"Wh... where am I?"
No one knew how much time had passed when Dario finally opened his eyes again, but all he could see was a crystal chandelier hanging above his head. He stared up at the massive chandelier in a daze—he recognized it. It was likely the one hanging in the first-floor hallway of some building.
Lifting his head and looking around, stunned, Dario discovered that, for some reason, he was in the hallway of the first floor of an unknown building, his back resting against the central platform. His hands, previously tied, had been untied.
Immediately afterward, he noticed that his assault rifle was lying calmly beside him.
Bang! Bang!
Just as Dario was feeling utterly confused, two gunshots suddenly rang out outside the door, hitting directly against the entrance of the building where he was.
He had no idea where the bullets had landed, but moments later, the door suddenly swung open and then, with a heavy crash, fell backward onto the tiled floor.
Crack!
A loud, muffled noise echoed throughout the building, the sound reverberating in rapid bursts through the entire space.
The sudden gunfire and the crashing of the door made Dario tremble violently, and the confusion in his eyes deepened. He had no idea what was happening.
But a moment later, a roar snapped him out of his daze.
Arghhh!
Accompanied by several rapid footsteps and sharp screams, Dario saw several figures running past the windows on both sides from outside.
"Shit!"
Seeing this, Dario's eyes filled with terror, and he tried to get up and run.
But as he rushed to his feet, he realized that at least one of his legs wasn't responding—he couldn't stand up.
"Dario, grab the gun!"
Just as Dario was doing everything he could to rise, the voice of a man came from nearby.
Startled for a second, Dario turned his head and saw a skinny man sitting not far away—it was the other guy who had been in the interrogation room with him.
This man seemed to be in the same condition as Dario, sitting on the ground with unresponsive legs, holding an assault rifle in his hands, nervously aiming at the windows and doors.
Seeing Dario staring at him like that, the man grew irritated and shouted again, "That guy broke our legs—we can't run! If you don't want to die, just bring me that damn rifle and I'll shoot!"
After being yelled at like that, Dario quickly grabbed the rifle by his side and crawled over to the man, pointing the barrel toward the doorway.
But his trembling hands had already betrayed his current state.
You have to understand—Dario used to fight walkers from completely safe positions. But now, he couldn't move at all. He was stuck on the floor, exposed, facing a threat head-on with very limited mobility. In that situation, how could he not be consumed by fear?
As the walkers drew closer, their ferocious and terrifying faces finally appeared at the building's entrance, rushing in from the outside.
When they spotted the two men sitting in the center, they let out guttural growls and, driven by their hunger, charged toward them.
Roar!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Just as the walkers appeared, the skinny man was the first to pull the trigger, screaming at the top of his lungs while firing.
And Dario opened fire as well the moment he heard the gunshots.
Bullets flew through the air, and the first walkers were struck and dropped helplessly to the floor.
But the ones behind them, stepping over the fallen bodies, kept charging straight into the storm of bullets.
It was like a race for survival—either the two men would kill all the walkers before running out of ammo, or they'd be torn apart once their magazines ran dry.
But from the beginning, the balance of success had been tilted in favor of the walkers. No matter how much they fired, more kept coming.
Seeing this, the skinny man felt utterly hopeless. The walkers from nearby streets had clearly been drawn to the noise. But even so, he couldn't understand where so many of them had come from.
Finally, both rifles clicked—empty.
Powerless, Dario dropped the weapon in his hands and watched as more than a dozen walkers rushed toward him. A flood of memories surged in his mind, and he muttered, "This damn world..."
Then the first walker slammed into him, and within moments, he was completely overwhelmed.
And the skinny man, not far from him, let out a sharp, desperate scream as his flesh and blood were torn apart by the walkers: "AHHHHH!"
…
From a tall building far outside the one where the two men were fighting for their lives, Jason calmly handed a pair of binoculars to a man beside him.
Upon hearing the screams coming from inside, he knew the two men had likely been killed.
After knocking Dario unconscious again, Jason had turned his attention back to the skinny man.
Unlike Dario's honest response, the skinny man had been much more deceitful—he had killed most of the Vultures and tried several times to trick him. But after Daniel's skilled interrogation, he had also ended up talking honestly.
By combining the testimonies of both men and finding no major contradictions, Jason had gotten what he wanted—and was surprised by how much.
As for what to do with the two of them, Jason had thought about it for a long time.
These two men knew about his existence. If they were simply released, the moment they spoke, it could lead to retaliation from their people.
Although a battle between the two factions was inevitable, Jason didn't want the battlefield to be the military base. If that happened, the food, the people, and the shelters inside would inevitably suffer—far too costly.
If he just killed them and buried them somewhere, he'd break his promise to let them go. As a community leader, keeping his word was everything these days.
So Jason had to find a way to "let them go" and still ensure they died shortly after. That way, their deaths would serve multiple purposes.
"Let's return to base. We need to hold a meeting with all key leaders—direct connection to central command!"
"Yes, sir!"
Jason still had to resolve the threat of the nuclear warheads, so he had already sent four CH-47 helicopters to investigate the nearby beaches for now.