Temporary Bunker, the Prison.
Upon entering the room, Jason found Tyler and Nara, who were quietly discussing important matters. Seeing this, he asked,
"Tyler, have you received any news from Tommy's team?"
Upon hearing the question, Tyler nodded and said,
"Yes, Tommy and Karla arrived in Woodbury and quickly subdued the remaining guards before imprisoning them. According to Tommy, Karla managed to persuade all the survivors, and with the recordings they brought, everyone realized the truth."
"As you ordered, the people closest to the Governor were placed under surveillance and immediately jailed. For now, Tommy is organizing the group of survivors to be transferred to the prison at a later time."
When Tyler finished speaking, he smiled and added,
"I honestly didn't expect things to turn out this way, but we must proceed carefully and monitor that entire group of survivors who will be joining us here in the prison."
Jason was already well aware of this matter, so he nodded. Then he walked deeper into the room where the others were gathered, and after drawing everyone's attention, he said,
"Listen, just as we planned, and thanks to everyone's efforts, we've successfully defeated the enemy."
When everyone heard these words, silence fell for a brief moment before erupting into cheers and celebrations. Applause and hugs were shared all around.
"Well done!"
"We knew you'd pull it off!"
"We won!"
Seeing such an uplifting atmosphere, Jason smiled with genuine happiness—an emotion that rarely surfaced in him—as he watched the families and children celebrating something they probably didn't fully understand.
After getting lost in the moment for a while, Jason raised his hands to call for silence and said,
"The most important thing is that none of our people died. Some were injured, but they're not in danger!"
"We won't have to hide anymore!"
"We can finally work in peace!"
"For now, it's not advisable to leave this place. Once we decide what to do with the prisoners and clean things up, everyone will be free to return to their usual activities."
Once Jason finished speaking, he walked back toward the prison entrance. He did this to wait for the others to regain mobility, since many had been sedated.
At the same time, he was giving them time to make a decision—this would be the only time they'd be asked whether they would stay in the prison or leave.
Shane, who was waiting by the door, looked at Jason and asked,
"Jason! Are you really going to let them go?"
"Of course not. If they leave the prison, they'll definitely die."
Jason responded with just a few simple words, and after Shane nodded in agreement, the two of them walked toward Rick.
"Well, gentlemen, now is the time to decide what will happen to you next. Pay close attention, because your future depends on these words!"
After a short pause, Jason looked at Rick and said,
"You can explain to our friends what happens from here."
"Alright, Jason," Rick replied calmly. He was relieved that the issue had been resolved without any allied casualties. He then turned toward the group of people kneeling in the main square.
Not wanting to delay, Rick said,
"Survivors of Woodbury! I'm Rick Grimes, and today I received the troubling news that a group of people was planning to attack our refuge. You might be wondering why we didn't kill you and instead have gathered you here. The answer is simple: we're not like you."
"You must understand—we never came looking for you. We never attacked you. The only thing we did was defend ourselves. I'm against killing people. I truly believe there are more good people than bad. But that doesn't mean I won't change my mind and do what's necessary to eliminate my enemies."
After speaking at length, the people from Woodbury began to understand what had happened once Rick showed them the evidence they had. Except for about a dozen field personnel, the rest of the people showed expressions of righteous indignation.
Then, through Michonne's words, they understood that many of them had been deceived by the Governor's lies and their own recklessness in passing judgment so quickly on what had actually happened.
She told everyone about the ordeal she and her friend Janet had suffered—how they were taken to Woodbury against their will due to the Governor's whims.
Many people knew Karen. If she had decided to trust these people after living here for so long, they had no choice but to wait and see how things would unfold with open minds.
Now, people were terrified they had risked their lives, and many had died believing they were fighting the enemy. If those here had used live ammunition instead of tranquilizers, they would already be dead.
Everyone was also waiting to see what the leaders would decide regarding all these people. Truthfully, none of them wanted to kill them in cold blood, so they left the final decision up to the leaders.
It was to be expected—not everyone had the heart or had suffered enough to make the decision to kill with just words. One could say they had been lucky so far thanks to the people leading them.