When Jason approached the cell where Hershel's family was having a conversation, he slowly made his presence known and said, "Hershel, do you have a mont? There are so things I'd like to discuss with you. It won't take long."
Hearing his na called, Hershel looked toward the entrance of the cell and noticed Jason's presence. He turned to say a few words to his family, then nodded and stepped out of the cell.
"Alright, Maggie, take your sister outside for so fresh air. She needs it; she's still deeply affected by Jimmy's loss." Hershel's voice carried a hint of guilt, but he still gestured for Jason to walk with him to a more private area.
Seeing this, Jason glanced at Hershel's daughters attentively. The two sisters seed to have a close bond, just like in the original story. Suddenly, as if rembering sothing, he stepped aside to let them pass.
When the two n reached an open space, Jason carefully observed the land. They stood still for a mont, watching all the people busy with their work.
"How quickly things change, don't they?"
Upon hearing this, Jason let out a small sigh, knowing that Hershel was probably still silently suffering his losses. It was inevitable. In a world in decline like this, who wasn't suffering?
After giving Hershel a thoughtful look, Jason asked, "Hershel, what's your first impression of this place?"
Pausing deliberately, Jason waited for the old man to share his thoughts. When no response ca, he turned to the side.
Hershel knelt down, picked up a handful of soil, examined it carefully in his palm, and then said, "This land is good. There's plenty of space, and it seems like there are water sources here. It's a suitable place for what you're aiming for."
Hearing this, Jason realized that although Hershel had seemingly given up on his farm, he hadn't done so voluntarily—just like in the original story. After Jimmy's death, Jason thought that maybe the old man would lose the will to keep going, even with his daughters by his side.
But it was too early to draw conclusions. He had just arrived at the prison and still needed ti to process everything before focusing on other matters.
Hershel had a vague idea of why Jason had called him. He had overheard so words from his daughter about this place, which led him to believe there were deeper reasons behind Jason's timing.
"If we ever manage to expand our safe territory, we might be able to reclaim your farm, and you could return ho. Of course, to make that happen, I'd have to consider many other important factors. But what I want to tell you is that we still have that possibility in the future."
"I'm sorry about what happened with Shane at the farm. I know many of your family mbers were infected..." Jason hesitated before continuing, already thinking ahead about expanding their farmland.
However, when he looked at Hershel's previously calm expression turning increasingly grim, Jason saw the old man close his eyes slowly. When he spoke again, his rough voice carried a weight of sorrow.
"You don't need to say that to comfort . Do you know what the stupidest thing was? Back at the farm, when Shane shot that walker—what you all call them—in the heart, I realized just how foolish and selfish I had been. My family, my neighbors, my son… they were all dead."
"I tried to convince myself that this was just a reversible disease. I tried to feed all those people in the barn, even as their bodies continued to rot. Now that I've accepted reality, does it really matter where I stay?"
After hearing Hershel's long words, Jason couldn't help but respond. He had always thought the old man's mindset was sowhat similar to his own, but it seed Hershel still didn't fully grasp what Jason was trying to explain.
"Hershel, I want to share my deepest thoughts with you. The reason I established this place and brought all these people here is for an important purpose. I see this place as a starting point—a safe haven for survivors who have nowhere else to go!"
"Over ti, everyone will co to understand that many out there will try to do horrible things to us. So of us have already learned that the hard way. But I believe that as long as our strength is great enough, the virus will no longer be a threat to us. Even if we never find a cure, the hope of moving forward will be in our own hands."
"But to achieve that, I need enough food to feed everyone, enough weapons to protect them, and enough land for them to live in peace."
"You have big goals ahead of you," Hershel replied, "but you need to take care of yourself first. If everyone in this prison depends solely on your strength, you need to understand that you will beco irreplaceable here."
Hearing Hershel's words, Jason knew that the old man hadn't been wrong in his first impression of him. He understood that Jason was probably desperately seeking light in this dark world, but that also ant carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders.
"Haha, I'm not looking to be soone important. I just want to live while fighting to keep our world as intact as possible."
With a small smile, Jason reaffird that he wasn't trying to beco so great figure—he simply wanted to survive and accomplish his goals within his capabilities. He wanted to see how far he could go and how many people he could lead toward a better future.
Sighing, Hershel shifted his gaze to a group of people who were busy carrying supplies and gathering the machine guns that had been set up the night before. "You know, I'm a devout believer, and I've never lost my faith. But I know for sure that God did not bring this hell upon our world. I'm certain of that, and I want to thank Him for allowing to et you."
Hearing a new tone in Hershel's voice, Jason felt slightly relieved and thought it was ti to bring up the main topic of their conversation.
"Alright, let's not dwell on that for now. I need to tell you sothing important." Pausing for a mont to gather his thoughts, Jason saw Hershel nod, signaling him to speak.
"We have enough food for a long ti, but right now, we're only around 710 people in this prison, and we need to slow down our food consumption as soon as possible. At the mont, food isn't an issue, but we can't be certain about the future. I don't want people just sitting around, waiting for our resources to run out."
"Since I plan to take in more people in the future, we need to build a solid and sustainable base—not just to keep the walkers out and protect ourselves from them, but also to keep bad people away."
"We need to start using this land as soon as possible and think about moving livestock here while we cultivate the fields. Later on, we'll expand to better farmland, but for now, we can start right here."
Jason and Hershel discussed how they would handle agriculture and the plans that needed to be developed. After a long conversation, Hershel was surprised by the well-structured plans in Jason's mind. Does this man ever rest? His unwavering determination, dignified leadership, and constant preparedness made Hershel question whether he had been wasting his own life.
Jason's ability to think and act was seemingly always at its peak.
Since there was too much to be done in the community's base, Jason didn't have ti to oversee everything himself, so he entrusted Hershel with this responsibility.
Jason gave Hershel full authority to select trustworthy people with the help of a guard to start working on the project. Later, he would approach Guillermo to work alongside Hershel on food production.
For now, Jason had settled this matter. However, he still had many other things to deal with, and one pressing issue stood out. Apparently, so troubleso students had been brought to the prison by Shane and were currently in a separate unit.
He needed to resolve this as soon as possible and determine whether it was a problem worth addressing.
User Comments
0 comments from readers