Jonathan asked both Patrick and Antony, the other member of the group who went out, '' Can you explain what happened?''

"It's a hard story to believe, but I'll tell it.'' Patrick then began to tell the story of what happened to his group.

FLASHBACK

18 HOURS EARLIER

It was a normal day and the group of five was out in the world, looking for new camps and allies. To tell the truth, the prison group didn't need any more people, but due to Gabriel's insistence on helping people around the world, and Rick and Samantha not saying no, it was the new normal to go out and find people, help them, try to see if they weren't crazy or cannibals, give them food and then invite them back to the prison.

Usually, everything went well, but after months of exploring the area around the prison, everything had been explored, so this group of five was going further than usual, to try and find new camps and people.

Everything was going well when suddenly they received a message on the radio that the prison group was using, 'ATTENTION, this is Gabriel. All groups outside the prison are to return immediately. I repeat, all groups must return immediately.'

Gabriel repeated this several times and all the groups who heard it were confused. Which was normal, because Gabriel didn't explain why they had to go back. What they didn't know was that at that point, not even Gabriel knew, but as he had total confidence in what Jonathan was saying, he acted quickly.

And it worked since Gabriel was one of the leaders of the prison. All the groups outside began to return home.

Patrick, who was driving, also started to return.

''I wonder what's going on?'' One of the group members asked.

''I don't know, but Gabriel sounded scared... I've never heard his voice like that.'' Patrick had been with Gabriel since the beginning of the apocalypse, so he knew the man. And he'd never heard his voice like that, not even when zombies had surrounded the church months ago.

'' ... Then speed up.'' Antony, a Woodbury member who had moved to prison, didn't hesitate to say it. If there was even the slightest chance that they were in danger out here, he didn't want to take that chance.

Patrick said nothing more and hit the accelerator.

The problem, however, came soon after. Out of nowhere, the car's tire burst. With no other option, Patrick had to park a car in a random area. Precisely the area where Jonathan and Nathanael had found the weapons and the destroyed radio.

Patrick notified the group of his location and passed the radio on to one of the other members.

It was dusk when everyone got out of the car to investigate the situation. It was a simple matter, all they needed to do was change the tire, in about 10 minutes.

However, those 10 minutes would be the last in the lives of three people in the group.

Patrick was the person changing the tire, and, since it was almost night, the visibility was horrible. So, Antony was chosen to be the person holding the flashlight, to help Patrick.

RUSTLE

They both heard a noise but ignored it because the other three were on guard.

RUSTLE

However, the two soon realized that something was wrong. The other three hadn't said anything for a few minutes and the visibility was terrible, so if they didn't use the flashlight and point in their direction, they could not see the other three.

Antony then decided to turn his flashlight to the side. As soon as he did, he saw the bodies of his three friends, with their weapons on the ground and their only radio destroyed, as it was with one of the dead.

Although he wanted to scream, he didn't even have time to, as Patrick shoved him away. Confused, Antony was about to start screaming in pain, because he had fallen badly and hurt himself to the point where a lot of blood was coming out, but when he saw why Patrick had pushed him, he just got up and ran away, with Patrick right behind him.

Turns out, there was a huge horde of zombies near them, and Patrick's push had saved Antony's life. The two of them then began to run with limited visibility. After running for a while, Antony began to feel weak from blood loss.

With no other option, Patrick helped Antony up a tree that had enough space for the two of them and then climbed up himself. At the top, they used the flashlight to see the huge horde of zombies that stood in front of them. Literally, if they hadn't climbed up at that moment, they would have died in a few minutes.

"What the hell happened?!'' Antony finally had time to do some first aid on himself, shouting after he saw the amount of zombies and the lack of noise they were making.

'' I have no idea... Maybe that's why Gabriel told us to go back."' After they escaped and saw that, at least for the time being, the zombies couldn't climb the tree, Patrick began to tremble with fear, "How did they get so close to us without us noticing?''

That was what was scaring him the most. It wasn't as if they were deaf people, so the fact that no one heard the zombies coming meant that they had learned not to make so much noise.

' But how?'

With no answers to this question, Patrick could only watch in horror as the horde of zombies moved closer to his tree, almost like they were waiting for him to come down.

Left with no other choice, Patrick prayed his group might send someone to rescue them, but he knew it was unlikely that would happen. But he had no choice but to believe in a miracle.

As time went by, the zombies moved away and the horde split up, one heading back in the same direction and the other staying close to the tree where Patrick and Antony were.

After hours, Patrick saw Jonathan approaching and made a noise to attract his attention.

END OF FLASHBACK

''That was it. The zombies are, I don't know how, intelligent, able to set traps, sit still and wait.'' Patrick, who didn't know that the others already knew about the evolution, did his best to tell Jonathan the characteristics of the new types of zombies.

Jonathan was willing to accept any kind of information. He also made some observations and warned Eugene by radio and told the man to assemble a group of intelligent people to see if they could find some kind of flaw in these evolutions. He also told Gabriel that he had rescued two survivors.

The story Patrick told had taken at least an hour to tell, so the group was less than two hours from the prison.

Jonathan then handed Antony a first aid kit to redo the bandage on his wound. ''It's probably going to get infected, but we have remedies for that.''

After that, Jonathan continued on his way to the prison.

It was then that they passed through an area they had been through before, only this time there was a car in the middle of the road with a white flag tied to the door.

And, as everyone knows, generally speaking, a white flag means surrender or help.

Jonathan knew that if he ignored this, the people calling for help would probably die. But, due to all his previous experiences with strangers, he was hesitant.

After thinking about the pros and cons, Jonathan decided to stop and look at the situation. "If it were before evolution, I wouldn't stop, but now... we'll need all the help we can get.''

Jonathan's mindset changed a lot depending on the situation. Now, he was much more willing to help other people, because he felt responsible for the evolution of the world, even if it wasn't true.

"Stay in the car, I'm going to check what's going on.'' Knowing that it could be a trap set by other humans, Jonathan decided to go and check the situation himself.

Leaving the car and heading towards the other one, it didn't take long for Jonathan to get there. To his surprise, the occupants of the car were still inside, only asleep. And although Jonathan could see that there were people inside, he couldn't see their faces.

So he knocked on the window to warn them of his presence and it worked, but Jonathan saw two guns pointing at him.

' Well, I expected that...' Jonathan already expected something like that, so he also had a gun pointed at them.

After a few seconds passed, the door of the car opened and 2 people came out. One of them shocked Jonathan so much that he legit left his mouth hanging and put his gun down.

' WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?' Well, Jonathan's reaction was normal, as Negan, alongside a woman, got out of the car with a not-so-friendly face.

' Is the universe somehow balancing something again? But why!?'

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

At this point, Negan noted Jonathan's reaction and decided to do the same as him and put the gun down. He started to say something but Jonathan beat him.

'' Do you need help?'' At this point, Jonathan recovered from the initial shock and already knew he wanted the man in his group. ' Even though the man is a fucking lunatic, if I can bring him to my group, he will be a lunatic ally.'

And, if Negan was here right now, it means things changed already, as at this point in time in the comics and the TV show, the Savior would have already been created.

' So this person beside him must be Lucille... From what I remember, she should have cancer. I can say we have a ton of medicine to prolong her life, which is not a lie, so maybe he will join?'

Sure, enough, after a few seconds of silence, almost like he was debating internally if he should accept a stranger's help, Negan said, '' Yes, we need help.''

'' What do you need right now?'' Jonathan, however, didn't act to recruit Negan right away, ' For the little I know of his personality, well besides being a huge lunatic, is that he is/was a normal person with his wife at his side. So, I need to do something about her first, bring her to my side or something like that.'

'' Food, gasoline, and, if you have any, medicine. My wife is sick.'' Negan was holding Lucille's hand the entire time.

''Luckily for you, we have plenty of it in our car.'' Before leaving, Jonathan held his hand out to the couple, '' By the way, my name is Jonathan.''

The couple shook hands with him.

'' My name is Negan.''

'' And mine is Lucille.''

'' Well, Negan and Lucille, stay here while I got get the things you want.''

Jonathan then went to the car, to talk with the others and grab a few things from the INVENTORY.

'' What do they want?'' Nathanael asked as soon as Jonathan got close to the car.

'' Food, gasoline, and medicine. The basic.'' Jonathan went to the back of the car, opened the truck, and grabbed a few things from the INVENTORY but made it look like it was coming from the truck.

Nathanael was the only one who saw that, as Patrick and Antony were sleeping. No one could blame both, as they didn't sleep a single minute when they were in that tree.

'' Are you going to try and recruit them?''

Jonathan nodded, '' Yes. To be honest, we need all the help we can get. I don't regret killing the people who tried to kill us and will not regret doing it in the future either, but now we really need to up our numbers.''

Nathanael got back to the car, '' Good luck.''

'' Thanks.'' With the food in hand, a gallon of gasoline in the other, and the medicine in his pockets, Jonathan went back to Negan and Lucille.

'' Here is food that should last a few weeks, gas, and medicine. You didn't specify what kind you wanted so I brought all we had at the moment.'' Jonathan lied. He specifically brought cancer-related medicine, as a way to show he had this type and entice Negan.

Sure enough, when the man and Lucille saw the medicine, their eyes changed. Negan ignored the food and gas, focusing only on the medicine, '' ... Do you perhaps have more of this?''

' Got him!' Jonathan nodded, '' You see, my group and I were lucky enough to hoard a few hospitals at the beginning of the Apocalypse. We have much more than this, so I don't mind giving you this much.''

Negan held the medicine in one hand, while the other held Lucille's hand.

'' Dear... calm down.'' It was Lucille who brought him back to reality, as he probably was making the calculation on how to attack this group and steal the medicine.

Lucille's words made Negan stop that train of thought. He looked at her, and as if they could communicate telepathically, she nodded. He then looked at Jonathan, '' Your group is accepting new people?''

' Jackpot!'

'' In fact, we are. Even more so now that the zombies are evolving.'' Jonathan, at the same time, accepted Negan and Lucille, while talking about evolution.

'' Wait, what do you mean the zombies are evolving?'' That part was surprising to Negan.

'' Our group is huge, like at least 400 people. So, we had the leeway to explore more areas. For the last 24 hours, we noted the zombies have gotten smart, and many tactics that worked as camouflage or as a distraction don't work anymore. And they can also somehow make traps, we have just escaped one actually.''

'' Fuck...Tell me more about it.''

Jonathan then told Negan and Lucille about what happened to Patrick and Antony, while also boosting his group.

After all that, Negan wanted to enter this group even more, as it was somehow protected and had medicine for Lucille. Well, if it was all true anyway. The man had confidence he could escape if it was a trap.

'' Damn...''

'' Yeah, damn. It was hard enough with normal zombies, now with ones that can somehow think ...'' Jonathan then stopped talking, but everyone there knew they were fucked.

'' So, when can we leave for this place of yours?'' Negan was ready to go. He had already fed the medicine to Lucille while they were talking.

'' Before we go, I have to ask both of you 3 questions.''

'' Ask away.''

'' It applies to both of you, so please answer them honestly... How many zombies have you killed?''

Negan responds first, '' I lost count after the 100 mark.''

Lucille answered right after,'' At the beginning of the apocalypse I still had the strength to kill a few, but never counted the number.''

Jonathan nodded, '' Okay, now, how many humans have you killed?''

It was silent for a few moments, but Lucille replied first, '' I killed none.''

Negan, howhereve, said, '' I killed 5 people.''

'' Why?''

Negan realized that was the last question, and answered, '' Because those fuckers threatened me and my wife. Before we ended here, we lived at a hospital, that had enough supplies to last until now. However, a group attacked us a few months ago. I had no choice but to kill those sons of bitches.''

Lucille squeezes Negan's hand, reassuring him. She said next, '' Then, I also killed 5 people.''

Jonathan smiled at that, '' Well, we all had to do horrible shit just to stay alive. I don't blame you for defending yourself... welcome to the group.''

---

After somehow recruiting Negan that easily, Jonathan continued going towards the prison, with Negan and Lucille following behind in their car, but thinking about what to do with the man, ' He is unstable without Lucille. If I could somehow prolong her life until he adapts to us, it would be good.'

The problem was that Lucille was already weak. It was a miracle she survived 9 months in the apocalypse.

' When he adapts, I will recommend him to be a security guard or something like that.'

After a few more hours, Jonathan finally arrived at the prison. The person who was at the gates opened it for him, and he parked the car at a random location. Remember that all internal gates have been removed, so locomotion inside the prison was way easier.

After sending Nathanael, Patrick, and Antony to the infirmary, Jonathan went to talk with Negan and Lucille, who looked shocked at the place.

'' What do you think about your new home?''

'' It's fucking beautiful.'' Negan wasn't lying. This was way better than the hospital he was in before, and that same hospital was considered a good place in the apocalypse. '' The fences are amazing.''

But the best part of the prison was its fences/gates. Before the apocalypse, the majority of the people who lived in the prison thought the fences were a bad thing, but now ... all people thought it was a blessing.

'' We can definitively survive here.'' Lucille too, for the first time in a long while, had hope. ' When I leave this world, at least Negan will have a place to stay and, hopefully, call home.'

'' Yes, it is beautiful and yes, you can survive here. I'll guide you both to one of your leaders, and they will take it from there. I'll also recommend you for a security job while Lucille will be a resident of the infirmary.''

Negan looked at Jonathan with an undecipherable gaze, '' Thank you.''

Jonathan shook his head, ''Thank your luck that I met you on the road. I hope you two have a great life from now on, and if you have any problems, you can come and talk to me.''

After guiding the two of them to Gabriel, who looked like he wanted to say something but remained silent, Jonathan went to Eugune to talk about the new characteristics of zombies.

Eugene was in a room with some other people. Jonathan had warned him by radio before arriving at the prison and the people gathered here were the most intelligent, or so Eugune thought, and the most qualified for this problem.

"What did you find out?'' Eugene went straight to the questions and Jonathan didn't hesitate to tell them what he knew.

He told them about the ambush, how they hardly made a sound, how they waited for Patrick and Antony to come down from the tree, etc.

One of the people in the room said, "So we can confirm that they've gained intelligence, now we just need to know how much.''

'' Well, for them to form an ambush, it could just be instinct and not intelligence. But I also think they've gained some kind of intelligence, but I don't think it's that high or they wouldn't leave from below the tree.''

Yes, that was a good point. After a few hours, the zombies left the tree area, even though only for a few hundred meters, and gave Jonathan a chance to save the two members of the group.

'' Instincts? Could it be?''

Then the group entered into a discussion, giving ideas of what this evolution was like and the next steps. Of course, it was all speculation and they had no way of finding out if they were right or wrong, but there was one person in the room who was ready to find out.

You see, after saying what he knew about this initial evolution, Jonathan opened SHOP as soon as they started discussing the evolution, and there, after remembering the SHOP had upgraded, he used SEARCH, another new addition to the SHOP that let you search for a specific type of thing to buy, and searched for the topic Evolution.

There, he found what he was looking for: INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE ZOMBIES: PRICE 5M

Without hesitation, Jonathan bought it and immediately information came to him like a wave. He had to sit down a little, otherwise, he would be fainted. No one noticed his situation because they were busy discussing the zombies.

Add that new wave of info, the headache that was almost gone came back, and Jonathan had to fight to not faint. After a few minutes, the information stopped, and the headache too. But, Jonathan's expression wasn't good, as their situation was worse than he thought.

' What the fuck is this...'

First Evolution: The zombies have become smarter! Of course, not that much, but they will have the ability to make simple plans. Their instincts became sharper and they will also have a survival instinct. Camouflages, distraction and many other tools to repel them don't work anymore. The mental capability of a baby.

Second Evolution: It will happen soon and bring forth another type of zombie. The zombies now react to vision, smell, and sensation better than before. The zombies will have a hive mind across a few KM. If a single zombie sees you, he could call all others in a 20-km radius. The mental capability of a baby.

Third Evolution: It will happen soon after the second Evolution and bring forth another type of zombie. The hive mind will evolve to englobe the world. Their skin will be hard and you will need a bullet of a higher caliber to kill them ( a simple glock will not work anymore). The mental capability of a small child.

Fourth Evolution: It will happen soon after the third evolution and bring forth another type of zombie. Those new types can fly. The mental capability of a teen.

Fifth Evolution: Nemesis. The Apex of zombies and bullets don't work on him, at best slows him down. Don't have a weakness, you'd have to basically nuke the area where those types appear. The mental capability of an adult.

WARMING: THE EVOLUTION CAN MUTATE, MAKING ZOMBIES STRONGER THAN THE ORIGINAL EVOLUTION. THE CAUSE OF THE MUTATION IS STILL UNKNOWN.

NOTE: EVERY TIME A EVOLUTION SUFRER A MUTATION, YOU WILL BE WARMED.

' I will have to buy the cure soon, otherwise, we are fucked.' Ignoring that for now, Jonathan gathered the attention of all the people in the room, '' I know the next steps of the evolution.''

Under the doubtful gazes of all the people in the room, Jonathan started to write down all the info he had discovered. Needless to say, everyone became serious when they realized the path of evolution could happen.

When Jonathan finished it, he said, '' Remember that it was me who found out about the evolution. So, you have to believe me when I show you this.''

Their faces changed when they found it was Jonathan who found out about the evolution first then everyone else. So they started to analyze everything seriously, and to their shock, they felt that the evolution path could happen.

'' What is that about ' mutations can happen'?'' One of the people asked.

''Exactly that. Even though the evolution path is set, things could change at any minute time, so we have to make a plan with that in mind.''

What Jonathan said was: 'We have to be ready for anything.' And it was true.

After that, seeing everyone was engrossed in the papers, Jonathan got out of the room saying, '' If you have any doubts and if I could help, please come and find me.''

Jonathan then went to Samantha, who was still in the infirmary. When he got there, he remembered to buy a chemotherapy machine for Lucille and left it there. If anyone asked him where he found it, he'd say it was luck.