Joining Chapter 23

"My base is relatively small, and the number of people I can recruit is limited, so I may only be able to recruit a portion of them."

"If you want to join, just sign up with Jimmy."

Caesar pretended to be in a difficult position, as if he really couldn't accommodate everyone, and patted Jimmy on the shoulder.

At that moment, everyone exchanged glances.

Carol jumped to her feet and said, "I want to join."

"Okay, Jimmy, please register this." Caesar's eyes lit up, urging Jimmy to write it down.

"Huh? Oh!"

Jimmy paused for a moment, then turned around to find his notebook and began to take notes.

Carroll was the first to sign up, and many others followed suit.

In no time, almost everyone in the camp signed up.

Glenn and T-boy, being loners, followed the crowd and signed up.

The Andrea sisters, the Morales family, and others also chose to follow Caesar to his base.

Rick and Sean remained silent.

Rick still harbored illusions about the CDC; he believed what Caesar said—that the CDC might really be short of staff.

However, the possibility of developing a vaccine still exists, even if it is extremely small.

Rick still wanted to give it a shot; if it really didn't work out, then Rick would join Caesar's camp.

As for Lori and Carl, Rick turned to look at his wife and children, and the meaning in his eyes made Lori realize something.

Lori shook her head, her orange eyes, illuminated by the firelight, filled with determination. She said softly but firmly, "Rick, you're not going to abandon us."

As for Sean, he secretly glanced at Rick and his wife whispering in each other's ears, and the disappointment on his face was impossible to hide.

Perhaps it's time for me to leave.

Caesar beamed with joy upon seeing so many people sign up.

If they recruit all of them at once, the ranch's workforce will increase by twenty or thirty people.

It can be said that they instantly gained five or six times the labor force.

Even if they're not skilled workers, they're young and strong, so they're not that much worse off.

After registration closed that evening, Caesar still reminded everyone, "Those of you who have already registered, you can think about it carefully when you get back to your tents tonight."

"If you don't want to, I won't force you. You can cancel your registration tomorrow morning."

Caesar's attitude satisfied many people in the camp.

This makes them feel respected, rather than forced to choose, even if there aren't many options.

At night, the campfire burned quietly in the campsite.

Two armed soldiers patrolled the RV, outside the forest, and on the gravel road to ensure that someone could warn of a zombie attack.

As soon as the sky was wiped clean, it became bright.

At the campsite, only a few piles of embers remained; everything useful had been loaded into the vehicle.

Caesar got out of the truck and walked towards Sean and Rick.

"Are you two traveling alone? Or are there a few people willing to follow you?" Caesar asked.

Rick shook his head helplessly, knowing full well that his choice was not wise: "Only Jacques and three other young men are willing to come with me."

"What about Carl and Lori?" Sean frowned.

"We'll go together," Rick sighed.

Sean's face immediately darkened: "Do you know what you're saying? Do you know how dangerous the journey to Atlanta is?"

"You let Lori and Carl follow you, taking such a huge risk!"

"Rick, are you out of your mind?"

Rick didn't want Lori and Carl to come with him either, as the group lacked combat strength and experience.

"You think I don't know?" Rick retorted, his face contorted with anger. "I also want them to follow Caesar, but they don't want to."

Sean opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

This is Rick's family matter, something Lori and Rick have decided, and he has no right to ask further.

"Sean, have you decided to go alone?" Caesar paused and looked at Sean.

Sean nodded.

Do you have a car? Where's your gas?

"Uh..." Sean was taken aback. He was planning to go to Atlanta to get a car, but gasoline would be hard to find.

Caesar gave a knowing look and patted Sean on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I was prepared."

"There's a place called the train station. There's a lot of gasoline there, and some abandoned vehicles too. I'll have Rip take you there. Once you've taken care of the car and the gasoline, he'll come back."

"Thank you, Caesar." Sean was touched and nodded repeatedly.

"Don't be so polite."

Caesar smiled, but the smile looked somewhat strange.

After breakfast, cars drove out of the valley.

On the highway outside the valley, the convoy drove towards Atlanta.

After Caesar took in twenty or thirty new people, he realized just how frighteningly fast these extra people were consuming resources.

Although only a small portion of the truck taken from Atlanta contained food, the truck was so large that the total amount of food was considerable.

However, Caesar had just taken in these people yesterday, so he naturally provided them with some food.

With this depletion, Caesar realized that the ranch's food reserves wouldn't last much longer.

Caesar decided to make a purchase of supplies in Atlanta, aiming to gather enough supplies to support twenty or thirty people for at least a quarter of the year.

We can also find a few more large trucks to use for blocking the pass later.

The CDC is also in Atlanta, so the two groups of people happened to be going the same way.

Rip drove his pickup truck with Sean in it and broke away from the group at an intersection.

Sean watched the departing convoy, his eyes filled with melancholy.

Rip turned and glanced at him. "You've broken up with your boyfriend?"

"Huh? No...no." Sean quickly shook his head.

Although he was saddened by Lori's sudden coldness, he understood her.

He was indeed wrong in this matter.

Furthermore, their relationship was something they couldn't keep secret.

Rip smiled, knowing better than to say anything. There were probably many people in the camp who could tell something was off between the two.

The scenery on both sides of the pickup truck gradually became desolate, and more and more abandoned cars appeared on the roadside.

After those cars were in the accident, they were burned to the point that only the skeletons remained.

Sean frowned and asked, "I've never been here before. It's so desolate!"

What a coincidence, neither of us has been here before.

Rip nodded indifferently: "It's because this place is so desolate that the gasoline in the train station hasn't been taken by anyone else."

"Train station" is slang for Black Pine Valley. There's a place over Black Pine Valley that's a dark, deep ravine.

The person fell in, and they can't be found.

In addition, that place is a no-man's-land where three states meet.

People from the surrounding three states would dump their bodies there.

Caesar instructed him to take Sean to the train station, which meant he should find a place to get rid of Sean.

With a ripping sound.

The pickup truck stopped, and Rip got out first, glancing around.

Yes, it has mountains, water, and cliffs; it's a nice place.

Then, Rip took Sean's backpack out of the truck bed.

Sean realized something was wrong, got out of the car, and kept his distance from Rip. "Rip, where are you?"

Rip seemed not to hear, and casually tossed Sean's luggage off the cliff.

Sean's eyes widened, and he took two steps forward, but before he could speak...

A cold gun was pressed against Sean's head, and words filled with the smell of smoke fell into his ear.

"Did you see that?"

"A very long black train!"

bang——