Doubts

At 3 a.m., Kirk was woken by Little Fatty and picked up his weapon. He had been assigned to the third patrol shift of the night. After last night's disastrous lesson, the whole team was on high alert, and the patrols kept moving, never stopping their rounds or surveillance. It was now Kirk's turn on watch.

The two of them made a round of Zone D. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far. The walkers at the front gate were still pounding violently on the Steel Door. The Plot Characters were guarding it, and since the space had indicated that tonight would be safe, the walkers shouldn't pose a lethal threat—at least for now.

Kirk and Little Fatty reached the back entrance of the cellblock. Mori and Daryl were watching the walkers there, and they nodded when they saw him.

"Kid, you did a good job today!" Mori rarely praised Kirk. "First, you made the right call for that useless cop. Then you finished dealing with his problem. Honestly, seeing him in that pathetic state, I almost wanted to put him out of his misery with a bullet."

"Don't, Mori. His wife died!" Daryl cut him off. "Kirk, look at this!"

Kirk leaned over. Daryl pointed to the spot where the cell had originally been locked.

"This is where Rick locked it at the start, right?"

"Yeah. We were all there and saw it clearly. It was locked tight. In my opinion, even Atlanta's most Skillful Hands couldn't have opened it easily—not to mention a walker!" Daryl said confidently.

"But it was still opened!" Kirk mused.

"I heard your discussion. That short-haired woman was talking complete crap! I don't know how you know the future, but if the surviving prisoners had done it, they would've had to force the lock, and there'd be signs of damage. Daryl and I know a thing or two about that, and we haven't seen a single suspicious mark." Mori contemptuously spat into the wide-open mouth of a walker across from them.

"So that means...?" Little Fatty's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Someone opened it from the inside with a key!" Daryl dropped another bombshell.

"An inside man?" Little Fatty blurted out, then hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth and glanced around.

"There are two possibilities. One, there's an inside man. Two, someone from outside snuck into our cellblock. Remember those tire tracks Daryl showed you last time? We were attacked tonight with a grenade launcher and an autocannon. Don't tell me the walkers know how to use those things. People outside are attacking us!" Mori shouted.

"People from outside definitely took part in tonight's attack," Kirk said with certainty. "But how did they sneak into a prison guarded by more than a hundred of us, find a gap in the patrols, and open a cell door with a key? First, how did they get the key? Rick always kept it on him. He wouldn't unlock the cell and let out the walkers to kill his wife. Second, how would outsiders know our internal situation and the details of our patrols? Those are the two key questions."

"Could someone inside have done it? Anyone on the inside could find a way to get the key or learn the patrol routes," Little Fatty countered.

"Someone inside? It's possible. But we're all Contractors on the Plot Character team. No matter how much we fight among ourselves, we're still working toward the same interests. If the team is wiped out or The Governor's side wins, what would the inside man gain?" Kirk couldn't make sense of it either.

The more he thought about it, the more questions came up.

"Damn it. This is the world of The Walking Dead, not the world of Detective Conan! How did we end up with such a bizarre mystery?" Little Fatty groaned, tugging at his hair.

"Who was on patrol that night?" Kirk asked.

"First team: Blondie and three others, from 1 to 2 a.m. Second team: Ma Ruiqi and three others, from 3 to 4 a.m. Third team: from 5 to 6 a.m—Sally, Ranmaru, the Korean kid, and Little Fatty." Daryl checked the patrol log.

"Little Fatty, did anything unusual happen with your team?"

"I don't think so." Little Fatty scratched his head. "I was at the back, and Sally was up front. Nothing seemed to happen."

"And were the locks you checked all fine?" Kirk continued.

"Completely fine. Rick used the kind of heavy chains prison guards use. They weren't simple locks, and the keys were controlled by a number code that changed regularly. The chains were thick and sturdy. Even with bolt cutters, it'd be hard to cut through one in half an hour. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless they had a key." Little Fatty grinned. "But that's impossible."

Kirk frowned at that, then relaxed. "Anyway, everyone should stay alert."

Kirk and Little Fatty finished their shift at five. The sky was already beginning to brighten, but they still went back and slept for two hours.

When he had first entered the space, Kirk had always been tense and found it hard to rest. Now he had learned to make the most of every chance to relax. It wasn't as if you could rest whenever you wanted—like those nights a few days ago. If you couldn't learn to unwind amid the intensity of battle, even if you weren't beaten down, you'd still be worn out.

When Kirk got up, he saw that Rick had already gathered everyone in the hall. He hurried over. Rick was loading ammunition into a riot shotgun as he warned them, "We're going to fight our way out in a little while. For the past two hours, Green and Daryl have been scouting outside. They've confirmed that, besides the walkers, another group of people attacked us last night. They were the ones who fired the autocannon and grenade launchers. I have a plan for revenge. First, we kill all the walkers in the prison and search the place to make sure there are no hostile forces left. We'll gather every useful supply we can find. Second, we'll track down the enemy and kill them all!" By then, Rick's handsome face had twisted with rage. It was no wonder: Laurie had been the reason he kept fighting, and now she had died in the attack. Nothing could stop his fury. Carl clenched his little fists too.

Most people agreed with the plan. Before driving out the enemy, they needed to secure the prison.

"Daryl, Michonne, Green, Maggie, and Andrea, the five of you will track down the gang that attacked us last night and keep them from attacking again." Rick handed Daryl a flare gun. "If you're outnumbered, don't stand and fight. Come back. It'll take about a day to clear the prison."

"As for this place, leave it to me, Shane, the doctor, Mori, T-Dog, and everyone else. Today, we'll clear out Zones A and C. I heard there are still survivors in Zone A. We need to find them and get their supplies!"

At that moment, the space once again prompted every Contractor: "Today is the fifth day. You've survived once again. Now you must get to work with your spirits high. Choose:

1. Join Daryl's tracking and exploration team.

2. Join Rick in attacking Zone A and obtaining the surviving prisoners' supplies.

3. Join Mori in attacking Zone C and eliminating the prison's hidden dangers.

The newcomers once again gathered in small groups of three or five and formed teams. Blondie's team chose to follow Rick, probably because of Shane, to complete the prisoner-supply mission, or perhaps to take on the backup generator mission in Zone A. Ma Ruiqi went against the grain and chose to follow Daryl on the tracking mission rather than Rick. It seemed she had officially broken with Rick. Perhaps she planned to use her knowledge of the plot to get something out of Daryl. The Japanese trap Ranmaru and the Korean boy also joined the tracking team, following their respective Plot Character mentors, Michonne and Green. Only Kirk and Little Fatty stuck with Mori in Zone C. Kirk's goal, of course, was to learn a few more tricks from Mori. His Team Contribution Value had reached 339 points, enough to learn three level 1 skills or upgrade one level 2 skill.

As for whether there was an inside man and where they might be, Kirk believed that after today, they'd have a clear answer.

Kirk and Little Fatty each equipped one of the weapons specially designed for killing walkers, Walker King and Walker Slayer. The walkers had now mutated twice, so they had to use every advantage they could. Otherwise, they might hit one in a vital part two or three times without killing it, then get grabbed once and die.

"You two idiots, remember this: you can kill walkers fast, but they can kill you even faster! Our only advantage is that we have brains and can work together. If you don't use your head in a fight, you'll find out just how cruel nature can be!" Mori launched into another tirade. "Right, T-Dog?"

T-Dog's face turned red. He glared at Mori. "Can't you just shut your foul mouth? What we need right now is unity, man! Unity!"

Mori grinned without replying and called for everyone to form up. By then, Kirk had made up his mind.

He spent 100 Survival Points to check all the abilities the team had available for exchange, then decisively exchanged all 300 of his Team Contribution Value!

Ever since learning there might be an inside man, Kirk had been uneasy. He decided to stop holding back and convert all his resources into strength as soon as possible. There might be another chance to invest 100 and get 300 back, but he'd have to be alive to spend it!

Kirk immediately exchanged with Mori for two basic skills and one Advanced Skill.

[Basic Footwork Mastery] level 1: Increases walking/running speed by 5% and evasion by 5%.

[Basic Medium Blade Mastery] level 1: Improves proficiency with knives, swords, rapiers, two-handed greatswords, axes, and other weapons, increasing their damage by 5%.

[Throat Cut] level 1: Advanced close-combat Active Skill. Requires [Basic Small Blade Mastery], [Basic Medium Blade Mastery], [Basic Polearm Mastery], [Mutated Melee Weapon Mastery], and other skills. Can be used when wielding a bladed weapon.

Use: This skill consumes 10 energy and lasts for one attack.

Effect: The target must pass a Fortitude check with a -3 penalty against the next attack made while this skill is active. If they fail, the attack inflicts a throat-cut effect. Enemies with fewer than 100 Health Points die instantly. Enemies with more than 100 Health Points suffer a critical hit, taking four times the base damage and suffering a [Bleeding] effect for 5 seconds, taking 6 damage per second.

Note: This is an Advanced Skill and can only be taught by special characters or special scrolls. Contractors cannot learn it on their own.

After reading through the three skills, Kirk smiled with satisfaction, drew his dagger, and headed deeper into the prison.

Little Fatty followed close behind. He had also spent 100 Team Contribution Value to learn the [Basic Defense] level 1 skill from T-Dog, and now he was full of confidence.

Only those who kept evolving could avoid being left behind!