With Gareth's release, the group completely lost their last hope of getting out of this place.
Soon, the entire group was escorted outside of a container. On the way, many saw different types of containers, some of which still had people screaming inside, and then they saw others being taken somewhere else.
Rick walked in front of the group with his head down. He hadn't given up even now, but in this situation, he couldn't solve the problem even if he had a hostage in his hands.
The other side had far greater persuasive power than him. Once something went wrong, the consequences would be beyond his control. Whether it was Lori or anyone else, he didn't want anyone dying because of it. So what had to be done now was to stabilize the situation first, and then think of the best option.
Paying attention to the containers they passed, Rick also noticed the detained survivors, guessing what was going on in this place, and unknowingly walked toward a container.
"Stop! The leader must walk to the container door!"
Rick knew they clearly meant him, and after a brief hesitation, he walked toward the container. One by one, everyone lined up at the container door.
Katie was left at the end, watching how everyone close to her abandoned her one by one. The girl was a little nervous, her restless eyes scanning the crowd, and her body involuntarily moved toward Elen, who was at the front.
"Stop! Who told you to move?"
A terminal member shouted, reached out, and grabbed Katie's neck, and the girl fell hard onto the ground.
Katie no longer communicated with others because she had witnessed the death of her parents with her own eyes. Usually, she neither cried nor laughed, but she was still just a child after all. Terrified by being treated so roughly in that moment, she sat frozen on the ground.
Seeing Katie's appearance, Elen felt distressed and wanted to run to her, but Guillermo stopped her and signaled with his eyes not to move. Then he slowly stepped out from the crowd.
"Hey, she's just a child, there's no need to be so serious!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At that moment, a burst of gunfire rang out, and a cloud of smoke and dust rose in front of Guillermo. His steps froze, but he heard Gareth standing not far away, shouting loudly.
"If you weren't told to move, don't move, otherwise the next bullet won't hit the ground, understand?"
The sudden gunfire caught him off guard, but even so Guillermo didn't back down. Instead, he pointed to Katie sitting there and said, "This girl has autism. If no one is with her, she won't obey your orders. I'm just trying to bring her."
Seeing the other side shrug indifferently, he thought they had agreed, but just as he was about to approach, he heard Gareth's voice again.
"What does that have to do with me? Since the rules are set, we must follow them. No one can change the rules at will. Otherwise, what will this place become?"
As soon as his words fell, several people nearby raised their guns and aimed at Katie.
Clenching his teeth helplessly, Guillermo could only look at Katie not far away and speak in an encouraging tone.
"Katie, look at me, do you still know who I am? I'm the one who carried you on my back, remember? Do you want to come with Elen and Noa?"
The girl was still sitting there, staring this way with a blank expression. Of course she knew Guillermo, but at that moment she was too scared to move, so she could only sit there, arms wrapped around her legs, motionless.
"You can do it, look at me, you just need to come. Let's go to Elen, alright? You don't want her to be sad, do you?"
After Guillermo's fervent persuasion, Katie finally reacted. With her head lowered, her eyes fixed in the center on the people in front of her, she finally stood up from the ground and, after seeing Guillermo, ran straight toward him.
Guillermo opened his arms to embrace the girl and held her tightly. Without looking back, he changed direction and stepped back, soon returning to the end of the line again.
Elen watched helplessly as Guillermo retreated step by step and finally couldn't stop herself, tears flowing uncontrollably.
"Bravo!"
There was rhythmic applause, and Gareth looked at him mockingly, speaking in a joking tone.
"That was so touching I almost cried..."
"Hahaha!"
Glaring angrily at these bastards who delighted in such things, everyone held their breath and restrained their anger. On the contrary, Abraham, who had reacted violently before, was much quieter now. He stood silently behind Rick, his head lowered, unable to focus his thoughts.
Once everyone was lined up, Gareth's expression returned to normal and he shouted forcefully.
"Rick, open the door and go in one by one, slowly."
Creak!
Looking at the pitch-black space in front of him, Rick's expression didn't change at all, and he stepped inside directly, while Abraham behind him also entered without saying a word.
Bang!
When the door closed, the container fell into darkness again. Rick had long known what the inside was like. The moment the door shut, his head lifted and his face remained stern.
"Shane?"
"Rick? You're alive! Amazing."
Seeing his brother still alive, Shane temporarily forgot their current situation and stepped forward to pat Rick's shoulder.
At this moment, Rick showed a dissatisfied expression and looked at him with some guilt.
"What the hell were you thinking, how could you have taken Lori out of the base?"
"It's not her fault. I left without telling anyone. I called some people to come with me."
"What?"
Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Are you stupid? Didn't you learn enough last time?"
Lori's lips pressed together and her head lowered. If anyone was under the most pressure here, it was her. Because of her reckless behavior, nearly twenty people had been captured here.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
Looking at his wife, who was clearly a bit broken, Rick swallowed the rest of his words. Things had already come to this point, and what mattered most now was considering how to escape.
Pointing to the strong man behind him, he gave a brief introduction, and the two groups became acquainted. Naturally, what they had to do now was discuss the next plan to get out of this place.
Since Abraham entered the container, he had also returned to his former state. It was obvious he was pretending at the moment. He was only a strong figure, but his brain was far from stupid. Right then, he was the first to speak.
"What's next? We can't give up."
By now Rick's eyes had adjusted to the dim light inside the container. After looking around, he couldn't help but smile, and Shane beside him also returned a smile.
Everyone looked at several wooden posts in the container, all cut into points, and several people were holding sharpened pieces of wood in their hands.
Shane asked with a bit of anticipation.
"Did you bring it?"
"Always!"
Guillermo and Morgan didn't speak, but they all took off their boots and lightly struck the heels.
Clink!
Three broken blades with a cold glint slid out from the heels, and Shane also moved at his waist and produced an identical broken blade in his hand.
Rosita and the others at the side stared at these weapons, growing even more curious about the origins of these men. How much had they suffered? They had prepared themselves well, but they didn't know they were simply following Jason's protocol.
Rick hid the long blade, turned, and looked through the crack in the container, then turned his head and spoke in a deep voice to the people behind him.
"Get ready! We'll let you know when the time is right!"
Abraham asked somewhat strangely, "Do you know something?"
"Only one thing—they messed with the wrong people!"