Weeks ago.
Three Spirits Community.
"I'm serious, we were attacked by some lunatics, they were equipped with very advanced uniforms!"
A man kneeling on the ground was explaining the situation in detail. All these men belonged to Julio's group, and they were known for not having a good reputation when they went out to explore.
Julio, who was furious after hearing how Tony didn't do anything even after dying, shouted: "We must look for them, we have to hunt them all down and kill them."
"Are you listening to yourself?" A woman sitting in front of a large table, where other people were present, said: "More than forty people died, and now you want to go into a war we don't even know if we can win?"
"What?" Julio raised his voice and pointed: "If it weren't for that group, you wouldn't be sitting around a shell, scared of being destroyed…"
"Those people…"
"They might be listening right now, damn it, I can't deny that some of us have already been influenced by the power of those people… The only thing I recommend is that we stay united…" Reginald said while rubbing his forehead in exhaustion.
It had been over a year since the end of the world began, and just like in other cities as well as in South Carolina, the government made mistakes. However, many did not accept those mistakes and rebelled against the army, including Reginald, who at that time was a sergeant.
Slowly, they tried to form a group of survivors and wait for a prudent action from the government, but weeks passed and then months. Now everyone knew that there was no one left who could save them from this hell. And it was too late to try anything—millions had already died.
Reginald, as an experienced soldier, together with his men, began gathering more soldiers who had been under his command since the collapse of public order, and by adding police officers, firefighters and some other veterans, they formed a group.
They began merging with other groups, but these groups were of different natures, and now the entire fused community made up of seven different groups had reached a number of four thousand survivors, a little more.
These four thousand people were led by seven leaders who did everything possible to maintain calm, keep everything functioning, and ensure that relationships never broke.
But a few days ago, stability was lost with the elimination of three of the seven leaders who maintained control, and with the destruction of many places that had been turned into supply points.
Who were those people?
Well, they called themselves the Salvation of the World, a faction everyone should join. The Fireflies, who claimed to be the rebels who disobeyed the orders of the new government, asked them to join their war against the CRM.
Why should they now belong to a war that wasn't theirs?
It was obvious that they all refused, but the Fireflies could not ignore a force as big as the Beaver Community, so they gave them a small number of days to respond.
Don't they want to take back the world before the end of the world?
Don't they want to fight for absolute power?
Is no one angry at the government for failing to properly protect the country?
Everyone was, but go to war against someone who was possibly a hundred times stronger than them? But now that there were four leaders, two agreed to accept, and the other two did not.
A gap formed, and a clear struggle could break out at any moment. And a few days ago, with the elimination of Julio's entire squad—who served one of the four remaining leaders—everything was becoming very tense.
Some thought it was the CRM because of those gray combat suits, but some had information and knew that CRM soldiers' combat suits were black.
Everyone was disoriented…
…
"The Fireflies, are they really trustworthy?"
"We don't know, but we shouldn't get involved in a fight we know very well we cannot sustain… There are stronger walkers in the northern part of the country, how can we afford to join that group of lunatics?"
Reginald was having a conversation with a group of subordinates, all of them absolutely trustworthy. He had doubts about what to do next, so listening to other people's thoughts always helped make a proper decision.
"That group that killed our men must have defended themselves from an attack. The zone we inspected was full of dead walkers and many impressive scenes."
"Yes, there's no doubt they were attacked by Julio's men."
"Do you think it was the Fireflies who did it?" Reginald asked doubtfully.
"I doubt it, they say they have gray combat gear and their firepower is so good they left most of the weapons on the ground…"
"Maybe they didn't have time to pick them up…"
"That could be…"
"Whatever the case, we need to understand that we can't fight them. They must have a nearby base, they may even already know about our Beaver Community."
Reginald was about to finish the meeting when suddenly the door opened and a guard said: "We received a report that a group of ten people has appeared not far from here—at least twelve people, and all of them seem to be soldiers."
"Shit!"
"What do we do?"
"We can't afford to get into a conflict with them, we need to establish a conversation and find out what their purpose is in this place."
Reginald knew he couldn't make enemies left and right because the Fireflies still had a rope around their neck, so if they had the chance to be peaceful now, they would.
…
Now, Reginald knew that this group of unknown soldiers were no ordinary people, and they all truly seemed to be soldiers who had once served the country.
But if there was one thing that worried him, it was knowing that these people had very strong equipment. Clean clothes, weapons, and magazines full of cartridges—these men were not lost nor passing through; they were carrying out a mission.