Chapter 89

For the rest of the time, Lina remained absent-minded. She ignored everyone and just stared blankly into space, and no one knew what she was thinking.

But everyone knows she's not feeling well. Such a serious accident caused her to lose her memory, and the sudden appearance of people and environments she should know only confuses her.

"Do you want to try the password?" Aaron asked Lina, who snapped out of her reverie and nodded casually.

Aaron led them to the vicinity of Lina's house. "This is your house, but perhaps you wouldn't mind sharing it with your companions? Anyway, these two houses next door are also yours. If this house can't be opened..." Before Aaron could finish speaking, Lina had already unlocked the combination lock.

Lina stood silently in front of the door, using her most frequently used string of numbers—her birthday from her previous life.

So it was always her, the person before the car accident, it was also her.

Yes, it was such an obvious thing, but she had just been pretending to ignore it. She didn't want to accept that she had lost a pair of parents who loved her deeply.

Her hallucinations and dreams were all her personal experiences from the past.

"Lina? Are you alright?" Daryl patted Lina on the shoulder.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Lina said, glancing at him with red eyes. "I'm fine. Let's come in and take a look." She forced a bitter smile.

“Lina, if you need time…” Rick said to her with concern.

"It's nothing," Lina sighed. "Yeah, right, but there's nothing we can do about it. Let's go, let's go." After hesitating for a long time, Lina took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The interior was no different from a typical show flat, except for a huge doghouse next to the sofa, with a red bouncy ball in front of it.

Lina stared blankly for a long time before bending down to pick it up.

"What are you doing?" Sasha looked at Lina with some concern. She seemed to be bending down to pick something up.

Lina clenched her empty hand and blinked uncomfortably. "It's nothing, I just saw things."

Daryl just frowned. Was it another hallucination?

"Wow, so cool! Lina, your house is huge!" Sophia and Dwayne looked around excitedly and ran towards Lina. "I even saw a huge portrait, is that you?"

Lina was a little confused. Sofia pulled her upstairs to the second floor. In the small living room on the second floor, there was a huge portrait of her. She looked to be about ten years old. In the portrait, she was laughing carefree and running on the grass. Looking back, it was clear that someone had captured this scene and painted it.

Lina took the picture frame off, turned it over, and read: "Love, Mom."

Lina hung the frame back up and silently looked at the portrait.

"Sophia, can I have some peace and quiet?" Lina whispered.

“Okay.” Sophia glanced at Lina cautiously and ran downstairs.

Rick looked around. There was a basement downstairs with energy storage devices. The house's water and electricity were working properly. Just like Aaron said, if enough food was stored, the people inside could stay here safely forever.

After inspecting the house, Rick went upstairs to look for Lena. After all, it was her home, and if everyone was going to stay in the living room tonight, he would have to ask for her opinion.

“Where’s Lina?” Rick asked. Carol pointed upstairs. “I love the kitchen here, it looks fantastic.” Carol said with a smile, “Sophia said Lina wants some peace and quiet.”

Rick hesitated for a moment, then went upstairs anyway.

"Lina?" She sat blankly on the small sofa, lost in thought. All the windows upstairs were closed, and there was no light at all, except for a dim table lamp.

"What's wrong, Rick?" Lina slowly raised her head and looked at Rick.

"Are you alright?" Rick asked with concern. He walked over to Lina, knelt down, and placed his hands on Lina's knees.

“To be honest, it’s not good,” Lina said, looking a little slow on the uptake. “I need some time to process this.”

“…I’m sorry,” Rick said, looking at Lina with some guilt.

“Why would you think that? Coming here was the right choice,” Lina said.

“But I was worried you would leave,” Rick said. “You were very averse to the idea of ​​DC back then, but for safety’s sake, we decided to come here anyway.”

“You said it yourself, it’s for safety,” Lina said. “Alexander is good, you should stay.”

“It’s us,” Rick said. “From the beginning in town, Atlanta, the farm, the prison, the terminal… we’ve been through so much. We, Lena, without you, we might not have made it, or it might not have gone so smoothly. You’re important to all of us, but we don’t know much about you.” Rick sighed. “I’m not trying to pry into your privacy, but Lena, you need help. Your mental state is terrible. Hallucinations? Auditory hallucinations?”

Lina pouted. "I thought I was hiding it well."

Rick sat down on the ground and looked at Lena. “I’ve been there too, so I know,” Rick smiled. “In prison, I saw Lori almost every day. She would stand on the bridge, sometimes on the platform, and she would smile at me. But I knew it was an illusion. I knew what she wanted and what I wanted, so I accepted it.”

“…I guess it’s some kind of stress, so I’ve forgotten those memories,” Lina said. “But Rick, I can’t accept it yet. I don’t know how to accept it.” Lina stared blankly at her palms, the blood seemingly staining every inch. The distorted voice echoed in her ears again: [You all like this, don’t you?… Darling, watch out! —Thump—]

“I ran away, I forgot about them,” Lina said. “Then I pretended it all had nothing to do with me, I pretended it was all a nightmare.”

“Lina, Lina,” Rick interrupted her, looking at Lina intently, “this is not your fault. You did nothing wrong. You are just in too much pain.”

"Will they be angry?" Lina asked timidly.

“I don’t think so,” Rick said, looking at her helplessly. “Although I don’t know them, I know they must love you very much. Why would they be angry with you?”

Lina's eyes reddened. "But I still can't remember what they looked like. I only, I only," I only remember the woman she should have called her mother, and her twisted appearance at the end.

“Give yourself some time, this can’t be rushed,” Rick stood up, bent down and ruffled Lena’s hair. “I’ll talk to Deanna, maybe having her tell you about the past will help?”

Lina nodded listlessly. "Michonne is a very nice person," she said suddenly.

"...Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Rick was taken aback. Of course he knew Michonne was doing well, and all her family members were doing well.

Lena glanced at Rick, somewhat conflicted, "I'm just reminding you to cherish the people around you. Don't pick wildflowers by the roadside."

Rick's expression faltered. "...You, never mind," he said helplessly, looking at Lina. "We'll sleep on the floor downstairs. What do you think, landlord?"

"Granted, you may leave." Lina nodded.

Rick shook his head with a chuckle. "Remember to come down for dinner later. Carol really likes your kitchen."

“It’s our kitchen,” Lina said.

“…Okay, it’s ours,” Rick said, turning and going downstairs.

Downstairs, everyone took turns showering in turn. Aaron even lent out his and Eric's bathroom, since Rick's house had more than four or five bathrooms to accommodate all the people there.

Of course, the others weren't idle either; they had to go talk to Diana. In short, everyone had their own plans.

Everything seemed to be slowly getting back on track.

After settling her daughters in, Herschel walked over to Rick. "It's nice here, isn't it?"

Rick nodded. "Herschel, how long do you think this place can hold out?"

Herschel shook his head helplessly. "What did I tell you? Don't always worry about the future, focus on the present."

Rick shrugged. "Sorry, I always do it without thinking."

“Deanna and I mentioned that we’d be arranging jobs for everyone,” Herschel said. “Guess what kind of job you’ll be?”

Rick shook his head. He didn't know. "Also, didn't you just say not to always think about the future?"

Herschel smiled mischievously. "What is the future? What is the present?"

"No, no, no, we're not talking about philosophy today..." Rick wailed.

Herschel chuckled and patted Rick on the shoulder. "Maybe some people need a shower and a haircut? Aaron said there's a really good barber here."

“I’ll go right now,” Rick glanced at everyone again. Not everyone was there; some had gone to take a shower. “Where’s Daryl?”

Herschel shook his head. "Perhaps Moore knows?"

Rick looked around. Moore wasn't in the room, and neither was Amy. Rick paused for a moment, hoping it wasn't what he was thinking. He looked at Andrea, who was talking to Beth. She hadn't gone berserk, so she should be alright, right? Rick was a little unsure.

The noise downstairs grew quieter and quieter. Lina turned off the lamp and was completely plunged into darkness. She listened to the constant thumping of the bouncy ball hitting the floor—a rather annoying sound.

The red bouncy ball rolled to her feet. Lina stared at it for a long time, but she didn't try to pick it up. She knew it was an illusion.

The red color made her hands appear even whiter. Lina looked up from those hands and, just like last time, bright red blood slowly flowed down her split head. Her head looked as if it had been crushed flat, and her facial features were flat. Various metal objects were stuck into her body.

Immediately afterwards, she seemed to be submerged in blood, and the red bouncy ball in her hand could no longer be seen.

You all like this, don't you? How about we go up the mountain later and let your little paws run around freely?

[His paws are huge! Mom, look, they're half my height now! When he stands up, they reach my chest!]

Honey, sometimes you shouldn't worry so much about height...

[Dad, it's easy for you to say that when you're not the one suffering. You're 1.8 meters tall, of course you don't care!]

So are you blaming me? Am I, your mother who's only 1.6 meters tall, holding you back?

"Mom, I'm 1.55 meters tall. If you don't wear heels, you're about the same height as me."

Shut up, baby.

Okay, Mom, I love you, Mom.

A commotion arose in Lina's ears. She looked at the person in front of her and said, "I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't recognize you. I was scared."

She stood there, arms outstretched, revealing a red bouncy ball.

Lina wiped away her tears. "I overheard the doctors talking. His little paws were pressed tightly against me; he shielded me beneath him..."

“But I haven’t visited you. I didn’t dare to go. My great-uncle… he never mentioned it, but I know he went many times himself… I’m sorry…”

"Cough cough!" Lina was startled and looked down the corridor. She could vaguely recognize Daryl from his silhouette and posture.

“I… I went to that woman and got something,” Daryl said in a low voice. “Would you like to see it? There’s a video of you when you were five years old.”