Chapter 83

“I’ll go take a look first,” Daryl said, pulling Lina back as they reached the edge of the woods, telling her to wait there.

Lina nodded, looking at the clothes in Daryl's arms, from which came the constant chirping of cicadas.

“Heh heh, now it’s my turn to scare them,” Lina chuckled maliciously.

Daryl pursed his lips. He didn't think Lina would scare anyone, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Daryl walked toward the temporary rest stop, and everyone silently ate the meat in their hands.

Rick glanced at Daryl. "Where's Lena?"

"Where is it? Let me take a look first," he said, noticing that the surroundings were fairly clean, except for a collar that had been left behind.

Daryl picked up the collar and threw it into the woods.

“We’ve tidied things up a bit,” Glenn said. “Is she alright?”

“It’s alright,” Daryl licked his lips, looked in Lina’s direction, and then stuffed the clothes in his hand into Rick’s hands. “You guys definitely wouldn’t dare eat this, right?”

Rick glanced at it in confusion; the room was full of cicadas.

"Uh..." Glenn hesitated, then thought, "Wait, don't they have meat already?"

But is this thing really edible?

Besides, when you're really hungry... why be afraid of this? Is it even tasty?

Glenn had a thousand words in his heart, but he just looked at Daryl with a puzzled expression.

Daryl didn't say much, he just turned to find Lina.

Rick stared at the cicada for a long time, then looked at Glenn and said, "You must be terrified of eating this, right?"

Glenn was completely confused. "Huh? Why would I eat this?"

Rick smiled and looked across at the other side. Glenn looked at Lena, whom Daryl was holding, and instantly understood. He looked at Rick with a bitter face, "Really?"

Rick smiled. "Brother."

Glenn sighed, then glanced back at the other curious people, gave a bitter smile, and turned to Rick, "I can't be the only one here."

Rick shrugged. "It's okay, I'll stay with you."

"Are you sure this is edible?" Lina had just walked over when she heard Glenn's distorted voice as he pointed tremblingly at the bag in Rick's hand.

“Emmm…” Rick looked at Lina with a hesitant expression, “This is a bit too disgusting…”

Lena's eyes lit up, and she ran triumphantly to Rick and Glenn, hands on her hips. "Oh my, this is a famous delicacy! You two aren't such cowards, are you!"

"Do you dare to eat it?" Glenn looked at Lina suspiciously.

Normally, she wouldn't be allowed to, but now, she'd rather eat cicadas than dog meat.

Lena raised her head, looking at Glenn triumphantly, and declared firmly, "Of course I can!"

Lena happily snatched Daryl's clothes bag from Rick's hand, walked to the still-burning fire, set up an iron net, and threw the cicadas onto it.

"My God..." Sofia stared in disbelief at Lina's grilled cicadas. "Is this really edible? It looks so scary."

"Of course! Crunchy! It tastes like chicken!" Lina, who had never eaten it before, blurted out.

Glenn, his face contorted, squatted by the fire, "No, it's too disgusting..."

“Here, the first one is for you,” Lina picked up a piece and held it to Glenn’s lips. Glenn closed his mouth tightly in disgust, and said in a barely audible voice, “No, never…”

“Have one, it’s much better than your frog leg, right?” Lina said.

“I’d rather eat a frog,” Glenn said, his face ashen.

Maggie looked at it for a while, then seemed to understand something. She smiled, then looked at the cicada in Lina's hand with a worried expression. "No, oh no," she hesitated, "remember to brush your teeth, absolutely." Her disgust was evident.

Glenn stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Lina swiftly pried open Glenn's mouth, stuffed the cicada inside, and thoughtfully began to chew it for him manually.

Well, it's actually quite delicious," Glenn thought to himself as he chewed, though he looked at Lina with a very bitter expression.

"You're responsible for finding me toothpaste!" Glenn complained, even Maggie was disgusted with him!

Lina smiled mischievously, picked up the cicada, and looked at the next victim.

Rick sighed with a headache, grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth with a grimace, chewing it painfully before swallowing. "Not bad," he said, but his expression was troubled.

Hehe! They're all just small fry!

Daryl glanced at it with disdain and shook his head.

Moore rolled his eyes; these people were really bored.

Carol leaned closer for a look. "Can I try?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Of course, don't be shy. There are just too many of these. They're so noisy, I can go and catch more!" Lina generously picked one up and held it to Carol's lips.

"Mom! No!" Sophia was completely distraught. Had things really gotten this bad?

"Ugh—" Dwayne and Carl were also somewhat exasperated. Playing this was fine, but eating it? Forget about it.

"In fact, cicada larvae contain over 70% protein, including many essential amino acids needed by the human body. Moderate consumption can provide nutritional support for those who are weak or malnourished. Cicadas also contain trace elements such as zinc, iron, and calcium, with zinc being particularly abundant, which may have a certain auxiliary effect on boosting immunity and promoting metabolism. They even show promising results in the medical field." Eugene plopped down beside him, staring intently at the cicadas on the fire. He swallowed hard, hesitant, though he knew all this, he still found it difficult to overcome his physiological resistance.

Besides, he wasn't that hungry yet, since he had just had a big meal.

Lena happily chased Amy all over the camp, clinging to a cicada, while Amy angrily cursed Lena.

This doesn't look like someone who hasn't eaten at all! She looks like she's eaten way too much!

Moore shook his head speechlessly and shoved the wrapped food into Daryl's hands. "Go ahead and eat it secretly in a corner. I don't have anywhere to find you toothpaste."

Daryl took the food and nodded. "Keep an eye on her for me."

Moore nodded resignedly and looked at the two people who were bickering.

Lina, who was not far away, finally got tired of running and sat down, panting. After all, she was really hungry and couldn't keep going like that.

"Speaking of which, we've all tried some, so why didn't you eat any?" Glenn finally couldn't help but ask, looking at Lina suspiciously. "You're not the one who's too scared to eat it, are you?"

Lina paused for a moment in an eerie silence, then pretended not to hear anything, stuffed the cicada into Glenn's mouth, and ran back to the fire to continue roasting the cicada.

Abraham ate cicadas and drank wine, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Where did you catch it? Teach me," Abraham thought it would be a good accompaniment to his drinks and also fill his stomach, but since Lina hadn't eaten anything, he felt embarrassed to eat too much.

"Easy to catch, they're in the trees. Just look up. If you can climb trees, you're good to go. If not, just find a pole to stick to them." Lina poured the whole bag onto the wire mesh, generously piled the roasted cicadas in front of Abraham, and pointed generously at them, "Don't be shy, don't be shy, eat as much as you want."

Glenn squatted down next to Lina, speechless. "So you really don't dare to eat it."

Rick couldn't help but laugh.

Lena glared at Glenn. "Who said that? I'm just not hungry yet." Lena was quite good at being stubborn.

“…You can’t do this, you have to eat something.” Glenn said with a worried look on his face. He was really worried that Lina wouldn’t be able to hold on.

"...Don't worry, I'm fine. When I really can't take it anymore, I won't have time to be sentimental. Don't worry, I can eat anything then," Lina said, poking at the fire. She just needed a little more time to face reality.

Even though the apocalypse has lasted so long, she has experienced hunger before, but she has never been to a desperate situation.

Glenn wanted to say something more, but Rick patted him on the shoulder, and Glenn swallowed his words and sighed.

Rick left some food in his bag for Lina. If she gets really hungry later, Rick will give it to her so she can try it. It's not that bad, really.

After resting for a while, everyone started walking along the road again. The food they had just eaten gave them some strength, but it was still hard to get through.

It was so hot that everyone was sweating profusely. Lina's vision was so white that she could barely see the road, and Daryl was supporting her as she moved forward.

"Have some water," Glenn handed her the water bottle. There wasn't much water left, so Lina took a small sip to moisten her parched throat. "You have some too." Lina then handed the bottle to Daryl.

“No, I won’t drink it.” Daryl shoved the bottle at Glenn, who sighed. “We can survive together, but we can only survive if we’re together.”

Glenn had no choice but to walk forward helplessly, dealing with these two stubborn fellows.

Daryl handed Lina to Moore, saying, "Tell them I've gone to get water."

The surrounding forests were all the same, with only dried-up riverbeds, mangled animal carcasses, and even more dead bodies.

Daryl searched high and low but only found a barn; nothing else.

On the highway, Lina was practically being dragged along by Moore; she looked like she was about to faint at any moment.

Moore glanced at Rick, who was rummaging through his backpack, about to take out some food, when Carol called out, "Rick!"

Rick looked ahead and saw several buckets of clean water in the middle of the road.

Lina looked ahead, still groggy. Water?

Rick walked over, picked up the note from the water bottle, and read, "From a friend."

"We..." Rick hadn't finished speaking when he heard a gurgling sound at his feet. He looked down and saw that Lina had been drinking from her water bottle for a while.

"Lina!" Rick shouted angrily, then glared at Moore. How could he look at someone like that?

Lina put down the kettle. "Still alive! My stomach doesn't hurt!"

Rick had a headache. "No..."

At this moment, Daryl returned. He looked at Rick with a puzzled expression. Rick handed him the note in his hand. Daryl glanced at the note and then looked at Lena, who was holding a half-full pot of water.

Seeing Daryl's sharp gaze, Lina guiltily put down the water bottle in her hand. "...Well, it was only half full to begin with."

Daryl suppressed his anger and looked around; perhaps someone was watching them.

“If this is a trap, and we’re already in it, I’m more inclined to believe it was a gift from a friend,” Eugene said, his eyes fixed on the water bottle.

Lina, feeling guilty, glanced at Rick and Daryl's expressions and tossed a bottle to Eugene.

Rick looked at Eugene seriously. "No, we already have a headache with one problem."

Lena paused, looking at Rick in disbelief. "Are you being polite?"