The next morning, Gray pulled up his system interface right after his early security sweep. It was time to expand their fleet for the rescue operations. He scrolled to the armored vehicles and selected a true beast, the INKAS Huron APC, for 38,000 Gold. It was a bit more expensive than the other one because it was bigger.
With a heavy, mechanical thud that echoed across the courtyard, the massive, tactical armored personnel carrier materialized on the concrete. It was larger than the Sentry, fully mine-resistant and blast-protected, and designed to breach hostile urban terrain.
Gray walked into the common room of the cell block to find Oscar. Big Tiny was sitting nearby and perked up immediately. "Hey, Boss, if you're heading into Atlanta to find Oscar's folk, can I tag along? I need to check on my mom's. She lives on the other side of the city."
"Get your gear," Gray nodded. He opened his system menu, he bought a highly detailed, updated map of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and laid it out on the table. Oscar and Big Tiny quickly stepped up, and they pointed out the exact streets and neighborhoods where their families lived.
As they were walking back out to the courtyard, Merle was already leaning against the side of the newly spawned Huron APC, a massive grin on his face. "Oh, now this is a real pretty toy, boy. You ain't leaving me behind to babysit. I'm tagging along."
Gray rolled his eyes but didn't argue. "Fine. You're driving."
Before climbing into the passenger seat, Gray paused on the steps and activated his Wraith Sight one last time. Seeing absolutely no hostile blue or gray silhouettes near their borders, he deactivated the power, stepped into the heavily armored cabin, and shut the airtight door.
The Huron's massive engine roared to life. Merle slammed it into gear, and the four men drove away from the prison, kicking up dust as they sped down the road toward the ruined city.
Two hours later, the towering, shattered skyline of Atlanta loomed ahead of them. They navigated through the cracked, overgrown highways, pushing past abandoned cars until they neared Oscar's neighborhood. Since Oscar's family was closer to the city limits, they decided to clear his location first.
Merle turned the massive APC onto the specific residential street where Oscar lived, but the exact second he straightened the wheel, he slammed on the brakes.
The entire block was completely overrun. A massive, swirling horde of hundreds of walkers choked the asphalt from sidewalk to sidewalk, their decaying bodies shuffling aimlessly under the hot sun.
"Looks like a party, boys," Merle cackled, his arms on the steering wheel.
"Park it right here," Gray said.
Gray didn't show a hint of fear. He stood up, popped open the heavy tactical roof hatch of the Huron APC, and climbed out onto the reinforced roof. Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out his newest specialized addition. It was a gleaming, silver M16A2 assault rifle equipped with an underbarrel grenade launcher. The weapon was a legendary artifact from an old video game called Black, unlocked only by beating the brutal campaign on its hardest difficulty. This specific silver firearm possessed magical properties, it had infinite ammunition and never required a single reload.
Gray braced his boots against the armor plating, raised the silver rifle to his shoulder, and flipped the selector switch to semi-automatic. He took aim and began to fire.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Unlike the exhausting run at the high school grounds with Rick and Shane, Gray didn't feel a single ounce of physical fatigue. He systematically burst walker heads left and right, his silver weapon flashing rhythmically in the sunlight.
The massive horde instantly heard the constant, thunderous cracking of the rifle. The walkers agitated violently, letting out a collective, raspy groan as the entire mass turned and began surging directly toward the armored vehicle.
Gray never stopped shooting. Armed with absolute infinite ammunition and freed from the physical limitation of reloading, he maintained a devastating, relentless rate of fire.
Down in the cabin, Merle was practically vibrating with excitement. "Oh, hell no! I ain't sitting down here while you get all the action!" he shouted. Merle climbed the middle hatch, scrambled onto the roof right next to Gray, and pulled his UAC handgun. He laughed like an unhinged madman, pulling the trigger to his heart's content as he destroyed walker skulls alongside Gray's gunfire.
For thirty grueling, non-stop minutes, the street erupted into an absolute slaughterhouse.
Finally, the echoes of the gunfire faded, and an eerie, heavy silence fell over the entire city block. The street looked like a scene straight out of a graphic horror movie. Decaying bodies littered every single square inch of the asphalt, piled three layers deep in some sections. Dark, coagulated walker blood was running down the concrete curbs and pouring into the storm drains as if it were a torrential rainstorm.
Inside the safety of the Huron's armored hull, Oscar and Big Tiny were sitting completely frozen, scared absolutely shitless. They had known Gray was incredibly powerful, but watching this level of casual, god-like mass destruction in person was entirely different. Through the bulletproof glass windows, they had watched bodies drop faster than their brains could even count.
Gray and Merle slid back down through the roof hatch, sealing it shut. Gray put his weapon back in his inventory. "We're clear. Move up."
Merle slammed his foot on the gas. The massive, heavy-duty tires of the Huron APC began to roll forward, the entire vehicle violently bouncing and swaying as it literally drove over the mountain of crushed corpses, grinding bones and rotting flesh beneath its weight.
After five minutes of navigating the gruesome, bumpy road, they finally pulled up in front of a small, heavily boarded-up suburban house.
Gray looked at the dark windows, hesitating to activate his Wraith Sight. He didn't want to peer through the walls, see an empty house or a group of walkers, and accidentally crush Oscar's hopes before the man could see it for himself.
Oscar didn't wait. His hands were shaking violently as he threw the armored door open, stumbled out of the vehicle, and ran up the cracked concrete steps to the front porch. He stood before the heavily reinforced wooden door, his chest heaving with a terrifying mix of fear and hope.
With a trembling hand, Oscar knocked hard against the wood.
He waited three agonizing seconds. Total silence inside. He knocked again, harder this time.
When no noise answered his calls, tears blurred his vision, and he collapsed against the doorframe, sobbing violently. He began to scream at the top of his lungs, pounding his fists against the boards, "Tamara!" Oscar cried out, his voice cracking with pure agony. "Tamara! It's me! It's Oscar! Please... please be in there! Kids! Please be alive! I'm finally here!"
He stopped talking, his forehead pressed against the wood as he wept silently, the quiet of the empty street suffocating him.
Suddenly, a faint, metallic click echoed from the other side of the door. A small, hidden viewing slot slid open a fraction of an inch, and a hollow, terribly skinny face peered through the narrow gap. The eyes blinked against the bright daylight, staring at the crying man in absolute disbelief.
"Oscar...?" a weak, trembling female voice whispered through the wood. "Is that... is that really you?"
It was his wife, Tamara.
Oscar's heart practically stopped before slamming into his ribs. He started crying even louder, a massive, overwhelming wave of joy crashing through his chest. He slammed his palms against the door, a frantic laugh tearing through his tears. "Yes! Yes, baby, it's me! It's really me! I'm here!"
Inside the house, the sound of heavy wooden deadbolts violently throwing back echoed through the porch. The door swung open, and Tamara, frail, exhausted, but alive, burst out, tears streaming down her face as she threw her arms around her husband's neck.
Inside the dark house, two small, terrified faces peeked out from behind the door. Oscar's children were safe, but they were severely malnourished. Gray stepped out of the APC and walked up to the porch. "We're here to pick you up," he said gently to the family. "We're taking you to a safe, secure place with running water and plenty of food."
Oscar immediately helped his wife and kids pack their essentials, ensuring they gathered enough clothes for the road. Tamara also carefully packed all their old family photo albums. Once all their bags were loaded into the spacious rear compartment of the Huron APC, the family climbed inside and settled into the seats.
Merle slammed the door shut, hopped into the driver's seat, and began navigating the massive armored vehicle through the ruined streets toward Big Tiny's neighborhood to find his mother's apartment.
After roughly twenty minutes of driving, they located the correct apartment building. Surprisingly, the surrounding streets were completely empty of walkers. Because Gray didn't want to freak out Oscar's family with any sudden combat or gruesome sights, he stepped out of the vehicle alone. "Everyone, wait here," he instructed.
The moment Gray pushed open the building's front glass doors, a horrific stench of decay hit his nose. A few rotting bodies were scattered across the lobby floor. Gray instantly activated his Wraith Sight, his eyes flaring white as he scanned the entire structure. He let out a heavy sigh. The entire building was completely empty; there were no glowing blue lights of living survivors, nor any grey walker signatures roaming the halls.
He climbed the concrete stairs to the third floor and walked down the corridor until he reached the apartment door Big Tiny had told him about. Gray pushed it open. Inside the dimly lit living room, an old lady sat motionless in a rocking chair, already deceased. A revolver was clenched tightly in her stiff hand. She had taken her own life long ago to avoid a darker fate.
Gray stood there for a moment, processing the grim sight. Instead of leaving her there, he used his system powers to gently place her body into his inventory. 'I'll let Big Tiny decide if he wants to bury her properly back at the prison,' Gray thought.
He walked back down the stairs and stepped out into the daylight. Big Tiny was already leaning out of the APC door, a desperate sliver of hope in his eyes. But the moment he saw Gray slowly shaking his head, Big Tiny's face crumbled, and he began to cry.
"How... how did it happen, man?" Big Tiny choked out, wiping his eyes.
"She took her own life," Gray said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She didn't suffer. And listen, I already have her body secured. We're going to bring her back to the prison so you can give her a proper burial on our own grounds."
The two-hour drive back to the compound was completely silent among the men. The only sound in the cabin was the quiet, whispered conversations between Oscar, Tamara, and their children, one of whom had already fallen fast asleep on Oscar's lap, exhausted but safe.
When they were roughly a mile away from the prison perimeter, Gray spotted a cloud of dust and a strange car speeding off into the opposite direction, disappearing over the horizon. Gray turned to the driver's side. "Merle, hit the gas. Hurry up."
Merle pinned the accelerator, and the Huron APC roared down the dirt road. As they pulled up to the massive stone gates of the prison, nobody was stationed on the high guard tower. Merle aggressively honked the horn once, the loud blast echoing through the yard.
An agonizing minute passed before the heavy stone gate finally groaned open. Glenn stood to the side, his face pale and full of anxiety.
Gray threw his door open and stepped down into the courtyard, looking at the chaotic scene. "What the hell happened here, Glenn?" Gray demanded. "Why is the guard tower empty?"
"Axel got shot," Glenn said frantically, his hands shaking. "He was out here helping Hershel move some things near the fence. Suddenly, we heard a gunshot, and Axel just dropped to the concrete, clutching his arm."
"Where did the shot come from?" Gray pressed.
"The woods," Glenn replied, pointing toward the dense tree line. "We just saw him drop. Rick and Shane got him inside to the infirmary."
Gray nodded. He turned back toward the Huron APC. "Big Tiny, Oscar, get your family inside the cell blocks right now. Stay in the secure wing."
As the survivors hurried up the steps, Gray slowly turned around and faced the woods. A blinding fury burned behind his eyes. He looked out toward the horizon where the car had vanished, his mind locking onto the absolute certainty of who had ordered the strike.
'I gave you a warning, Governor,' Gray thought bitterly, his fists clenching at his sides. 'I told you exactly what would happen. But it appears you're just too stupid to stay in your damn lane.'
He turned on his heel toward the parked INKAS Sentry. He didn't care about diplomacy anymore. He didn't care about waiting. Gray was officially ready for war, and he was going to bring the wrath of God straight to Woodbury's front gates.