"I feel strange when you put it that way."
Rick, who was driving, scratched his head. He was beginning to realize something unsettling—this road was far too quiet. Not a single zombie had appeared so far.
And yet, there were at least thousands of abandoned cars. Even if each car held only one person, that was still thousands of people. So... where had everyone gone?
At the time this chaos broke out, the scene must have been pure panic. It would have been reckless to abandon a car and travel on foot. Could it be that...
A dark possibility crossed Rick's mind. He had originally believed his wife and children traveled to Atlanta with these refugees.
But now, seeing these abandoned cars and the eerie silence, he began to worry that the refugees never even made it to the city—that danger consumed them before they arrived.
Jason had also wondered about this when watching the TV series. The show never explained what happened to all the missing people along this road.
"Let's not dwell on that now. Seeing is believing. We won't know the truth until we go in and take a look."
Rexley still held on to hope. He believed Atlanta was still a safe zone, and that his wife and children were waiting for him there.
Jason curled his lips but said nothing. He already knew what was waiting in Atlanta. His main reason for coming was to meet the second male lead—an incredibly popular character he'd always liked.
Morgan, who was driving behind them, had recovered somewhat from his earlier grief. He now had a strong impression of Jason. Even though Jason was Younger and Morgan was Black, it didn't affect his respect for him.
If Jason hadn't shown up, Morgan might never have made such a difficult decision. Just like Jason said, he would eventually lose his only remaining relative, just as he had already lost his wife.
By the afternoon, the two cars slowly entered the city. But unlike what they'd imagined, there were no military checkpoints, no signs of protection—only chaos. Damaged goods, overturned objects, and lifeless bodies littered the streets.
"It looks like this place has already fallen," Morgan said, gazing up at the towering buildings. He had never been to the city when it was alive and bustling, and now he saw it at its most desolate.
"Something's wrong. There are zombies—be on alert!"
Jason, who had been scanning the area, suddenly picked up on noises. Since they had entered the city, they had been noticed. To the zombies, they were prey that had walked right into a trap.
Roar... Crash... Whoosh...
Zombies poured out from all directions, crawling and stumbling from behind walls and alleyways. There were more of them here than they had encountered in all previous encounters combined.
"Damn it, we're surrounded."
Jason's eyes widened. He had been so focused on finding Glenn that he let his guard down. Now they were in deep trouble.
He scanned the area quickly, narrowed his eyes, and spotted a large supermarket building. He motioned to the others and said in a low voice, "Get in the car—we're heading to that supermarket at eleven o'clock!"
While they were dodging the horde, a few people stood atop the supermarket's upper floor. One of them, an Asian man with a telescope, was watching the chaos unfold below.
"Oh my god, are those people insane?"
The man's voice trembled in disbelief as he rubbed his eyes and looked again through the scope.
"What's going on? You're yelling like someone lit your pants on fire."
Another man in a leather jacket stirred from a nap nearby. Annoyed at being woken up, he stood unsteadily and frowned. "You disturbed my sleep, you know that?"
The Asian man looked at him nervously and pointed downward. "I saw four people driving in—they're completely surrounded by zombies."