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🕑 Added 2025-05-18 07:47:06 +0000 UTCA New Beginning From the End of the World
Chapter 135 – A New Foothold
Placing down a report Shane had written and sent through the captain of squad A-1, Jason nodded to indicate he was aware of it. After a moment of silence, he addressed what needed to be done with the people in this place: “Captain, the civilians here will have to be sent back to the base along with the police officers who are currently prisoners.”
“What should we do with the police, sir?” The captain asked with a somewhat intense gaze. After the lesson Shane had given them, he knew that everyone in this place was considered an enemy until they passed the required tests.
“Well, let me think...” Hearing the captain’s question, Jason pondered for a moment and then said, “We expect that gathering information on what was going on here will take a while, but some people are flagged as red profile.”
The police officers would be sent to the training program. All of them would have to graduate from that program before hoping to return to a normal life. They were all survivors—some had taken advantage of the situation, but they needed to be in condition to follow orders.
Jason didn’t need frightened police officers, fearful survivors, or people pretending to know how to use weapons. What he needed were soldiers—warriors prepared to face any difficult situation the new world might throw at them.
“They’ll be sent to the training program?” the captain asked, wanting to be fully informed before taking action.
Upon hearing the captain’s words, Jason raised his hand to check the time and realized it was the perfect moment to begin implementing the next plans.
He was about to give instructions to the squad captain when an enraged shout came from the room where the police officers were being held: “I knew it! They’re going to kill us. It was stupid to lower our weapons.”
“Be quiet. They’re military, and we had no chance of resisting. No one wants to keep living in this fake bubble. We all need to move on and accept that we’re no longer in control.”
“Shut up, bitch! You joined them, and you’re still handcuffed!”
“Stop arguing!” Lamson spoke up then, trying to end the argument.
The noisy dispute caused everyone to fall silent and look toward the source of the commotion. Jason frowned and then looked over at Merle, who was at a distance, signaling for him to handle it.
Merle grinned and walked into the room. After closing the door, he shouted in a hoarse voice, and soon after, all the arguing ceased. Jason sighed with fatigue—this scene was truly irritating.
“Alright, pay no attention to that noise. My buddy Merle is just giving one of the officers a massage to help loosen up their muscles!”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Jason. Daryl even shook his head upon hearing what his brother was supposedly doing in that room, then Jason turned back to the captain of squad A-1 to continue explaining what needed to be done.
“Alright, let’s continue,” Jason said, diverting his gaze. “The police officers will be sent to the training program after the evaluations. Merle has the list of officers. On another note, we need to focus on thoroughly clearing out this hospital after properly sealing the surrounding area.”
“Are you planning to set up an outpost in this hospital?” the squad A-1 captain asked, clearly surprised by the commander’s plan. This was unexpected—he originally thought they were just going to evacuate the hospital, but from Jason’s words, he was planning to take over the area around it.
“Yes, this hospital is the largest in Georgia and could be very useful for the growth of our community. It has a lot of medical equipment, though it lacks security. We’ll have to clear the nearby buildings and seal off the area, gather the vehicles, and then thoroughly clean the streets to prevent infections.”
“Understood, sir! I, leader of squad A-1, will make sure your orders are carried out. We have one hundred and five personnel ready to provide the necessary support. I’ll contact central base to inform them of this new outpost. For now, we’ll fulfill the first orders and send the survivors to the nearest shelter.”
“Thank you for your efforts, captain...” After getting the answer he wanted, Jason expressed his gratitude again and then signaled to Daryl to join him. Even though it was still early, the next steps had to be handled.
...
Back in the modified RV, Jason no longer had to worry about the people at the hospital. First and foremost, the only reason he was there was because he didn’t want anything to go wrong. He could have easily ordered a special team to take over the hospital, but he wanted to gain experience and find special individuals.
At least in the original story, all of them were very important to his plans and the growth of his community. With the necessary tools and by placing those individuals as leaders in different places, he could develop strong settlements—like the one forming at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Shane, in short, was ahead of his time. Some may have considered him crazy, but that man was ready for anything in the first two seasons of the original drama. So now, what Jason had done was give him wings—entrusting him to protect a shelter on his own.
If he had left him with Rick, there could have been anomalies that hadn’t occurred yet, and besides, doing so would mean losing a good leader with enough skill to run a shelter independently.
After writing so much at once, Jason took a deep breath and rubbed his sore hands. All he could do now was think. If there were any omissions, he’d just have to wait until later to gradually add the anomalies along the way...
Like, for instance, leaving Atlanta. He could head to another state, but what he needed was fast transportation, so he’d have to go to a military base and hope to find many abandoned resources or desperate soldiers.
“Daryl, what do you think about the expansion of our community? A lot of people in the shelters admire you, but I still wonder if you’ll ever get a wife,” Jason said, setting the notebook of ideas aside and looking at Daryl, who was cleaning his crossbow.
“I don’t care, and I’m not looking for a wife...” Daryl replied, lifting his gaze.
“Well, I’m thinking of adopting a cat... A feline companion would be really comforting. Don’t you like cats?”
Jason didn’t care about Daryl’s few words; he just lay back on a long seat inside the RV and chatted without a care.
“If I ever find a cat, I’ll bring it so we can eat it,” Daryl said, glancing sideways at Jason.
“Hmm, cat meat tastes bad... Wait, I mean it tastes bad because it’s cat meat... I’ve never eaten cat meat!”
“Whatever,” Daryl said casually.
