52 - The Beggining of the End (2)
Jonathan thought he would notice some kind of change immediately, but nothing happened even after a few moments.
Just as Jonathan was about to relax, the SHOP issued an alert: ALERT! THE HOST HAS BOUGHT THE CURE OPTION! THE EVOLUTIONS, AND THE MUTATIONS WITHIN THEM, WILL BEGIN!
SECOND EVOLUTION.... CALCULATING .... COMPLETE!
THIRD EVOLUTION .... COMPLETE
FOURTH EVOLUTION ... CALCULATING... 1 WEEK UNTIL THE FOURTH EVOLUTION.
THERE WERE NO MUTATIONS IN ANY EVOLUTION.
Even without mutations occurring, the situation was not good. According to the information Jonathan had, the zombies now had a kind of hive mind all over the world and low-caliber weapons would no longer work on them.
' I have to act fast... let's see this cure.'
As Jonathan suspected, it wasn't a total cure. It was steps towards finding the cure. And, to Jonathan's surprise, the first step was to leave the country.
'Good thing I bought some planes and helicopters. And knowledge on how to fly them.'
' THE WAY TO THE CURE: TO KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE CURE, YOU MUST FIRST FIND PATIENT 0. RUMOR HAS IT THAT HE IS IN ONE OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES: CHINA, FRANCE OR AUSTRALIA;
' THE HOST MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO HIM BY THE SHOP, SUCH AS WHERE TO GO IN EACH COUNTRY;
Immediately after reading this, an image of a map of China, France, and Australia appeared in Jonathan's mind, and a location was marked on each of these maps, ' So the SHOP is telling me to go to one of these countries, find patient 0 and ... ? SHOP didn't specify what to do next, but first, let's act.'
Not wanting to waste any more time, since Jonathan was still going to do some things in the United States, he left his cell/room and went to talk to Samantha and see Hope.
Arriving at the infirmary, Jonathan said hello to Hope and played with her for a while. Once he was satisfied, he turned to Samantha, who, although she had already been released, spent most of her time in the infirmary, looking after Hope.
'' Hello.''
"Something tells me this isn't going to be a good conversation.'' Samantha knew that Jonathan's look was wrong, so she got straight to the point.
Jonathan strained his head, ''Yes... I'm going on a journey that's going to change everything. It will take a while for me to come back.''
''Will you explain it to me in more depth?''
Jonathan didn't hesitate, as Samantha was literally the only person in the world who knew all about him, "I'm going after the cure.''
That made Samantha almost jump in surprise, '' ...How sure are you that you're going to find it?''
'' 100%. One way or another, I will find the cure. It just depends on how long it will take.'' Jonathan decided to visit China first and if Patient 0 isn't at the location the SHOP showed him, he would go to France, then Australia last.
Samantha was shocked to her core. Ever since the apocalypse, she never saw Jonathan lie about important things, so she trusted him. But it was very difficult to believe in the cure.
Regardless, she could see the determination on Jonathan's face. '' I hope you find it. And remember we are all waiting for you here.''
Jonathan went closer and gave her a kiss on the cheeks, '' I'll be back.'' He then played a few more minutes with Hope and finally left the infirmary.
After walking around the prison, searching for Eve and Nathanael, he finally found the siblings outside block 1. Jonathan then approached them, '' Hello guys.''
The siblings, who were talking just now, stopped and looked at Jonathan. They were about to say hi back but noticed Jonathan's expression.
''What's wrong?'' Both noted something was wrong with Jonathan.
' What the fuck, everyone knows I'm conflicted!? Do I wear all my emotions on my face or something?!' Regardless of what he was thinking, Jonathan nodded, '' I will be leaving the prison for a long while. I just came to tell you guys that.''
Eve immeditaly asked, '' It will be dangerous?''
'' Yes. But I can handle it.''
Eve stayed quiet while Nathanael interjected, '' ... See you soon.''
'' Take care of your sisters and mother. Don't use pistols anymore, only rifles... Actually, tell Rick that for me.'' Jonathan forgot to tell Rick about the Evolution already going to phase 3, but he was leaving. So he gave that task to Nathanael, '' Tell him that the evolution is already on phase 3.''
Nathanael was shocked, as this was bad news for everyone. After saying goodbye one more time to Jonathan, he hurried to talk to Rick.
Eve stayed silent so Jonathan said, '' I can't waste more time... Take care of your sibling and mother.''
Jonathan then passed by her, but as soon as he did, she held his arm. '' What is it?''
'' When you come back, can you tell me everything?''
'' About what?''
Eve looked at Jonathan, '' I'm not dumb or dense like my brother. I know something is going on between you and -''
''I'll tell you everything when I'm back.'' Jonathan knew that Eve was already suspecting a few things. So, he didn't mind confirming her deduction, but not now.
Eve let Jonathan go, '' Good luck. And come back safely.''
Jonathan nodded and went away. He was going away from the prison, but he wasn't going to leave them without any protection. The arsenal was filled to the brim with guns, ammunition, a few grenades, and many more things. Oh, and materials for construction too, as well as food, gasoline, etc.
The prison had stock to last for a few years.
On the way to the gates, he spotted Daryl, Glenn, Merle, and Maggie. As they hadn't progressed that much in the plot to have bad things happen to Maggie at the hand of the Governor, all of them were on somewhat good terms.
He knew that if he went closer, they would want to talk, and Jonathan didn't want that. So he hurried his steps and went outside the prison gates.
Jonathan, seeing that there were no zombies around, rushed to the forest area, away from prying eyes. He then took out a motorcycle from his INVENTORY and started to go away.
After a few dozes KM, Jonathan put his back on the INVENTORY and pulled out a helicopter. He attached a few loudspeakers with Rick recording on the outside and finally entered it.
Soon after, the Helicopter took flight, with Rick's recording playing without stopping and loud enough for people to hear.
Jonathan continued flying towards a location, which SHOP had given him, of his parents. Yes, SHOP, after the upgrade, was selling the location of Jonathan's parents. He hadn't paid much attention before because he knew he would eventually get out of prison to find the cure, so he waited for that moment to buy the info.
After he bought the location, a map appeared, almost the same as when he bought the cure, and with 2 dots, indicating the location of his parents. That made Jonathan relieved since 2 dots meant both his parents were alive.
So, as soon as he got out of prison, Jonathan would first check on his parents, get them to safety, and then set off to China, the first location where he would look for patient 0.
However, in the midst of all this, Jonathan kept looking at the landscape that appeared in front of him. Although the world was desolate, it was still beautiful.
From the helicopter, Jonathan still saw some campsites that looked like they had been destroyed recently, with some still having some burning places. Ignoring this and hoping that his and Rick's message would reach many people's ears, Jonathan moved on.
Coincidence or not, Jonathan passed near the location where he remembered Alexandria was and saw that, unfortunately, the place was overrun with zombies. He wanted to check the other Hilltop but considered this action irrelevant.
' Our fates didn't cross this time. I hope you all survived though.'
While the people of Alexandria didn't have a good ending, Jonathan hoped others had the chance to fight back.
Jonathan noticed something on the map that SHOP showed him, 'Strange... it seems my parents location is in Ohio. Right where Commonwealth is supposed to be located in the comics and the TV show.'
At this point in his life, that information was irrelevant, since many things have changed along the way, but Jonathan still tried to increase his speed even more.
' The faster I get my parents and take them to prison, the faster I can find the cure. But how am I going to explain the helicopter...?'
With another worry on his mind, Jonathan continued on his way.
---
WITH COMMONWEALTH
Even though Pamela had noticed something strange about the zombies a while ago and had called all the security forces inside the walls and gates, it wasn't enough.
The humans were losing more and more space to the evolved zombies, and even though they tried their best, they still lost territory and people.
The problem with losing territory is that most of the food the group had came from farms, which were taken over by large hordes of zombies.
At the beginning of these invasions, Pamela and the military leaders tried to expel the zombies and prevent the starvation of 50,000 people, but after several unnecessary deaths at the hands of the evolved zombies, the plan was abandoned in favor of a more defensive one.
Protecting the current perimeter. And it was working well, until a few hours ago, when out of nowhere the entire community began to be invaded mercilessly by zombies, forcing the humans to retreat further and further.
Until finally, they were completely surrounded and had nowhere left to run. The zombies weren't stopping coming, but with fewer places to protect, the Commonwealth forces were managing somehow, but everyone knew it was momentary.
All the remaining survivors were armed with whatever they had found, but it still didn't inspire hope.
And in the middle of all this situation, Pamela was trying to make sense of the whole situation, 'What happened!? Although we had lost territory before, we could still hold it, but now... we're lucky if we don't die within two days.'
2 days is the longest our food and water supplies can last. And yet hunger wasn't the worst thing, it was the zombies. The situation was hopeless and Pamela knew that the humans were losing it.
' What to do...? Run away with Sebastian?'
This thought crossed Pamela's mind several times, but she didn't act, because she knew she had no escape from this situation, 'Run to where? The zombies are smarter and faster... I'd only be delaying the inevitable.'
So she decided to stay and fight against the odds. She tried to warn her son to stay too, but it seemed he would run away regardless of what she said, and she wouldn't stop him. 'I hope he survives.'
Just then, a person burst into where Pamela was, shouting, ''THE ZUMBIS HAVE DESTROYED THE GATE! THEY'RE COMING IN.'
Pamela knew this would eventually happen and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were resolute, ''Start the plan. Take the children and get them out of here. The rest of us will hold on as long as we can.''
Even though everyone knew the plan, when the soldier heard this, he shivered a little. Which was normal, since they were basically going to be bait to try and get the children to somewhere safe... wherever that is.
But then he soon recovered and he too had accepted his fate, '' OK!'', then he ran off.
Pamela calmly stood up, ''It's time...'' She opened the drawer on her cabinet and pulled a pistol out. It belonged to her father before he passed it to her and she hoped she could pass it to Sebastian, but the boy probably had already run away.
After picking the gun up, and checking the amount of ammo she had, she separated one bullet, ' Just in case.'
Another soldier entered the room where she was, '' Pamela, I'm here to escort you to where the children are.''
It seems the people there wanted Pamela to live and guide the children, but she knew her role as a leader had ended today, '' No, I'll stay. Get other people to lead them... I don't plan on living until the night.''
You could see the surprise on the nameless soldier's face, and that soon changed to respect, '' Roger.''
Just as the man was rushing out, he and Pamela began to hear a voice, which sounded like it was playing on a loudspeaker. It was far away and they couldn't understand it, but they could still somehow hear it.
Pamela looked at the man, '' Are you hearing this?''
The man was also surprised, '' Yes.''
Both of them could finally hear clearly what the person with the loudspeaker was saying, '' ALL HUMANS, GET OFF THE STREETS AND GO TO A SAFE PLACE. I WILL BOMB THE ZOMBIES AWAY.''
Pamela could only say, ''What the hell...''