The Governor, who had been firing toward the people in the woods, suddenly realized something was wrong. When he turned his head and looked back, he discovered several soldiers in combat uniforms and helmets standing on the wall behind them and immediately understood the situation.
"Behind us! Be careful, the enemy is approaching from behind!"
The Governor's shout alerted several people, and he quickly moved into a car. He started the engine and began reversing. The engine roared loudly as the Governor tried to escape the crisis.
At the same time, he also noticed that all of his soldiers had fallen to the ground. "Damn it! Useless sons of bitches!"
Cursing what had happened, he didn't have time to think about the situation. He floored the accelerator and spun the steering wheel in a semicircle, then charged toward the road to get out of there.
Jason and the others had also stopped shooting. Seeing the Governor attempting to flee, Jason smiled, climbed down from the tree he had been perched in, walked over, and looked at a soldier beside him who handed him a sniper rifle.
Jason walked slowly toward the prison's main gate, just as the Governor had corrected his course and rushed toward the exit. He lowered his weapon and looked with disdain at the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Did this man really think he was a fool?
"If you dare stand in front of me, then you'd better be prepared to die!"
The Governor's car sped toward the outer gate, only to see a man standing in his path. Without thinking, he decided to run him over. When he realized he had fallen into his enemies' trap, a look of desperation crossed his face.
At that moment, the Governor's eyes were bloodshot and filled with rage. Even if he died today, he was determined to kill the man in front of him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Grabbing his gun again, the Governor aimed at Jason and pulled the trigger, firing off several wild bullets. Watching the Governor resist so stubbornly, showing no signs of surrender, Jason calmly lifted the sniper rifle in his hands.
There was no point trying to reason with the man before him. Making a quick decision, Jason aimed precisely and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The Governor, driving straight at Jason, was shot in the chest. His head slumped onto the steering wheel. Jason turned his head and handed the rifle to Elias.
"Let's clean up the bodies."
The Governor might have been considered a hero by some, but Jason didn't want to waste time or words trying to persuade him. With one clean shot, he made sure the man wouldn't even have the chance to turn into a walker. That was Jason's version of mercy.
In the entire battle, the Governor and around twelve others were killed. The rest were captured. Glenn called for everyone to bring the people into the courtyard, and then he silently observed the survivors.
Glenn had high hopes for these people. Given the prison's current capabilities, more than half of them could become a strong group of soldiers essential to its defense—not to mention that there were still many people back in Woodbury.
As for the Governor's thugs, Jason had given it a lot of thought. He didn't mind getting rid of them. Had they lost their humanity? Not exactly. After all, to survive in Woodbury, they had to follow the Governor's orders. Very few people dared oppose him after seeing his cruelty firsthand.
But forgiving them and letting them join his people was out of the question. With the Governor gone, it was hard to justify what these people had done before. Still, Jason decided to give them a chance—an opportunity for rehabilitation through training that would reform them completely, led by Corporal Rayan. This man wouldn't treat them like humans.
Jason did this for one reason: the future. People in the prison might think they were already powerful, but Jason knew they were far from it. That's why he valued human life so much—because every opportunity to grow mattered.
He believed that when something becomes a global trend, no one can escape it, whether they like it or not.
Those with ill intentions aren't stupid. The more powerful the hands that control them, the less likely they are to make mistakes.
But as more people join his group, more individual ideas and rival factions will inevitably form. Jason knew that when those disputes reached a certain threshold, the group would collapse—and his opportunity to rival the CRM would go down the drain.
That's why many of the prison's future internal leaders are people from the original story—men and women who proved trustworthy, even in death. Knowing the story's timeline, Jason had to take advantage of many people who were saved, such as Morgan, Shane, or Merle.
They might not be as useful in battle as soldiers, but within the chain of command, they would be indispensable.
At the very least, that command must never break. Later, Jason planned to leave Shane at the Atlanta shelter. Even though he'd left trusted people there, he hadn't been at that base for at least a week.
But Corporal Rayan could change that uncertain environment. With strict military-level training, he swore that all those men—whether thieves, murderers, or liars—would be reformed and become entirely different individuals.
Now that Jason had changed the future and built a solid foundation, he didn't need those people to immediately join his soldier ranks. As long as they survived the training, they could help expand a new territory for humanity.
What he was doing now was following the trend while swimming against the current.
He planned to use every person and place them in an important role within his community. Everyone would have to adapt to this apocalyptic environment—transform it into a kind of protective color for all—and use every possible method to prepare for the future. And when a force truly mattered, they could rise and declare to the world that they were ready to change the future.
Right now, their power was still far too weak. Even operating this way for several years, how many survivors could they truly gather in a decade?
Looking at the people before him, Jason had high expectations and realized that his way of thinking wasn't just right for himself—it was right for everyone. There were fewer than four hundred people in the prison, so it would be impossible to remain in that place much longer. He had to begin moving and promote growth in their refuge within Atlanta.
But now wasn't the time to think about all that. There were still many things waiting for him to deal with slowly and carefully.
Jason looked at the people who hadn't been arrested, like Martínez and some of his closest followers.
"I want you to think carefully about what you're going to say next. Some of you, unfortunately, won't be allowed to keep living. After all, I only give two chances."
Everyone in the prison quickly began to move and secure the corpses that still had intact brains. After leaving the rest of the captives under the watch of professional soldiers, Jason moved on.
First, he found Guillermo and asked him to send someone to repair the outer fence. Then Jason headed toward the structure where all the survivors were waiting for answers.