Chapter 131
“When I first met him, Jesus said that my whole world would become bigger…” Rick, Ezekiel, and Maggie stood on the back of a pickup truck. It was a mobilization meeting where combatants from various communities got to know each other, strengthened their ties, and discussed future plans.
Lina looked at the sun's brilliant halo, her vision blurring for a moment. They would win.
“…To quote a line, ‘Who will live and die with me today?’…” Rick finished speaking and then Ezekiel spoke. Although he was acting, his acting brought hope to the people of God’s Kingdom. The people supported him as their king, as if it were a faith.
Finally, it was Maggie's turn. "...If we can keep everything we have now, then the future belongs to us..."
Three major communities, three major giants—only Rick can unite everyone.
"...Are you alright?" Lina snapped out of her daze. Beside her stood Glenn, who had appeared out of nowhere. He looked at Lina with concern. "I heard about it, Lina. I understand how you feel right now."
Lina shook her head. "It'll be alright. I think everything will turn out for the best."
Glenn became even more worried upon hearing this. When had he ever seen Lina so listless? "I will help you," Glenn said.
"What?" Lina was taken aback. Glenn smiled. "I guessed what you were thinking. I don't think it's wrong. To be honest, I've also been thinking about what this war can bring us, and whether the final result is really what we want." Glenn looked at the three people in the truck.
“I don’t regret what I did. I know what I wanted. But every time I close my eyes at night, I think about that night, and I wonder if we hadn’t done what we did, we wouldn’t have gotten involved with the Salvation Army, or at least things wouldn’t have been so bad. Abraham’s wounds haven’t healed, and he can barely leave the house now. But if none of this had happened…” Glenn crossed his arms. “I know I’m overthinking it. I know the Salvation Army will come sooner or later, and maybe it will be even worse… but…”
Glenn sighed. “How many more people do we have to kill? How many more will come seeking revenge? I don’t know, Lena. Maybe one day, I’ll be the one seeking revenge too.” He looked at Lena with a vulnerable gaze. “I have to accept all of this, simply because I don’t want to see everyone die.” But that sense of guilt often tormented him.
“Some people can be changed, some people can’t,” Lena said, feeling sad as she looked at Glenn. Glenn was kind, just as Maggie said, he was the only good and kind thing left in the apocalypse. Everything about him made the people around him feel at ease and see hope. He always illuminated the lives of those around him so that they would not lose their way.
“You’ve heard what they did, and that can’t be erased, but your worries are valid. ‘An eye for an eye only leads to another eye,’” Lina sighed.
“…It’s difficult, I know, but I still want to try.” Glenn shook his head helplessly. “But…” War is merciless, and it doesn’t seem like we can make peace right now.
“Actually, you know, there’s a saying in my family, ‘A leopard can’t change its spots.’” Lina thought of the awful state of the Salvation Hall and irritably scratched her cheek. “And, ‘Might makes right.’”
"It seems you're more open-minded than I am," Glenn said, looking at Lina with surprise. He had thought she was torn between two options because she seemed down lately, but now it looked like she was supporting the war.
"Of all that scum, I only care about one guy; he's tougher than a cockroach," Lina said, pursing her lips. "I won't deny what he did, but it's also true that I don't want him to die."
“Okay,” Glenn nodded.
"Forget about that troublesome guy. How's Maggie doing lately? Is the baby behaving well? Is it really okay for her to take on the main responsibility of Hilltop now? What are you going to do now that the Hilltop doctor has been taken to the Salvation Hall?" Lina rattled off a bunch of questions, and Glenn suddenly felt a headache coming on, as if he were reliving the time when Maggie was first pregnant.
He could almost smell that lingering stench again.
“Everything’s fine, everything’s fine. Don’t worry, Jesus and I are helping out. Maggie won’t get tired. The doctor left a lot of instructions. Hershel is at Hilltop Village recently, and he’s been looking at those materials. Maggie and the baby are both very healthy now.” Glenn wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Alright, take good care of her. I can't get to the mountain stronghold anytime soon," Lina said, glancing at Maggie's belly with a hint of annoyance. You better be sensible, you brat.
"So, who gave you the weapons?" Glenn recalled one of the pieces of jumbled news Daryl had brought back: Sean was still alive and had become a member of the Salvation Army.
“Sean, would Eugene have the guts to do that? But he did give me some spare medicine.” Lina shrugged.
"Medicine?" Glenn looked at Lina in confusion. What medicine? What's it for?
"Haha, well, cough cough, well, I have to go back and check on Judith." Although she didn't intend to take the pill, things were a bit complicated.
"...Is it poison, Lina?" Glenn wasn't so easily appeased. He angrily caught up with Lina and grabbed her arm.
"No, no, you're talking nonsense." Of course, Lina wouldn't admit it. Eugene was smart enough not to admit it either. There would be no way to prove it. It was all her fault for speaking too quickly.
“…Lina Lee!” Glenn gritted his teeth in hatred, yet was helpless. “I’ll go tell Daryl!”
"No, you can't do this, Oppa! You can't have a happy family while I'm left with a broken family!" Lina wailed, clinging to Glenn's arm. "Oppa! Please forgive me! It's really nothing!"
Glenn angrily tapped Lina on the forehead, "You'd better get rid of all those inappropriate thoughts!" The way she looked carrying the rocket launcher last time almost scared them to death. Every single time, she's like this, risking her life.
"I don't know how many times I've said this! Lina, you are important to all of us." Glenn sighed helplessly. He had told her, but she wouldn't listen. It was giving him a headache.
"I know, I know, but you absolutely can't tell Daryl, okay? Pinky promise!" Lina guiltily extended her little finger. Glenn's lips twitched, and he made a perfunctory pinky promise with Lina. After completing this important task, Lina breathed a sigh of relief and slipped away back to Alexandria.
She was terrified that old bastard Sean would sneak in and snatch Judith away—he really did have that ability—so recently her family installed a security system and put all the neighborhood kids in there for safety.
She was overthinking things, worrying that Sean would come to steal the child. Sean wanted to, but he couldn't come. The Salvation Hall was preparing for war in full swing, and it was now obvious that there were spies in the Salvation Hall. He didn't dare to make any rash moves and kept trying to minimize his presence.
Logically speaking, there's no way to suspect him from any angle. After all, like Simon, he was also badly harmed by Lena, having his face branded. So, as enemies, he and Simon are the least likely to help Lena. However, Negan's overt and covert scrutiny gave Sean a bad feeling.
He even realized that he was being watched all the time, and that someone was pushing him out to shift the blame, but he couldn't explain himself clearly.
While keeping a low profile, Sean began to flee, and sure enough, every time he got involved with Lena Lee, he ended up in a bad situation.
Fortunately, there was indeed a top-notch safe house in Alexandria, where Judith was relatively safe. Once he got rid of the Salvation Army, he could figure out a solution.
These days, Negan has been holding meetings with his trusted lieutenants, but his spies haven't let up on observing everyone. However, as long as it's not Negan himself, Sean can still get away with it.
According to the original plan, he was supposed to leave with his men, but clearly, now was not a good time. He had to remain silent and leave quietly on his own.
Based on his understanding of Rick, the Church of the Saviour might be under siege soon, and the day of the siege would be the day he escaped.
*
Lina, who was also being cursed in her heart by Sean, was having a hard time. She was very worried about Karl, who was always running around, and on top of that, there was the matter of attacking the Church of Saviour.
She felt very bad about being excluded. Although the people of Alexandria trusted her, the people of Hilltop and the Kingdom of God did not.
Lina didn't want to participate in the plan to besiege the Church of Salvation, but it's different for her not to go than for others to suspect her and prevent her from going.
Despite her anger, there was nothing she could do. Many people present that day witnessed Negan protecting Lena and Lena letting Negan go. It was only thanks to everyone's efforts that Lena was not taken to the dark room.
She was caught in the middle, pleasing neither side.
So, no matter how busy she was lately, Lina had no idea what everyone was doing. Rick only asked her to stay in Alexandria, which was undeniably a very important task and something Lina wanted, but when she thought about the root cause, Lina couldn't be happy.
Daryl had disappeared several days ago, and it was obvious that he must have an important mission. This morning was the day the main force was to depart, and Lina could only stand on the observation platform and watch that bastard Mor leave Alexander with a smug smile.
"Tsk, I hope he runs into Sean." Lina cursed inwardly. Judging by how badly Sean beat her, Moore wouldn't have it easy either!
“Hey, Lina, aren’t you coming down?” Michonne called from below the watchtower. Her injuries hadn’t healed, so she wasn’t participating in the operation.
“Where’s Karl?” Lina asked.
“I’m home,” Michonne said.
“I’ll go check on him,” Lina said, climbing down from the watchtower, then looking at Michonne. “You shouldn’t wander around either; get some rest.”
“Understood,” Michonne glanced at Abraham sitting in front of the door not far away. He couldn’t participate in this operation either. Ever since Negan hit him on the head, he had been left with serious aftereffects, suffering from severe headaches from time to time. Although it didn’t affect his life most of the time, whenever the pain started, he couldn’t do anything at all.
Lina glanced at Abraham, pursed her lips, and for him, living like this was more painful than death.
"It will heal, after we win," Lina said.
“Yes,” Michonne turned to Lina and nodded with a smile.
"I have to go keep an eye on Carl; he's always running off." Lina muttered as she walked towards Carl's house. Maybe she should just punch him unconscious and lock him inside?
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