Jason's eyes fixed on Dale. At this moment, the old man suddenly felt as if he were being watched by a very dangerous being, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Listen, many don't even know 10% of what we've lived through out there. Rest assured that if I let you go, someday you'll return with hundreds or thousands of people to seek revenge and unload your fury on the base. When that moment comes, if we aren't prepared, we will be crushed and your lives will be in danger, so I don't care about not giving you a choice. In our position, it doesn't matter."
"As for imprisonment, they intended to enslave, rape and even kill people right in front of your faces! Are you willing to let them go?"
"No!"
"Of course not!"
Dale was a unique man, he never lowered his head nor felt the need to repent. Even in the original story, he wasn't afraid to confront Shane about his dangerous behavior.
But seeing the determination of the people, he closed his mouth and didn't continue with the persuasion, though his eyes still showed what he wanted.
Dale's face was a little pale, as if the people's insensitivity hurt him. He looked at them wide-eyed and kept murmuring something under his breath.
Before Jason finished speaking, he also noticed Dale's expression, so he said, "I know what you're thinking, it's inhumane to take someone's life at will, so let me tell you I will only be kind to my own people, and I'm not interested in showing sympathy to enemies."
"You need to understand a truth that now exists in this world: there is no longer a concept like a pause. We are now a small country in an immense world without rules, codes, morals or laws. Our organization must always serve our citizens to protect our lives. This isn't the first time someone has tried something like this; in Georgia several people are sentenced to death each month, do you understand me?"
"They did not betray us, they deserve death!"
"They did not betray us, they deserve death!"
Hearing the crowd's emotional shouts, Dale opened his mouth, but unable to say anything convincing, he shook his head.
Glenn, beside Dale, tried to calm him down.
Jesus also wanted to leave, but the shout stopped him and he saw Jason walking slowly toward him, speaking in a serious tone.
"If you're thinking of freeing these people while we're not paying attention, I won't just kill you, I'll also send all my soldiers to destroy you. A leader must take responsibility for his people. As captain, everyone in Hilltop will be involved, and eventually I will transfer them elsewhere. I hope you use your brain to see what is worth defending: a bunch of damned bastards, or your people."
Unexpectedly, Jesus's thoughts had been guessed, and his expression was clearly a bit stunned. Then the look on his face became helpless, and he could only nod.
"Continue the meeting. We will finalize the list of votes before nightfall. You're good men, Jesus, Dale, but you must understand where we live."
After leaving the crowd to continue sorting the votes, Jason looked at Daryl, Shane and Rick while walking, and they all followed him.
When they returned, an hour had already passed. Seeing the bloodstains on Jason's body and on some of his followers, everyone knew what had happened, but no one wanted to mention it.
Seeing Jason's grim face, no one took the initiative to talk to him, but there was no fear in their eyes — only respect!
Compared to what everyone has suffered, even Dale, who had suggested options that wouldn't turn people into murderers, had to admit that Jason never forced anyone to commit such actions. If he suggested it, he always went first to deal with what needed to be done. The leader of this place always took the burden so that everyone else could avoid this cruel world.
Finally, the various positions in the base were basically established, and the director of the government office was a very capable woman of about 50 years old. Her name was Sofia Bazaar, the spokesperson who would inspire the people.
Although Jason wasn't in a good mood, he still took the time to meet the future main spokesperson of the base. In fact, he knew that woman's abilities were good, but at the beginning of the end of the world, this poor mother lost all her relatives, which made her lose hope for a while. But some time ago she met a destined man again, and this man was the creator of innovative weapons, Richard.
Bob was also assigned to the central base as a technical advisor and military medical instructor.
Bob had always been very grateful to Jason, because in the time they spent together, he often openly said that Jason was the best leader, and everyone listened to stories about the outside world.
During the period Jason went to Washington, he began to show his talents and gained the approval of many people.
As for most of the military positions required in the central base, Sergeant Welles, George, Tyler and many others took charge.
That night Jason didn't appear again, but he was alone in his room and no one knew what he was busy with. Even when it came time to eat, Amy noticed he didn't show up.
But there was one place where many people were gathered, and that was Dale's room. The room, which wasn't too big, was filled with people, some even standing by the door, and Dale was sitting on the bed talking nonstop.
"All right, you don't have to stay with me anymore. I just don't think we have the right to decide someone else's life or death, much less more than fifty lives."
Glenn had followed him the whole way, sitting by his side, and more people arrived in the room, including Rick.
"Even if they kill people, are you willing to let those inhuman ones commit crimes against others outside the base?"
"You didn't understand me. I'm not stupid, I know they're bad people, but after all, this is a human life issue. I don't want everyone to lose respect for life in a place considered the future of humanity."
In the shadow outside the door, Daryl also stood there in silence, listening to the conversation of the people in the room. When he heard this, he suddenly felt uncomfortable, so he stuck out half his face and looked at Dale.
"Old man, you should go out and take a look at the real world. People out there won't talk with you about the value of life. I assure you those people won't waste a single bullet on you!"
…
It was already dark in Jason's room, and he was lying quietly on the bed. He felt a bit sleepy at that moment, but now his eyes were open and he couldn't sleep, thinking about what had happened today.
In fact, he had great confidence in these people. Almost all the people in the base who held important positions were extremely trustworthy. He thought there might be some traitors, but he never imagined so many.
"Ha ha…"
To be honest, although these people deserved what they deserved, they had been together for a long time no matter what, and it was obviously impossible to say there wasn't any disturbance in their hearts. But he didn't want to put this pressure on others; he had to set the example.
In fact, when Dale begged for mercy, he also hesitated for a moment. Maybe they were just delusional for a while, but after thinking about it, he made this cruel decision. This kind of thing shouldn't set a precedent.
Lying on the bed and looking at the dark floor, thinking about messy things, he fell asleep without realizing it.
"Maybe everything will be fine tomorrow…" Jason murmured before closing his eyes.