Chapter 24: Scheming
The convoy drove on the wide highway. Desolate scenery on both sides retreated backward.
Caesar calculated—by now, Shane should be dead.
Shane was a very capable person, but he couldn't be a partner and couldn't be a subordinate.
Keeping Shane around, Caesar worried he wouldn't sleep well.
Especially with Shane wandering outside, Caesar was even more worried.
A person who knew part of Caesar's camp situation, roaming around out there—what if someone captured Shane and used various cruel methods to interrogate him?
Caesar wouldn't believe that in Shane's heart, the base's location would be more important than his own life.
Who knows, perhaps in the future Shane would struggle to survive in the apocalypse and bring hyena-like subordinates to find Caesar's ranch.
All of this made Caesar's heart uneasy.
So Caesar gave Rip the order to take Shane to the train station.
The quarry was very close to Atlanta. The convoy arrived at Atlanta quickly.
After Atlanta suffered bombing, large numbers of civilians fled the city in panic by car.
This caused massive vehicle pileups on highways leaving Atlanta, while conversely, highways entering Atlanta had no vehicles.
Looking from a distance, Atlanta resembled an abandoned factory—lacking human presence and maintenance, withering and aging rapidly.
The convoy stopped on the highway about to enter Atlanta. Over ten vehicles naturally separated into two groups.
One group had only a few vehicles—Rick's people.
The other group was Caesar's people.
After getting out, Caesar found Rick.
"Rick, I'd like to ask you a favor." Caesar spoke sincerely.
Rick asked in surprise, "Go ahead. You saved me—you don't need to be so polite with me."
Hearing Rick say this, Caesar smiled. "I want Tate to follow your convoy to the CDC together."
"You changed your mind?"
Rick's face lit up with joy. Caesar was someone with great foresight in his mind. Getting his support was equivalent to receiving tremendous validation.
Not expecting Rick to be so happy, Caesar didn't puncture it either, smiling and nodding.
"Right, I think the CDC still has the possibility of developing a vaccine."
"So I want Tate to go with you all together and have her understand the CDC's situation."
"As for me, I need to settle these people down as quickly as possible. I can't abandon them for an unconfirmed vaccine rumor."
Rick strongly supported Caesar's thinking and accepted Tate with delight.
After chatting a bit more, Rick's group was about to leave.
The CDC was in a fairly deep part of Atlanta, so Rick's group wanted to arrive as quickly as possible, preferably before nightfall.
Avoiding the trouble of finding lodging at night.
"Caesar, see you again if fate allows."
Rick extended his hand.
Caesar grasped it. The two men looked at each other and nodded.
Watching Rick get in the vehicle, Tate was about to leave too when Caesar pulled her aside.
"Tate, you're about to go to the CDC now."
"I need to explain the plan to you clearly!"
Tate's eyes brightened. She straightened her back, standing much more spirited. "Boss, go ahead."
Regarding Tate's excitement, Caesar didn't understand why, but could only continue.
"The CDC is a treasure trove. Inside are massive supply reserves and many firearms stored. But it's also very dangerous inside."
Tate's expression became solemn. She understood the danger the boss spoke of.
"The CDC stores many of the world's viruses. To prevent virus leakage, the CDC will self-destruct after energy runs out."
"That kind of bomb will instantly generate temperatures over a thousand degrees, razing everything around to the ground."
At this point, the excitement on Tate's face vanished completely. "Boss, can I not go?"
"Are you serious? I can swap someone in." Caesar said.
Tate's pretend-scared expression swept away instantly, replaced by: "Oh, I was joking. I'll go!"
"This time, your mission is to first ensure your own safety, then control the CDC researcher and have him open the doors for us."
Thinking about being able to open the CDC's doors, with the astonishing quantities of long-lasting food inside entering his own pocket, Caesar's eyes glowed.
"But just me alone? Can I control that many researchers?"
Tate wasn't afraid, just worried whether she alone could control all the researchers.
"Don't worry about that. Only a few cats remain in the CDC. I'm certain you can do it."
Caesar had great confidence in Tate.
A joke—inside the CDC was only one researcher without the strength to truss a chicken.
Moreover, this researcher lived long-term in the sunless underground. His mental state was already worrying.
Just this one sickly researcher—Tate could control him with one hand.
When Tate left, Caesar gave her a walkie-talkie and fully armed her with rifles and handguns.
Ammunition was also loaded very fully.
Caesar couldn't imagine what would happen when Tate made her move at the CDC.
Whether Rick, Jacqui, and the others would side with Tate or try to subdue her.
...
After seeing Tate off, the convoy also temporarily reorganized.
Caesar chose a parking lot on Atlanta's outskirts. Inside was vastly empty with no vehicles parked.
After the convoy drove in, Caesar arranged to abandon some vehicles.
Some vehicles in the convoy had only one or two people inside with insufficient supplies to load.
Caesar arranged for people in those vehicles to move into others' vehicles and transfer supplies.
Gasoline from abandoned vehicles was also pumped completely clean.
After reorganization, the convoy suddenly had several fewer vehicles—more streamlined and more flexible.
The convoy had many non-combatant women and children. Caesar assigned some combat personnel to stay behind for protection.
"Glenn, you're most familiar with Atlanta's situation. What we need most now is still food. Food is most important."
Caesar gathered personnel from the convoy who could go out collecting supplies, consulting them about finding food.
Looking at the green Glenn, Caesar asked.
Glenn rubbed his chin, gaze focused on the map on the ground, brain thinking rapidly.
That large supermarket there... too close to those streets with many walkers. No good!
What about here... Mm, not much food left here. Too many people have searched it.
Glenn pondered. Merle standing beside him grew somewhat impatient.
Merle pointed at Glenn crouching on the ground looking at the map, saying disdainfully, "Boss, this is just a delivery boy. Being familiar with streets doesn't necessarily mean he can lead us..."
"Got it." Glenn picked up a marker and drew a circle on a location on the map.
Caesar couldn't spare attention for Merle and looked intently.
It was a food wholesale market, located in a traffic-convenient but non-downtown area, mainly supplying food to surrounding streets.
High food density with relatively low foot traffic. The number of walkers probably wouldn't be too many either.
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