Alabama, Birmingham.
Jason's Shelter.
Moments before the operation to take Birmingham began, Logan had been deep in thought about the first words Jason had told him regarding his mission in this place.
Jason had spoken about taking this city, and he had sounded very confident about achieving it. So right now, Logan was thinking about when and how he would do it. After all, there could still be thousands of walkers in this city even after a year.
Besides, why would he need to take all of Birmingham if no living people remained? He had seen and thought about it many times — the world that was once small had now become enormous.
But just when he was about to find some work to help contribute to the base, a series of gunshots echoed in the distance, followed by strange noises drawing closer to the city.
"What's that sound, Thomas?"
"I don't know, it still sounds far away."
Jason, who had been working in the fields, heard the commotion outside and stepped into the square to see what was happening. "That's the sound of a helicopter…"
"Mr. Jason, what should we do?"
An old man noticed Jason had arrived and asked in a nervous voice. He remembered the last time he saw helicopters — the city had been bombed. Therefore, after so long, it was unsettling to know some kind of government still existed.
"What can we do, hide?" a woman suggested, but Jason quickly dismissed the idea, still thinking deeply.
"We can't show ourselves, but we can't hide either. We don't know if these people have bad intentions, so we must be cautious and pray they just pass by."
"Then we wait."
As he said that, Jason saw Logan running toward him with an excited expression, shouting, "Jason, it's them!"
At that moment, Jason seemed to understand what Logan meant, so he fell silent and thought about what would happen next. No — how could it be possible that those people would come in helicopters right after leaving this place?
Most likely, they had made their decision from the very beginning. He looked at Logan again and asked, "What exactly did they tell you when you met them?"
"They said they would take Birmingham and then Alabama. By the way, a full group stayed at the mall cleaning out the walkers. Why? What's wrong?"
Logan had approached, curious to know if something was wrong, but at that moment, a loud sound echoed outside the community, followed by a flare shooting up into the sky.
Boom!
Bang!
Right after the flare, several smoke grenades were launched not far from Jason's community. By then, the people near the small wall saw two armored Humvees approaching again — but this time, with a different intention.
"They're idiots! They'll attract walkers from the nearby buildings!"
"Roooaaaar!!!"
But it didn't matter whether Jason knew this or not — the sound of the grenades and the flare shots went off without hesitation, awakening a kind of walker he was already too familiar with. The hysterical roars of the infected suddenly came from every direction.
"Zz… No matter how many infected approach, secure that community first and kill anyone who resists."
"Zz… Understood, Commander."
After that message, Jason and the others dismounted from the vehicles and took positions in different areas to eliminate all the infected approaching their location.
They didn't have to wait long — at a nearby intersection, numerous figures with deformed faces emerged, running at high speed.
"What the hell are those things?!"
"Holy shit, my bat wouldn't do anything to those sons of bitches," said Negan as he raised his rifle and began firing from afar, trying to take down as many infected as possible.
Within moments, the area was filled with bursts of gunfire, and if everyone now felt relatively calm, it was because they had two large, powerful machine guns ready to open fire.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Watching those feral faces getting closer, Jason frowned and set his firearms aside. From his back, he drew two long, heavy, curved machete-like swords.
He could feel the familiarity of wielding dual blades to slay monsters — in his previous life, he had killed Titans, so these human-sized monsters were nothing at all to him.
"Come to me!"
With a fierce roar, Jason advanced, and the first infected that reached him was cut down within seconds. He still trained regularly, always maintaining a grueling routine to reach the physical condition he desired — one that met all his demands — and now he had achieved it.
He could once again feel that rush of adrenaline; today, he could feel the blood of the creatures he cut down splashing across his hands and body. That sensation, the one that had made him a true legend in his past life, had come back to life.
As the infected were torn apart by his blades, the others noticed Jason's incredibly unpredictable movements. No one had ever seen a man handle swords that way — with such precision and confidence.
"What the hell's up with that guy?" Daryl asked in confusion. The last time he'd seen Jason like that was when all this had first started.
"He's a damn demon. I should trade my bat for a pair of those machetes," Negan muttered, nodding as he watched Jason cut down dozens of infected. The group stopped firing in his direction so as not to hit him by mistake.
But none of them could understand the feeling that filled Jason — that rush of emotion flooding back into his body, bringing more than nostalgia.
It filled him with fury, anger, resentment, and pain. The emotions that had been buried deep inside him were now awakening as he slaughtered the infected. The Jason who had slowly adapted to this world was resurfacing.
The world demanded it — the situations around him called for a more ruthless, bloodthirsty Jason. The world needed to know that he felt no fear, no hesitation, when it came to killing.
Jason's eyes were cold as he gripped his swords tightly. With a single slash, he decapitated one infected, and with another swift movement, the next lost its hands.
Anyone watching Jason at that moment would think he was a man born for war.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Corpses piled up around him, but that didn't matter — he kept slashing through the infected. These creatures had mushroom-shaped heads, and he didn't even want to think anymore about how such things could exist in this world.
Jason had decided to stop thinking about the original story — this was his world now, his story from this day forward. There was nothing left but memories of events that might never happen again. All he could do now was survive and keep fighting.
Little by little, the infected were wiped out. And when only a few dozen remained, everyone stopped shooting, watching Jason in the center, still cutting down enemies with relentless precision.