Upon hearing the question, Jason calmly nodded, not hesitating to admit what he had been asked. He had been asking himself the sa question for a long ti—was he still a soldier?
In the current world, that didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered now was being a survivor. But as a captain of the special forces, that status had brought him certain opportunities, like the one now before him.
A soldier nowadays relied on another much more than one could imagine.
When he reunited with the squads in Atlanta, with all those soldiers and survivors, he told them he was from the special forces, but that he and his people were working hard to maintain a safe haven for everyone, going against Operation Cobalt, which many had deserted.
The next step had been to assu the leadership needed to guide all survivors down the best possible path in this new world.
That approach had worked out well for him. With the chain of command in ruins, what did it matter if soone with Jason's flaws beca a leader? He knew that, in ti, the military could beco a threat. In reality, running into military groups in the future wouldn't be a good thing—but that wasn't relevant right now.
With two survivor bases, military forces guarding those shelters, and order maintained under a clear command system, Jason had nothing to worry about but moving forward.
Seeing that the soldier was watching him with a look full of anticipation, Jason let his actions speak for themselves. He pulled a tal tag from around his neck and raised it in the air.
"Luckily for you, I am. You can call Jason. I'm a captain of the Special Security Forces, and right now I'm in charge of two large shelters where my soldiers and the survivors fight to stay alive in this chaotic world. It was a surprise to find you alive. I'm glad you woke up."
The soldier looked at him, astonished, and sighed in relief. Then, with a trembling voice, he asked, "Sir, do you know what happened to my comrades? Were they saved by your people too?"
Jason looked at the soldier in silence before shaking his head slightly. There was no need to say anything more to answer that question. Then, with a solemn gesture, he took two dog tags from his pocket. He held them in his hands and carefully placed them next to the soldier's pillow.
The soldier squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears that had started to fall. He murmured through sobs, clearly overwheld:
"How could this happen?! How could this be happening?! We were just out exploring the road...!"
Jason sighed and, in a calm but firm tone, said: "A lot of things could've gone wrong with your helicopter. Maybe the maintenance wasn't up to standard, and that caused an engine failure. All of that should have been considered before you decided to go on a recon mission."
This scene marked the beginning of the third part of the story in the world they now lived in, and many started to debate. So claid that the helicopter crash had been caused by the Governor shooting it down—an absurd and impossible theory, given how many things would have had to line up for such a feat to occur.
The most likely cause was poor helicopter maintenance. Nowadays, resources were increasingly scarce, and maintaining a helicopter or a tank consud materials that were hard to co by. Others suggested the crash had been due to strong gusts of wind affecting the engine, which could have caused the accident too.
After a pause, Jason looked at the soldier seriously and said, "You've been through a lot, soldier. We have a long list of survivors, and I really hope soone important to you is on it. They'll bring it to you later so you can read it."
Sotis, new survivors would arrive at the bases and find close relatives or friends, which greatly benefited the growth of the community. For this reason, a list had been created with the nas of all survivors at each base, to keep a clear record.
"Thank you, sir…" the soldier replied, his voice broken.
Maybe, for him, what had happened was too much to process—a terrible, unbearable feeling. But in the end, it had already happened, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Jason took a few steps toward him and, with a deep look, said: "There was soone else who was still alive. We did everything we could to bring him to our base, but he didn't make it. He was being treated all night. I want you to understand that from now on, your only goal is to survive for them. Do you understand , soldier?"
"Thank you!" The soldier, though still pale, seed to have regained so color. He thanked Jason with a choked-up voice.
"Your na is Welles, right?" Jason asked. He had already checked the tag around his neck earlier and didn't want to look like a fool.
"Yes, I'm Welles! Captain."
"Nice to et you, Welles. You can call Jason. You're the first person to call 'Captain' who isn't one of my people. Though now that I think about it, my rank might be closer to Colonel these days. But with the special ranks we use in the bases we protect, that doesn't an much anymore."
Jason shook his head, looked at Welles, and then asked: "Welles, can I ask you sothing? Can you tell what happened to the base you were at?"
What Jason really wanted to know was where the squad that escaped with Welles was located. However, he knew he couldn't ask directly. Since he already had an idea of what happened and why those people had fled, he used his skills to gain Welles's trust first.
Since the location of that squad wasn't ntioned in the original story, Jason knew he'd have to find it himself. After all, there were at least fifteen regular troops in that squad, and recruiting them would be useful for the base.
At the Atlanta shelter, there were already over five hundred soldiers and about three hundred police officers, all recruited with the offer of protecting the base, which was now expanding. And not only were soldiers needed, but also good citizens, grateful to have a safe place to stay.
Even if the base they protected were breached, Jason knew it wasn't just bullets that were needed to take out walkers. Soldiers hadn't been very effective in the original story, but that didn't worry him. With the right knowledge, they could beco quite powerful.
Welles began to speak, unable to stop, telling Jason all the details of his team's unfortunate encounters. It wasn't very different from what Jason had already imagined.
According to Welles, soone had been bitten and turned into a walker. The infection spread uncontrollably, and that's when everyone started fleeing. When they finally managed to escape, they found the road blocked by vehicles. Not knowing if the area was safe, they decided to observe from above.
After patiently listening to Welles's account, Jason looked at him intently and said in an authoritative tone, "Well, that really was a tragedy. Do you know where your teammates are? Leaving them without answers for too long, with all those walkers outside, wouldn't be right. Where are they?"
Jason didn't seem truly interested in saving his teammates or knowing their location. He spoke as if it were just an act of kindness from a superior officer to so abandoned soldiers.
In the original story, Welles had also eagerly explained his comrades' location. Though the information was useful to him, Jason wanted to make it clear he wasn't putting too much importance on it.
"Are you really going to send a group to rescue them?" Welles asked without hesitation, eyeing Jason's military uniform. Could they be army comrades?
Hearing that his teammates might be saved, Welles described the approximate location where they were and then looked at Jason with a pleading gaze.
"Sir, I beg you! Please save my comrades! I hope you can bring them back safely!"
"Don't worry, they'll be rescued," Jason replied calmly, looking at him with serenity. "I'll do it. Now get so rest."
After saying goodbye, Jason quickly walked away to find Shane.
"Gather an elite team. Co with and call T-Dog and Glenn. I want them to drive two vehicles. Also, prep gas for the tank and the cars."
Shane nodded and left quickly.
Soon after, the two armored Humvee vehicles with mounted machine guns and a tank rolled out through the prison gates and into the darkness of the night.
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