Birmingham was now a city completely cleared of walkers, where the first fully secure base had been established, and where military power—aside from certain areas—was minimal.
The Birmingham metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1.1 million, about a quarter of the total population of the state of Alabama, which made clearing the city extremely difficult.
As was known, Birmingham was an important metropolitan city just like Atlanta, and now the people moving freely through its streets could once again appreciate the spirit of freedom.
It was true that the military occupied strategic buildings, and there were anti-air systems ready to shoot down fighter jets, helicopters, and intercept enemy missiles. At the same time, there were at least a thousand soldiers and a major military base capable of immediately responding to any real threat that might come from Florida.
Jason knew he had lost important people, beyond the potential they could have developed—like Carol, who now had her daughter and enjoyed a more peaceful life. However, he now had people like T-Dog and Shane among his ranks.
This time, fate brought him to the border area of Alabama, to show his soldiers that he was with them at all times and to supervise everyone's work. Of course, the best part of all this was clearing the land with helicopters, just like the CRM does when attacking communities with hordes of walkers.
The reason they were here now was mainly to observe the surroundings, visit checkpoints, and allow Jason to decide what to do based on what he saw at this base.
Obviously, they had found many survivors—entire groups who immediately chose to join Jason's organization, mistakenly believing it to be the army. However, this assumption wasn't entirely wrong, since they were, in fact, all soldiers.
This decision had also been made after careful consideration. First, Atlanta, as the site of a major base, had already explored most supply areas. If there were large numbers of survivors, they would likely come from Florida.
And since Jason's army had been sending massive hordes of walkers into Florida—because there was no proper place to relocate those hundreds of thousands of undead—survivors in Florida would eventually notice this anomaly.
As a secondary objective, they would also try to get a first look at Florida. Abraham was the one primarily leading the soldiers in this area, and now he seemed to have become a capable general who shared Jason's purpose.
With a general like Abraham, what could Jason possibly worry about in this part of his domain?
It should be noted that Abraham had been in the army; his experience and knowledge had also made Rosita a very capable woman. Therefore, having a tough man who never backs down or lowers his head before anything was beneficial for the army.
Because of this, Jason would move forward more cautiously this time while staying informed about everything happening across his territories. Once he arrived in Alabama, he spent a few days there before heading toward Florida to see if he could find any survivors.
...
Secure border of Alabama.
Outer zone of Florida, in a small rural town.
Night was approaching. Jason took the lead and quickly entered a store that wasn't very large. When Jason and his people saw it from the outside, the door of the store was well preserved, which saved them a lot of effort—they could lock it and make do for the night.
Right after cutting down the two walkers wandering inside the store with machetes, the people outside came in carrying several blankets in their arms.
Simply placing a thin blanket on the floor was enough to solve the problem of sleeping for the night. Now that the weather was getting warmer, there was no need to light a fire. People who had been struggling for over a year now had plenty of experience falling asleep quickly—and of course, sleeping under these kinds of conditions.
Whether intentionally or not, these people surrounded Jason at the center, which was considered the most basic form of respect toward him, and also showed that they were all willing to protect their commander.
This time, Jason was accompanied by the team that had gone with him to Washington. It could be said that they were now more than just friends, and the group's atmosphere was extremely strong.
"Hey, Jason, Glenn said we definitely won't find survivors this time…"
"I didn't say that—I just think it's very difficult to find survivors now that we've sent hundreds of thousands of walkers to Florida…"
"That means we won't find any, hahaha."
Jason smiled indifferently, then said, "What Glenn said isn't unreasonable. People are really hard to find nowadays—it could be said that the numbers in our organization are already among the largest out there."
After saying that, Jason paused for a moment and suddenly thought of some recorded data. He looked carefully at the people around him. "Have you ever imagined what it would be like if the current situation continues for another hundred years?"
After he finished speaking, he looked around and saw confused expressions. Some even shook their heads.
"Eventually, the walkers will decay, and the humans who remain will begin to repopulate the world. But this time, our organization will create a single system for the entire world—a dominant federation that will lead us to a much better, healthier future without any kind of war…"
"It's been less than two years since the end of the world. Maybe we can't see many changes yet—we just feel like there's more overgrowth than before. But what will it look like in ten, twenty, or even a hundred years?"
"That's my dream. I want all of us to unite and create the new world that everyone needs. We don't want wealthy parasites or governments that only look at short-term gains while ignoring the damage they cause in the long run."
"Wow, Jason, no wonder you're the leader of our organization." Glenn was genuinely excited about that future.
Seeing that the atmosphere had grown a bit quiet, Jason took the initiative to change the subject. He laughed, stood up, and looked in the direction of the city. "Tell me what you think would be best for tomorrow…"
Looking at the dark outline of the city, Jason sat down again and pulled a map out of his pocket. "We need to avoid large cities since that's where walkers are most likely concentrated. The ideal places are the outskirts, where survivors might still be. I've marked several locations, and we'll check them one by one."
"The main objective this time is to find survivors, but that doesn't mean other things aren't important. Please pay attention to factories that could be useful to us in the future. The industry in this area is highly developed. As far as I know, it includes electrical machinery, aircraft manufacturing, mining, chemicals, household appliances, cotton textiles, building materials, food production, and other industries—we'll need many of these things in the future."
After a pause, Aidon looked at everyone and pointed out, "As long as we can use these things, we can simply investigate and record them. If the survivors we encounter have bad intentions, it wouldn't be appropriate to bring them back."
...
The next morning.
The morning sun was bright, shining between distant buildings as if covering the city with a layer of golden gauze.
If it weren't for the faint stench lingering in the air, the scene would have looked even more beautiful.
Everyone quickly finished their meal, and the night watch had already cleared the scattered walkers on the lower floor.
"Move out!"