After waiting outside the courtyard for half an hour, more than a dozen people who could no longer bear the heat began jumping out the windows one after another. What awaited them was the "warm hospitality" of those standing outside.
The fire grew larger and larger, until the entire building became a ball of flame—no one survived.
"Now clear all the walkers in the area! Be careful—there may be others hiding in any corner of this place."
"Yes, sir."
Seeing everyone in the courtyard begin to scatter to clear the scattered walkers, Jason walked toward the container where Rick and the others were.
Rumble!
Before he could even reach the door and open it, the wagon was already unlatched, and people had been waiting outside for some time.
After greeting his friends one by one, Rick introduced the new people standing behind him.
Bathed in the light of the fire, most were quickly recognized—except for a few.
Abraham's group, of course, but this girl named Elen and her family didn't ring a bell at all. Jason thought they must be people who didn't appear in the original story—rescued by Rick somehow.
Jason was already used to it. His arrival had changed many fates and many lives. That wasn't a problem—he had already decided that his new life represented a completely different story, so he greeted everyone warmly.
"Hey, Rick! Long time no see!" said Glenn as he walked up.
"Glenn! You look good."
Knowing Glenn hadn't come just to say hello, Jason asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"
Glenn hesitated, glancing at the strangers behind Rick, then took a few steps aside with Jason without anyone noticing.
"It seems there are a lot of survivors inside those containers. Should we rescue them?"
Looking at Glenn with a faint smile, Jason said, "Have you already made your decision, Captain Glenn?"
"Yeah." Glenn smiled at the title and then said, "I know it's dangerous to bring them back to the base, but we're on the side of the living, right? That's what we're supposed to do for them!"
"You need to start making decisions, Glenn. We're strong—and you have to remember that. Even if some people with bad intentions end up in our group, we'll notice them long before they commit any unforgivable crime."
Only then did Glenn show a real smile. He nodded silently and walked toward the backyard.
As Rick and the others looked at Jason, who had been away for months, they exchanged glances. He seemed more mature, more seasoned. What he had gone through in Texas had definitely changed him, and everyone was thoughtful about what those experiences must have been like.
Elen, standing to the side, kept her eyes on Jason. She was very curious about this man. If it weren't such an inappropriate time, she would've already walked up to him to say hello.
But Abraham and the others stayed silent at the back, watching in secret. He could feel something dangerous emanating from this man. Maybe the others couldn't sense it—but Abraham could, clearly. It was an instinct that reached all the way to his bones.
He finally believed Morgan's words—Jason wasn't an ordinary man. He was a predator well-hidden among people.
Everyone was happy, unaware that Lori, standing behind the crowd, had stepped back with a complicated expression. She stopped at the corner of a container, thinking about what would happen next—about her reckless actions once again.
She glanced toward the crowd in secret and saw that no one noticed her. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to approach and try to talk.
But before she could move, a large, rough hand clamped over her mouth from behind. Then Lori felt something cold press against her neck—she didn't need to guess what it was. A dagger.
"Listen carefully, woman—don't you dare move!"
At the same time as the hoarse male voice spoke, four men in military uniforms stepped out from behind her.
They escaped! Lori thought, realizing these men were from the terminal. She knew she couldn't let Rick and the others be put in danger because of her—at the very least, she had to warn them.
But then the man spoke again.
"If you make a sound, I'll take you as a hostage. If anything happens to us, you'll die right along with us, you filthy bitch! As long as you stay quiet, once we escape, we'll let you go. Understand?"
Seeing that they'd revealed their intentions, Lori could only nod cooperatively.
The man seemed to believe her sincerity and relaxed his grip slightly.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lori opened her mouth sharply and bit the man's fingers—not hard enough to tear them off, but with another intention in mind.
"You damn crazy bitch!"
"Shit! You whore!"
The man, in pain, instinctively withdrew his hand and was about to knock her out with a punch when the woman in his arms suddenly screamed—
"Help! Ahhh!"
"Damn it!"
Bang!
Lori was knocked unconscious by the blow—but it was too late. People nearby were already on alert, and Jason instantly drew his gun.
Everyone who had a sense of what was happening ran toward the back of the container, and soon they saw several figures in the shadows—one of them holding Lori with a cold blade pressed to her neck. She looked unconscious and motionless.
"I didn't expect so many of you to sneak out unseen," Jason muttered as he aimed his gun at the man's head.
A hoarse male voice replied, making Rick frown slightly—it sounded so familiar.
He had definitely seen this person before. But where? Rick searched his memory, trying to recall that familiar figure.
Jason didn't notice his friends' strange expressions. He first memorized the positions of each person, moved his sights back and forth, and calculated the success rate if he fired now.
"How long have you been here?"
"We joined just a few days ago. The people here hadn't started checking yet, so we weren't living in their main building—we stayed in a cabin nearby."
Rick raised his hand as he spoke, but the shadow blocked him, making it impossible to see where he was pointing. Still, he kept talking.
"Listen—we just got here. We don't know who these people are or what their intentions are toward us. I'm sorry about whoever captured you, but we have to think about our own safety too, right?"
Jason nodded slightly in agreement.
"Of course, I understand. You can come out, and we'll talk about what you want."
He holstered his pistol and waved to the people behind him, signaling everyone to step back. He too retreated a few steps.
The last thing they could afford to do now was provoke the other side. They had to calm things down as much as possible. Jason decided to let his people disperse first and lowered his own weapon.
Of course, he wasn't stupid. The only reason he dared to do this was because there were over thirty people hidden in the darkness of the forest. Those outside hadn't participated in the siege of this place, so they remained concealed, waiting for a signal to help. Jason was confident in that advantage.
The man stood there cautiously, as if hesitant—he knew the other side wouldn't stay still for long, so he quickly pushed for control again.
"What? I've already shown that I want to cooperate with you. Now you need to show me you understand. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?" Jason asked with a calm expression.
Hearing this, the man gritted his teeth, gestured to the four men behind him, and dragged Lori out of the shadows.
"Fine, we're here. Can we talk now and get out of here?"
The others had already withdrawn to a safe distance but kept watching anxiously.
Rick's eyes scanned the men, finally resting on the one in front. His short stature and plain face didn't ring any bells—but when their eyes met, Rick froze.
It's them!
He would never forget those dark eyes, that blood-colored room, the dried human flesh, and the corpses inside that military base. All those images flooded back into his mind.
These five men— were the cannibals from the military base.
The ones he himself had let go.