Lori's fake funeral was held at ten in the morning the next day, and it was Gabriel who presided over the service, aside from those who were on duty. Rick had made it clear that he wanted a funeral for his wife because he didn't want to give false hope about their son. That was for the best — after all, there still wasn't a cure in humanity's hands.
Out of respect, everyone who wasn't essential came to accompany Rick.
The cemetery was in a remote corner outside the base; there were many graves there, all of them belonging to those who had died over this whole time.
Beside Lori's grave there was one that lay quietly — Beth's deceased boyfriend, who had died long ago, along with many others who had given their lives so that they could all be here.
Everyone only hoped there would be no resentment about the way that person had died, so after a few simple words everyone fell silent.
The relocation work for the newcomers had also been completed, and everyone had been assigned to the gym's remodeled dormitory. There were double rooms there; although not large, they were safe and comfortable enough to serve while the buildings were being constructed.
Just as everyone was adapting to the new environment and things, Jason was busy again.
Lori's funeral was finally over, and what could be even better was Rick's situation. In the original story, Rick's collapse was mainly because Carl witnessed his mother's tragic death and couldn't see his wife one last time. The two were still at odds because Rick could not say goodbye to his wife and Carl couldn't cope.
This time, there was no serious conflict between father and son, and before Lori was sent into the cryogenic capsule, the family had a short meeting that lasted more than half a day, so everything that needed to be said was finally said.
So, after being depressed for a while, Rick obviously relaxed a lot. Only two days later, he took the initiative to find Jason.
What Jason did not expect was that Rick came this time to apologize. It turned out Lori had revealed the things that had put Jason in danger before she was cryogenized.
Jason understood what Rick was thinking. Rick had been afraid that what Jason had done would affect his opinion of him. Now that things had been made clear, Rick's doubts could not only be reduced, but he could be reminded that Jason was not the ambitious person his wife had made him out to be.
Rick knew his wife had never understood Jason, even after he had put her to sleep. However, Jason had no intention of carrying that resentment to some distant place; he had resolved to forget everything that had happened. What was the point of talking about it after everyone was dead?
He would not naively think that everyone in the base agreed with him and his methods, and what he needed to do now was unite everyone so they could all prosper together as a powerful organization.
They were now in the meeting room, and it was there that Jason and Rick had a long talk.
Finally, Rick told him the real reason he had come this time.
"I want to tell you something very important. I thought that since you've returned, it would be better if you took charge of everything. You're a very good leader, much better than I am."
"You can rest for a while and clear your head, but I can't stay here for long. I plan to gather survivors in other distant areas and oversee the progress of the growing base, so I'll be leaving frequently. That's why there must be a trusted person at the base — so I can leave with peace of mind."
Rick looked at him, surprised; in his opinion, after what had happened to Lori, there should have been some resentment toward Jason, but looking into those honest eyes, he felt that it wasn't entirely true.
From the apocalypse until now, Jason had been aware of most things and had built this base little by little. It could be said that everyone in this base owed him their lives and were infinitely grateful.
Especially himself — he couldn't count how many times he had been rescued by Jason. Thinking of this, the apology in his heart still made him hesitate to go on as before.
"Shane and Mike can take over, there's no need for me to do it."
"No, I understand what you're thinking, but no."
Obviously Jason disagreed with Rick's statement; he shook his head again and again.
"Maybe someone is more capable than you, but no one is more suitable than you in my absence."
"I won't need you if you doubt, Rick. Mike and Shane will remain here and help you lead; you should spend most of your time with your family after all. But they trust you, and you must protect them."
Seeing Rick's expression remain somewhat hesitant, Jason continued with words anyone in Rick's position would want to hear.
"It's a coincidence that you came today. I have something very important to discuss with you — very few men in Atlanta know about this." After speaking, Jason took out a map and spread it on the table. He then leaned on the table with both hands and looked at Rick.
Rick walked over with curiosity. As he approached he saw a map of Birmingham, but unlike a normal map, there were numerous circles and annotations with different markings.
"What is this?"
Rick looked perplexed; he couldn't understand the information on the map at all, so he looked to Jason for answers.
"This is the information I collected about the forces surrounding our domain after receiving continuous reports from Atlanta and Georgia."
After he finished speaking, he stopped explaining and listened to the sound of footsteps, then shouted, "Enter!"
With a creak, the door opened in response, and then a voice unfamiliar to Rick was heard. Negan suddenly appeared in the doorway, followed by Tyler, Mike, Liam, and Shane.
Negan entered the room while Jason nodded toward the group. Everyone sat down without saying a word.
At least most people in the room were puzzled, but they waited to hear Jason's explanation.
"What I'm going to say next is very important, and only the group that went with me to Washington and those who visited Texas know about it."
Just as Negan was about to speak, Jason immediately stopped him.
"I'll explain why I'm looking for you in particular, Negan."
When Jason looked at Tyler, Tyler nodded and began preparing the presentation he had set up on a projector; two maps came into focus with many marks on the maps of Birmingham and Ohio. As for the reason, it was related to what Jason had explained to Deanna and what they planned to do in the future.
Anyway, until now no one knew about the CRM organization; Jason could edit whatever he wanted and many would believe it once external details were verified. In this meeting, Jason presented certain groups and their real numbers, then spoke briefly about the CRM and the Fireflies he had heard about in Texas.
After some presentations, Jason simply sat in a chair to give them a bit of time to digest the information as he watched the others' expressions light up.
After a long moment, Negan finally came to his senses and kept scanning the map with wide eyes.
"This is a bold move, news like this is like a bomb bouncing off my ass!"
Rick's performance was much steadier, but this was still incredible.
"Have you confirmed the information?"
"Everything has been confirmed, Rick. This information will be transmitted to everyone with class-2 authority!"
"Now you should understand why I give so much importance to population. That organization has always been like the sword of Damocles hanging over my head; from the start it's what I feared would happen."
"After going to Washington this time, I found an external member who works for the CRM. This person isn't important, but can guide people into that organization safely. Although the process takes time and has certain risks, it's our best way to get inside."
Negan suddenly smiled and understood why he had been called into the room.
"You want me to be an undercover agent?"
"Heh, you're very clever."
Jason nodded, but then shook his head again. Negan didn't understand what he meant and could only wait for an explanation.
"I wanted to send you there at first, but now I regret it. I don't know if it's right to do so. And even less if sending people is the correct way to infiltrate them; even if it can work, we really need to understand how those people operate."
"After thinking it over, I decided to give you the right to choose who wants to be informants. We haven't been in contact for a long time, but I can see you're a smart person; you have your own ideas and you're decisive. Even if you hadn't found us, Negan, you would have survived just fine."