If Salvation Army 3
Lina's squad can be considered an oddball squad in the Salvation Hall. They don't participate in most of the Salvation Hall's missions, and they don't bring back enough laborers. In fact, most of them are men who have undergone surgery.
The women they bring back tend to go to two extremes: one is extreme fawning, regardless of gender, where strength is king; the other is extreme misogyny, resenting themselves for being hurt and resenting others who have not been hurt.
Of course, the most notable feature is that the entire group is female. Almost all the women in the Salvation Hall with some ability have been recruited by her, except for a few women who were specifically assigned by Negan to lead other squads.
To some extent, Lina served as the female protector of the Saviour Church, though only superficially.
Exploitation always spreads secretly in the shadows, and everyone has times when they have no choice.
But Lina didn't care about any of that. Her squad had collected the most supplies in the entire Salvation Hall, and that was enough. They could use their strength to carve out a territory among these men.
But this balance has been teetering on the edge, because they're no longer sitting at the table to eat; they're flipping the table.
This was quite different from what Negan had envisioned. In his plan, Lena would take over the mission of the Saviour's Church and rise to a certain position. She had the ability to do so. However, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she placed herself in opposition to most people.
Of course, this mostly refers to the men of the Church of Saviour, including Negan himself.
This is the damn apocalypse! Lofty morals won't bring you any benefits. Do you think any zombies will be moved by your noble sentiments and stop eating people?
Is it possible that a morally corrupt person would be moved by your kindness, lay down their weapons, repent, and start anew?
What a joke! He'll just treat you like a feast, taking advantage of you and leaving you empty-handed.
Negan even regretted putting those girls together with Lena. A group of women who were afraid of and hated men together, no wonder they were becoming more and more brutal.
Several workers have already died from illnesses caused by the lack of a certain excretory system. It was clearly agreed beforehand that they would be physically castrated, and while the ball was theirs, the cue should at least be left for them... He didn't want it, well, anyway, that's the gist of it.
If this continues, the noise inside the Salvation Church will drive everyone crazy.
For young men, the ban on prostitution was simply unbearable.
Of course, he wasn't turning his territory into a brothel, but many things between adult men and women are consensual, aren't they? He did a very good job of it himself.
But Lina insists on a one-size-fits-all approach, which is not good.
What made it even harder for Negan to make a decision was that the supplies on the large truck in front of him were more than the tributes they had recently received.
Lina has a knack for getting her hands on these great things, and more than once.
"Look! How much good stuff our 'Iron Lady' army has brought us again," Simon whistled flippantly, earning eye-rolls from the entire squad led by Lina.
“I brought you a gift, you’re welcome,” Lina raised an eyebrow. Laura, who was standing next to her, suppressed a laugh and pulled a metal object out of the car. In short, it was a male chastity belt.
Simon picked up the metal lump with a look of disdain. "Seriously, did you guys raid a Nazi concentration camp?"
“Then all you’ll see is a truckload of Jews,” Lina patted the truck bed, looking at Simon defiantly. “Enjoy your gift.”
“No way,” Simon shoved the things behind his back to his men. “Don’t think I don’t know you won’t give me the keys. Seriously, you guys are really weirdos.”
"Perverts have time to call us perverts. Look, girls, we succeeded," Lina said mockingly to the girls beside her.
“Oh, right, I have an even better gift,” Lina grinned mischievously. Negan, who was some distance away, twirled his fingers and suddenly panicked.
“We brought someone back, and I want to emphasize that she’s special. But you should like her.” Lina was practically beaming with joy, though she was also clearly gloating.
"My God, my darlings, you've really found me a wonderful place! My God! I love it here, I love it here!" A still-attractive... young woman...?
Laura let go, and the woman instantly pounced into Simon's arms. "Oh, darling, want to play some... plop plop, hey hey hey games with your sister?" The woman licked her lips seductively.
Simon was completely stunned. He knew some descriptions, like "thirty like a wolf, forty like a tiger," but the one in his arms was probably already menopausal, right? Was it really okay?
Then he stared in disbelief as Laura beckoned, and a string of men were led over. Without exception, they all looked exceptionally weak, and each of them flinched when they saw the woman on Simon's body.
"Here, these are the workers we brought back this time, all intact," Lina said. She was only responsible for bringing them back; she never cared about the rest.
Simon glanced at the woman in his arms. She smiled seductively at him, her red lips like a gaping maw ready to devour him. Simon shuddered and immediately looked away. So, she had captured this woman and rescued a group of victims, right?
Simon was speechless for a moment.
Of course, he wouldn't say anything. Simon glanced at Negan, who was secretly hoping Lena would do something stupid, the more she did, the better. The one who was really worried was right there.
Simon took over the follow-up work, and Lena disbanded the team and walked towards Negan, who had been staring at her for a long time, clearly having something to say.
"Speak," Lina said, arms crossed, looking quietly at Negan. She guessed it wasn't something Negan wanted to hear.
“The Salvation Hall has seen far too many freeloaders lately, Lina. You need to understand that while the supplies you bring back are considerable, you don’t always reap such good rewards. But you always manage to bring back some trouble.” Negan stared into Lina’s eyes. She still looked defiant, but her gaze hadn’t been corrupted by the world.
Negan felt a strange mix of emotions, a sense of bewilderment creeping into her heart. Why? Why, after everything she had been through, could she still be so...at peace with herself?
“The Salvation Church has a lot of work that they can all do, and my team is constantly recruiting, so they pick things up quickly,” Lina said somewhat impatiently. She knew what Negan meant; he meant no freeloading, just that his group of giant infants had lost their toys for emotional release.
They always like to shift the cost of stability onto women, believing that as long as women obediently bear all the injustice and violence, society will be stable.
Conversely, they are useless and ungrateful.
“Not everyone has a job, but everyone needs to eat,” Negan said.
"Let me be blunt, I won't agree to you selling them. Don't give me that consensual nonsense. Weren't all those wives of yours forced into your life?" Lina said bluntly. Of course, there were such transactions in private, but that was none of her business. Everyone wanted to live. She could turn a blind eye to some things, but it was impossible for them to be done openly.
“Lina, I brought you into this game, not to overturn the rules,” Negan said coldly to Lina. “You need to understand one thing: this world is not what it used to be, and you are no longer one of them. You are strong, you can control this game, but don’t put yourself in a lowly position. You are different from them. I want you to put away your damned sympathy, be rational, and consider our interests. The Saviour Church needs a stable structure, and good work needs to be rewarded.”
"..." Lina scoffed. "Don't talk like you bestowed this right upon me. I was born to participate in this game, no, I was born to set the rules of this game. People are not commodities. Negan, I told you, if you choose to stay in the junkyard with trash, sooner or later you'll become trash too."
“Look, you still haven’t figured it out. It’s us, us.” Negan took two steps forward. “Everyone will have their own job, starting now. Or, we don’t have enough supplies to feed those freeloaders.”
Lena narrowed her eyes. "You're disgusting." Lena shoved Negan aside and went into the Saviour's Hall without looking back.
As Negan watched Lena's retreating figure, his thoughts raced. He felt a pang of jealousy.
Amidst the absurdity, he noticed a hint of jealousy.
Everyone else collapsed along with the world, but she did not.
This jealousy didn't ignite Negan's destructive urges; it only gave him more of a headache. This wouldn't work. A pushover can't survive. To live in this world, you need immense strength, a brilliant mind, and exceptional luck—all indispensable. But of course, most importantly, you need the will to survive at all costs and the ruthlessness to utilize every available resource.
Everything started to have a price tag. Workers had to accumulate points to survive. The Salvation Army had priority access to all resources and were stingy with giving away points. Nobody liked to share their things, especially post-apocalyptic supplies. Every time they signed a document, they felt uncomfortable.
More and more workers are eating only one meal a day, not to mention those who are unemployed. Useless people can only perform their most basic function: selling themselves.
Either go outside and act as bait, or lie in bed and try to survive.
All of this was a decision they made in dire straits, and like the famous saying "Why don't they eat meat porridge?", Lina couldn't stop them.
She never wanted to bring anyone back; she was nothing more than an executioner sending them to another hell.
At this moment, she began to think: how long until Rick and the others arrived? She was getting impatient.
Rick and the others, whom Lina was thinking about, were now slumping forward under the scorching sun.
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