At that moment, there was unexpectedly someone behind the container boxes blocking the way to the bridge. Jason's group of more than twenty people raised their weapons and aimed toward the place the sound had come from. Then they saw a kind of window in the large iron box, and the face of a young man was slightly visible.
"We're just passing through, but we'd be interested in helping you. Since we're already here, we could trade for some of your most abundant goods in exchange for things you might need. Don't worry, we have plenty of supplies. If you need anything, we can talk about it."
Jason was standing beside Merle, who looked impatient with these unnecessary events. Merle said he could open the gate to that refuge and gather all the survivors—those who wanted to join his group would live, and the others would die.
"Looks like there's quite a few people!"
The man at the window looked around, as if exchanging a few words with others, and then another young man appeared at the small opening.
"We don't need any kind of deal. You can turn back the way you came."
Jason signaled for his people to get back inside the vehicles, but he walked over to the side of the modified RV, and then Glenn moved it so that the goods—mostly food—came into view for those in the refuge.
The supplies usually stored in the modified RV now lay in full view of the people hiding inside, and Jason, standing to one side, began to speak.
"Are you telling me you don't want to think it over? We're really not interested in violence—we have medicine, food, and weapons we could trade. If you have any problems, we can offer you all kinds of help, as long as you can pay for it."
The man at the window, hearing this, looked at the convoy outside with some surprise on his face. Then, intentionally or not, his gaze slid toward the vehicles that had a machine gun mounted behind the modified RV.
"We don't need it! Didn't you hear me tell you to leave this place?"
Alex smiled carelessly, then shook his head and said, "We've driven a long way to get here, and leaving like this means losing much of what we've spent."
The man at the window's eyes changed, scanning the surroundings before grabbing a rifle and pointing it out the window, his tone turning cold. "I said it's not necessary—are you deaf?"
"That's your decision. Then we'll go."
Seeing how firm these people were, Jason simply closed the RV's side door and glanced at Merle beside him.
Merle hadn't taken part in a battle in a long time due to his injury, and he hadn't had the chance to act while scouting the surrounding area. Now that his wound had mostly healed, he decided to come along as soon as he returned. After hesitating, Merle said, "Jason, I feel like something's off about this place. The kid's voice tells us a lot."
"Mm. If they're not friends, they'll be enemies. It'll be their bad luck to turn us down like this. Go tell everyone to stay sharp and be ready."
After saying that, Jason climbed into the modified RV, sat in the passenger seat, and told Glenn to get ready to leave this place. At the same time, he was lost in thought, considering something.
There had been two different types of groups long before Jason came here, both with completely different attitudes toward Negan's demands in a later period.
The original work never explained Oceanside's situation in detail. From the time this community had emerged, the men there had been wiped out by Negan's group, and people used that incident as an excuse to accuse him of his crimes.
But Jason suddenly realized something very important—why were only the men and boys of Oceanside killed? What exactly had they done to the Saviors that led them to kill even the children? Was it Negan himself who had given the order?
In the original story, Negan always claimed they didn't kill children, that human resources were still resources, and that the important thing was for people to fear him so his leadership wouldn't be challenged. Even when Rick and his group killed at least dozens of Saviors, Negan didn't completely wipe Rick's group out—but, as was his custom, he killed Glenn and Abraham to make an example of what it meant to go against him. One could say his personality hadn't changed—he had always been a man who stuck to his beliefs.
It must be remembered that everyone in the Saviors called themselves Negan, including Rick's own group after they were captured. At first, they didn't understand that the name Negan had become the name for everyone in the Saviors.
Thinking back to the garbage dump massacre in the later period, Jason suspected that Simon was the one who had slaughtered all those people—and to such an extent that the women who managed to escape were so terrified they initially refused to fight against the Saviors. But for everyone, the name Negan was etched in their minds.
Of course, these were just Jason's speculations. It would be one thing if Simon had killed them, but if Negan himself had done it, then Jason had to wonder why.
This wasn't an attempt to whitewash Negan's actions—he had to admit Negan's crimes of taking other men's wives by force and killing people at will. But he also had to admit that Negan didn't seem like the kind of man who would order such a large-scale massacre—unless he was provoked in the way Rick had done. This made Jason wonder if the people of Oceanside had done something specific to trigger it.
Originally, he had been puzzled by this, but now, seeing the other side's reaction, he couldn't help but start thinking about some strange possibilities.
Just as the convoy was about to turn around and leave, another man's voice rang out in his ears.
"Wait a minute!"
The modified RV stopped abruptly, and Jason looked toward the man in the window.
"What the hell are you doing?"
The man didn't answer, but turned his head and spoke to someone out of sight.
Then his expression became a bit tense, and the two sides seemed to be arguing.
They argued for a full five minutes before the man who had appeared first looked back toward them.
"Can we talk?"
Glenn, beside Jason, signaled for him not to trust these people.
Patting the bulletproof vest on his chest to reassure him, Jason took his radio. "Get ready. I'm going out to see what they want."
"Come out and we'll talk!"
Not long after those words were spoken, a gap opened in the iron box from the inside, and a small door appeared—just big enough for one person.
The man on the other side held a shotgun in his hand. He looked young, with average features and not very tall, but Jason sensed there was a hint of worry on his face that had nothing to do with him.
The two walked to the edge of the woods. The man looked Jason up and down first, then gave a slight nod and extended his hand.
"I'm Stevens."
"Call me Jason."
As Jason got closer, he noticed the man's coat was covered in patches, and his jeans had a large tear. There was a layer of calluses and some wounds on his exposed knees.
"Let's talk. Since you're clearly unwilling to trade resources, what else can we do?"
Stevens' eyes lingered for a moment on the three vehicles behind Jason before he asked, with a touch of uncertainty, "What you said earlier—can you really provide all kinds of help?"
"Yes. We're a very professional team."
Stevens looked somewhat hesitant, as if worried about something, but when he raised his head again—almost as if making an important decision—his gaze became much firmer.
"I want to make a deal with you."
"I'd like to know more about it…"
Stevens glanced around unconsciously and whispered, as if afraid of being overheard.
"I want to hire your team… to help me deal with a group of people."