The room fell silent once more. Alicia, who was outside, stood still, thinking about what she had just heard. She knew Jason's ambition was immense, but she never imagined it would be so vast that today it could be considered a child's dream.
After talking for a while, Deanna finally spoke again, and Alicia could clearly hear a bit of repressed doubt in the source of the voice.
"Are you saying you could secretly support me?"
Upon hearing this question, Jason nodded and said, "That's right. As I said before, my strength at this point is on par with, or even greater than, the CRM. The Commonwealth, of course, is nothing more than people in my eyes. If we compare the two largest organizations I've told you about, it would be like comparing a government in the early days to the general populace."
"Do you understand the difference between the CRM and the Commonwealth? If I want to avoid deaths or deception, I must merge the Commonwealth with my organization. If I assume that my community will grow even more and add other organizations to the mix, we could easily surpass 100,000 survivors."
"Don't be surprised—my 20,000 are being trained to eliminate walkers, produce weapons and food, and I'm also preparing an army to deal not just with the dead but also with the living. Now, the S.C.T. remains in the shadows—you know what that means, right?"
Jason's words were cold. He appeared unusually calm, and in his eyes was an inexplicable confidence. That's when Deanna asked again: "What will happen to my family? It's difficult… What do you think I should do?"
"Your kids are a problem, and they know it. Since I'm doing everything I can to make this easier, of course I'll commit to taking care of them. But you need to make things clear to both of them and leave out the details about this matter that they don't need to know."
"Then, what are you going to do with that other organization? The CRM—is that what it's called?" Monroe suddenly asked.
Jason sighed and said, "I've located someone outside their organization. This person is responsible for gathering talents and delivering them to the CRM. I want to use that connection to plant moles inside. I've already thought this through. There's only one future, and the CRM isn't part of it. One way or another, I won't lose to them, even if I have to destroy the heart of their community."
No one understood the weight of those words, but when Jason said them, he imagined the sweet Black woman at the central base of their community.
Deanna sighed and held her chin before saying, "Jason, you're a good leader. I have to admit I'm glad to be one of your strongest plans for the future of the community, but I still need to discuss it with my husband before giving you an answer. Is that okay?"
Jason smiled and nodded. "Of course. You have every right to consider it. I'll respect your decision whether or not you go to the Commonwealth."
Monroe smiled calmly upon hearing Jason's thoughtful words and said, "Thank you for considering it, Jason. We'll talk more about this."
Realizing the conversation between the two parties was coming to an end, Alicia quickly removed her headphones, put everything away, and jogged toward Deanna's house.
In secret, she took the microphone again and ran back to her house in a hurry, but she didn't notice that Jason, in the living room, had already seen her.
As she slowly walked back into the room, Alicia lay on the bed, eyes closed and motionless, pretending to be asleep—but her slightly quickened breathing revealed the truth.
Walking up to the bedside, he sat beside the woman. Seeing that she was still pretending to sleep, he simply stretched out his hand and placed it on her head.
"Did you hear the whole conversation?"
Knowing she had been discovered, she reached up and removed the hand from her head, sighed, and sat up with a slightly thoughtful expression.
"You know I want to help you. I didn't mean to overhear something so important. I'm sorry."
Jason shook his head and interrupted Alicia's words. He didn't blame this girl who had saved his life and even fought for her own people like a true survivor. It was clear she genuinely wanted to help.
But Jason knew he couldn't involve her in something this sensitive, so he said, "Forget what you heard. You can't help me with things like this—no one really can. But you can support me with smaller, yet equally important matters later. Also, I'll have to leave very early tomorrow. When you wake up, you can tell the people you trust most."
"Everyone should know who our strongest enemy really is."
Alicia knew full well that the others still didn't know. Even if Jason hadn't gone into detail about his departure, it was definitely a risky idea.
Sighing, she turned her back to Jason and said nothing more, gradually falling asleep.
Jason knew he was slowly growing attached to Alicia, and he fully understood what that meant. Now he was vulnerable—and slowly, a hidden fear of losing someone he loved was beginning to grow inside him.
...
Early the next morning, Jason dressed like any other survivor and looked at Alicia, who was still sleeping deeply. She seemed troubled in her sleep, as if she hadn't rested well. He simply smiled at her, then quietly left the room.
Not long after he left, Alicia got up from the bed again like she had the night before. She looked toward the door, seeming hesitant, but in the end didn't follow him. Instead, she walked to the window and looked outside.
It was still dark outside the window, and a pickup truck was parked in the middle of the yard. It was the same vehicle Jason and Merle had been driving lately. There was no sign of Jason. She looked around, searching for his figure, but after a while, she saw several people loading bags behind the truck. After exchanging a few words, the truck drove away with Jason alone.
Standing in front of the window for a while, as if she had made a decision, her expression turned resolute. After a short moment, she changed clothes and left the room, heading straight to Deanna's house.
...
Not long after the truck left Alexandria, the sky began to brighten. In the dim morning light, as he drove down the quiet road, Jason was constantly thinking about his next plan.
After driving for several minutes, the sun was already up, and Jason had arrived near his destination. He slowly parked the vehicle in front of a gate and got out.
What appeared before him was a mountain of trash, with a shipping container embedded in the center of the heap. Jason knew this was the gate to the junkyard.
Standing next to the truck, he didn't knock on the door. Instead, he reached inside the vehicle to grab the fabric bag. At that moment, the container door suddenly opened, and a crowd began pouring out, some holding melee weapons, others carrying firearms—but Jason knew they were just people.
Without fear of sudden death, Jason stood there, coldly smiling as he looked at the container, ignoring the people around him. The crowd kept coming until they surrounded him.
Soon, the flow of people coming out of the container began to slow. A tall woman emerged from behind them. Her shoulder-length hair and arrogant demeanor made her look like a queen. It was well known she was attractive—but those were just opinions about her figure.
And so appeared the queen of the scavengers: Jadis Stokes, also known as Anne.
Seeing that Jadis had finally emerged, Jason—firm in his posture—finally spoke: "You're the leader of these people, aren't you? Let me introduce myself. My name is Jason, and I'm the leader of a great force."
Jadis scoffed disdainfully. Without turning her head, she glanced at the open space behind him—clearly indicating that he was in a place where he shouldn't be completely alone.
Jason stopped smiling. He wasn't worried about any sort of accident. He knew very well what this woman was hiding, and that face was entirely fake.
"I know very well… How could a man who introduces himself as the leader of a great force to you not seem suspicious? But believe me, it would be much better if you and I spoke privately, and if your people stopped pointing those shaky hands at me before someone accidentally fires."
Jadis's expression remained calm, and she suddenly seemed a little curious. She shook her head at an old man beside her.
The old man pulled a weapon from his cloak, and the others grew more intense, as if ready to attack Jason at any moment.
At that moment, Jason understood that without explosive news, it would be hard to catch this woman's interest. So he had no intention of hiding it anymore and said directly, "Do you think you're an A or a B?"
These words chilled Jadis's blood. After staring for a while, she walked toward Jason, looked at the old man following her closely, and shook her head again. The old man seemed hesitant as he glanced at Jason.
Seeing her remain so calm, Jadis's eyes instantly widened, and the old man instinctively recoiled in fear. Then she waved her hand, and the group surrounding Jason withdrew into the container like a receding tide.