This is known as the honesty pill, something developed in our base. Whoever consumes it won't be able to lie when asked. But I need a volunteer from you, someone I don't know anything about, nor does he or she. I can promise it's not harmful, and I won't ask any sensitive questions, the volunteer need to try and lie to all my questions. Just something to show you people the effect of the pills."
They hesitated, and Billy widened his eyes, seeing a lady holding her hand up, stepping forward, and looking him in the eye.
"Mia?"
"I need to know that you won't harm my mother. I'll be your volunteer if you promise you will give me one of the pills, and you, Billy, will consume it and answer one, just one, of my questions."
It had been a long time since Mia saw her mother smiling that way to a man, enjoying herself, even before the outbreak, so she wanted to be sure Billy isn't messing with her mother's emotions and he really is genuinely thinking of them as family. Or his soon to be family.
Sasuke looked over to Billy, already knowing who this girl and her mother are, while Billy looked over to Martha, who nodded her head.
"Alright, I swear I won't ask anything you wouldn't like, but every question I ask, try your best to lie" she nodded, taking the pill. Sasuke waited a few moments, and Martha moved forward to inspect her daughter, who appeared normal, minus her eyes that seemed unfocused, and Sasuke reassured her that it will take only ten minutes for her to go back to normal.
"What is your name?"
"Mia Blackwell" even when all people heard Sasuke telling her to lie, and Mia seemed to agree, they watched as the girl herself answered with the truth, looking to be in a weird trance.
"What is your age?"
"28"
"What is your favorite place here?"
"The library," she answered again.
"How many times did you have a nature call today?" Billy rubbed his forehead hearing that.
'C'mon, boy, is that the best you can do?'
"2"
"Don't look at me like that. I don't know what may be evident enough that we aren't together in this, and at the same time something that isn't sensitive. Since you seem speechless, go on, you ask her." Sasuke stepped back; he didn't want to be asking those things either.
"Who is the most lovable person here?"
"Meera," Mia pointed at a little girl held by her mother nearby.
Sasuke, seeing that Billy wasn't doing any better, turned to Martha.
"Ma'am, would it be okay to ask your daughter something you may be the only one who knows? Nothing sensitive."
"You can ask her about the color of her eyes." Many people got confused by that; Sasuke focused on Mia's eyes, and it clicked to him.
"Mia, what is your eyes' true color?"
"Blue"
"They look...Hazel."
"I'm wearing contact lenses." She retracted them, showing her irises' true color, blue, like her mother.
And no one here knew about it, so that at least somehow confirmed the effect of the pill.
"Alright, that's enough, see? It doesn't harm but would make others answer truthfully." Sasuke ungagged the governor and shoved a pill into his mouth, forcing him to eat it.
Ten seconds later the governor entered the same state Mia was in.
...
"How many people have you killed after the breakout?"
"14"
"Detail each case and why you did it."
"2 men who were holing up in a police station and refused to let us in; we took over that station and brought the few guns back.
5 who were in the pharmacy; they seemed dangerous to bring back at that time, and we were in need of medicines only.
3. Simon and his brothers—"at that a woman had her eyes widening, and several others near here too.
She couldn't believe it; the governor said that her brothers went down while trying to protect them from a horde, sacrificing themselves to make a way out for them. She even...slept with him that night after he comforted her.
"You!!" She charged, but Billy stopped her, telling her she will have her revenge after all things are over.
"Keep going, why?"
"I heard they were discussing taking some guns sneakily and stashing them away. I won't tolerate such intentions, and they weren't of much use anyway; they consumed many times what they worked for. Can't make hard decisions and would've eventually compromised my plans."
"Go on, the other 4."
"A rich family I found in a small villa near here; they had an armored car and supplies. I didn't like the way the father and mother ordered me to help them, so I put everyone there down, and we had their supplies."
"Why were you decisive in killing people out there but working hard for those here? You kept those here safe? Why?" Even Sasuke was curious about that.
"Because many here were with me since the beginning, and I discovered after all this that human resources would be necessary, so I started recruiting those I can control and use. The admiration was one thing I liked receiving from them; I found that I can do way more than just surviving. Every great man—" and Sasuke gagged him again, uninterested in his motivational speech.
"And that's it. Like I said before, what I'm about to do, no one of you can change it, but I wanted you to witness what kind of person you were following. If his men didn't attack me, I wouldn't have known about him, and you can imagine what he will have done as time went by. Is there anyone here who wants to say something?"
"Who are you?"
"May I interpret that as you asking to know more about me and my situation?"
The man nodded at Sasuke. Till now, all they got was his name. He talked about having a group previously, something many were surprised to hear, as they thought the outside wouldn't be safe for many people to survive, at least that's what they got from the governor.
"Like I said, I am Sasuke Uchiha. This here is my friend Billy Butcher. We met some weeks ago, found some people, and helped each other. After some unfortunate occasions, we found a place. My group is just like you; we have women, kids, and old people. We made a safe place and are working to have a better future. I hope that answers your question."
"What do you want from us?"
"Nothing, I'm here just to deliver my statement and promise over his actions toward me and my people." Sasuke pointed at the governor and continued...
"The real question is...what do you...intend to do from here now? I am aware that by my actions, I'm harming your interest, as those guys here, no matter how shitty they were, were your defense line.
Thus, I can offer you two choices. Like I said, I have a group, but in mine, people are disciplined, and they work together, all of them, so if you want, I can help you join us. Food and safety are guaranteed; I can promise you that.
The other option is I let you be, give you more guns and weapons to protect yourselves better, and even food, but what happens later and how you live is up to you."
"We want to stay; this is our home."
"We will come with you, but you will help us come back if we don't like it there."
"And we want to be in touch with those who stay."
Many voiced their thoughts.
And he expected this; some people, old people, wanted to stay; others...saw the opportunity in what Sasuke said.
Many of them have the courage and wanted to help but were kept in here by the governor. Now this guy told them they can work, fight, and protect their families themselves, without relying on others...they decided to give it a go. They were few but the best he can have from a place like this.
"Of course, I'll give you CB to have communication with everyone here. I will leave in the morning, at 7 am. Those of you who want to come with me, be here with your luggage. Don't worry about the transportation vehicle; I'll take care of that."
"What do you intend to do with them?" The woman from before pointed at the terrified governor and his three men.
"Your brothers were killed by him? Or more likely those three. You can have your revenge, but I need him for something, Billy. Go talk to her. Don't worry; I'll take care of things here."
"Oh, and people!" Sasuke called for them.
"My friend deserves an apology. You didn't forget what you called him, did you?" He fought hard to keep his Sharingan under control, not forgetting the one who called Billy...an animal.
After all, he was an Uchiha, and they took every insult seriously, especially those thrown at their own people.
Billy chuckled hearing that.
'Even I dropped the matter, but that's Sasuke for you.' He nodded at the old man who came to offer his apology and shook his hand. Then followed Martha to her house, intending to have her and Mia leave with them in the morning.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was lost in thoughts; he could have simply showed them a tape about their place, how safe it is, and the interior and all, but his shinobi mindset made him decide on not doing it.
As in the end, that was info, valuable info, and unneeded for them to know now.
He looked down at Merle, or the basic clone posing as Merle, and felt a headache coming.
'He better wear that thing, or I will make it a part of his face.' Sasuke thought of the deal he had with Merle: he will keep the mask he had given him, wearing it on his face all the time with the uniform, and he will use the voice modifier to talk. Otherwise, he will sew those on his fucking skin.
This, after all, is the only possible way to move forward with having Merle alive and around.