The Walking Dead: A New Beginning From the End of the World

"Hurry up, now!" Jason shouted with an almost unnatural expression. He had overlooked a very important detail when he started this journey intentionally—the sound of gunfire.

He wasn't a genius, nor did he have control over the altered timeline of this world. That's why small things like these couldn't always go perfectly, and imagining going any further would be pushing the luck he had had so far.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As he stepped back, Jason fired at an almost superhuman speed, precisely hitting the heads of the nearest walkers.

He noticed something important in these few seconds—the walkers were faster than the ones he had killed so far. But now wasn't the time to question the differences; it was time to exterminate the closest ones to cover their retreat.

"I'm reloading!"

"I'll cover you!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Under Tommy's cover, Jason quickly swapped his rifle's magazine and resumed shooting. With his keen eyesight, cold blood, and superior ability to act under maximum tension, he remained unfazed by the massive horde of walkers that was nearly upon them.

"We need to retreat, boss!"

"I've got your back, go up now," Jason instructed Tommy to climb the ladder next. That was how he always operated, which was why he had earned the respect of even the soldiers who later joined his group.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The heads of those walkers were blown apart as bullets pierced multiple targets at once. Judging by the way they fell, some bullets had passed through multiple walkers' skulls at the same time.

At that moment, Jason entered a trance, focusing only on eliminating as many walkers as possible without stopping. Ignoring the ladder entirely, he kept firing.

"Jason, climb up now!" Rick shouted from above, his face tense.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Switching magazines, Jason slowly backed toward the ladder. When he could no longer keep firing, he climbed up immediately. Midway, he glanced down at the horde with a cold expression.

Arrghhhh!

The rotten heads, the stench of decay, and the guttural growls were more than unsettling.

Tommy shuddered slightly as he saw the massive horde that had swarmed them in less than five minutes. Remembering all of Jason's warnings, he broke into a cold sweat. How did Jason predict this?

…

On top of a nearby building, an Asian young man was stunned to see soldiers in black uniforms escaping from the walkers. He noticed that they seemed to be trying to take the tank when suddenly, the sound of gunfire alerted every walker in the distance.

By the way the soldiers moved and fired, the young man—who was actually Glenn—knew they were well-trained and experienced at taking down walkers.

"Sir, are you okay?" Tommy asked, concerned about Jason's condition.

"I'm fine." Jason showed no anger or nervousness after surviving the life-or-death situation. Instead, his gaze fixed on the walkers in the alley. From what he could see, they weren't in a bad situation, and based on their options, they could leave the building without trouble.

"If everyone is okay, let's move up," Rick said, looking exhausted. These weren't the best exercises to do after coming out of a coma.

Before proceeding, they counted their spent ammunition. It wasn't even a third of their total supply, so it wasn't a major concern. The gunfire shouldn't have attracted too many additional walkers either—after all, considering the horde that had surrounded them, there wasn't much room for more.

Soon, the four of them climbed to the top of the building. As Jason was reaching the roof, Tommy suddenly shouted in a deep voice, "Don't move, you son of a bitch!"

"Whoa, whoa! I was just trying to help you guys get up!" Glenn panicked as three assault rifles were pointed at him.

"Wait, it's okay. He seems to be from the group we came to find," Rick calmed the situation and said, "Hey, my name is Rick. What's yours?"

"I'm Glenn. I just saw you and thought you needed help. I didn't expect you to make it out of that mess on your own." Glenn raised his hands with an awkward smile.

"Relax, he's with the group we're here to evacuate." Jason had no reason to hide information that was already easy to recognize. Looking at Glenn, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Wait a minute… How do you know me? Don't tell me… Are you the soldiers who were supposed to rescue us?" Glenn's eyes lit up, and he looked at Jason with excitement.

"Yeah, we're here to help you," Rick confirmed. He was here not only to return the favor to the people who had possibly helped his family but also to better understand the situation in Atlanta.

"It's really you guys!"

Realizing this, Glenn ran to the rooftop, not far away.

"It's a miracle to see you here! I thought you'd never come for us! Just a moment ago, I figured you were just people who wandered into the city without knowing any better…." Glenn leaned against a wall, looking at the four men.

"Glenn, I'm Jason. This is our first time meeting, but for you, it's not the first time hearing about me. I wanted to evacuate everyone at the quarry, but I found out that part of your group came to the city for supplies. So I brought a small team to get you out."

After saying that, Jason extended his hand to shake Glenn's. Rick and the others did the same.

"Rick, right? I know you well. You're a celebrity at our camp. You were in a coma for so long… We even had a bet on whether you'd wake up or not," Glenn said, then suddenly remembered the bet and murmured, "Uh, I'm really sorry, but I bet you wouldn't wake up."

Glenn was honest, and mid-sentence, he realized how inappropriate it sounded, but Rick just smiled and didn't mind.

"Glenn, take us to the others. We're here to evacuate you, so we shouldn't waste time." Seeing the conversation drift off-topic, Jason didn't want to linger when they needed to pick up the pace.

"Of course, follow me."

Resuming their journey, the five of them quickly reached the back alley of the mall through the emergency stairwell outside the building.

The intersection between the back alley and the main street was blocked by a bus, so there weren't many walkers.

"We're at the back door. There are five of us, and two walkers—we'll need some help!" Glenn radioed T-Dog through the intercom as he climbed down the ladder on the other side.

When he reached the ground, Glenn raised his arms to stop the two people behind him, but they ran past him without hesitation.

"Take care of them all!" Jason ordered as soon as he saw the walkers ahead.

Drawing a knife, Jason walked forward naturally before striking the first walker that approached him.

Crack!

With a clean slash, Jason pierced through the walker's skull. Blood splattered as the infected collapsed.

Tommy and another soldier, Jimmy, silently took down several other walkers using the same method. If they could save bullets, there was no reason to waste ammunition they might need later.

Thud!

At the same time, the back door of the mall burst open with a loud noise, and two people wearing plastic raincoats and gloves stepped out. They were Morales and T-Dog, members of Glenn's group who had come to the city for supplies.

As the duo prepared to eliminate the walkers at the entrance, they froze upon seeing that none remained.

"Give me your machete, Rick."

Seeing Jason's request, Rick handed him the machete without understanding what he was about to do.

"Tommy, leave the last three to me," Jason said as he prepared to do something he had never done before—but he certainly knew the theory behind it.

As the walkers approached with slow steps, Jason seized the moment. With several swift cuts, he severed the arms of the three walkers.

Lifting his leg, he kicked each of them one by one. After that, he stepped forward, stomped on the first walker that was trying to get up, and, with quick machete swings, began to disfigure them.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In no time, the jaws of the three walkers were cut off. A group of people watched Jason with bewilderment, unable to understand the purpose of his bizarre operation.

"They're perfect." Jason, with a smile on his face, took two steps back and signaled everyone to wait.

The three walkers soon struggled to their feet. Due to the lack of arms, two of them fell more than once, but when all three finally stood up, everyone was shocked to see them standing there in silence, facing each other without moving.

"My God! What's wrong with them?" Glenn took off his cap, staring at the scene in disbelief.

As the only calm person among the spectators, Jason shouted to the two unrecognizable figures in raincoats.

"Is there any rope or something in the mall?"

"What? Rope?" T-Dog, one of the oddly dressed individuals from head to toe, was still stunned. But Morales, beside him, reacted quickly.

"Yes! I'll get it!"

Observing the gear these three people carried, it was clear they were from some government group. And judging by what they were doing, they knew far more than the rest.

Meanwhile, Tommy silently observed and learned from Jason's actions. He had always thought that the man he had decided to follow was incredibly intelligent and undeniably fierce. As a special forces captain, Jason was undoubtedly superior in both intelligence and foresight—hence why he was a captain in the first place.

"I've got the rope!"

Not long after Morales had rushed off, Jason took the rope and stepped forward to tie up the three walkers. Each was secured with different ropes, all fastened to the door handle of the mall.

"Let's go. It's time to meet the others!"

"Understood, boss!"

"This is insane." Glenn walked in with a grin on his face.