Gray drove his Humvee down the dirt road to the Greene family farm. Right behind him, Hershel and his family followed in their old pickup truck.
Once everyone parked and got out, Gray walked over to an open patch of grass right next to the main house. He opened his system store and bought a 40-foot shipping container. With a loud thud, the massive steel box materialized out of thin air.
The family stared in shock, still not fully used to Gray's strange powers.
"Load it up with everything you want," Gray said, opening the heavy doors. "Furniture, clothes, food, whatever you need."
Jimmy started making his way back when he saw both vehicles parked, only to stop in his tracks when he saw Gray spawn the shipping container, "What the hell was that!" he yelled towards the group.
Gray simply turned to the Greene family, "Get him up to speed, please."
Patricia and Otis grabbed Jimmy and took him inside the house to explain everything.
Thanks to his new body, the move went incredibly fast. While the family carried out smaller boxes and bags of clothes. Gray easily picked up heavy oak dressers and entire bed frames onto his shoulders, packing them away without even breaking a sweat.
By the time the sun started dipping below the trees, the container was almost full.
Gray wiped his forehead and looked at the darkening sky. "The sun is going down. We have most of your stuff anyway, so let's head back before it's too dark. We can come back tomorrow for the rest."
Hershel looked at his tired daughters and agreed. Gray closed the heavy steel doors, placed his hand on the metal, and vanished the entire container back into his inventory.
As they walked to their cars, Hershel stopped. "Son, what about my cattle and chickens? I can't just leave them here to starve or get eaten."
Gray smiled, already thinking about his system store options. "Don't worry about the livestock, Hershel. Leave them in their pens tonight. Tomorrow, I'll get something to transport them all back safely."
Hershel let out a sigh of relief and thanked him. The drive back to the prison was quiet. When they arrived, T-Dog opened the gate and waved them through, reporting that the perimeter had been completely peaceful.
Gray parked in the courtyard right next to the main cell block. The rest of the group came outside to see what they brought. With a wave of his hand, Gray spawned the 40-foot shipping container onto the concrete with a loud boom. He threw the doors open and clapped his hands.
"Alright, listen up!" Gray called out. "The Greene family is staying with us for good. Everyone grab a partner and help move their stuff inside before it gets pitch black."
Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and the rest of the crew immediately jumped in to help. The prison yard was full of energy.
Gray walked over to another open space in the yard and waved his hand again. With another loud boom, a 20-foot shipping container slammed onto the concrete. This one was full of Dr. Jenner's medical equipment and personal belongings from the CDC.
"Jenner, your gear is here too!" Gray shouted toward the cell block.
Seeing everyone pitching in, Gray jumped back to help unload the furniture. Surprisingly, Shane walked down from the guard tower and started helping too. He didn't say a word to anyone, but he silently carried heavy crates into the building alongside Rick and Daryl.
After an hour of hard work, both containers were completely empty. Gray decided to leave them in the yard as extra storage for the future. He walked up to the massive metal boxes and pushed them next to the turned-over bus by the fence line, clearing the middle of the courtyard.
With the work done, Gray spotted Shane walking away toward the yard's edge. He decided it was time to clear the air and try to get him to tone down his paranoia.
"Shane, come with me for a minute," Gray called out, gesturing toward his RV.
Shane glared at him but silently followed Gray inside the vehicle. The interior was quiet and away from the rest of the group. Gray pulled out his laptop from his bed, opened a video file, and sat on the couch.
Shane scuffed, crossing his arms defensively. "What's this?"
Gray looked up. "I wanted to let you know exactly what happens to you if you continue down this path."
Shane shifted uncomfortably, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah? You know my future? What happens to me then?"
"You get killed by Rick," Gray replied bluntly. "And you never get to hold or see your own daughter."
Shane completely faltered, his tough posture vanishing in an instant. He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a trembling whisper. "It's a girl?"
Gray nodded, his expression softening just a bit. "It's a girl. Her name was Judith. Carl named her after Lori died giving birth."
Gray turned the laptop screen toward Shane and hit play. He began explaining all the terrible choices Shane was destined to make. He showed him how he would murder Otis to save himself, how his obsession with Lori would drive him completely insane, and how he would eventually lure Rick into the woods to try and kill him, only to get a knife twisted into his own chest instead.
Shane stared at the screen in pure horror. He watched his own descent into madness play out frame by frame, seeing the exact moment of his own death on the glowing display. The raw reality of it stripped away all his anger and pride.
Gray closed the laptop lid with a soft click. "I don't want the current you to end up like that. You're a good fighter and a terrific teacher, and I'm sure a great father too. I saw the way you treated Carl back at the quarry. This group needs you. But you have to let this shit go."
Shane sat in silence for a long moment, staring blankly at the floor as he processed everything. His breathing was heavy, and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The thought of his daughter being raised without him, while he rotted in a field after trying to murder his best friend, completely broke him.
Finally, he looked up at Gray. The anger in his eyes was completely gone, replaced by a raw, hollow exhaustion. "Rick... he really kills me?" Shane asked, his voice cracking slightly.
Gray nodded. "You didn't give him any other choice."
Shane let out a shaky, bitter breath, rubbing a hand aggressively over his face. "Judith... I'm not gonna let her grow up without a father. And I ain't becoming that monster on the screen. I'll stay out of Rick and Lori's way."
Shane was ready to leave, but before he could reach for the door handle, Gray spoke up one last time.
"Listen, Shane," Gray said, leaning back on the couch. "If Rick and Lori can't fix their issues and end up breaking up on their own, you can pursue Lori if you want to. After all, she is the mother of your child. Just don't force it, and don't try to break them apart yourself. Let things happen naturally."
Shane paused with his hand on the door. He didn't turn around, but he gave a slow, quiet nod.
Without another word, he pushed open the RV door and walked back into the cell block with his head held a little higher.
Now that Gray was left by himself in the quiet RV, his stomach gave a loud rumble. He decided it was time to make himself some dinner.
Stepping outside into the cool night air, Gray opened his inventory and pulled out his mobile kitchen setup, settling it down right next to the RV. He browsed the shop for groceries, getting a few fresh, high-quality ingredients, and fired up the grill to smash out a few burgers. Thanks to Joichiro Saiba's Cooking Skills, Gray handled the meat and seasoning with absolute master-tier precision. The savory, mouth-watering aroma of sizzling beef and melted cheese immediately began drifting across the quiet prison courtyard.
It didn't take long for the scent to catch some attention. Merle and Daryl came walking out of their RVs, practically led by their noses toward the grill.
Merle's eyes locked onto the freshly stacked plate of burgers. Without asking, he reached out, grabbed one, and took a massive bite.
The moment his teeth sank into the meat, Merle froze. His eyes went wide as a wild, vivid hallucination slammed into his brain. He hallucinated that his clothes literally exploded right off his body, shredding into pieces. Suddenly, he was bouncing around in giant, fluffy burger buns, watching a majestic cow sprint across a vast, beautiful field of ripe tomatoes.
Snapping out of the food-induced trance, Merle stumbled back a step as he stared at the burger in sheer shock. "What the fuck was that?!"
Gray burst out laughing at the older Dixon's reaction.
Daryl snorted at his brother's freak-out but couldn't resist the smell. He stepped up and grabbed a burger as well, taking a cautious bite. Instantly, the exact same vivid hallucination washed over him. Coming out of the trance, Daryl looked at Gray. "Did you put drugs in this?"
Gray shook his head, still chuckling. "No, just normal ingredients. It's pretty good, huh?"
Both brothers stared down at the remaining halves of their burgers, completely mesmerized, before eagerly nodding. "Probably the best damn burger I've eaten my whole life, boy," Merle admitted, shoving the rest into his mouth.
After finishing up dinner, Merle and Daryl headed back inside to sleep. Gray cleared away his kitchen setup and began doing a final check of the prison perimeter to ensure the external stone walls were secure.
As he scrolled through his system menus, his eyes caught something unexpected. Deep within his system inventory, a strange icon blinked. It was a physical note that definitely hadn't been there before.
Gray pulled the crisp piece of paper out of his inventory. Looking at the elegant handwriting, he felt a wave of familiar recognition. It was from the multiversal entities who had reincarnated him into The Walking Dead world in the first place, the ones who had wiped his memories of their actual meeting.
They had left him a similar note when he first woke up in this apocalypse. Curious, Gray held the paper up to the moonlight and began to read.
Dear Mr. Gray,
Our apologies for the sudden intrusion, but we ran into some unexpected back-end issues with your interface. Long story short, we had to push an emergency update. A few of the prices for your Gold per Hour upgrades were completely miscalculated, so they have been adjusted to their proper scaling.
Since this was entirely a mistake on our end, we have officially refunded every single piece of gold you have ever spent on upgrades so far. Now, we aren't jerks, so taking away your current upgrades or items would be pointless. Instead, we simply calculated the cost of everything you've currently purchased under the old system and deducted that minor amount from your massive total refund check. You keep your current stats, and your wallet is now heavily compensated.
To make up for the headache, we are granting you one free compensation voucher. You can choose any single ability, item, or perk from the entire store, as long as it costs under 10,000,000 Gold. Think of it as a housewarming gift.
P.S. This is definitely the last time we are doing this. Check your status screen immediately
P.S.S. We unlocked a brand-new tab in your interface. Check it out as soon as you can. You'll like it.
The moment Gray finished reading the last line, the paper dissolved into shimmering golden particles in his palm.
Gray didn't waste a single second, he opened his System Overlay, where his total amount of gold left him speechless.
[Status Info]
Name: Gray Ashwood
Age: 23 years old
Race: Human
Gold: 60,741,728
Gold per hour: 0
Gold Multiplier: 1.00x
[Upgrade Info]
[Store]
[Inventory]
[ ]
Gray ignored the blank spot and started restoring all the upgrades that had been wiped. He first started with the multipliers.
[New Upgrades]
(200 Gold) +0.05x✔
(550 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(1150 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(2200 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(4000 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(7200 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(12800 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(22600 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(39600 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(69600 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(155300 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(420000 Gold) +0.05x ✔
(1.5M Gold) +0.05x ✔
Now that he was back at making 1.65x, he started getting the gold upgrades.
[New Upgrades]
(free) 1 Gold/Hour ✔
(10 Gold) 2 Gold/Hour ✔
(30 Gold) 5 Gold/Hour ✔
(50 Gold) 10 Gold/Hour ✔
(100 Gold) 15 Gold/Hour ✔
(300 Gold) 30 Gold/Hour ✔
(500 Gold) 60 Gold/Hour ✔
(1000 Gold) 120 Gold/Hour ✔
(3000 Gold) 240 Gold/Hour ✔
(5000 Gold) 480 Gold/Hour ✔
(10000 Gold) 1000 Gold/Hour ✔
(30000 Gold) 1500 Gold/Hour ✔
(50000 Gold) 3000 Gold/Hour ✔
(100000 Gold) 6000 Gold/Hour ✔
(300000 Gold) 12000 Gold/Hour ✔
(500000 Gold) 24000 Gold/Hour✔
(1M Gold) 50000 Gold/Hour ✔
(3M Gold) 100000 Gold Hour ✔
(5M Gold) 200000 Gold/Hour ✔
(10M Gold) 400000 Gold/Hour ✔
(30M Gold) 800000 Gold/hour ✔
With a little over 8 million gold left, Gray bought the next multiplier to make an even number.
[New Upgrade]
(5M Gold) +0.05x ✔
With all the upgrades finally added to his system once again, Gray was completely and utterly in disbelief. His new Status Info looked something like this.
[Status Info]
Name: Gray Ashwood
Age: 23 years old
Race: Human
Gold: 3,506,538
Gold per hour: 2,717,387 (1,598,463)
Gold Multiplier: 1.70x
"GOD DAMN!" Gray yelled at the top of his lungs, not caring if walkers showed up or if anyone was spying on him. "This is insane! I went from making almost 700k to almost 3 million an hour!"
With his economy running smoother and faster than ever, Gray turned his attention to the bottom of the dashboard. There, sitting in the previously empty, blinking slot, was the brand-new feature the entities had unlocked for him.
His heart hammered against his ribs with pure excitement. Gray took a slow breath and mentally clicked on the flashing icon. The blank space instantly filled with glowing green text, revealing the name of the new feature.
[SELL]