TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 272: Joel and Ellie (Patreon)

Strand.

None of his abilities were particularly impressive. He didn't even qualify for an elite combat unit, but he was quite the smooth talker.

"The Commonwealth only needs one guy good at running his mouth, and that's me. You can go pour concrete."

Luke sent Strand off to work his way up from the bottom.

Alicia.

The girl was fairly capable in a fight and had decent accuracy, but she was still somewhat defiant.

"You can start from the bottom too."

Luke stamped the form without hesitation.

There was no point assigning a do-gooder to the troopers. She would only stir up trouble during field missions and drag her teammates into it.

If she wanted to help people, she could volunteer.

There was no shortage of work in the Commonwealth. As long as someone was willing to work, there would always be more to do.

Then came Madison.

"You used to be a high school counselor, right? Unfortunately, there aren't any teaching positions open in the Commonwealth right now. The Agriculture Division needs workers, though, and so do the worker dormitories. Pick one."

Luke set down the evaluation form.

Madison said, "I want to do field work."

"No." Luke shook his head. "The troopers don't discriminate by gender, but age is a hard requirement. You don't qualify."

"I have extensive wilderness survival experience..." Madison tried to continue.

Luke cut her off immediately. "Is your brain made of wax? I already explained this once. You choose from the options I give you. Do you think the Commonwealth belongs to you, so you can pick and choose whatever job you want?"

"If I weren't in such a mild mood these days, someone who refuses to listen like you would've been dragged outside and had their head blown off already."

"Farm worker or dorm supervisor. If you want a third option, then get the hell out!"

Luke usually considered himself fairly patient.

He had even shown plenty of patience when dealing with the Governor, but Madison's group was acting like a bunch of complete idiots.

I've practically got hundreds of guns shoved in your face, and you're still trying to bargain with me?

Trying to fight for a say?

Was she always this bold?

Did she even know who he was?

Madison's mouth twitched. After looking around, however, she finally lowered her head.

Ever since the apocalypse began, she had managed to carve out a place for herself wherever she went.

The Commonwealth was different.

The young man in front of her simply didn't think much of them.

"I like talking to smart people. Say one more unnecessary word and you're out."

Luke gave his final warning.

In the end, the group was sent on to the Commonwealth.

There, however, they would be nothing more than a handful of insignificant people among tens of thousands. They would no longer have the influence they once possessed.

Nor would anyone automatically take their opinions into account.

At most, Luke had some interest in developing Nick.

The kid genuinely had potential and could prove useful. With proper training, he could at least become a high-level combatant.

The horde east of the outpost had only recently been cleared when the sentries spotted another group approaching.

Crane was back.

He had gone to retrieve another group of survivors.

They hadn't been trapped inside the horde. Instead, the horde had simply blocked their way in, which was unlucky in its own way.

This Harran Superman preferred a much simpler and more direct approach.

He had only recently undergone enhancement, and now he was overflowing with raw strength. He had simply forced his way straight through the horde alone.

Ordinary walkers might as well have been made of paper in front of him.

Uncle Crane took them down one punch at a time.

He smashed a bloody path straight through the packed horde.

The survivors watching him were completely dumbfounded.

By the time they reached the camp, every last one of them was exceptionally well behaved.

If Crane could punch his way through an entire horde, beating them up would hardly be difficult.

After returning to the outpost, Crane washed the walker blood off himself, changed clothes, and wandered over to Leon.

"Luke was here?"

Crane looked across the hillside at the burning pits and the towering columns of smoke rising from them.

Judging by the piles of bodies, there had probably been thousands upon thousands of walkers.

A horde that large required Luke himself to oversee the situation.

Even Crane wouldn't have tried forcing his way through it.

"He just left!"

Leon sighed. "We ran into a stubborn group of survivors. Their leader had quite an attitude. Luke couldn't be bothered dealing with them, so he sent them off to start from the bottom."

Crane laughed.

"Oh? Survivors that bold still exist? If they dared argue with Luke, they must've had some ability, right?"

Leon shook his head.

"Just ordinary people."

He waved dismissively. "They were probably leaders before, or maybe they used to have some influence. They're accustomed to giving orders, so they came here thinking they could bargain with Luke."

"They probably decided before arriving that they'd find whoever had the final say and negotiate terms with them."

"If we start getting too many people like that, it'll become a real problem."

Leon understood the situation clearly.

The Commonwealth was extremely stable under Luke's rule.

Add a few more people constantly trying to interfere and tell everyone what to do, though, and that might not remain true.

Milton had been exactly that kind of problem before.

"Luke probably didn't send Merle or Shane here because he was worried they'd be too extreme. If either of them had met today's group, none of those people would've survived. They'd all be buried inside the wall by now."

Crane patted Leon on the shoulder and grinned.

"Looks like you're working overtime, brother."

Leon: "..."

"I brought back quite a few people this time, and some of them are pretty capable."

Crane picked up a chair, set it against the wall, and folded his arms.

"Did you notice that girl? She's young, only a teenager. What was her name again... Ellie!"

"She's already a damn good shot for her age. Pretty accurate too."

"Only problem is, every other word out of her mouth is 'fuck.' No idea who taught her that. Tsk, tsk."

Leon stretched his back, looking utterly miserable.

"If you told me to take a knife and clear out a Volatile nest by myself, I wouldn't complain. I wouldn't even call for backup."

"But I really don't want to deal with kids. I've learned that lesson the hard way."

"Even if they were all as well-behaved and sensible as Sherry, I'd still..."

Steelback Beast thought back to his escape from Raccoon City.

Even if he had to make the choice all over again, he still wouldn't hesitate to save someone vulnerable.

That didn't mean the experience itself had been pleasant.

After venting for a while, Leon began evaluating the new arrivals.

Most of them were ordinary refugees.

For them, the process was straightforward. Background check, skills evaluation, and then the usual procedures.

Two people, however, caught Leon's attention.

The first was a large, broad-built man with a weathered face and exhaustion etched deep into his eyes.

Leon could tell at a glance that the man was hiding something.

A dangerous beast was trying to disguise itself as part of the flock.

Unfortunately for him, another beast had already noticed.

"Name."

"Joel."

"Skills?"

"I used to be in business. Picked up plenty of survival skills after the apocalypse started," the man replied simply.

There was far more caution in his eyes than in those of the other survivors, who were filled almost entirely with curiosity and relief at being given a new beginning.

Joel was protecting something.

Leon studied him without showing any reaction.

"I only have three questions."

"How many walkers have you killed?"

"Have you killed people? If so, how many?"

"And... why?"

Joel's expression shifted slightly.

"Does the Commonwealth assessment require you to ask that?"

Leon leaned back in his chair.

"This isn't part of the Commonwealth assessment. They're just questions I'm asking personally. Of course, if you don't want to answer, that's fine."

Joel gave him a long, searching look.

He remained wary of the outpost.

He still had no idea what kind of organization the [Ark] truly was, or whether it had any connection to the Fireflies.

"How many walkers have I killed..." Joel thought carefully, only to realize he could no longer remember.

"I've forgotten. A lot."

"To protect my people."