Quote Originally Posted by TacticalJHP View Post
They posed no threat to Ink. No point in killing them when allowing them to live serves a better purpose.

CJ was cornered in Dunbar's basement armory, holding off zombies when Ink said "Leave her." He realized she was alone, and pinned. The rest of the tower has fallen, there was no point in forcing her to come out and loose more of his forces, so he left her in her hole. No threat.

Duncan (skittles) had a mental breakdown and hid. No threat.

Riley and Kalani at the hospital posed no threat either. He laughed when Riley drew her bow, and caught the arrow easily. They ran. No threat.

Puck had compound fractures in his arm and leg, as well as a concussion. He probably LOOKED one step away from dead, but either way, he was neutralized. No threat.

All of these people were able to then tell their story, and pass along the terror and expand on the myth of "The Man in the Pinstriped Suit," "The One With The Markings," "the colored one," and "Ink."

This is Psychological warfare 101.

What you have to remember is, while ink may have managed to get a good lawyer to get an insanity plea at his trial....He is NOT crazy.

"He knows exactly what he is doing."
I like this idea of why Ink left the people he did (I mean, other than to progress the story and give the listener the bread crumbs...) and it's at the top of my list of why.

But I also have this idea gnawing at my brain that Roberts is a scientist, albeit a deranged one, at heart and he is studying. I'm not sure if he is trying to weed out all but the most fit remaining humans for use as stock or if it is just the curiosity of seeing something different (people in a survival situation).

The closest interaction with Ink/TOWTM/Pinstripes was in Chapter 11 at the Tower and, as I noted above, that might not have actually been Roberts. Other than that, he has not done much to be directly involved in conflicts - in the big battle at the Colony his direct role was to jump up on the wall, kill one person, and open the gate. He fled in a hurry once that was done and Saul started trying to shoot him.

So maybe he's thinking of himself as some sort of god playing with life on earth. He's staying removed/detached from much of it and letting his creations play out their roles....