The moment the shot rang out, all the people from the Fireflies group were caught off guard by the group standing in front of them, which made it difficult for them to react in time.
Looking at the barrels of the weapons, these people realized that there was such a large gap in firepower between the two sides. An invisible pressure made them not dare to move. Their subconscious minds told them that whoever dared to raise a weapon now would die before they could do anything.
"Joel, go and bring Ellie back from the enemies as soon as possible."
"Ellie, come quickly!"
As Jason handed his weapons to Glenn and, in passing, whispered some orders to him, he saw that the Fireflies were not letting Ellie go and said in a warning tone: "Manny, right? If I were one of your subordinates, I would move. This is the best option we will have. Of course, I wouldn't mind treating you the same way Frank was treated."
When everyone heard these words, they obviously hesitated. And taking advantage of this opportunity, Joel immediately went to Ellie and both of them shared a big hug.
"You already have all your orders, we'll see each other in a few hours!"
Seeing that all the kidnapped people were back, everyone immediately felt much more relieved, but at the moment when a girl was running next to a man with a simple appearance, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her back.
The girl who was about to run to Jason's side was suddenly dragged back by someone, feeling that finding her mother would be much more complicated than she had initially believed.
This scene in front of her made her feel a little lost. Her mother was only a few meters away from her, but right now someone was pointing a weapon at her.
"Daughter!"
"Mom, don't come here, you can leave this place, I hope everyone can escape."
Jason also took a few steps forward and grabbed the arm of the helpless mother as she tried to go to her daughter, but she was only an older woman. How could she, with so little strength, escape Jason's grip, who quickly dragged her back?
"Let me go! Let me go!"
"Stop causing trouble!"
A loud shout frightened the girl's mother and even caused everyone to briefly lose their natural expressions.
"T-dog, don't let her cause trouble from now on, do you understand?"
T-dog nodded and held the mother, who still wanted to go to her daughter. This situation was now in Jason's favor, who had been thinking about many possibilities to win the battle, and this time everything was served on a silver platter.
Seeing that this type of action had an effect on the mysterious people in front of him, Manny smiled unnaturally, fear in his eyes. "You shouldn't blame us, you're pointing a weapon at us, so I think you understand that we need some insurance to get out of this place."
Seeing their actions, everyone understood them, and it was no different from what someone from Jason's group would do.
"Don't come any closer, or I can't guarantee this girl's safety!"
As they said this, they pointed a weapon at the girl's head, and if the situation became even more tense, no one would hesitate to take her life.
"How about this? Let me switch places with her, that's much more attractive."
"What?" Manny asked with a confused look. What leader openly offers himself to the enemies like this? No, something must be happening that he had not realized.
But before Manny could think too much, Jason said, "You attacked our people first, we defended ourselves and, in the process, got information out of Frank. I can't say it was done in a good way, but right now I'm intrigued to know who leads the Fireflies."
"You're crazy..."
Joel was also very surprised by Jason's conviction and how far he was willing to go to save a life. At first he thought Jason was a reckless man, but now he seemed to be completely wrong.
Not only was Jason willing to always go ahead, but at this point everyone around him seemed to trust their leader's words. Since the beginning of the end of the world, Joel had never seen a leader like this before, so he was now very surprised.
"I was in Texas when I visited the base, or what was left of it, so I'm interested in the one who leads the powerful Fireflies, who are willing to fight against the CRM, the system."
Jason's eyes were fascinated by what would happen next, but one thing was certain: he was closer to winning and, of course, to the long-dreamed-of cure thanks to that girl named Ellie.
Manny, on the other hand, was backed against the wall. On one hand, he didn't know if it was really a good idea to bring someone like Jason to the Fireflies' base, and on the other, he wasn't sure if wasting this opportunity was a good idea either.
Jason, who saw Manny's doubts, approached unarmed and said, "Believe me, just like you, I don't want to spill more blood today, so I hope you'll be understanding."
"You're a complete idiot. Don't you know what awaits you once you get to our base? What you did to Frank will never be forgotten, so that's your decision." Manny nodded, and Jason slowly approached with a big smile on his face.
At this point in his life, Jason didn't mind losing; what bothered him was losing to those who only seek evil in this world. And even less so did he know fear, as the leader of a powerful organization—something he had never felt and never would in the future.
But just as Jason was about to get into the truck with Manny, a figure stepped forward and shouted, "Jason, I'm going too."
"Joel!" Ellie stepped forward and said to him, "What nonsense are you talking about? We're leaving this place, you barely know them."
Jason was surprised by Joel's words. He remembered this old man from somewhere but didn't know exactly where, so when he learned that he was volunteering to accompany him, he advised him, "I can't guarantee your safety if you expose yourself like this, you know that, right?"
Joel simply said, "I don't need anyone to protect me."
Jason nodded and said, "That, I do believe."
After Jason was handcuffed, the girl was released, and together with Joel they headed toward the Fireflies' base. But not before Jason looked at Glenn and nodded silently about what he was about to do.
Glenn looked at everyone and shouted, "Come on, we have to be ready for when our people arrive in this city!"
"Yes!"