An Encounter

"Who are you?"

Alicia, who had just killed other enemies, emerged behind Dominic and aimed at these people, who were apparently pointing their weapons at them. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, and I wouldn't try anything stupid either."

"Guys, what's going on?" Glenn, who had rushed to help, was held back by a woman with a katana who had appeared out of nowhere.

Michonne looked at Rick and then at Dominic. "Are they enemies?"

"I don't think so. Are you enemies?" Dominic directed a look at Rick, who was pointing his gun directly at him.

The tension was palpable for a few minutes until a distant cry was clearly heard: "Andrea!"

"Do you know a girl named Sophia?" Dominic, who wasn't used to playing dumb, lowered his weapon to give these people a vote of confidence.

Daryl, overwhelmed with emotions, asked, "Why do you ask?"

"We rescued a girl with the same name. She said she was Carol's daughter and had been in a group before getting separated by a horde of walkers." Dominic walked back, not without signaling for his people to lower their weapons.

Alicia did so very slowly. This trust Dominic was extending to these people was not something he did often, so she kept her guard up just in case.

"Is that man dead?" Daryl approached where his brother was lying.

Dominic looked down and said, "He's alive. I wouldn't worry much. I need someone alive to find out where these people are hiding. I think they are the same ones who attacked my helicopter a month ago."

"Will you take care of it?"

Daryl nodded and said, "He's my brother; of course I'll take care of it."

"Will your feelings get in the way?" Dominic stopped, wanting to know Daryl's answer.

"No, of course not."

Rick followed Dominic while the others carried the unconscious Merle back to where the rest of their group was. "Where exactly do you come from?"

"Los Angeles. The base where I was stationed received an alert about a military base that needed help, so I led an exploration operation. But at that moment, the helicopter started to fail. We tried to land, but some men shot at us before we could even touch down."

Dominic looked into the distance and saw Carol reuniting with her daughter. "She's very lucky. But before we continue talking, is there anyone in your group who can turn on the radio?"

"Glenn can do it. He's good with machines." Rick immediately called Glenn and explained everything.

"I'd be happy to help. May I know your name?"

Dominic then took off his helmet, revealing his young face. He extended his hand and said, "I'm Dominic. If we can get in touch with the base, they can extract us from this place."

"That's great."

Rick watched Glenn run off, then looked at Dominic and asked, "How many people are in your shelter?"

"You're a cop, right?"

"Yeah, I was a long time ago."

Dominic lit a cigarette and offered one to Rick, but he declined. "We are the last known resistance of humanity, formed by the military, police, firefighters, and medical teams. We gathered the best available after deserting the army for disobeying orders."

"What were those orders?"

"To kill everyone. It sounds ironic, but the army lost because we killed each other. Some followed their hearts, and others followed orders. It was a complete war that we lived through back then. Fortunately, with the necessary help, I was able to create a safe place at sea that could be protecting two hundred thousand people."

All these words left Rick astonished. He couldn't believe that such a large resistance could be maintained under the orders of a single power. "So, you are..."

"Commander of that resistance. Now that I think about it, maybe someone wanted me dead." Dominic joked about his own misfortunes.

"So, the whole world is lost?"

Rick was more intrigued by things he didn't know than by Dominic himself.

"Everything is similar, but we believe that North Korea survived."