Eight in total.
“I’ll give you two choices.” Leon got straight to the point.
“First, join my company.
Second, get out.” The eight people looked at each other.
“What does ‘joining the company’ mean?” The bald man asked.
“Work,” Leon said.
“I need security personnel and supermarket staff.
You work, and I’ll pay you—not in money, but in points.
Points can be exchanged for supplies: food, water, medicine, daily necessities—everything.” “Is there pension insurance?” a young girl asked softly.
“What about health insurance?” another added.
“Social security?” “Annual leave?” “How is overtime pay calculated?” Leon was silent for two seconds.
He looked at these eight people; they were still thinking about post-apocalyptic life with pre-apocalyptic mindsets.
“Listen.” His voice turned cold.
“In the world outside, there are no laws anymore.
No pension insurance, no health insurance, no bullshit social security.
There are only two types of people—the living and the dead.” He pointed to the main door.
Outside the rolling shutter door, the low growls of Walkers could faintly be heard.
“You want to go out and live a free life?
I won’t stop you.
I’ll open the door, and you can walk out yourselves.” No one moved.
“But if you want to stay here…” Leon continued, “You have to work.
No work, no food.
It’s that simple.” The bald man was the first to step forward.
“I’ll do security.” He walked to Leon’s side and stood still.
The other three young people—two men and one woman—also stepped forward.
“We’ll do security too.” The two young girls looked at each other and said softly, “We…
we can work in the supermarket.” “Good.” Leon nodded.
There was one person left.
That woman, in her thirties, wearing glasses, looking like a white-collar worker.
She crossed her arms, a condescending expression on her face.
“This contract is unfair,” she said.
“There are no human rights protections; it’s practically an indenture.
I won’t sign such an unfair contract.” She turned to the few who had already stepped forward.
“Don’t sign either!
Let’s protest together!
What can he do to us alone?
This place isn’t his!
Why should we listen to him?” The few who had just stepped forward hesitated, looking at each other.
Leon sighed.
He pulled out Truth.
Bang.
The gunshot echoed in the hall.
The woman’s eyes widened, a bloody hole in the center of her forehead.
Before she could even realize what had happened, her body went limp and collapsed, hitting the floor with a few twitches before going still.
Blood slowly spread, staining the white ceramic tiles red.
The seven people froze in place like statues.
Leon turned the muzzle toward them and asked calmly, “Anyone else want to protest?” Silence.
Dead silence.
“I’ll say it one more time.” Leon’s voice had no fluctuation.
“Those who don’t want to sign can leave.
The door is over there.” He pointed to the rolling shutter door.
“But inciting my employees in front of me is a provocation against me.” He put the gun away and looked at the remaining seven people.
“In the world outside, there are no laws or goddamn human rights anymore.
There are only two rules—the rules I set, or the rule of talking about human rights face-to-face with the Walkers outside.
Which do you choose?” The bald man was the first to react.
He stepped forward and quickly lowered his head.
“I swear, I will never betray the company.” The others snapped out of it and stepped forward one after another.
“I…
I swear too…” “Never betray…” Leon looked at them and nodded slightly.
“Go on then!” He said, “Go to the second floor, find an empty room to stay in, and start working tomorrow.” The seven people didn’t dare look back as they hurried toward the stairs.
Leon stood where he was, looking down at the corpse on the ground.
Blood was still flowing.
He crouched down and pulled an ID card from the woman’s pocket—Linda Parker, 34 years old, from Atlanta.
He put the ID in his pocket and then dragged the corpse toward the rolling shutter door.
He opened the small door next to it and pushed the body out.
Outside, the growls of the Walkers immediately became excited.
Leon closed the door and wiped the blood off his hands.
Once the vaccine is researched and the base is stable, then we can talk about other things.
Now— Survival was the most important thing.