It hadn't been long since Dominic left Los Angeles, which was completely free of walkers at the time. But if that was all he had achieved, then he had accomplished nothing.
At this rate, a few months have passed since he abandoned Los Angeles. If Dominic follows the significant events in the main storyline, they should now be somewhere between the middle and the end of the story.
Currently, in the streets of a part of Washington that had been extremely deserted until a few months ago, there is a lot of activity, with many people trying to get close to a wire fence guarded by at least a dozen soldiers.
All the soldiers wore a handkerchief on their right arm with two bright lines and the syllable "New Dawn Unification" embroidered above the lines. They all maintained a calm expression, as if what they were doing was nothing out of the ordinary.
Just a few months ago, it was rare to see one or two people on the streets of Washington. But with the recent creation of a refuge and large-scale walker cleanups, many people and small groups of survivors began to approach this part of the city in search of asylum.
Everyone wanted to survive and at least find someone to lead them well. Someone with little ambition or intelligence was not promising for the future. Now that opportunities had opened up in this place, everyone wanted to be part of this group.
With the migration of survivors to this constantly expanding refuge, there were now at least twenty thousand survivors in this part of the city, all of whom had to wait a long time before being accepted.
"Attention, all survivors wanting to enter this refuge, don't forget to bring your belongings, form an orderly line, and wait your turn. Everyone will be checked for infections; your weapons will be confiscated for everyone's safety; keep your identification handkerchief; and do not cause trouble."
On a large street sealed off by wire fences, there was a line of at least forty survivors, all with anxious expressions, showing their distrust, and soldiers stood by heavily armed. Not far away, the long line of survivors slowly approached.
In the outer area of the street, military trucks were neatly lined up, and the troops escorting the civilians also gathered there, positioning themselves and quickly forming a square formation, listening to the officer in front of them.
"Everyone will have water, food, clothes, and a warm bed! You must understand that the situation is very bad, but once you are members of this refuge, the overall world situation will be explained in detail! Former soldiers, nurses, doctors, or people who have done military service will be requested for their strength to maintain the general security of this place."
The first group of survivors to join the Washington refugee camp was not very large—just less than nine hundred people. Under the arrangement of a dozen soldiers, these people slowly entered the refuge area one by one, all organized and orderly, and then, in the three lines, they were given a small interview to better understand each person.
The questions varied from one to another, for example: What is your specialty? Age? How many walkers have you eliminated so far? Have you killed people? Why? What is your vision for the future?
Each of these questions was essential at the beginning, but everyone knew that due to limited time, it was impossible to get a clear idea of what kind of people were entering the refuge. So, there were two areas in the refuge: the first was where only new people entered and were kept under observation, and the second place was where food, weapons, and clear traits were maintained.
At this moment, a young man stood nervously in front of the soldier, so the soldier conducting a small inspection quickly came to his side.
The soldier standing in front of the person briefly looked at him and said, "Welcome; what's your name, friend?"
"I'm... I'm Isaac, sir. Is this place really as safe as they say on the radio?" Isaac expressed his insecurities, as soldiers were rare to see these days, so he was a bit confused.
"Don't worry, this place is very safe for everyone who wants to join our community. We have the resources and the proper personnel to protect everyone."
Hearing the insecurities of many people, the soldier understood what everyone was thinking and kindly responded to everyone without exception. Although it was rare to find such large groups of survivors, it was good to take the initiative to create a new group of survivors.
Looking at the other people still in line, the soldier briefly checked Isaac's body and movements and nodded. "Alright, follow all the procedures, and you'll be accepted into this community without many problems."
Hearing those words, Isaac nodded and continued walking inside the wire fence. When he reached the gate, Isaac waited a few moments and entered the place. With a curious look, Isaac observed the numerous armed soldiers inside and the huge trucks dragging the cars left on the street.
There were men with green helmets and vests, all seeming to work orderly, while others kept moving from one side to the other. In the distance, a lonely and empty street could be seen, but people were coming in and out of the buildings.
Just as he was about to look more closely, a voice sounded next to him, snapping him out of his thoughts and directing his attention to what he was doing. "Please, take a seat while we do a blood test and ask some questions!"
"Yes!" Isaac said with a reassuring smile, as no corpses or dirt could be seen inside the metal fence, giving him a great impression and high expectations for this place.
After confirming the information, getting answers to the questions, and giving some words about what not to do in this place, Isaac received a handkerchief with the community's syllables and the authority rank he possessed.
His weapons were taken away, but Isaac didn't mind. As long as he agreed to become a guard in this place, his authority would rise to the second level, and he could get weapons for personal defense without any problem.
"Keep moving, don't stop!" A soldier standing not far away observed the people entering the refuge, and they were all directed to a truck.
"Alright!"
Taking his backpack with his luggage, Isaac got into a military truck, and after a few more people, the truck started and slowly drove the people through the clean streets.
The walker-free area was truly huge, but for some strange reason, these places were not being occupied by people. When the soldier saw everyone's curiosity, he said, "We are cleaning a small part of Washington. We must ensure we have a very suitable and large site where walkers cannot enter, even if there are hundreds of thousands."
Immediately after saying that, he reached into his vest and took out a radio, pressed the button, and said, "Mrs. Deanna, we are heading to the support center from the south side to bring in thirty more survivors."
"Zz... Understood, we are waiting for your arrival."
From time to time, small groups of soldiers could be seen on the streets while supervising some people's work.
Seeing this, Isaac asked, "Are the buildings sealed off?"
The soldier next to the survivors turned his head and nodded. "The buildings that are currently useless are being sealed once they are cleaned."
"Why the effort?" A woman couldn't help but ask.
"Well, our goal is to have total control over Washington. Our people are moving throughout the city looking for small shelters to bring them to this part of the city," the soldier responded with a calm look.
"That's incredible..." Isaac nodded with excitement. The number of soldiers in this place was abnormally large.
…
At the top of a building in Washington, Dominic watched as the streets were sealed off by large wire fences and trucks. But that wasn't all that was being done; a large number of harmless walkers were also placed to keep the others controlled.
With this, the influence of his community was slowly growing larger and more powerful. Tanks, military trucks, and weapon stores were being moved to this place, and food and construction materials were also being transported here.
With many architects on this site, a long-term plan was devised to have control of the city and to contain threats, even if an infection broke out within the safe zone. According to the plan, three large walls would grow, each covering more of the city of Atlanta.
So, for now, the first wall was being secured, which would be the only one for some time, considering the number of people in this city and the numerous walkers still left in the streets.
Numerous tanks, helicopters, and armored vehicles were being transported to the refuge under Dominic's orders. Everyone in this place was now working together to grow and reach the dream they all had.
This was difficult to maintain, but during all this time, Dominic left a significant mark on the hearts of all the soldiers found by him and his people. Many families of those soldiers were in this refuge, and others were in prison.
Unexpectedly, Dominic was protecting some family members, friends, and acquaintances of some soldiers who had joined the community.
So, the security of this place wouldn't be compromised, and now it was time to start expanding the production of food, weapons, clothing, medicine, and obviously, actions.
Dominic knew that even if the scientists now under his command found a cure for the virus, it would be absolutely useless for the future. Today, with billions of walkers around the world, it would be a dream to restore the world quickly.
Even if a cure were found, producing it on a large scale would not only require resources but also special facilities that were lost when the CDC exploded. Therefore, considering all those problems, Dominic slowly gained control of all of Washington.
If things were as he remembered, no large community took control of Washington in the original story. This would make it much easier for him to develop shelters at strategic points in the city.
"Sir, it's time to head to the Ohio base!" Elias said while looking at Dominic, who was observing everything from above.
Hearing this, Dominic nodded and got into a helicopter. Now, although fuel wasn't easily obtained, he could afford these quick trips from the central prison to Atlanta.
"It's time to return to the front!" Dominic murmured with a slight smile.
He had to keep the country safe from Quebec and Ontario; from that point, walkers from Canada could invade them, so his duty was to stop as many of those enemies as possible.
Now, to achieve everything, he needed more allies and to do everything possible to gain control.