Mr. Smart had no intention of stopping the vehicle; he continued to drive slowly forward.
Only after the fire truck had driven out of sight did the Zealots, who had been hiding among the abandoned vehicles and in the grass by the houses, gradually gather on the road. There were hundreds of them.
Shawn looked at the gathered Zealots in the fire truck's rearview mirror and couldn't help but sigh.
He wondered why he hadn't seen many Walkers along the way.
With this group of Zealots around, the Walker infestation in North Carolina was no longer a concern; in fact, it had already been thoroughly cleaned up.
They even immediately burned the bodies of their own people after death, so for them, there was almost no situation where a person would die and then revive as a Walker.
This was still the early stage of the apocalypse, but even in this early stage, they had accomplished something that only a few survivor Camps could achieve in the later stages.
They were even more ferocious than Walkers; Walkers feared them by three points.
Was this the result of extreme collectivism?
It was truly terrifying.
The deeper Shawn went into North Carolina, the more he found his worldview and understanding being refreshed.
If Rick's group from the original plot had encountered them, Rick might even have been taken out early.
It was a good thing he didn't run around recklessly at first. In the original plot, he stayed in the Prison for nearly two seasons; otherwise, it was very likely they would have arrived in North Carolina just as the Zealots were in their prime.
Shawn didn't even dare to imagine the consequences.
On one side was the original Rick's group, still benevolent and making team decisions.
On the other side was the Zealots organization, who acted without regard for cost or consequences, with every single person being an extreme, low-level version of Shane...
Shawn shook his head, casting out that terrible thought.
When he looked out again, the Zealots here were no longer even hiding.
They were scattered in twos and threes along the roadside, their gazes eerily fixed on the slowly approaching fire truck.
All Zealots shared three common characteristics.
Pale skin, a black neckband worn around their necks, and eye whites that were more prominent than their pupils.
Basically, as long as two of these three conditions were met, their identity could almost be confirmed.
Gradually, the fire truck's speed dropped to only 5 mph.
Because directly in front of them, the Zealots were crowded together, completely blocking the path forward.
Mr. Smart had no choice but to bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
Bray also timely glanced at Shawn in the rearview mirror, then gritted his teeth and, along with a few others, got out of the car to inform everyone of everything he had discovered.
Shawn seemed to know their intentions. Despite facing so many Zealots, Shawn did not flinch. With a light leap, he jumped out of the passenger seat.
All the Zealots first focused their gaze on Bray and the others, and when they saw that they had removed their neckbands, their pupils couldn't help but constrict.
Their already small pupils, upon further contraction, almost became pinprick-sized.
Sometimes, one truly wondered if they were real people, or rather, pseudo-humans disguised as some kind of alien life form.
When Shawn got out of the car, almost everyone's gaze immediately converged on him.
Although they were human eyes, Shawn felt as if he was facing a spotlight.
Their pupils were very small, but their gaze was chilling, causing a phantom-like stinging sensation when it landed on him.
After Shawn stood firm, he found that they had all surrounded him. As Shawn arrived, Bray and the others were squeezed to the very outside of the crowd, unable to push their way in even with all their strength.
At this moment.
Shawn alone had to face the encirclement of at least a hundred people and the oppressive gaze that treated him almost like a dead object.
But strangely, this group of Zealots did not make a move. They merely stopped about half a meter from Shawn, completely surrounding him.
From Shawn's height, he could easily see the end of the crowd in the distance, where some burly big guys were still glaring menacingly.
They had their upper bodies exposed, with still pale skin, but their neckbands seemed to be tied to their long black beards, which hung from their chins.
Logically, such people should not lack vitality, but facing their gaze, Shawn felt as if he was staring into the eyes of a corpse.
However, facing this group of Zealots, Shawn appeared even calmer than they were.
Shawn even suddenly remembered Spencer from Alexandria at this moment.
If that baby who bragged about facing a 'Walker horde' of over 20 Walkers were here, would he be scared to pee his pants immediately?
"Ha--" Shawn's lips curved upwards, amused by his own thought.
Under the watchful eyes of the Zealots, he unhurriedly placed his left hand on the fire truck's body.
He was about to do something he had never done before, something that might succeed or fail, but it was something Shawn had always wanted to try.
Shawn pressed his palm tightly against the fire truck's door, and silently recited a phrase in his mind.
"Collect!"
Whoosh--!!
In just a blink of an eye, a large gap suddenly appeared in the crowd.
The Zealots, who had been only half a meter away from Shawn, showed rare emotion on their faces, retreating repeatedly in surprise.
Shawn found this kind of panic and disbelief familiar, as Bray and the others had reacted the same way the first time.
Shawn gave Bray a look, and he hurriedly led his people to squeeze through from behind, following right behind Shawn.
Shawn walked slowly forward, and whenever Shawn approached, the Zealots who had formed a human wall would involuntarily spread out to both sides.
Their breathing became slightly rapid, unnaturally so, like old oxen that had just finished plowing, panting incessantly.
Even as Shawn walked in the middle, he could clearly hear the faint sounds coming from the back rows.
At this moment, everyone's gaze was still focused on Shawn, but compared to before, there seemed to be a drastic change.
Thus, a strange scene gradually unfolded in what had been a tense, explosive situation.
Shawn was seen walking slowly in front, with Bray and Mr. Smart following him on his left and right.
Behind the two, the dozen or so others clung tightly, afraid of falling behind the group.
And behind the dozen or so, a hundred-person group followed, stretching the line long.
The expressions on their faces were not as resolute as Bray's group; there was a mix of surprise and doubt, but more of obedience.
If the people of Alexandria were a flock of sheep, then the group of Zealots following behind were hyenas and hungry wolves.
Although they were crazy, it was precisely because of this that their 'pack' mentality became even more ingrained.
They would hunt cooperatively, and they would also follow their 'kind' forward.
The convoys that had caught up to the fire truck one after another earlier were like this; when their gazes converged, they would gather en masse, regardless of the danger.
And just as it was said earlier, at this moment, all their gazes were focused on Shawn.
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