The surviving Woodbury scout crashed through the thick underbrush, his chest heaving as a primal terror drove his legs forward. He didn't even look back at the dangled, headless remains of his partner. Sprinting with everything he had, he reached his hidden vehicle parked off a dirt trail, threw himself into the driver's seat, and slammed his foot on the gas. The tires threw up a spray of mud as the car tore down the road, speeding desperately back toward the sanctuary of his home base.
A split second later, the monstrous, pitch-black INKAS Sentry erupted from the treeline. Gray didn't hesitate, keeping his eyes locked onto the distant cloud of dust left behind by the fleeing spy. He pinned the accelerator, and the heavy military truck roared in pursuit, its massive engine vibrating through the chassis.
Merle shifted in the passenger seat, tightly gripping his UAC handgun as the landscape blurred past the bulletproof windows. He checked his side mirror and grinned wickedly. "Who the hell are we chasing, kid?"
"The people who have been spying on our place," Gray replied, his voice dead calm despite the high-speed chase. "My instincts tell me they're the exact same ones who picked up Tomas and Andrew when they fled the prison."
They maintained the high-speed pursuit for a few more minutes, the black armored truck effortlessly closing the distance behind the scout's erratic driving. Suddenly, as the road began to curve toward an intersection, Gray slammed on the brakes.
Merle blinked, looking around the empty road. "What's wrong? Why'd we stop? We almost had the bastard!"
Gray didn't answer right away. He kept his Wraith Sight actively engaged. His vision effortlessly tracked the fleeing scout's blue silhouette as he pulled up to the fortified perimeter of a small, barricaded settlement down the road. "Woodbury," Gray muttered, reading the signs of the town.
Remaining parked a few blocks away, Gray used his advanced perception to meticulously scout the community's layout from the safety of his vehicle. His eyes panned across the rooftops and barricades, picking out exactly twelve armed guards stationed at various watch posts, alongside several roaming patrols. Gray calculated the tactical variables in a split second. Backed by Batman's peak physical capabilities, Deadshot's lethal marksmanship, and his high-tech arsenal, he realized he could easily wipe out every single hostile in the town by himself if things went sideways.
Deactivating his Wraith Sight, Gray's eyes returned to normal. He turned the key, shifted the truck into drive, and calmly rolled right up to the main fortified entrance of Woodbury.
The guards stationed on the high wall immediately froze when the monstrous, bulletproof military vehicle emerged from the shadows of the road. A wave of deep discomfort washed over the lookouts. One of the guards panicked, immediately turning on his heel and scrambling down the ladder to fetch their leader.
Inside the cabin, Gray and Merle remained completely relaxed, keeping the engine idling with a low, predatory rumble.
A moment later, the heavy wooden gates creaked open just a fraction, and a man in a dark trench coat stepped into the open gap, flanked by a few heavily armed soldiers. It was the Governor.
The moment the man appeared, Gray instantly activated his Sin Vision.
A sickening, dense cloud of dark crimson markers materialized over the Governor's silhouette. The sheer volume of cold-blooded murders the man had already committed was absolutely staggering, painting a clear picture of a total psychopath. Surprisingly, Gray noticed that the specific script for rape hadn't appeared over him yet. Gray's mind instantly flashed back to his knowledge of the original timeline, remembering the horrific scenes where this monster forced Maggie to go topless and tried to break her, and a sudden, dangerous wave of anger burned deep in his chest.
The Governor stepped forward, adjusting his posture to look commanding, though his eyes betrayed his intense wariness of the massive tank idling in front of him. "Can I help you gentlemen?" the Governor called out, his voice smooth and deceptively welcoming. "What are you doing here, and what is your purpose? We are just a peaceful community of survivors trying to rebuild."
Inside the airtight truck, Gray scoffed out loud at the blatant lie. He reached over, flipped a heavy toggle switch on the dashboard, and activated the vehicle's external military intercom system.
"Someone was spying on my people and me," Gray's voice boomed through the external speakers, echoing loudly against the town's wooden walls with a terrifying, mechanical resonance. "Obviously, I put one of your scouts down in the dirt, while the other one panicked and drove straight back to this exact location."
The Governor's face tightened, his polite smile instantly vanishing.
"And some prisoners escaped our compound earlier today," Gray continued through the intercom. "I'm out here searching for them." He kept it brief, describing exactly how Tomas and Andrew looked and what they were wearing.
The Governor adjusted his coat, instantly feigning total ignorance. He shook his head smoothly. "I'm sorry, son. We haven't met anyone like that out here. We don't know who you're talking about."
"That's bullshit," Gray replied flatly over the microphone, not giving the man a single inch of leeway. "But alright. Let's play it your way for now."
Gray leaned forward, his glare piercing through the glass. "Did you know your people were actively spying on our base?"
The Governor realized the peaceful survivor act was entirely useless against the man inside the tank. His eyes darkened, a cold, arrogant expression taking over his features as he took a step closer to the bumper. "Yes," the Governor admitted, his voice dropping into a firm, territorial threat. "We knew about it because we already had our eyes on that prison. We were planning on clearing the place out ourselves real soon. Your little group just happened to take it first."
A grin played on Gray's lips as he gripped the steering wheel. "Yeah, we took it," his voice boomed back over the intercom, carrying the absolute weight of a lethal promise. "And it's ours now. So you'd better call every single one of your scouts and spies back inside these walls immediately. Because the second I make it back to my perimeter, I am going to start shooting every single one of them on sight."
The Governor's eyes narrowed. He took a slow step closer to the front bumper of the massive black tank, his hand resting tightly on the holster at his hip. "Is that a threat?" he asked, his voice dripping with venom.
Gray didn't hesitate, his voice echoing over the heavy military intercom with a casual tone. "It's a fact," he replied over the microphone. "If you don't believe me, go ask your little spy how it's gonna end up for the rest of you if you don't listen."
Before the Governor could utter another word, Gray slammed the INKAS Sentry into reverse. The massive military tires screeched violently against the clean Woodbury asphalt, throwing up a cloud of thick exhaust smoke. Gray spun the wheel, shifted into drive, and the black armored fortress roared away down the highway, leaving the Governor and his guards standing on the pavement, completely rattled.
The Governor turned on his heel and stormed back inside the gates. He marched straight toward the town's motor pool. He found the surviving scout leaning against his vehicle, chest heaving and covered in his partner's splattered blood. Without warning, the Governor swung his fist and punched the man squarely in the face.
The scout stumbled back against the hood, clutching his bleeding jaw. "Sir-!"
"You cowardly idiot!" the Governor roared, towering over him. "You just led our enemies straight to our front doors! Now they know exactly where we live!"
"I'm sorry! I had no choice!" the scout stammered, his voice shaking with residual terror. "You don't understand what's out there! John... his head just exploded. One second, he was looking through his binoculars, and the next, he was just gone! The guy driving that truck... his eyes were glowing white, Governor. He looked straight at us from a quarter mile away!"
The Governor froze. He let out a slow, heavy breath, the anger in his eyes briefly giving way to deep calculation. "A quarter mile away..." he whispered to himself. He hadn't been told that the prison group possessed that kind of advanced military vehicle, let alone an individual capable of systematically picking off their finest scouts from such an impossible distance, and as for the glowing eyes remark, he thought it was some hallucination.
Leaving the trembling scout behind, the Governor walked across the clean, manicured streets of Woodbury and entered the town's makeshift medical building. He pushed past the curtains and found Tomas and Andrew lying in two separate beds, their minor cuts and bruises already patched up, and even Andrew's broken nose was fixed by the town doctor.
The Governor approached the foot of their beds, crossing his arms. "Two men from the prison just paid us a visit. They arrived at my gates in a heavy-duty, bulletproof armored personnel carrier. One of them was the kid you talked about, the one with the long hair. Tell me about it."
Tomas and Andrew exchanged a completely confused look. "The kid?" Tomas scoffed, shaking his head. "Man, we don't know nothing about no armored carrier. When we were locked up, the only thing we saw him roll around in was a Humvee. Just a regular, green military used Humvee."
"Well, he just showed up at my border in a tank on wheels," the Governor said coldly, his eyes narrowing. "What else are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing, man! We already told you everything we know!" Andrew yelled defensively, sitting up in his bed. "We gave you the exact layout of the cell blocks! We told you they only got about twenty people max, and half of 'em are women and old men! We held up our end!"
Tomas gripped the edge of his mattress, his eyes burning with malice. "We want revenge, Governor. That prison belongs to us. We spent months rotting in a cafeteria, and that group just walked in and took everything. You help us take it back, and we'll help you run the place."
The Governor stared at them for a long moment before a knowing smile returned to his face. "Rest up for now," he told them smoothly, turning back toward the exit. "You'll get your chance very soon."
Back at the prison, the heavy stone gate groaned shut as the INKAS Sentry rolled back into the secure courtyard. The moment Gray stepped out of the driver's seat, Rick, Shane, and the rest of the core group gathered around the vehicle.
"We found the people who took Tomas and Andrew," Gray announced to the crowd. "They're a heavily armed, organized community living in a walled-off town a few miles out. I already took one of their spies out in the woods, but they've been watching our borders. There might still be more scouts lurking around, so do not lower your guard. Be careful whenever you're out in the yard."
Seeing that it was just a bit after noon, Gray decided to leave the brewing war to the side for the moment. The community needed infrastructure to survive in the long term. He walked back inside the dark cell block to continue his electrical work.
With his newly acquired Advanced Electrical Skills, the work felt entirely natural and incredibly fast. Moving with expert precision, Gray began mounting thick metal electrical conduits along the concrete walls. He ran the heavy wiring lines seamlessly down the entire right side of the cell block, branching the connections cleanly into the communal showers and the newly designated infirmary room.
The installation took him the rest of the afternoon. After carefully running the main feeds back to the MFE battery bank near the entryway, he finally secured the inverter and the master breaker and flipped the grid online.
The main hallway remained dark for a second. Gray walked to the wall switch closest to the cell block entrance and flipped it up.
Click.
Instantly, the overhead light fixtures surged to life, flooding the once-grim concrete corridor with a bright, warm illumination. Down the hall, cheers and excited shouts echoed from the survivors. Carol, Carl, and Beth stepped out of their cells, staring up at the ceiling in absolute awe. For the first time since the world ended, they didn't have to navigate their home using dim flashlights or flickering candles.
"I'll finish wiring up the individual cells tomorrow," Gray called out over the excitement.
Before wrapping up for the evening, he opened his system interface one more time to solve their food storage problem. He browsed the appliances and purchased two premium stainless-steel French-style refrigerators, along with a massive 16-cubic-foot heavy-duty meat freezer to hold the meat Hershel was planning to process.
He materialized the heavy appliances directly opposite the battery bank, neatly lining them up right next to the ladder leading to the exit. Working quickly, Gray hooked the power lines into the main inverter and flipped the toggles. The twin refrigerators and the massive freezer hummed to life instantly, their digital displays lighting up as they rapidly cooled.
Satisfied with his handiwork, Gray opened the shop menu one last time. He bought several bulk boxes of assorted cereals, stacks of clean plastic bowls, and half a dozen gallons of fresh milk, neatly arranging the groceries inside the newly lit common area for everyone to enjoy.
With the cell block fully functional and glowing with electricity, Gray turned around, pushed through the heavy entry doors, and walked back out into the cool evening air of the courtyard to check the perimeter.