On the way, Claire glanced at Alan, who looked somewhat downcast.
"Aren't you happy that someone you know came all the way here to save you?"
"To be honest, I didn't think you were someone that important to that general. If he believes in you, then you should be a bit more optimistic."
Alan smiled shortly after. "No, the truth is I'm not what everyone wants me to be."
He didn't finish the sentence. He looked out the side window, thinking about what that general really wanted from him. He was known as a reckless soldier who never showed mercy to the enemy and who always completed high-risk missions, no matter the circumstances.
If what the general meant was what Alan was thinking, then his future would be far bloodier than he expected.
"How is the general's condition?" Alan asked the corporal riding in the truck, clearly intrigued.
As far as Alan knew, the man—whose real name was Clarke Shelton—was an elderly man with terminal cancer. When he left the army, that old man told Alan about his illness and said he would disappear as well.
But the world had taken a turn no one expected, not even General Shelton, who continued fulfilling his duties within the Texas chain of command.
Kaplan looked at Alan and replied, somewhat confused, "He was fine the last time we saw him, wasn't he?"
"No, it's nothing…" Alan fell silent, assuming his suspicion was correct.
Then it was true: that old man wanted him to take command in his place. Things were getting even more complicated for Alan if that was the case.
Alan knew that being a leader required a strong will, a sense of sacrifice, and the ability to make decisions no one else could. That's how it went during his last mission—two of his soldiers died, but he completed a mission many others wouldn't have.
But he had stopped being that kind of man. Alan didn't want to be the same anymore.
"When we arrive, we'll clear the area and prepare the site to begin unloading the supplies. Once we're done with that, we'll head to the military base," Alan said, fully determined. If he ignored this opportunity, everything would fall into FEDRA's hands—and he certainly wouldn't allow that.
"Understood, Captain." Kaplan had heard stories about Alan Rogers, the famous special forces captain who had even trained other divisions.
Now that he saw him in person, for some reason he felt this wasn't quite the same Alan from the stories. Of course, Kaplan knew many of those stories were completely made up.
The convoy kept moving forward. Alan let go of his frustration and regained his rationality.
The ideal plan now was to establish a base at the dam, take control of two much-needed resource sources, and from there begin reclaiming the territory from the infected.
After stopping his spiral of negative thoughts, Alan realized things would be even worse if they didn't have a leader willing to do whatever it took.
Unlike FEDRA, Alan offered those who wanted to live the chance to die fighting. It sounded contradictory, but everyone still alive had to have the ability to die fighting.
No running—fighting, and defending what they now had. If they gave in to a virus, nothing Alan wanted to do would make sense.
When he saw the abandoned and clustered cars along the winding mountain road at the foot of the mountain, completely blocking the path upward, Alan knew that wherever they were going, chaos and destruction awaited.
Claire drove the vehicle into an open area. "Let's take a break. There are a lot of abandoned cars over there—let's see if we can find anything useful."
Scanning the surroundings, Alan got out of the truck and the soldiers behind him established a perimeter.
"Take anything useful. Everyone get out and help," Alan said as he looked at Kaplan, who understood what he meant and quickly put the survivors to work.
"Take anything you can use—clothing, food, weapons. You don't have proper clothing changes, and the chances of finding more will be almost impossible once we reach our shelter. That's why this is your opportunity."
"They're terrified…" Kaplan said, watching the people move in fear among the abandoned vehicles.
Alan saw this and then said, "They're herds. They'd die sooner or later. If we can't change that after we reach the dam, they'll just be a burden."
"Sir…?"
"When I was overseas, everyone knew how to hold a weapon and kill—even the kids… The ones who decide whether we're strong or not are ourselves. Can't we do something for them?"
Kaplan didn't quite understand what Alan meant, but after observing the survivors who had been with Alan for a few weeks, he saw the clear difference between them and the average civilian.
This was what they tried to establish in the refugee bases—if they did something like what Alan had done with those survivors, then they'd have a much larger army.
"Now I understand…"