Gray woke up right at 7:00 AM inside his RV. He pulled up his system to check his gold, watching the glowing numbers tick over to a staggering 195,695,595 Gold.
He stepped outside and took a morning tour through the dark prison halls. Watching the survivors still stumbling around with flashlights, he realized they desperately needed electricity, especially a fridge or freezer to store the fresh meat from Hershel's upcoming cattle slaughter. Gray began browsing his system shop for power options. A big Arc Reactor felt like absolute overkill for their current needs, so he settled on something much more practical: Tech Reborn solar panels from Minecraft.
He purchased six Ultimate Solar Panels for 250,000 Gold each, along with a massive spool of glass fiber cables. Next, he scrolled to the skill tab and bought Advanced Electrical Skills. As the knowledge flooded his mind, he picked out three MFE Batteries from the shop to hold the charge.
Climbing up onto the flat concrete roof of the cell block, Gray began setting up the six solar panels. Down in the courtyard, several survivors stopped what they were doing and stared up at him weirdly, but Gray completely ignored the looks. Working with expert precision, he ran the thick fiber cables down the side of the building and drilled them straight into the cell block.
Inside, he set the three massive MFE batteries down inside an empty cage right next to the main entryway. He wired two solar panels directly into each individual battery, perfectly balancing the load. The system surged to life, storing way more energy than the community could ever realistically consume. Gray made a mental note to upgrade to quantum tech and better batteries down the line, but for now, this was enough. He just hooked up three power inverters, one for each battery, leaving the grid fully prepped for lights and appliances.
Before he could start stringing the actual wire through the cells, Amy cut him off in the hallway. "Gray?"
"What's up?" Gray replied.
"The two prisoners have been screaming and complaining all night," Amy said, looking exhausted. "We need to figure out what we're doing with them."
Gray finally remembered they were supposed to vote on the fates of Tomas and Andrew. He called a mandatory group assembly in the courtyard right before breakfast. Once everyone gathered under the morning sun, the debate immediately fired up.
Dale stepped forward first, his face tight with concern. "We can't just keep them locked up forever, but we can't kill them either. We should release them."
"I want them dead," Gray said bluntly.
Rick rubbed the back of his neck, looking between them. "As long as they aren't a direct threat to my family or this group, I don't care if they live or die."
Shane stood off to the side, keeping completely quiet, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm with the kid," Merle barked, stepping up next to Gray. "You let snakes like that loose, they just come back to bite you when you ain't looking. Put 'em down."
Hershel raised his hands. "My family just got here. I don't feel it's our place to vote on this yet."
With no one else speaking up, Gray's execution order officially held the majority. "Alright. They'll be executed later today."
"This is insane!" Dale snapped, his face turning red with anger. "We are not judge, jury, and executioner, Gray! We don't just murder people because it's convenient!"
Gray replied calmly. "We can't afford to waste resources keeping dangerous criminals locked up in our basement."
"Yes, we can!" Dale rebutted, gesturing wildly toward the courtyard. "You can pull whatever you want out of thin air! Food, walls, tech, you have the means to keep them secure!"
"I pull things out for our group," Gray shot back. "Not for them. They didn't earn a damn thing here."
Leaving the argument behind, Gray grabbed his tools and went back into the cell block to continue wiring up the prison cells with lights and switches. Because he needed total access to the cell block, he called Rick, Shane, and T-Dog over to help move the inmates.
Thinking about it for a moment, Gray decided it was time to reward good behavior. He walked up to Oscar, Axel, and Big Tiny. "You three have been working hard and keeping your noses clean. You earned your freedom. You're part of the group now."
The three men looked incredibly relieved, thanking him as they stepped out of their cells.
Tomas and Andrew, however, immediately started screaming profanities from behind their bars. Gray didn't even argue. He walked out to the courtyard, opened the store, and purchased a heavy-duty prison wagon for 8 thousand gold. Walking back inside, he threw their cell doors open and pointed his gun at them. "Outside. Into your new cells."
The moment Tomas and Andrew stepped out into the open courtyard, they froze, their eyes going wide in absolute shock. The prison was completely unrecognizable. Towering, four-meter-high stone walls surrounded them, and a massive cattle pasture sat right outside the fence line.
"What the fuck is this?!" Tomas stammered, looking around in a panic.
Gray scoffed, not giving him an inch. "Don't worry about it. It's none of your business anyway."
Before Tomas could shout back, Gray grabbed him by the shoulder and aggressively shoved both him and Andrew toward the heavy iron bars of the newly purchased prison wagon. "Get inside. This is your new home."
They stumbled into the small, barred enclosure, and Gray slammed the heavy iron door shut, locking it tight with a sharp metallic click.
Turning back on his heel, Gray walked into the main cell block to finish installing the remaining light switches and run the wire through metal conduit pipe to better protect the cables in the dark corridors. As he walked past the main guard area near the entryway, he pulled the heavy ring of keys out of his pocket and tossed them onto a nearby wooden table, figuring they were safe inside the secured building while everyone finished up the daily chores.
As Gray headed back inside to finish installing the light switches, Dale kept trailing right behind him, pestering him at every turn. "There has to be another way, Gray. Rethink this. Once we start losing our humanity by killing living people... it won't stop there. We become just like the monsters outside."
Gray stopped working and turned around, looking Dale dead in the eye. "I agree with you, Dale. Killing changes people. But those two outside aren't innocent. Let me ask you something. What do you think would have happened if they managed to overpower me and take my guns on day one?"
Dale opened his mouth to speak, but Gray cut him off.
"Do you think they would have spared my life? Or would they have shot me, and waited for the rest of the group to come back the next morning so they could ambush them?" Gray pressed, his voice firm. "Tell me, Dale. What would they have done?"
Dale stared at him, completely silent. His jaw worked, but he couldn't find a single defense. Lowering his head, the old man turned around and walked away without a word.
Gray let out a heavy sigh and got back to work. The rest of the group was making incredible progress, the interior cleanup was almost entirely finished, with only a few dark hallways left to scrub before the whole block was pristine. An hour later, Carol called everyone into the newly cleaned dining hall for breakfast.
Dale stood near the doorway. "I'm not hungry," he muttered to the room. He turned and walked out into the yard, heading up the stairs of the guard tower closest to the main gate to take over the watch. "Go ahead and get some breakfast, son, I'll take over."
Glenn smiled, wiping his hands on a towel. "Thanks, Dale!" he called out, happily joining the rest of the group inside the cell block.
Seeing his opportunity, Dale aggressively scanned the yard to ensure everyone was inside eating. He quickly sneaked back down the tower steps, but he didn't head for the kitchen. Instead, with grim determination, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring of keys he had quietly swiped from the cell block counter earlier.
He hurried across the concrete and unlocked the heavy iron door of the prison wagon. Tomas and Andrew stared at him in shock as the door swung open, but before they could move, Dale snapped his rifle up, aiming it dead at Tomas's chest.
"Move. Slowly," Dale whispered fiercely, his hands steady on the gun. "Keep your mouths shut and march toward the main gate."
Tomas and Andrew exchanged a confused look, but the sight of the rifle kept them compliant. They walked out of the wagon with their hands up. Dale trailed right behind them, keeping his weapon locked on their backs as they reached the massive stone entrance. Dale cracked the heavy gate open just wide enough for them to slip through, ushering them out into the open countryside under gunpoint.
"Listen to me carefully," Dale growled, his voice dropping into a dangerous, protective warning. "The group is planning on executing both of you later today. I am letting you walk because I refuse to let us become cold-blooded murderers. But you are going to head north, and you are never coming back."
Dale leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing with absolute sincerity. "If I ever see your faces near this prison again, or if you ever threaten my family, I will not hesitate to put a bullet in you myself. Now get out of here."
Tomas glared at him, a wicked look already on his face, but Andrew looked terrified. Realizing this was their only lifeline, both men turned around and bolted into the thick, dark Georgia woods, completely disappearing from sight.
Dale watched them vanish, let out a long, shaky breath, and heavily secured the stone gate. He quickly climbed back up to the top of the guard tower, gripping his rifle as he took his post, praying he had made the right choice for the group's soul.
About thirty minutes passed before Daryl walked out of the cell block into the quiet courtyard. He casually strolled over toward the prison wagon to check on things, but his eyes narrowed when he realized the heavy iron door was unlatched. Pushing it open, he froze. It was completely empty.
Panic setting in, Daryl turned on his heel and rushed back inside the main cell block. "Gray! Gray, get out here!" he yelled through the corridors, his voice echoing loudly off the concrete walls.
Gray stopped what he was doing and rushed outside, with Merle hot on his heels. They skidded to a halt in front of the empty wagon. Gray's eyes aggressively scanned the area, instantly locking onto Dale up in the closest guard tower. The old man wasn't looking at the woods; he was staring straight back at Gray with an unblinking, defensive posture.
Gray didn't hesitate. He marched across the concrete courtyard toward the base of the tower and glared up. "Dale! Do you have any idea what you just did?" Gray barked.
Dale leaned over the iron railing, his face tight but defiant. "I know exactly what I did, Gray. I saved this group from becoming cold-hearted murderers. I saved our humanity."
"No, you didn't," Gray shot back, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy tone. "You just released two incredibly dangerous criminals into the wild. Worse of all, those two know our exact numbers, they know what weapons we carry, and they know this prison layout better than anyone else."
Gray stormed up the metal stairs, his heavy boots clanging against the steps until he met Dale eye-to-eye at the top platform. He didn't punch the old man, but his physical presence completely dominated the small space.
"You are a naive moron, Dale," Gray spat, staring at him with absolute disgust. "Listen to me very carefully. If anyone in this place, if the women, the children, or anyone else, gets hurt because of those two, their blood is entirely on your hands. It will be your responsibility."
Leaving Dale standing there speechless, Gray turned around, marched back down the steps, and regrouped with the Dixon brothers. He looked over at Daryl. "Can you track them? Hopefully, we can catch them out in the brush and put them down for good."
Daryl nodded, gripping his crossbow tighter. "I can track 'em. Let's move."
Before heading out the gate, Gray turned back to the remaining men, his eyes furious. "T-Dog, go up there right now and relieve Dale of his watch. Rick, Shane, take away his guns. He is on strict house arrest inside the cells until further notice."
Standing nearby, Andrea frowned deeply at the harsh punishment, but seeing how dangerously pissed off Gray was, she smartly kept her mouth shut.
Once outside the massive stone entrance, Daryl, Merle, and Gray pushed into the thick, dark Georgia woods. Daryl kept his eyes glued to the dirt, effortlessly picking up the scuff marks and broken twigs left behind by Tomas and Andrew. They made quick progress for about twenty minutes, but suddenly, Daryl came to a dead halt. He dropped down to one knee, brushing away a few dead leaves to inspect the soil.
"What is it, little brother?" Merle asked, holding his rifle up.
Daryl's face went completely serious. "We got a problem. Look here. The footprints multiply. Instead of just two sets, there's now five."
Gray immediately halted the search. Five sets of footprints meant Tomas and Andrew hadn't just run away, they had already linked up with people lurking right outside their borders. Continuing blindly into the woods risked walking straight into an organized ambush.
"We're turning back," Gray said firmly. "It's too dangerous to keep following them without knowing who they ran into."
The trio quickly retreated back to the fortress. Once inside the safety of the stone gate, Gray called an immediate, mandatory meeting, addressing every single member of the community in the courtyard.
"Listen up, everyone," Gray announced, his voice carrying across the yard. "The prisoners are gone, and they've already linked up with another group out in the woods. From this moment on, it is incredibly dangerous to go outside the walls alone. Do not leave the prison perimeter for any reason unless you are in a heavily armed squad. Keep your eyes completely open."
Inside the cell block, Gray stood by himself, staring out a narrow slit window toward the quiet treeline. His mind was racing. 'I knew things were going too smoothly,' he thought bitterly. 'Dale's naivety just painted a massive target on our backs.'
He opened his system interface, entering a deep inner monologue as he aggressively scrolled through the menus. 'I need a way to hunt these people down.' He browsed through tracking abilities, sensor tech, and combat gear, preparing for the inevitable clash.
Gray went to the armor options and purchased bulk crates of high-grade bulletproof tactical vests. Shifting through the cosmetic and specialized gear, he spotted something that fit perfectly and bought a full, reinforced Punisher tactical vest and dark outfit specifically for Shane. Next, he bought heavy-duty ballistic helmets for every single member of the community.
Carrying the massive crates out into the common area, Gray dumped them on the tables. "Listen up!" he called out. "From now on, nobody steps foot into the courtyard without a vest and a helmet. No exceptions."
As the group silently began putting on the heavy gear, Gray turned to the core fighters. "I'm going out to hunt them down by myself," Gray announced flatly. "I'm not risking any of your lives on a scouting run."
"The hell you are," Merle barked, stepping forward immediately. "You think you're the only one who can pull a trigger, kid? If you're going out there, I'm riding with you."
Daryl just cocked his crossbow and gave Gray a nod. "I'm also going."
Rick stepped up next, adjusting his new tactical vest. "Gray, we're a team. You're not walking into a potential ambush alone."
Seeing the stubborn determination on all three of their faces, Gray let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fine. If you're coming, we do this my way."
They marched out to the courtyard. Gray opened his interface, scrolled through the shop, and slammed his thumb on a heavy-duty military purchase.
{INKAS Sentry MPV} (28,000 Gold}
A monstrous, pitch-black armored personnel carrier materialized on the concrete. It was fully bulletproof, blast-resistant, and built like a literal tank.
Before they climbed inside, Gray went into his shop and bought three more UAC EMG Sidearms. He handed one to Rick, Merle, and Daryl. "Take these. Don't worry about reloading, they have infinite ammo. Use them if things get ugly."
The three men stared at the sci-fi handguns in absolute awe, turning them over in their hands as the weapons hummed with a quiet, lethal power.
Just as Gray turned to open the armored door of the MPV, Axel and Oscar hurried across the courtyard to stop him.
"Hey, Gray, hold up a second," Oscar said, his voice low. "Before all this happened, back when those two were still locked up, we heard Tomas and Andrew whispering to each other through the cell walls."
"Yeah," Axel chimed in, nodding grimly. "They were saying that the first thing they'd do once they got out was head straight for the Greene farm. They want to start scavenging whatever is left around the place. They figure once they find some guns out there, they're gonna come back and take this prison for themselves."
Gray looked at them for a moment, absorbing the info. "Thanks for letting me know," he said sincerely, giving them a firm nod. He then turned his focus entirely to Oscar. "And listen, Oscar. Once we take care of this mess and get rid of Tomas and Andrew for good, we're going to go out and look for your family. I haven't forgotten."
Oscar's eyes widened slightly in surprise, a massive wave of relief and gratitude washing over his face. "Thank you."
Gray climbed into the driver's seat of the massive INKAS Sentry. He was 90% sure Tomas and Andrew had already been picked up by the Governor's scouts, but still, it wouldn't hurt to check on the farm anyway. Merle immediately claimed the passenger side, grinning widely as he called out, "I'm riding shotgun, boy."
Gray just rolled his eyes and started the engine. "What are you, a kid?" In the back row, Rick and Daryl settled into the heavily reinforced passenger seats, locking their weapons down. The airtight armored doors slammed shut with a heavy thud, and the black military beast roared to life.
The heavy stone gate groaned smoothly outward. Gray slammed his foot on the gas, and the black armored fortress drove out, speeding down the dirt road toward the Greene family farm.