First Act

At nine thirty in the morning.

South of Texas.

Several flags with irreconcilable patterns crossed vertically at the watchtower at the entrance to Neil's base, flapping occasionally in the breeze.

In the central area of the shelter, many people were wearing strange clothes with the same patterns and all heading in the same direction. Everyone's behavior was peculiar. Some normal people seemed out of place.

After watching for a while, this group of people lazily found a place to stand or sit, chatted with familiar companions, and laughed wildly among themselves, as if they were ignoring the enemy attacking since the morning.

But in a building outside that base, Negan carefully adjusted his position, raised his binoculars, and observed the situation in the shelter.

His eyes scanned the area of these people at the main entrance and secretly memorized the positions of the patrol personnel. When he looked at the eighty or more people standing in the middle of the city, he couldn't help but sneer slightly.

"Zz... This is Negan; I'm in position."

...

Doomsday Cult Base.

Shopping mall.

"My God, there are so many people here."

At that moment, Alicia and Nick saw through telescopic sights the shopping mall where Teddy and his people were supposed to be. Outside were some walls made of containers where a crowd of guards had gathered, and they couldn't help but marvel.

Hundreds of people may be just a small number before the end of the world, but after the change, they remain a large group of people.

If Dominic were present in that building and saw their astonished faces, he would secretly say that this tiny number was absolutely nothing compared to some communities in Canada that no longer existed.

Not to mention the number of people and equipment in his camp; whether it's the two bases serving Teddy's cult extending across half the southern region or that mysterious organization called Wolves, nothing compares to his organization. With the combat power they have, they could crush these people without making many moves like Dominic is doing now.

Of course, when he mentions the Wolves, he doesn't take them seriously since he doesn't know them, and that will happen often as his community grows. What he has to do from now on is take all those bases and add them to his force, growing in power and people.

"Everyone is positioned to attack; I don't know how many of all these people will survive."

Through the binoculars, Nick watched the two trucks moving from the right side of the base toward the center. Soon, some members of Teddy's cult sat in the rear compartment, while the rest walked on both sides of the vehicle, slowly heading toward the center.

The movement speed was slow, and it was noticeable that they acted carefree.

"They're really not taking us seriously; those people don't expect what's coming."

Seeing the situation in the cult, Daryl spat on the ground angrily and cursed, "A bunch of scum; it seems ironic that they want to destroy the world with nuclear weapons!"

"Yes, it's really scary to think that these people seek a united purpose."

"Maybe they don't know."

Alicia looked at her brother, shook her head, and said, "You don't know these people; how are you so sure they don't know what they're doing?"

"Yes, we didn't know Dominic's people either, and now we're here helping to destroy a shelter."

Daryl watched this in silence; it seems he and his brother weren't the only ones always fighting, so he said, "We don't have time to know if it's right or wrong; you know very little about what these people have really done; it's better that way."

Knowing that three shelters would be attacked simultaneously, Alicia's eyebrows didn't relax, and she was still a bit worried: "So the others... will everything really be okay?"

"A base to the south is having children with knives attack our people; that's why we're attacking now. Some of these people seem to lack a good leader who sympathizes with their people. When Dominic informs the cult to surrender and they don't, we will attack."

Daryl really wasn't worried about this at all. Thinking about what Dominic said yesterday, he smiled slightly without anyone noticing and said, "The group of cannibals was destroyed a few days ago by our people. We thought we could negotiate with the people serving the cult, but it seems they are all bad people."

Then, Daryl looked at the people behind him, who were silently listening to his words, and said, "If you're sure to follow us to the end, you can do so once we finish the things that will be done here. If you think we're the bad guys and we're not considering everyone, you can leave. Everyone here knows we're surviving; we don't want to die from a damn bomb; at least I don't."

"Inform the radio that we are in position!"

After receiving the order, Ian took the radio without saying a word and walked to the window, ready to report their position.

"Zz... Dominic, we're in position!"

"Waiting for news from the negotiation!"

...

At the same time.

In the territory of the Doomsday Cult, a few kilometers away.

As an important place where the cult lives, this place occupies a larger area and has several outposts distributed around the shopping mall.

Despite having conflicting purposes, Dominic cannot deny that this place is really a good, safe site that was built with much effort.

But now, in several blind spots of this base, many armored cars and Humvees with machine guns were placed, ready to start an elimination operation. Everyone knew the submarine had been confirmed, so now they only had to eliminate these people.

The walls made of cars and containers were distributed around the base, which would greatly facilitate the attack they had planned.

At the main point where Dominic was, a shirtless and tattooed man came out of the interior area of a hut, surrounded by two armed men behind him, followed by a man holding a hammer.

At that moment, Dominic took a radio in his hand and said, "Teddy, I heard a lot about you from the vultures... I also have in my possession a key you've been looking for for some time."

"You have five minutes for everyone to gather in the open space of your base. I honestly no longer care who lives or dies inside your base, but for everyone who still wants to live, gather in the main square and do not hold weapons under any circumstances."

"This is the only way you can live. I also made sure to tell your other two bases, but they didn't understand the true meaning of our purpose."

"The vultures killed some of my men, and that's why they'll be attacked. If they die, at least I want them to know why they're dead. Teddy, I heard you were a reasonable man; surrender, and I'll let you live, but if in five minutes you don't come out, everyone will die."

After explaining the matter, Dominic handed the radio to one of his men and signaled for everyone to be ready.

As everyone knows, there are several hundred pairs of eyes watching the cult, observing every one of their movements.

"Well, here are some three hundred people."

Holding the binoculars in his hand, Dominic confirmed the positions of all the patrol personnel and kept all their positions in his mind.

After confirming all the people, he raised the radio in his hand and said, "Negan, how's your side?"

Joel's response did not take long to arrive from the intercom: "On my side, there are two hundred..."

"Well, let me confirm the battle plan now. If they don't come out in five minutes, two helicopters will drop some very nice gifts on them. That will be more than enough for me and Sam to enter and eliminate as many enemies as possible without them knowing we're attacking directly."

"I want snipers on the heights; I need the ground team ready to enter and kill any threat."

"Everyone else, wait for orders!"

"Understood, Sir!"

"Good..."

When Dominic talked about the orders, he took a radio and reported, "I want the containers with walkers to approach the mission!"

"We'll arrive in three minutes, sir, waiting for orders."

"Then let's wait!"