Somewhere in Texas.
In a spacious room, numerous people with hidden faces were kneeling before the grail held by a man in a pristinely white suit.
Boom!
"Teddy, I can assure you that the resources obtained in that operation will be enough to offset the losses." A man was kneeling in front of a circle of candles, pleading almost desperately for what was about to happen.
An old man named Teddy had long gray hair and a thick beard that covered much of his face. He wore round glasses that gave him the appearance of a wise yet kind elder.
"It's curious that the Vultures, my garden dogs, can't handle a situation like this. And now the area where we move—especially where we have our resource transport routes—is flooded with walkers. You disappoint me, Ennis. You couldn't even handle a wounded soldier. What happened to more than thirty people?"
Teddy's hand slid across the table, and Ennis saw that a team from outside had entered the room. All the men inside greeted them.
While speaking, Teddy turned his head to look at his assistant beside him and said, "Derek, inform our dear Ennis of what happened."
"Yes."
The black man with a thick beard, whose name was Derek, nodded. In front of Ennis's cold but still composed eyes, he reported to Teddy, "Yesterday afternoon, the Vultures attacked a helicopter that was going down. The gunfire was intense, which alerted the walkers hiding in a building. It was strange, but that helicopter was military, and the only injured and weak man managed to kill most of the Vultures there. They were all eliminated either by the hail of bullets or by the walkers."
"I sent others to inspect the place where he disappeared for the last time. Despite the number of walkers, we managed to recover several things from the helicopter. I think you should see this. Most of them were military, and those who weren't wore this on their shoulder."
Derek reached into his bag and pulled out a handkerchief with the initials S.C.T... He handed it to Teddy for a closer look.
"It seems to belong to an organization like ours, maybe a group of army deserters or something else... But shooting them was a mistake. The man who fought the Vultures was fast and lethal. None of them could kill him, and I'm almost certain he escaped the horde of walkers."
Upon hearing the report, Teddy narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "It seems that these people wandering the wasteland shouldn't be underestimated. They seem like tough guys... Can we still find them?"
"It's hard to say if they're still alive. There's very little chance of knowing who it was."
Ennis shook his head and said nervously, "I'm sure it'll be difficult, and they may have disappeared. But my people will take care of it. We'll bring you their heads."
"Hmph, then they're very lucky."
Teddy frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the result, but still accepted it calmly and continued, "We've gathered many communities. We're getting closer and closer to complete cleansing, so I don't want any more surprises like the one just now."
"Soon we'll have the cleansing weapon. Everyone, no matter who they are, will die so that life can be reborn."
"A weapon that threatens life?"
Hearing this, Ennis couldn't help but be surprised and then replied in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, my dear Ennis... You've been a very bad dog, you know that? Right now I need your people to prepare a batch to offer to the cult. Many had to mobilize and die because of the out-of-control walkers."
Ennis was also confused by the order, but it came from Teddy, and he could only obey. "We'll have a batch ready for the cult, Teddy. I'll bring it on the next round."
Although the matter seemed inevitable, there was a lingering feeling of unease in Teddy's heart. However, he ignored it and approached Derek. "I want you to find them, even if you have to look under every stone. This handkerchief must belong to those people."
Derek nodded and said, "Alright, I'll get ready now."
After saying that, Derek left the room with his men without saying another word.
"Death. Destruction. Decay. What's happening isn't new. The world has been decaying since its creation. Everything is coming to an end... even us. Death is inevitable... but from this death, new life arises."
Upon hearing Teddy's words, everyone closed their eyes and repeated a specific prayer: "Death is inevitable, but from it, new life arises."
"Death is inevitable, but from it, new life arises."
"Death is inevitable, but from it, new life arises."
...
The place Jason chose to escape to was a good one; you could say it was the only option without a car to move around. Considering the walkers agitated by the recent disturbances, if they wanted to reach Alicia's community, it was the best path they could take.
The location of the subway station wasn't too far from the bridge, so they walked carefully along the way, making sure not to be discovered by people or walkers.
When they reached the entrance to the subway station, everything was quiet. There were no walkers at the entrance or on the train tracks.
Seeing no enemies, they soon reached a room to prepare. What Jason didn't know was that a group of survivors who had also escaped the walkers a few hours earlier had made the same decision as him: to go down into the train station.
They thought the same thing Jason did. There are no people or walkers here, and the darkness offered a certain sense of security.
"Is there really someone here?"
One of the survivors, walking in the opposite direction of Jason, whispered quietly. A woman opened her eyes wide and, with her flashlight on, said, "This place is empty. No walkers."
"There should be some, but not in large numbers."
The man looked around, checked some artificially built areas, and found many abandoned supplies, as well as damaged weapons on the ground.
"Wait, there's a corpse here!"
Sensing something was off, the group stood still. One of them pointed out, "Look around you."
Though they wondered why this person had died there for no apparent reason, the group leader didn't care too much. He circled the control post and moved deeper into the area.
But soon he found something new: just before the stairs leading to the underground waiting room, he saw a piece of paper on the ground.
He picked it up, read it carefully, and murmured, "Hank, I don't know if you'll see this note. We don't have enough food. We have to leave this place to find a way out."
After reading the note, the man looked at the shriveled corpse lying on the bed in the distance and knew that had to be the person mentioned.
It simply seemed he didn't make it. He handed the note to another member of the group and looked toward the dark tunnel. "Looks like this was a refuge. I hope they either all died or escaped. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble down here."
The woman read the message carefully, listened to what the leader said, and understood what he meant.
If those people escaped, it means the tunnel is clear. But if they died inside, they'll have to face the infected in a dark, enclosed environment.
"Let's keep moving."
After inspecting the area and confirming there were no more threats, the leader turned on the flashlight mounted on his shoulder and headed down the stairs.
The woman, watching the subway route, noticed that the leader kept pacing back and forth. He had trouble making a decision, so she joked, "We can still go back. Are you really sure you want to keep going?"
Hearing her, the man replied without hesitation. He brought the flashlight close to a red arrow on the wall, just beside the left passage, and said with a smile, "These people already marked the way for us, so... why bother looking for another?"
But at that moment, from deep inside the tunnel, a group of figures slowly rose from the ground. Motionless, they stared at the group of survivors and let out a terrifying roar:
Roooaaarrr!!!
"What are those things?"
"Run!"