When Dominic stepped away from where he had given an encouraging speech earlier, Bethany, who was by his side, immediately asked, "Are you happy manipulating all these people?"
"They will live at best." Dominic glanced at the time, knowing that in a few hours, the sun would set. They had spent many hours in this place, following the retreat orders.
"Live? As far as I know, all of us will be dead sooner or later. Don't tell me, are you so afraid of death?" Bethany seemed to have a problem with Dominic's methods and was making it clear now.
When she mentioned this, it was as if a switch in Dominic's body was activated, and unexpectedly, he grabbed the doctor by her clothes. "You have no idea, Doctor. If I hadn't made that promise, I would have a bullet in my head right now, and maybe many of you would die under the orders of a leader who would lead you down a path with no future."
"Everyone needs me; they require my knowledge to establish ourselves and aspire to rebuild everything that will be lost in the coming months. I may not seem special; I may be cruel by letting go of those people or killing those who are a problem, but let me make one thing very clear right now: you wouldn't sacrifice even half of what I have sacrificed so far."
Daniel, who looked at Dominic in this state, wanted to intervene, but he knew that any mistake he made would test the boy's patience in front of him.
"Stop, Dominic; don't lose control."
"The non-existent reason why you contradict me is because of my coldness, but in a few years, this will be something necessary to keep me standing on the earth." Dominic didn't know what to say at this point.
He had made a promise to live for someone else, and for others, it was something he disliked entirely. Not only did he feel manipulated, but he would also be a bit hypocritical to say now that he didn't want to keep living and find out how far he would go.
"I made a promise; I will ensure that the intelligent ones live, and those who are not will have to fend for themselves. If they become a problem for me, then I will eliminate them. I won't allow these problems to affect my vision of the future." Dominic let go of Bethany, who fell silent.
She was filled with frustration; her patients were dying one after another, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She was angered that a complete stranger had much more detailed information about the walkers than other organizations.
"There is no future."
"We will make sure there is one, but if we start judging the methods of someone who just wants to see a new dawn, then we will never move forward," said Daniel, who knew that someone like Dominic was the answer.
His years of experience reading people had told him that Dominic had certain personality disorder issues; he didn't hesitate to kill, and apparently, pain was a method to keep himself sane.
Having killed so many walkers, burned their bodies, given orders where many would die, and having the weight of many lives under his words creates a mental burden that is quite difficult to bear.
Dominic was at his breaking point; if he continued like this, he would soon lose himself and hardly become the boy he had worked so hard to be.
Having lost that light that kept him calm, Dominic had been pretending so much that he would lose sight of who he wanted to be and whether he lived for himself or someone else.
"There is no cure, not even in those documents... Besides, there are probably different infected variants in other cities." Dominic seemed to regain control of his emotions and sighed with regret as he channeled the fury in his heart.
He had left behind resentment toward people; he had no enemies and didn't plan to have any. Only those who got in the way would be obstacles; he would leave the term "enemy" to himself for being who he was.
In these last few days, he had forgotten about Emma; he had been so focused that he completely forgot why he was doing all this and striving for a select group of people to survive.
He wasn't a hero; he wouldn't beg to save lives and would simply focus on saving those who wanted to accompany him on this survival adventure. In the end, even he could die overnight; no one could know what awaited them in the future.
"Doctor, make a list of the sick who will recover and those who won't. As my father once said, loving is also letting go, and we won't be so cruel as to torture tired people," said Dominic, holding his head.
Daniel recommended this, and with a heavy heart, it's true. Dominic had made the best decisions to survive, even if they were cruel; many were not prepared to stay alive on their own right now.
That's why the most insensitive people were the ones who would survive.
"What will we do with the rest?" Bethany had also regained control of her emotions.
Dominic looked at her and said, "I will give them eternal rest; in the end, that is much better than continuing to live. Please help me, and I promise I will do everything possible to keep my promise."
"You'll have the list by nightfall." Bethany murmured, knowing that she would be writing the death list.
Daniel didn't say anything, but when he saw the doctor leave, he looked at Dominic and pointed, "I can do it."
"Whoever dictates death should give it; I won't let you bear this mental burden," said Dominic, refusing to let Daniel help him.
Daniel sighed; for some reason, he felt like seeing a possible son when he looked at Dominic, and in a kinder tone, he said, "Since you want my help, then I'll share that mental burden. Will you refuse that?"
"I just need..."
"Rest; your plans have saved more people than would have survived otherwise. My wife is alive thanks to your advice; I'm so stubborn that this would have been my biggest mistake, and most likely, my daughter would be devastated." Daniel owed his wife's life to Dominic, who insisted on bringing her to this place.
Dominic nodded. For some reason, he felt good receiving these compliments. "I have a small personality disorder; I am insensitive to most things, and I find it difficult to see some situations like other people."
"You can notice it, but I also know that a part of that special person stayed with you... You are nobler than you seem, so don't torture yourself this way," said Daniel with an understanding look.
But at that moment, the radio in Dominic's chest beeped: "Zz... We have a big problem."
"Zz... a huge horde of walkers, all brought by major mayors..."
"Zz... Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Only then did Dominic realize that someone had released the walkers from the stadium that the military had locked up, and all this was thanks to Sergeant Castro, who let the mayors live.
"How many are there?"
"Zz... Thousands of walkers."
Dominic then looked at Daniel and said, "Take everyone to the rooftop, prioritize your wife's life, and after that, make sure supplies enter this building."
"What will you do?" Daniel looked directly at Dominic.
"I will buy time for you."