"You really don't need to be at that meeting?"
Outside the building where the Alexandria community meeting was taking place, Enid stood next to Airon in silence. She had many questions and no answers, so now was the perfect time to stand beside Airon without him leaving the community.
"Are you really eavesdropping on the private meeting of this community?" As she spoke, Enid turned to Airon and asked, "How did you find the backpack that should have been with my family?"
"Is he even alive?"
"No..."
Before Enid could make herself think dreamy, delusional thoughts, Airon stopped her abruptly and without considering said, "I found that backpack in a building, as the letter says your father died some time after you were separated, I don't have much more to tell you..."
"Can't you be a little more considerate?"
Hearing Enid's question, Airon shook his head at her and said in an apologetic tone, "I should have chosen my words better, it must be hard to lose your family... But if you manage to survive, there will be nothing to affect you later on."
"That's what I've heard since I got here, when my family and I had the accident I didn't think I could hold a picture of my family again in my hands, and now I'm grateful to you..."
Enid had done what she wanted to do, she had nothing more to say to Airon, so she was about to turn away when he stopped her.
"How did you get to this place?"
Airon was curious, she had supposedly arrived a few months before Rick's group had arrived in Alexandria, meaning it was now very different from the way it had actually happened.
All these details had long since changed and it was something Airon had learned, some people aren't where they should be and that was something he didn't know in what way it would affect him later on.
"What does that matter?"
Enid paused, she looked at Airon and didn't know the reason for his question and said, "I came with someone else to this place, we were saved by a man carrying a girl and if you are interested in the name I don't remember it, but they were heading to New York..."
"Thank you..." Airon looked straight into Enid's eyes, he knew she wasn't lying so he just stared at her.
A man accompanied by a girl?
Airon shook his head, he didn't have time to think about someone else when he should be concentrating on the evolution of this place. If Alexandria joins his community, he will need more experienced soldiers and a lot of manpower.
He hadn't been in contact with his people in Atlanta for about three days, but he was confident that Shane and Sam were capable of protecting their bases very well while taking care of expanding their territory.
Even if that wasn't the case, the central base right now should be doing a lot of work planning and he was sure that very soon all those defenses would be the heart of their entire community.
The effort he was making now he truly hoped it would do some good, since he had come so far, Airon wished to see the end of all this great journey he was having and if there would ever be any time to rest.
Enid on her side was very suspicious of some people, but Airon proved to be interested in nothing but his own thoughts and purposes within this place, so she walked away now.
Her mind was still a bit of a mess, but now she was able to talk to the person who brought him a letter from her father moments before he left the world and she was able to have a picture of her family, something that was impossible to have when he walked away from the accident. This was actually one of the few times she had spoken to a person since arriving in Alexandria, so they felt a little awkward.
...
Alexandria's internal meeting where everyone was attending, well, not everyone, had come to an end, and the upheaval it caused was by no means small. All the residents before Airon arrived at this shelter were severely affected and were arguing about it.
As expected, most of them objected to Deanna's decision on this matter without the weight of authority, but some people strongly supported her. These people can see reality clearly and even if they are full of fear about the current world outside this shelter, they are willing to face it.
However, Airon does not care what these people thought about the choices to be made later, and he was not even entirely sure what was discussed at this meeting.
"Move with more stability, if you drop your weapon Merle will fuck you up so bad he'll eat his dinner. You are now soldiers of the S.C.T. community, show some respect for what that means."
"You were all nothing but scrawny walker food we found on the road, now you wear our clothes, eat our food and hold our guns, if you end up being a fucking disappointment, I'll kill you all!"
Merle and Elias' shouts echoed across an open field as the people who joined the training held their rifle and carried it to the front without lowering it.
With this training, they sought nothing more than to train the mentality of each of these people. Sacrifice, they have all lost everything and have felt the pain of desolation, so they are ready to give it all up.
The looks on the faces of all these people were fierce, they were proud of what they were about to do and how strong they would become with this training. Nothing will stop them later and it is possible that this will mark a new beginning for the future of mankind.
"All right, take a break!"
When Merle was satisfied with the looks they all showed, he smiled and walked over to Airon who was standing next to his brother.
"Folks, I can swear to you, these people are fucking monsters." Merle wiped the sweat on his forehead and looked at the people collapsed on the ground unwilling to move.
"Even your hellish training didn't cause them to break down or quit the training, it shows how hard they are fighting and it goes beyond just wanting to survive."
Daryl looked at those people and could tell all that with the expression on their faces, these people weren't looking to survive, they were all in search of something more than that.
"Yeah, that explains everything..."
Airon looked off into the distance as Deanna approached, then looked at the Dixon brothers and said, "Still you must not be off guard, we are not invincible and it is possible that outside this shelter there are others stronger than us."
As he said this, Deanna came to their side and greeted them all. She had come looking for Airon right after the meeting and asked him to proceed with what he knew how to do to make Alexandria a better shelter.
"Be nice to them, everyone is not ready to train as hard as they are..." Deanna looked at those people who for several days now have been training hard to be soldiers.
"That's because they haven't lost anything valuable, they don't know the feeling of despair..." Daryl shook his head and walked away with his brother.
"Kindness won't change these people Deanna, if there are more of those walkers we found in the military camp, this shelter will be completely destroyed!"
"That's why I leave everything in your hands, I'm sure you'll look for the best way." Deanna had learned a lot from Airon and knew that once someone was under his care, he would do her best to protect them.
By agreeing to the other party's request, Airon also knows that many of these people are truly worth saving. It's not that the other side doesn't want to change, it's just that the impact of their lifestyle interferes with the changes it will bring.
All the residents of Alexandria including Enid arrived at the square, all the people of Airon stood behind him lined up in silence. Their expressions were serious and they had been waiting for this meeting for some time, by Sam's words if these people did not agree to join the S.C.T. community, they would be abandoned.
Airon stepped forward and looked from all kinds of faces, so he said without many nice words, "I think Deanna has already told you about the current situation in Alexandria. I also know that most people in this place will definitely refuse to intervene with force to protect their lives, but it's also not acceptable to sit back and just eat since danger can happen at any time."
"The world will not adapt to us. You understand this perfectly. All I can provide is the right help and training, but I will not be your babysitter. If you want to be part of that change, I invite you to join my group at any time."
Saying this, Airon pointed to the people behind him and noted, "There are a variety of training programs available that each of you can employ, but the choice is all yours and I think that's all I'm going to tell you."
"If you are not useful, you will be of no use to me in my community. We are all equal, but there will always be someone with much more value than another. If you do not share this thought, you are not welcome to stay in the Alexandria community, which right now has changed its name to Alexandria community, fourth base of the S.C.T."
After finishing speaking, Airon directly asked the team members to leave the base again. After communicating with Sam, they would send a special squad of three hundred soldiers and some things that are urgently needed in this place. In addition, they have to bring back the corpse of that strange walker.