The farmhouse kitchen was silent, save for the rhythmic tapping of Ren's finger on the wooden table.
"Saviors," Rick repeated, looking at the map Ren had laid out. "You think they'll come here?"
"I don't think, Rick. I know," Ren said. He stood at the head of the table, flanked by Maggie and Andrea. "I killed six of their men and blew up a truck. They track their patrols. When that patrol doesn't check in, or when the survivor I let go tells his story, they will come. And they will bring an army."
Hershel looked weary. He had just accepted the reality of the dead, and now he had to accept the reality of war. "We can't defend this farm, can we?"
"No," Ren said bluntly. "It's wide open. Sightlines are terrible. Wood burns."
He stabbed a finger onto a circled location on the map.
"The West Georgia Correctional Facility."
Shane scoffed, leaning against the doorframe. "A prison? You want us to live in a cage?"
"A cage keeps people in," Ren corrected. "A fortress keeps enemies out. Fences. Guard towers. Concrete walls. An armory. It's the only place we can hold against a paramilitary force."
Ren looked around the room. His Tactical Leadership skill allowed him to sense the shifting morale. They were scared, but they trusted him.
"We leave in one hour," Ren commanded. "Pack only essentials. Weapons, food, seeds. Leave the furniture."
The Exodus
The convoy was efficient. Ren had streamlined their logistics.
The heavy equipment and non-combatants (Lori, Carl, Carol, Beth, Patricia) were loaded into the RV and the truck.
"Ren," Lori approached him as he checked his motorcycle. She looked conflicted. "Rick says... Rick says you're the reason we're safe. But you provoked these 'Saviors'."
Ren tightened a strap on his gear. He turned to her. Lori was the Queen piece of the original protagonist, but to Ren, she was just another variable.
"The Saviors exist, Lori. They would have found you eventually. They would have killed Rick and enslaved you. I just started the fight on my terms."
He leaned in close, his Incubus Charisma making her flush despite her anger. "I don't wait for monsters to knock on my door. I kick their door down first."
Lori swallowed hard, stepping back. "Just... keep Carl safe."
"Carl will be a soldier," Ren said. "Safest place to be."
The Prison Gates
They arrived at the prison by midday. It was a imposing structure of gray concrete and chain-link fences, surrounded by a field of tall grass.
And walkers. Hundreds of them.
The inner yard was a swarm of prisoners and guards who had turned. Some wore riot gear.
The convoy stopped at the outer gate.
"Jesus," Glenn breathed. "There must be five hundred of them."
"Looks like a suicide run," Shane muttered.
Ren dismounted his bike. He stretched his neck, cracking it side to side.
"Rick, Daryl, Shane, T-Dog," Ren called out. "You guys hold the perimeter. Shoot anything that tries to flank us."
"And you?" Rick asked, checking his Python.
"I'm going to clear the yard," Ren said casually.
" alone?" Maggie shouted from the truck window. "Ren, that's insanity! Let us help!"
Ren walked over to the truck. He reached through the window and cupped her cheek. "Watch, Maggie. Watch what your man can do."
He turned and walked toward the gate. He cut the chain with bolt cutters and slipped inside.
He locked the gate behind him.
Ren stood alone in the outer yard. Five hundred pairs of dead eyes turned toward him. A collective moan rose up like a twisted choir.
[Quest Generated: The Prison Breaker]
[Objective: Clear the Courtyard (0/482 Walkers).]
[Time Limit: 30 Minutes.]
[Reward: 2000 System Points, Title: "One Man Army", Dungeon Key (West Block).]
Ren drew his Katana. He didn't draw a gun.
"System," Ren thought. "Activate Adrenaline Surge. Channel Lightning into the blade."
ZZZZZT.
Blue electricity arced down his arm and wrapped around the steel of the katana. The blade hummed with lethal energy.
Ren broke into a sprint.
He didn't run like a human. He ran like a cheetah. He hit the first line of walkers at forty miles per hour.
SLASH.
The electrified blade didn't just cut; it cauterized. Three heads flew into the air, their necks smoking.
Ren spun, a whirlwind of blue light and steel. He decapitated a riot-gear walker, the blade slicing through the helmet like it was paper.
He was a blur. To the group watching from the fence, he looked like a force of nature.
"He's... he's laughing," Daryl whispered, lowering his crossbow.
Ren was laughing. The Limit Breaker was singing in his blood. Every kill granted a micro-fraction of EXP. Every swing refined his muscle memory.
A cluster of twenty walkers surrounded him.
"Too slow!" Ren roared.
He stabbed the sword into the ground.
[Skill: Lightning Nova]
A shockwave of electricity exploded outward from him in a ten-meter radius. The walkers in the circle convulsed as their brains were fried instantly. They dropped simultaneously.
Ren ripped the sword from the earth and kept moving.
Ten minutes. That was all it took.
The field was littered with bodies. The silence returned.
Ren stood in the center of the carnage, his chest heaving slightly. He flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it.
He walked back to the gate where the group stood, mouths agape.
"Gate's open," Ren said. "Move the vehicles inside."
Block C
Clearing the interior was tighter, darker work. Ren took point, with Rick and Daryl covering his flanks.
They moved through the dark corridors of Cell Block C. The air was stale, smelling of mildew and old death.
"Flashlights," Ren ordered.
They swept the cells. Empty.
"Secure," Rick called out.
They reached the common room. It was clean. A potential home.
"This is it," Ren said. "We set up here. Cells on the bottom for the elderly and children. Top tier for the shooters."
"There's bodies in the cafeteria," Daryl noted, peering through the glass. "Fresh ones."
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Prisoners. The living kind."
He kicked the double doors open.
Inside the cafeteria, five men stood huddled behind a table, holding shanks and pipes. They looked terrified and emaciated.
Axel, Oscar, Big Tiny, and Thomas (the violent one).
"Don't move!" Shane shouted, aiming his shotgun.
The prisoners raised their hands.
"We... we didn't know!" Axel stammered. "We've been locked in there for months! A guard let us out... then we saw you guys..."
Ren stepped forward. He looked at Thomas. In the comics, Thomas was a psychopath who killed the Greene twins. Ren wasn't going to let that arc even start.
[Observation]
[Name: Thomas Richards]
[Status: Hostile/Psychopath.]
[Intent: Kill the men, rape the women.]
Ren smiled.
"You've been locked up?" Ren asked smoothly.
"Yeah, man," Thomas said, trying to look tough. "This is our house. You need to leave."
Ren laughed. "Your house? You're living in a cafeteria eating stale pudding."
Ren walked right up to Thomas. "The world ended, Thomas. There are no guards. There are no laws."
"Exactly," Thomas sneered, gripping a shiv behind his back.
Ren moved faster than thought. He grabbed Thomas's throat and lifted him off the ground with one hand. Thomas gagged, dropping the shiv.
"Ren!" Rick warned. "He's unarmed!"
"He's a predator, Rick," Ren said calmly. "I can smell it on him."
Ren squeezed.
CRUNCH.
Thomas's larynx collapsed. Ren dropped the body.
The other prisoners screamed, backing away.
"Anyone else want to claim this house?" Ren asked, looking at Axel and Oscar.
Axel shook his head frantically. "No! No man! We just want to live! We can work! I can fix engines!"
"I... I can cook," Big Tiny offered.
Ren looked at them. Axel and Oscar were good men in the canon. Loyal.
"Fine," Ren said. "You work for us. You sleep in Block D. You don't come into Block C unless invited. You don't look at the women. You work, you eat. You cross me, you end up like Thomas."
"Deal!" Axel shouted.
[Quest Update: Secure the Prison]
[Status: Core Block Secured. Prisoners Subjugated.]
[Reputation: Tyrant (Prisoners), Absolute Leader (Group).]
The Sanctuary
Meanwhile, fifty miles away.
An abandoned factory, fortified with corrugated metal and spikes. The Sanctuary.
A man knelt on the concrete floor, his face bruised and bloody. It was the Savior Ren had spared.
Sitting on a leather couch in front of him was a tall man in a leather jacket, holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
Negan.
"So let me get this straight," Negan said, leaning forward, his voice dripping with charismatic menace. "You're telling me... one guy... walked out, blew up a truck with a grenade, and then fried Simon with... lightning?"
"I swear, Negan!" the survivor cried. "Blue lightning! Like a superhero or some shit! He moved so fast I couldn't track him. He killed everyone. He told me to tell you..."
"Tell me what?" Negan asked, stroking the bat.
"He said... he said he's the Sovereign. And he doesn't pay taxes."
Negan paused. He looked at his lieutenants. Simon (who in this timeline was leading the patrol and was now dead), Dwight, and Arat.
Negan started to laugh. It was a loud, booming laugh.
"The Sovereign? Hot damn! That is a catchy name!"
Negan stood up and walked over to the survivor.
"You know, normally, I'd kill you for losing my truck. But this? This is a story. A man with magic tricks? A man with grenades?"
Negan looked at Dwight.
"Dwight, get the team ready. Not a patrol. An army. I want to meet this Sovereign. I want to see if he bleeds red or blue."
Negan swung the bat, stopping inches from the survivor's face.
"We're going to war, boys! And it's going to be a fun one!"
The Armory
Back at the prison, Ren had found the jackpot.
The prison armory hadn't been touched. Riot gear. M4 carbines. Shotguns. Tear gas. Thousands of rounds of ammo.
"Christmas came early," Shane said, racking a fresh pump-action shotgun. He looked at Ren with a grudging respect. "You were right. This place... it's a fortress."
"It is now," Ren said.
He was suiting up. He swapped his tactical vest for a heavy riot vest, but kept it light enough for movement.
"System," Ren thought. "Open Pocket Dimension."
He opened the portal in the armory.
"Stockpile half of this in the dimension," Ren ordered Glenn and T-Dog. "Always have a backup."
As they worked, Ren felt a tug on his sleeve. It was Maggie.
She was wearing a riot helmet she had found, looking adorable and deadly.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," Ren smiled.
"My dad... he's setting up a med bay in the cells. Beth is helping. We're safe, Ren. Really safe."
"For now," Ren reminded her.
"Can we..." she bit her lip. "Can we go to your room? The... other place?"
Ren looked at the portal. Inside, Amy and Andrea were already organizing the living space.
"You want to join the party?" Ren teased.
Maggie blushed but didn't back down. "I want to be with you. Wherever you are."
Ren pulled her close. "Go inside. I have one last thing to check outside. I'll join you in ten minutes."
Maggie kissed him and stepped through the portal.
Ren stood alone in the armory.
[System Alert]
[Major Threat Detected.]
[The Governor has been alerted to activity in the sector.]
[Negan is mobilizing.]
[Timeline Acceleration: Critical.]
Ren grinned.
"Good. Let them come."
He spent his 2000 System Points.
"System, upgrade Pocket Dimension to Level 2."
[-1000 Points]
[Pocket Dimension Lv 2: Size increased to 50m x 50m. Environmental controls added (Day/Night cycle). Farm plot added.]
"System, buy Talent: Telekinesis (Basic)."
[-1000 Points]
[Telekinesis Acquired. Can lift objects up to 500kg with mental focus.]
Ren looked at a crate of ammo. He focused. The crate floated into the air.
He clenched his fist. The wood splintered.
"Physics," Ren whispered, "is merely a suggestion."
He turned and walked into his dimension. It was time to rest. Tomorrow, he would start building his empire.