In the hours following their arrival at the prison, Jason personally took charge of many of the developments, making the best possible use of the safe areas within their current territory.
After the soldiers and police officers arrived at the prison that morning, they all became prison guards and began patrolling the area, quickly adapting to the new routine. As for the civilians, some accepted simple jobs, and in time, they would naturally transition to roles better suited to their skills.
It wasn't until the end of the day, as darkness settled over the surroundings, that Jason gathered everyone to address a very unfortunate event for the S.C.T. community.
In a corner of the prison, there was a box containing the body of someone who, until today, had never imagined losing their life at the hands of complete strangers.
Everyone stood surprisingly silent around the wooden box. Even though they had heard that someone had died, most of them didn't truly understand what had happened, except for a few who preferred to remain quiet.
No one asked how long they would be gathered in that place because they all knew something important and serious was about to happen.
Jason stood before them, observing the solemn expressions—some serious, some indifferent, and others grim. Beth stood beside Hershel, who wept silently, while a few others bore dark expressions.
"Believe it or not, many of our friends standing here today now realize that things have changed once again…"
As soon as he spoke, Jason expressed his thoughts naturally. Everyone looked at him, and he decided to continue:
"This morning, a group from the prison, led by Shane, who had originally gone out to search for supplies and ended up trapped by a horde of walkers, suffered an attack at the hands of other people."
Jason furrowed his brows, expressing his anger. He didn't expect many to understand, but he wanted this day to remain in everyone's memory as a warning of what was to come. He pointed out:
"People in this world have started to show their true nature little by little. Everyone is struggling to survive, while others seek only destruction."
"This time, we were attacked. The person murdered in cold blood was just a young man looking for a quiet place to survive. But no one asked him—those who took his life were only after our women, our resources, and the slaughter of all the men in our group."
Upon hearing Jason's words, Shane stepped forward and said, "That's right. Today, we were nearly killed by people who wanted to take the little we had. Richard was wounded, and he's now resting. Today, it was us outside the prison, but tomorrow, we could be facing an attack at the very gates of our new home."
As Jason looked at the heated Shane, he nodded and said, "But that won't turn us into a closed-off community. No, we will learn to defend ourselves, and we will not let anyone harm our people. I promise you—we will be ready when someone tries to hurt us."
"Are you still thinking of remaining ignorant of the situation? Or, on the contrary, will you be ready to defend our home? How do you feel now?"
Everyone held their breath until someone stepped forward and shouted:
"We will be ready to welcome those who want to live with us and kill all those who seek to harm us!"
"Yes! We will kill our enemies!"
"No one will harm our community!"
"No one will even think about hurting our families!"
After saying what needed to be said, Jason declared, "Alright, rest tonight, and tomorrow we will work hard for our future, my dear friends."
Jason then placed his hand on Jimmy's coffin, feeling a strange sensation inside him as he looked closer at how easily someone close to his circle could die. In this world, even a small mistake could mean death in the blink of an eye.
Up in a watchtower, Jason sat in silence, with Rick by his side.
As Jason spoke with Rick, Daryl climbed up with his crossbow. He sat down at the edge of the tower, then looked at Rick and said, "Is this a date or something?"
It had been nearly a month since Rick and Daryl met, and their relationship had grown closer over time. Not being good at communicating with people, Daryl had gradually eased his way in.
Now, at least, Daryl was able to talk more casually.
"The night seems quiet. As long as there isn't much movement outside the prison, the walkers won't come near," he commented.
"We need to do a lot of work in this place. It's well protected, but we know how dangerous a horde of walkers can be," Rick said as he scanned the area.
Jason smiled slightly and pointed out, "We also need to watch out for people. If we want to gather more survivors, we must be careful about who we let into this prison."
To be honest, after so many experiences, Jason felt more familiar with the people around him.
"Yeah, this is just the beginning…" Rick said in a deep voice.
Jason sat in a corner, scribbling some nonsense in a notebook, lost in thought. Apparently, these were still the early days of the overall story, with many people and events unfolding naturally around the world.
Crazy enemies, people who don't think about the future of others and only seek to cause trouble and maintain power in their respective communities. He needed to be aware of time and act accordingly to gain unique advantages.
Obviously, he didn't know much about what was happening in different places, but he understood the importance of advancing their plans as much as possible and fortifying this location to at least have a base of operations.
After finishing his notes, Jason turned the page and began drafting a brief plan to make this community more than just a group of people struggling to survive.
"Operation Cobalt…" Jason murmured softly.
"Cobalt?" Daryl turned toward Jason, his eyes sharp.
"Oh, Operation Cobalt was issued by the military. According to many of the soldiers who arrived at the prison, they were ordered to kill all people—infected or not—but very few could carry out such dark orders."
"They told you that themselves?" Rick asked, still unable to believe such an order had been given.
"Yes. I remember that in the hospital where you were, the military was killing people indiscriminately. It was a tragedy, but did it change anything?"
"The world went to shit. Not even the government could do anything, ha, ha, ha," Daryl scoffed in his rough voice.
"From now on, we need to be careful when we go out. It's better to ask three questions first than to be ambushed by the enemy."
With nothing more to say, they all went to rest, leaving security in the hands of Sam Valdez, who had gone to bed early since he hadn't slept while ensuring that the walker horde didn't approach the prison.
"Keep moving forward… huh?"