Over a year ago, just a few days after eting Tyler, Jason asked him to make online posts about conspiracies and join groups that believed the end of the world was near.
These kinds of people are usually special and prepared for any situation that might arise in the future. Many of them are now living in their shelters, fully stocked long before all the chaos began.
There was a special map, with various points and exact addresses, which Tyler had managed to obtain thanks to his incredible computer skills back then. As it turns out, near Alexandria there was a shelter belonging to a man in his forties.
Jason believed not everyone had escaped the virus, so many of the shelters prepared by these people might still be active—while others had been abandoned.
You'd be surprised by what can be found in shelters built by people prepared for any kind of crisis. Not only was there food, but also dicine and all sorts of items that are now extrely hard to co by.
The modified RV soon arrived at a town where Jason knew there was a shelter. The area had never been densely populated, making it a perfect place to build a secret hideout.
Jason silently observed the ruined town and ordered everyone to search separately. Most of the walkers had gathered in a certain location Jason preferred not to think about. Still, this was the very reason Alexandria and its people could explore this place with little concern.
And to think that Deanna believed the absence of walkers here was due to a successful evacuation of refugees from this part of the so-called promised land…
The undead are everywhere, and walkers would eventually regroup due to the pull of the horde.
You could say that if the Whisperers were able to adapt and roam around Washington D.C. undisturbed for now, once those botherso people arrived at their doorstep, Jason knew their strength would be nowhere near enough to compare to that of these insignificant groups.
Everyone naturally went into a few stores but found nothing useful. Jason wasn't worried. He strolled slowly down the street, his eyes scanning the area.
"It should be close…" Jason muttered, holding a piece of paper in his left hand.
Beside a grocery store, a structure caught his attention. He walked toward the store's entrance first, which had clearly been open for so ti. Inside, there were footprints, likely left by many people.
His eyes swept across the empty shelves before heading straight to the back door of the storage room. As expected, the lock was broken, and only a few wooden stakes remained where boxes of items had once been stacked.
Daryl wasted no ti watching Jason's back, while Heath and Aaron followed close behind. They had been ordered to follow instructions, so they didn't plan on acting independently. Their only task was to follow the others. Their expressions were sowhat confused—what were they even supposed to be doing in this empty place?
Jason had no intention of sharing what he knew. He moved silently, eyes returning to the sheet in his hand, and walked through the storage area. The many wooden planks on the floor looked so ordinary that most wouldn't have given them a second thought. But after a few minutes, Aidon's eyes locked on a particular board behind a tool rack. He reached out and began shifting the floorboards, which seed fixed in place.
"This is it. Give a hand."
Without a word, Aaron stepped forward and grabbed the corner of a wooden plank. Jason then looked at the others, who still hadn't moved.
Daryl, on the other hand, wasn't so quiet. With clear disdain, he said, "What's wrong? You can't even be bothered to lift a hand?"
Heath and the others exchanged looks, and eventually, Eric joined Aaron to help, while Tobin and Heath ca closer, one of them remarking sarcastically, "We've been through this place a hundred tis—there's nothing left to take."
Just as he finished speaking, Jason yanked the board up with help from the others, revealing a black tal hatch beneath the floor, cutting his words short.
A basent!
"Tch." Daryl looked at the people around him with scorn, then bent down to help Jason open the iron hatch.
Creak! Thud!
As the hatch opened, dust fell below. At that mont, a group of people entered through the storage room door.
"Jason, we didn't find anything!" Glenn said the mont he stepped inside.
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the basent that had just been uncovered. His face lit up with joy, and he rushed over, pulling a flashlight from his pocket.
Jason and Daryl also took out their flashlights, and the three of them lit up the dark space below, pointing toward a staircase that led downward. Jason jumped in without much hesitation.
With his gun drawn and flashlight in hand, Jason walked down a hallway. A door not far ahead confird to him that there were no survivors down here.
When he opened it, Glenn, Daryl, and a few others had already followed him and could faintly make out boxes on the shelves inside.
Lots of boxes.
Jason motioned for Daryl to stay on guard. He then holstered his gun and pulled out a dium-sized axe to navigate the tight space, walking deeper into the room.
Maggie, who had followed Glenn, ca in with the others.
The basent was far from small. The surrounding walls were lined with shelves, able to accommodate several people at once. Jason quickly assessed the situation and found no corpses as he moved through the area.
So people breathed a sigh of relief. A single walker isn't terrifying—but in a dark place like this, you never know when an enemy might leap out from a corner and bite your leg. If you're lucky, you might cut off the infected limb in ti.
Jason raised his flashlight and examined the surrounding shelves, finding nothing but boxes of canned food.
Glenn's mouth dropped open. He laughed and hugged Daryl, even giving him a kiss on the cheek, but Daryl quickly shoved him aside.
Jason handed Glenn a can and said calmly, "When I was preparing for what was coming, I joined several groups and, through less-than-legal thods, found a few shelters like this one—built by people who believed the world was about to end."
Aaron and Tobin, who had just entered the basent, were stunned by what they saw. All this ti, they hadn't found even a fraction of the food that was here. Jason's knowledge was downright terrifying.
At that mont, without realizing it, they had begun to place so trust in Jason. Heath and the others exchanged uneasy glances. Outside, the rest of the group couldn't help their curiosity and followed them in. Heath, in particular, felt deeply embarrassed, with an urge to apologize.
Soon, a truck and the modified RV were moved in front of the building, and everyone began loading the supplies.
Jason, feeling uncomfortable in the cramped space, stepped outside to better observe the surroundings.
Heath approached him with a complicated look, nudged forward by the rest of his group—his purpose was to apologize.
Heath clenched his teeth, shoved aside any unnecessary thoughts, and approached Jason. "Jason, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It was my fault—I shouldn't have spoken out of turn."
Just then, Daryl passed by carrying a box of canned food among others. He scoffed at the apology, about to add a sarcastic comnt when Jason raised a hand.
"Don't worry about it, man. What matters now is getting these food boxes loaded and heading back as soon as we can."
Jason looked at Heath, showing he hadn't taken the earlier words personally. The Alexandria survivors exchanged quiet glances and smiled.
Seeing this, Daryl snorted in mild annoyance, and as he walked toward the RV door, Tyreese's voice called out behind him.
"He's a great man."
Daryl nodded silently, finally falling quiet as he continued moving supplies.
Many around them witnessed the scene. You could say Jason hadn't done much—but in a short amount of ti, he'd managed to earn a little more trust from everyone.
At that mont, Jason didn't have ti to dwell on such things. His eyes scanned the convoy and, based on past experience, he expected at least dozens—if not hundreds—of walkers to be drawn to the movent. But even with all the noise now, loading would take ti.
Looking at the empty streets on either side, Jason frowned. Was Alexandria really just lucky… or was it sothing else—soone else?
User Comments
0 comments from readers