"In any case," Shawn took a deep breath.
"I specifically brought this up at tonight's impromptu meeting to make everyone vigilant."
"When facing Walkers that are everywhere, observe before acting."
"Don't be caught off guard by these rats hiding under Walker skin."
"They will come again, there's no doubt about that."
Shawn looked at Daryl and Michonne.
"Aaron and Eric are joining the Search team as special talents for scavenging supplies and recruiting survivors, with an initial points calculation of 5000."
"The Search team, like other large teams, can recruit independently."
"Daryl, you know what I mean."
Shawn gave Daryl an 'everyone understands' look.
He and Song Yoon-ah had always been ambiguous, and Shawn was a bit anxious for him.
The apocalypse was different from civilized times; both men and women wanted to find a safe haven for their hearts, so when emotions came, everything naturally fell into place.
For example, that's how Shawn and Beth were back then.
Daryl grunted a muffled 'hmm', not knowing if he understood Shawn's hint.
"In addition, the Search team recently needs to observe the Walkers wandering near Prison and the direction of the Walker horde."
"If any suspicious situation is found, inform Shane, Rick, or me at any time."
Shawn looked at Shane: "Train soldiers for a thousand days to use them for an hour; always be ready for battle. I have a hunch that war might not be far from us."
Now that even The Whisperers from the later stages had appeared, Shawn vaguely felt that the next crisis could strike at any time.
'Still need to seize the time to improve the strength of Prison~'
He sighed inwardly, and with Shawn's declaration of 'meeting adjourned', the impromptu meeting finally came to an end.
"Aren't you going back yet?"
Only two people were left in the cafeteria; Milton looked at Elynn, who was still reading, and asked.
Elynn looked up, then belatedly realized.
"Everyone's gone?"
"Yes."
"Never mind, I'll read a bit more and then leave."
Elynn lowered his head again, and Milton's gaze shifted from him to the Walker skin mask on the ground.
He picked up the mask, stared at it for a while, and faint light reflected on his glasses.
… …
The same night.
A small car drove on a forest path in Virginia, with over a dozen Walkers chasing behind it.
The instinctive desire for flesh and blood drove them forward tirelessly.
"They didn't catch up, did they?"
Spencer was a bit nervous, controlling the steering wheel while asking the person next to him.
Shinji looked back through the rear window, and only after seeing the Walkers gradually shrink as the car speed increased, did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"No."
He was originally a member of Alexander Community, and when faced with Shawn's invitation, he chose to stay with Spencer.
"Get up, look at how scared you all are."
Shinji's palms were sweaty, but he still held a pistol tightly, his gaze sweeping towards the back row of the car.
Several heads slowly emerged from the darkness, still shaken.
"Where are we going? This is endless!"
"I should have gone with Diana and the others back then instead of staying in Alexander."
A man wearing glasses, looking about 30 years old, complained with fear and unwillingness, his voice tinged with a cry.
But he didn't notice that when he said this, Spencer, in the driver's seat, couldn't help but clench his fingers on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
"Did I force you to stay back then?"
Spencer spoke coldly.
He looked at the glasses man through the rearview mirror, and the glasses man was intimidated by his gaze, his expression shrinking a bit.
The others in the back row wanted to speak, but seeing Spencer's attitude towards the glasses man, their open mouths silently closed again.
Spencer continued to drive the small car forward, but his face grew increasingly grim.
"Damn it, if most of the Search team hadn't been taken away, how could I have fallen to this point?!"
"Walkers surrounded Alexander, and the high walls weren't completed in time; they couldn't withstand the constant harassment of the Walker horde."
"It's all that Asian's fault for taking away the people from Alexander, it's all his fault!"
"It's all their fault, it's all their fault…"
Spencer's eyes changed, glowing a faint green in the night.
Each time he thought of it, Spencer shed a bit of his own responsibility and gained a bit more resentment towards others.
Spencer hated his mother, why didn't she assert herself and take him with her back then.
He hated Shawn; Alexander was fine, why did Shawn have to disturb them?
He even hated the former residents of the Community.
"These ungrateful ingrates, who gave them a safe place to live, who found them food, and they just ran off with someone else like that!"
Spencer gnashed his teeth, wishing Shawn would appear before him immediately, and then, like a Walker, he would gnaw off Shawn's flesh inch by inch with his teeth.
But then again.
If Spencer really had the guts, he probably wouldn't have ended up like this.
Even if he were given another chance, he would still only be able to lower his head in front of Shawn, too cowardly to do anything but stew in his own anger when alone.
Because that's just how he is, it's his nature.
And the most ridiculous thing is that such a person would serve as the leader of the combat and Search team in a survivor Camp.
If not for Shawn, the downfall of Alexander was only a matter of time; Shawn was saving them, but in Spencer's eyes, it became 'taking away everything that belonged to me'.
It's just a pity that even now, Spencer still doesn't understand.
He was still living in the past, unable to face reality.
The small car slowly stopped, and the drowsy Shinji suddenly woke up.
He gripped his pistol, somewhat reactively pointing it around, mumbling quickly.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Spencer looked at him expressionlessly, and after a few seconds of eye contact, turned his head to look at the hill beside them, saying faintly.
"I think we've found a place to settle."
Just as Spencer's gaze fell, a fortress surrounded by wood stood tall.
Even from the bottom of the hill, several flickering points of fire could be seen.
This was Culpeper, Virginia, originally a historical museum named Barrington Estate, now transformed into a fortress surrounded by tall, pointed wooden stakes, built into the terrain.
It was only 72 miles from Alexander.
… …
The next day, morning.
Shawn appeared on the training ground.
"Olivia, they will help you guard the supplies from now on. You just need to verify the quantity."
As Shawn finished speaking, the 30 Zealots following him all took a step forward in unison, making Olivia tremble. Looking at the expressionless Zealots, her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"C-can they… do it?"
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