Roar!
The roars echoed along the path ahead, where the wolf man had fled, and dozens of walkers moved toward the bloodied figure in the middle of the road, approaching from all directions.
When there's too much noise—shouting, gunfire, or crowds—some walkers will emerge from the surroundings and head straight toward the source of the sound without hesitation.
Jon, who had been tracking the man for several minutes, stepped out from around a corner marked with traces of blood. As he moved toward a building, he pulled the assault rifle slung at his side, chambered a round, and raised it as he climbed the stairs.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A burst of bullets flew from the chamber, easily shattering the glass beside a door, striking several walkers directly in the head.
Some of the rounds hit their legs, toppling those unable to stay on their feet and bringing down others behind them.
Seeing this, Jon rushed forward a few steps and, just before the walkers tumbled across the floor, reached the entrance of a door stained with blood.
He pushed it open, rifle ready, prepared to fire—yet no one awaited him inside with a weapon. Following the trail of fresh blood across the floor, he spotted a man in the corner of the room, gasping and barely clinging to life.
Jon lowered his rifle and drew his silenced pistol, aiming it at the man who seemed to be taking his last breaths. Wearing a cold expression, he approached slowly, hoping to extract a final bit of information.
"I... I thought I'd escaped you. Guess this is the end of the line..."
Hearing the man's words, Jon noticed the mark on his forehead and asked, "What does that mark mean, and why did you attack us?"
The man clutched his leg in pain, looked up at Jon Seda with a mocking smile, and said, "Someone like you wouldn't understand. We really thought we could kill you, take your stuff, and then eat the healthiest ones."
"Just like the others, hahaha…"
"The others?" Jon frowned, uncertain what the man meant.
"Haha, my people will kill all of you. Remember—the wolves are coming." With those final words, the man pulled a gun from behind his leg, but Jon reacted faster and shot him in the head.
Bang!
With the muffled sound of the silenced gun, the bullet pierced the man's forehead, and blood sprayed from his skull. Seeing that the situation was over, Jon had no intention of lingering.
However, because of the number of walkers behind him, he needed to deal with them before he could safely leave. If there were walkers at the exit, he'd have to be cautious not to get bitten.
Bang!
On his way back, Jon took out several troublesome walkers. After handling the fallen ones, he looked toward the stairwell leading to the exit and spotted more walkers on the street.
Jon leaned slightly against the stair railing.
"Zz... Jon, what's the situation?"
Just as Jon was watching the door, the radio on his chest crackled to life, asking for an update. He exhaled softly, grabbed the radio, and reported, "Sir, the target was located and neutralized. I'm on my way back now."
"Zz... That's perfect. Anything I should know?" Jason's voice came through on the other end.
"Zz... No, sir. Except this group is far from ordinary. They're cannibals. I think they found another group of survivors before they came across us."
"Return immediately! We're scouting the area for resources and trying to learn more about the group that attacked us," Jason ordered firmly.
"Understood, sir."
...
By now, Jason and the others had begun inspecting the corpses of the men who had condemned the Wolf group, searching for anything useful. They were dead, so anything important should still be on them.
With George's help and Bob's medical skills, Merle's wound had been treated, and Ravi's more delicate condition had also been stabilized. In the modified RV, Sasha, Tyreese, Bob, and George remained, with George in the driver's seat.
The other paths were left to Maggie, Michonne, Glenn, and Carlos, who was still pale from the earlier scare. He vividly remembered the situation in Atlanta when Jason's group saved him, and now this moment brought those memories rushing back.
Just as Jason and Daryl approached a building where the attackers may have been based, they moved cautiously. As Jason was about to enter, he spotted a figure approaching from a distance—it was Jon.
Jon had been informed by George that the wounded had stabilized, so he rushed back to catch up with the group.
"You're here!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's get inside and stop wasting time!" Daryl said, leading the way into the building.
That confirmed for Jon that this building might be important, and he stepped inside. Along the way, some walker movement drew the group's attention, and Jon, along with Daryl, silently took them out.
As they broke into the second floor, the trio advanced and found a cluster of infected corpses densely packed into one room. Jason, who had doubted whether there was human activity here, sighed—clearly, someone had been using this place.
"Wait..."
Seeing Glenn rushing in, Jason held out a hand, signaling him to stop. Glenn nodded and waited at the entrance. He had just dealt with problems outside and had come to support the group.
Raising his assault rifle, Jason struck an approaching walker with the butt, knocked it down, and stomped on its head, ending it. "There are still walkers in this building. We need to clear them before focusing on anything else."
He slung the rifle over his back, pulled out a dagger, and took a few steps up toward the third floor. There, he stabbed a walker in the head, pushing the corpse forward to block another.
Thud!
With the sound of an arrow, one of the walkers approaching from behind was taken down by Daryl, who moved to the opposite side. Jon and Glenn didn't slow down either, helping eliminate the walkers in the area.
Jason, meanwhile, stretched out his hand and grabbed a walker by the throat as it lunged from the side. Using his left hand's strength, he drove his right hand's blade through the walker's head with ease.
Then, spinning sideways, he sent the blocked walker crashing through the window and out of the building.
Dropping the walker corpse from his hand, Jason looked down the hallway and shouted, "Daryl, make noise—we need to draw out and finish off every walker in this place."
Saying that, he killed another walker that had gotten close and kicked its body aside.
...
"These bodies don't have a mark on their foreheads like the others!"
After a few minutes, all the walkers had been dealt with, though the scene had gotten a bit chaotic. As he retrieved Daryl's arrows, Glenn noted that some of these walkers lacked the "W" brand on their foreheads.
"They must've already been here when that group arrived. They're rotting, looks like they've been dead for a long time."
Confirming Daryl's observation, Jason raised his hand and checked the time. The hour hand was slowly inching toward four.
"We still have time. Let's go upstairs and check the rooms. Maybe we'll find something useful."
"Got it!"
Following Jason's order, no one hesitated. After a quick confirmation, they rushed up the stairs.
Jason didn't waste a moment. He turned around and walked toward the first walker's corpse.
Crouching beside the body, he noticed the clothes were unusually clean. He turned his head to glance at the tattered corpses of the runners near the elevator. His hunch was right—this one had only recently turned.
Jason reached out, flipped the body over, and saw the person's face was bruised and purplish, clearly beaten. There were several bullet holes in the left leg, fired from a handgun, and the distinctive W-shaped scar.
He checked the body again but found no valuable clues—just a few coins.
"Nothing else..."
Jason stood slowly, crossed his arms, and looked down at the corpse with a soft sigh and a hint of disappointment on his face. But then he seemed to recall something. Turning his head, he looked deeper into the building. He remembered that the runner had come from a dark corner.
Thinking about this, he pulled out a flashlight and walked slowly toward it—until he found a long blood trail ahead of him.
This discovery made Jason alert. But as he approached, he realized there was a staircase around the corner.
To the left were two doors, and to the right, a staircase leading downward—likely to the first floor.
Sweeping his flashlight, Jason scanned the stairwell. He followed the drag marks and saw dried blood pooled in a corner, beside an open backpack and a crumpled note.
Seeing this, Jason realized where the walker had come from. He scanned the area again with the flashlight and, after confirming it was safe, stepped inside.
"I'm right behind you..." said Daryl, who suddenly appeared behind Jason.
"Good."
As they passed through, Jason quietly closed the door behind them to avoid any surprise walker attacks.
He crouched, picked up the open backpack and the note from the floor. Jason smoothed out the wrinkled paper. The handwriting was messy and written in blue pen, but still legible:
"Listen carefully, Enid. If you ever find this letter, know that where you found it, there are many people. They're not kind like others we met along the way. When I escaped, I managed to amputate my hand, but I was too weak to keep searching for you. When that group with the strange W found me, I hid in this building, but I'll probably die from the bleeding in my leg."
"They came into this building looking to kill me. Fortunately, someone else caught their attention, giving me time to write this letter. Remember—get out of here quickly. And if you can, take the others somewhere safe, my dear daughter..."