Chapter 104

Daryl and Moore went away for a week and returned with a lot of supplies, which greatly alleviated the depletion of their inventory due to the reconstruction work.

However, the food situation in Alexandria is still not optimistic. Recently, people have even had to eat only vegetable salad for one of their two meals a day.

Although there was still food, Lina was very worried about Maggie, because Lowry had also suffered a difficult childbirth due to malnutrition and long-term travel.

Maggie has also lost a lot of weight recently, which makes Lina very worried about whether her body can handle pregnancy.

Whenever she was worried, Lena would take a dislike to Glenn, and whenever she took a dislike to Glenn, Lena would lie to him and tell him that Herschel had asked him to fertilize the vegetables.

Alexander's fertilizer was developed by Herschel after a friendly suggestion from Lina, using the residents' household waste and excrement... Well, some things are better left unsaid.

In short, Lina was in a bad mood, so watching Glenn leave with his manure buckets improved her mood by about 50 percent, and now her mood level was -100%.

"Did he upset you again?" Daryl had been looking for Lina for a long time, and when he saw this familiar place, he knew it was the same old story.

"Hmph," Lina pouted, "What's wrong?"

“I just remembered this,” Daryl said, taking a bottle of medicine out of his pocket. “Maybe you want to give this to Maggie? I had Dennis look at it, and it’s fine.”

Prenatal vitamins! Lena happily hugged Daryl and kissed his cheek. "I knew you were the best!"

“…” Daryl raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t say that last time.”

"?" Lina was stunned for a moment. Last time? ... "Tsk, stay away from Mor these next few days. How come you've learned so much useless stuff again?" Lina said disdainfully.

Daryl shrugged. Lina always made excuses for him; she believed in the principle of "one is influenced by one's company."

“I’ll go get it for Maggie,” Lina said, taking the medicine bottle and about to leave when Daryl stopped her. “What do you think…” He looked at Lina, seemingly hesitant to speak.

Lina asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Daryl seemed hesitant to speak, appearing conflicted, but he remained silent while looking at Lina, which made Lina anxious.

What exactly was he trying to say? Lina was completely confused. Could it be about...?

Lina looked at Daryl seriously, "I don't have children."

Daryl paused for a moment, "I wasn't thinking about that!" And he didn't want her to have the baby either!

Although they both enjoyed the process, this result—no! Absolutely not! Daryl's face turned ashen.

Lena thought she had guessed right. Looking at Daryl's expression, she felt a little helpless. "I was planning to be childless anyway, and my body doesn't allow it. If we were in a peaceful environment, maybe I really would be willing to have a child with you," Lena said anxiously. "I didn't mean I didn't want to have a child with you."

Daryl awkwardly scratched his cheek. "I didn't mean it that way," he sighed. "You're still a child yourself." "Never mind, you go find Maggie first, we'll talk later."

"..." Lina hesitated for a moment, then whispered in Daryl's ear, "I love you." Then she quickly ran away.

This was the first time he had heard Lena say those words. Daryl was a little stunned, his heart filled with complicated emotions. Undoubtedly, they both loved each other. Yes, Daryl would never doubt that. But neither of them were the type to say "I love you" out loud.

Even when they first got together, it felt like a battle of wills where neither side would admit defeat.

I want you to stay, I want you to be by my side and take good care of yourself... These words have countless times replaced the meaning of "I love you".

She beat me to it again.

*

"Maggie!" Lina ran to Maggie's house before the heat on her cheeks subsided. So embarrassing! So embarrassing! Thank goodness no one else knew, it was too cheesy!

"You're here!" Maggie was still sitting on the sofa reading a book.

"You should go back to bed and rest!" Lina frowned in displeasure. "You can't overexert yourself while you're pregnant!"

“…You’re right,” Maggie took a deep breath and closed the book. She had learned not to argue with Lina. Lina was extremely worried about her belly, asking about her health every morning and evening, and urging everyone to find her nourishing foods and supplements.

A love that is heavy with emotion.

“Maggie, look, Daryl found these,” Lina excitedly handed the vitamins to Maggie. “Eat more of these.”

“Okay, I understand,” Maggie pulled Lina aside. “We haven’t had time to talk lately. The main expansion project was completed a few days ago, and my dad said you’ve also figured out the composting thing. So what’s next? Do you want to go out and collect supplies with everyone?”

“Of course,” Lina nodded, but she was more interested in the vitamins in her hand than in discussing her future plans. She poured out two tablets and handed them to Maggie. “Eat them quickly.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow helplessly, took the vitamins and swallowed them. "Now can we talk?"

“Fine,” Lina said, looking at Maggie with exasperation, “don’t you know that once you start worrying, you’ll never have enough?”

“Someone has to do these things, so why can’t it be me?” Maggie said with a smile, full of confidence.

"Because you're pregnant!" Lina gritted her teeth in anger. "No, I'm so angry, I want to punch Glenn."

"...He's been scavenging manure for five days this week..." Maggie looked troubled. Lately, he's been sleeping on Rick's sofa because it smells so bad that Maggie feels like vomiting at the mere whiff.

"Hmph, who told him to do such a thing?" Lina said unhappily.

“It’s okay, I know my body,” Maggie quickly reassured Lina. “You’re the one who’s always worrying.”

"I'm scared, Maggie, I'm really scared." Lina looked at Maggie earnestly, afraid that the child would be born without a father.

“…” Maggie frowned. She pulled Lina over and let her lean on her shoulder. “Actually, pregnancy isn’t that scary. My body is much better than Lowry’s, and we’re lucky. We live in a very stable place, and we have a doctor. I will give birth to this child safely.”

“…Lino is really a good name,” Lina said after a long silence.

“No, too Italian, no way,” Maggie quickly refused. “Hey, miss, you’ve already given the child your surname, so let’s leave the name out.” Maggie joked.

“…It’s not like he really takes my last name,” Lina sat up. “Then how about… Daryl? Daryl’s name isn’t bad either, and,” Lina paused, “he seems to want a child…”

Maggie narrowed her eyes, her tone unfriendly. "He told you?"

“No, no,” Lina shook her head. “Just now, he gave this to me, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t say it. I think it might be related to the child?”

Maggie's expression softened, and her tone became light, "No, you're overthinking it."

"?" Lina looked at Maggie in confusion. Why did Maggie seem a little strange?

“You’re still a child. If he dares to get you pregnant,” Maggie cracked her knuckles, “then we’ll cripple him.”

“…That’s not necessary,” Lina said, somewhat fearfully. “But,” Lina hesitated, “what if one day he really wants a child?” Lina irritably fiddled with the sofa cushions. “I…”

"Although I really don't want to have children, what if one day I do want them?" Lina said, somewhat confused. "But..."

Maggie felt a pang of sadness as she thought of Lina's past injuries. "You said it yourself, it's only a possibility. It doesn't mean you can't get pregnant. You're only 18, Lina. You're too young to be thinking about these things."

“That’s true,” Lina scratched her hair. She herself wasn’t even sure how long she would live. Although the idea of ​​being childless might change, it wouldn’t be a complete upheaval in just a few days.

"Then you should rest well, I'll go back..." Lina stood up slightly, but Maggie pulled her back.

“I have something I’d like to talk to you about,” Maggie said.

"Aren't you holding on a little too tightly?" Lina wondered. "Is something important?"

"Um, what do you think about having vegetable and egg stir-fry for breakfast tomorrow?" Maggie said.

?

Lina was even more confused. "Um, it sounds very nutritious. You should eat more of it?"

"Yes, and what about you? What are you planning to eat tomorrow?" Maggie secretly pinched her thigh; her brain had really short-circuited! Was it really like Lina said, that pregnancy makes you stupid for three years?

"...What is Carol giving us?" Lina looked at Maggie in confusion. "So?"

“Well, it’s like this,” Maggie said as slowly as possible, giving herself time to think, “My dad and I discussed the greenhouse you mentioned, but the plastic shed might not be able to hold up in the winter…”

"How about we renovate a house?" Lina thought for a moment and said, noting that there were quite a few empty houses in the community.

“Yes, Dad also thinks this is safer, but it would mean less light. Eugene suggested using lights to simulate it, but I’m worried that the community’s power grid won’t be able to supply enough light.” Maggie began to think seriously. If the population grows in the future, food will definitely be the priority. So it seems that everyone can save some electricity in their daily lives.

“We don’t necessarily need to keep the plants in the sun all the time, the sun will go down eventually,” Lina shrugged. “We do need to consider the temperature in the greenhouse. We’ve never spent a winter here before, but we need to be prepared. If it gets really cold, it’s no joke.”

Both plants and people will freeze to death.

“Yes,” Maggie said, taking out a pen and paper from the side. “We should have him think about it in advance. Fireplaces, we should make sure everyone’s house has a fireplace.”

Then Maggie started seriously thinking, writing, and drawing. Lina watched for a long time, but she hated this kind of thing that required constant thinking and brainpower, so she quietly slipped out.

When Maggie finally finished her work and looked up, she realized that Lina was gone. In despair, she put down her pen and paper. It was over; she had messed up her task.