I invite you to read my new novel: THE LAST OF US: Stay Alive, leave a power stone, and leave reviews. It would help a lot.
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Prison, west of Georgia, at the top of a watchtower.
Daniel was sitting at the top of a watchtower. His face said it all: utter boredom. With his rifle resting on the edge, he slowly scanned the forest through the scope, lacking any enthusiasm. The area was calm. Too calm, actually. No walkers or people were approaching anymore; the prison had beco a completely isolated fortress.
The forest, once thick and lush, had been largely cleared. At least one hundred ters of trees around the outer periter had disappeared, leaving a wide clearing between the vegetation and the first wire fence.
That decision, made so ti ago, had been key. It offered a clean and wide field of view, ideal for snipers stationed in towers like himself.
Jason, as the leader of the prison, had considered that while the trees could offer so protection, they also dangerously blocked visibility. It was like closing your eyes just before an ambush. That's why he ordered the area cleared with simple and effective thods, also considering future expansions of the settlent.
Today, the watchtowers were so tall that they rose above most of the remaining trees. Although they couldn't see clearly to the south due to the terrain's relief, the view from that side remained excellent thanks to the intensive clearing.
The surveillance system worked in shifts, always with trained personnel. This ti it was Daniel's turn. He looked at his watch: almost noon. He was about to ease up a bit, maybe take a break, when sothing caught his attention in the scope.
"What the hell...?" Daniel muttered as he noticed sothing that had never happened before.
Several figures suddenly appeared in his field of view. They were moving carefully between the trees, unaware that they were completely exposed.
Thanks to the camouflage at the top of the tower, Daniel could see them clearly without being detected. Through the scope, he adjusted the focus and began to count.
One... two... three... seven in total.
What caught his attention the most was a dark-skinned woman, tied up, being carried by one of them. Daniel squinted.
"Shit..." Daniel muttered quietly.
The situation was clear: all the others were ard to the teeth. Except for the woman, the rest were an obvious threat.
Realizing things were more complicated, Daniel imdiately took the radio on his bed and reported the situation: "Zz... This is Eye 1. There's an ard group approaching from the west road. Seven individuals. One appears to be a hostage... I have them in my sights! Proceed with caution."
"Received, Eye 1! Stay alert." Tyler, from a central communications tower, imdiately began issuing orders one after the other.
The entire prison sprang into action. The watchtowers were reinforced with extra personnel. The workers who were in the outer fields were imdiately pulled back, and all doors were sealed as a protocol.
In less ti than it takes to sing a rooster's song, a level-one alert was activated: an external threat with unknown firepower had been detected. That ant no one was to be outdoors, and an attack team would handle the situation.
A group of ten people with level-two clearance was deployed without delay, led by rle, who left the premises imdiately. He was in his pri. Since he decided to follow Jason, his attitude had changed significantly. Though still tough, his character had been tempered... except when things got ugly. That was when compassion disappeared from his behavior.
But over ti, rle had earned the group's respect. He'd shown that he could survive, that he could make tough decisions without flinching. In this world, morality was a luxury few could afford. And rle understood that better than anyone.
His brother Daryl also played a key role. He often went hunting, bringing fresh at for the settlent. Sotis he even captured live animals to raise them. Both, in their own way, helped keep the group's food supply stable.
Thanks to that, people began to look at the Dixon brothers with different eyes. rle, especially, began to feel sothing he never thought he'd need: admiration. For the first ti, he was respected for just being himself. That silent recognition beca a driving force that improved his performance in every mission.
Who doesn't want to be accepted for who they really are? Although so fool themselves, everyone seeks the sa thing: to be seen, to be valued. Sure, there are people who hate cats for no reason... and who's to say in this world they wouldn't hate you just for thinking differently?
But in this new order, public opinion stopped mattering long ago. People no longer lived by what others thought. Here, everyone is free to be who they are... or who they need to be to survive.
As soon as rle led the response team out of the prison, he contacted Daniel in the watchtower for updated information. Thanks to Daniel's precise instructions, rle easily located the enemy group's position.
"Damn vest..." rle muttered as he moved through the trees. "How the hell can this thing weigh so much?"
Around him, the rest of the team kept a firm pace, alert to any movent. The distance to the enemy group was steadily shrinking. When they were just over one hundred ters away, rle raised a hand and stopped dead in his tracks. He took that mont to quickly explain the action plan.
After giving the instructions, only Jim and a man nad Marcos remained by his side. The others dispersed in formation, surrounding the area silently.
"We're going to kick ass." rle said with a half-smile before charging forward with determination.
anwhile, Martínez's group advanced through the forest, unaware of what was coming. Every step they took was accompanied by the crackling of dry branches under their feet, the sound betraying their position with each movent. Although the environnt seed calm, sothing in Martínez's instinct told him they were on the right path.
One of the things that made him suspicious was the almost total absence of walkers. Since entering the forest, they had barely encountered one or two. To him, that could only an one thing: soone was regularly clearing the area. And where there's clearing... there's life.
What Martínez didn't know was that they had already fallen into a trap. Behind them, one of the walkers who seed to be wandering among the trees suddenly stopped. It took off its hood, pulled a small radio from its pocket, and spoke quietly: "This is attack command. The group is entering my position. Seven operatives. Confird, a dark-skinned woman is a hostage."
"Copy that, Viktor. Move and support Captain rle with the interception."
"Understood."
Without wasting any ti, Viktor put the radio away, took a step forward, and disappeared among the trees, ready to close the trap.
Ignoring the walkers who weren't heading in his direction due to his camouflage, Viktor pulled his hood back on and moved behind Martínez's group.
A dozen ters ahead, Martínez raised the weapon in his hand, his gaze sharp, and signaled for those behind him to spread out while he slowly walked more cautiously behind the others.
The people around him were getting more and more nervous, aiming their weapons while watching every movent in the surroundings. However, none of them realized that Michonne had slowed her pace and was now behind the group. Her eyes had regained their color, and she fixed her gaze on the rope in Crowley's hands while looking for an opportunity to escape that group.
They all continued walking forward, each with their mind full of assumptions about what might happen. But just when they thought they were alert enough, a hoarse voice from a man sounded right in front of them: "Hey, stop right here, at this point, in this place, and at this mont! If I were you, I wouldn't keep moving forward."
"Who are you?" The sudden voice startled the entire group. Unable to see where it was coming from, they all, without thinking, held their weapons and aid them forward, in the direction of the voice.
"I'm the ranger of this area. Damn invaders, get off my playground." It was rle who spoke, and soon after, he appeared behind a large tree, grinning as he observed the people approaching the prison.
Michonne was the first to react to the distraction of everyone, and rle's appearance only made her act faster. Her gaze, which had previously been fixed on Crowley's hands, now focused on the rope he was holding, tied to his body.
At that mont, when Crowley raised the weapon, panicked, the rope in his hands was only held by one of his hands, and Michonne was sure she could escape.
Under no circumstances did she want to lose this opportunity, so she tensed her muscles and leaped backward, pulling the rope with force. Crowley only felt the burning of the rope on his hand before letting it go, and the weapon he had also fell to the ground.
"Ash!" In one swift motion, Michonne freed herself from Crowley's grip.
Feeling the burning in his palm, Crowley had no ti to worry about the pain. He quickly grabbed the weapon from the ground, and just as he was about to shoot Michonne, his movents froze.
Although Michonne had separated from Crowley, she didn't expect to lose her balance and fall to the ground. By the ti it took Crowley to raise his weapon, Michonne stepped back until she felt her back hit a figure. Looking up, she found a bloodied person, but the most curious thing was that they were holding a weapon and didn't appear to be a walker.
rle, who had been watching the entire process, grinned with a fake smile. He had originally wanted to joke around a little more with these people, but he couldn't help but watch as the black-skinned woman escaped the hands of those idiots. When he saw Crowley try to shoot, he knew he couldn't waste any more ti.
"I told you to stop, bitches!" rle's exaggerated shout instantly caught everyone's attention. Turning around, they stopped, and Martínez stepped forward, saying in confusion, "Are you telling us to stay still? But you're holding a banana, and your weapon is on your back."
rle grinned, showing a mouth full of yellowed teeth, and it was then that Martínez felt sothing wasn't right. And indeed, rle spoke again, this ti loudly: "Everyone! Don't be shy, let's greet our guests properly."
As soon as rle finished speaking, a group of people appeared from the surroundings and slowly surrounded Martínez's group. Crowley, who had lowered his weapon a while ago, showed a nervous expression.
Soon, Michonne, who was about to be killed, found herself face-to-face with a scout who had co from behind the group and intervened suddenly. Seeing how the situation was unfolding, Martínez smiled ironically, dropped the weapon in his hands without resistance, and then turned his head to look at the others.
"Put down the weapon!"
Several fully equipped individuals surrounded Martínez's group, and they, unable to do anything, lowered their weapons.
rle signaled one of his n to bring Michonne to his side. When she was brought closer, rle stared at her and said, "Tell , honey, why were you tied up? They must have treated you like an animal. Now you're safe."
Michonne had no ti to pay attention to rle's ridiculous words. She just turned her gaze toward Martínez's group, and they began to feel fear about what she was about to say.
"Because they killed my friend! They want to take back, and most likely, it's to torture or do sothing else unimaginable to !"
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