The northern and southern states were connected.
However, the past night presented two completely different scenes.
The south had a peaceful night; they snuggled with people they trusted, and the supermarket sheltered them from the wind and rain, allowing them to sleep very well.
But in the north, everything seemed to be turned upside down.
Fires lit up the sky as if it were daytime, the entire area was bustling, and an unprecedented transformation was underway!
During this night, some fell, and others rose again.
They seemed to be like Shawn, not needing much sleep.
Each time a group of Zealots received the summoning message and arrived at the Resort, a new slaughter would begin.
Fortunately, thanks to the The Cult Leader's previous management strategy, the Zealots who had already joined Shawn's command could act without hesitation when facing other Zealots.
They followed Shawn's 'divine will' to filter out Supporterss and Zealots who were too deeply affected by drugs, killing them and even burning their bodies with 'holy fire'.
By midnight, the last batch of bodies was thrown into the fire, sending sparks flying.
Bray stood on the street of the villa complex and quickly scanned the area; only after confirming it was clean did he turn and walk into the villa behind him.
Arriving at the door on the second floor, he hesitated for a moment but still knocked respectfully.
His knuckles met the solid wooden door, producing a dull yet somewhat crisp sound.
Shawn's voice came from inside: "Come in."
Bray pushed the door open, and the first person he saw was Elynn.
He was half-closing his eyes at this moment, sitting upright on a single sofa, looking serious and proper, like a naive college student.
His gaze shifted to the left, and Shawn's figure appeared on the outer balcony of the villa's second floor.
"I already know everything that happened just now; you did very well."
As Bray walked beside Shawn, Shawn spoke without turning his head.
While Bray led the Zealots in handling the The Cult members who subsequently gathered, Shawn had been observing their reactions and the progress of the situation.
"My God, I can give my life for you."
Bray's eyes shone as he looked at Shawn, and he bowed to Shawn once again.
Then, after a slight pause, he continued.
"My God, after dealing with the last batch of people, there are approximately 800 left. This is already the core of the The Cult; subsequently… no more The Cult members should come."
"The gunshots here haven't stopped; they'd be truly foolish to still be willing to come in."
Shawn chuckled.
"They would even sacrifice their lives for my God; how dare they escape?!"
Half of Bray's face was hidden in the darkness, and his slightly widened eyes showed some anger.
Hearing Bray's words, Shawn shook his head.
Although he didn't know the distribution of Supporterss in various places or their exact numbers.
However, the situation at the Resort was clearly not right now; not all Supporterss were drug-addled idiots, and they had probably already fled upon hearing the commotion.
After removing the Supporterss who were killed, the Zealots whose addiction was bone-deep, and the Zealots who died in firefights with resisting The Cult members, only a mere 800 people remained in Shawn's hands.
Fortunately, these 800 people were pure; every single one of them was willing to give their life for Shawn.
For Shawn, these 800 people were more useful than 2,000.
As the first population expansion for the Prison, this number was within Shawn's acceptable range.
"There's no need to bother with them anymore. Supplies have also been gathered. Inform everyone that we can prepare to depart."
"Where should we go?" Bray quickly asked.
"All the way south."
"In the future, that will be where humanity finds salvation, and your final holy land."
Shawn looked up, facing south, and said directly without hesitation.
With Shawn's command, an army began to break camp.
They took everything they could use, like a swarm of locusts, forming a long convoy that stretched along the road heading south.
…
A pair of soft eyes.
His eyeballs moved a few times under his eyelids before slowly opening.
Daryl supported himself to adjust the stiffness in his torso from his poor sleeping posture last night, rubbed the corners of his eyes, and spoke in a groggy voice.
"What time is it?"
As he spoke, he kicked Merle, who was lying directly on the opposite shelf, asleep.
"You motherfucker…"
Woken up, Merle looked up, ready to curse, but his voice immediately softened a lot after seeing Daryl's face.
"Maybe it's 4 or maybe it's 5, but who cares? Who keeps track of time now?"
"Little brother, just let me sleep a little longer!"
Merle covered his face with his jacket, barely suppressing his impatience.
Daryl looked at his older brother, a bit speechless, and rummaged through his jacket pocket, finding a box of matches and cigarettes after fumbling around on him.
Daryl carefully navigated among the sleeping people on the floor and went outside the supermarket's main entrance.
He leaned against the sign in front of the supermarket, gazing into the distance.
With a 'snap' sound, a match lit up his eyes.
Daryl cupped the match until a wisp of white smoke emerged from the end of the cigarette before throwing it to the ground and crushing it.
He took a deep drag; the warmth from the hot gas made his body, permeated by the morning mist, much more comfortable.
He squinted into the distance, where a blurry figure was slowly moving, making Daryl involuntarily crane his neck.
But it wasn't until a gentle breeze blew, dispersing some of the fog and revealing a grayish, rotting Walker face, that Daryl lost interest and took another deep drag.
He didn't bother with the Walker; he had more important things to do.
Just then, the Walker in the distance suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.
A large vehicle broke through the thin mist, crushing the Walker's head, and appeared in Daryl's line of sight.
"Hmm?"
A question, accompanied by smoke, puffed out from his nostrils.
Daryl squinted, trying to get a clear look, then casually tossed his cigarette and turned to rush back towards the supermarket.
Daryl saw a large vehicle, but it wasn't a fire truck; it was a large cargo truck, and a long line followed behind it, too numerous to count from a distance.
Pushing open the supermarket door, Daryl grabbed a chain to lock the door while shouting to wake everyone up.
"Maybe you should get up now!"
"We're in trouble!"
Many people rubbed their sleepy eyes and immediately sobered up when they saw Daryl approaching with his crossbow, getting up and dressing.
"What's going on?"
Diana poked her head out of the tent.
"A team of people, I don't know whose they are, but they're heading towards us now."
"And if nothing unexpected happens, the people who took the supermarket supplies should be them."
Daryl analyzed.
As of now, the only ones capable of taking such large quantities of supplies were this long convoy.
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